The Portrait
My third grade daughter sat me down. She was going to draw my picture. I was told to pose and smile and she studied my face and studiously put pencil to paper.
She would draw a line then look up at me intently, place a curve, then look up again. Her entire posture reflected her concentration. She was both serious and still. The process continued and now her paper reflected the shape of my face, the sweep of my hair, two eyes and an spot where my mouth had already been erased several times as she was having a hard time with it.
It was one of those proud parent moments as I sat there watching her trying her very best to translate how I look to her paper.
She was focused and intense and kept looking up at me to make sure she was drawing me correctly.
Now no matter how hard she would try, her drawing will be that of an early elementary sort - somewhere between stick people and recognizable characters, but it wasn't her drawing that was bringing me this great pleasure. I was so proud of her because of her efforts.
So as I posed and smiled, I had my own moment of insight.
This is exactly what I try to do.
I am trying to draw a portrait.
I am attempting to draw a picture of God for you who read what I write, to those who hear what I say, to those who watch how I live my life.
And will I capture Him? His image, His essence? Will I present something almost photographic,
or an elementary drawing on lined paper?
My skill is not what matters.
But the attitude of this artist does.
What matters as I attempt to represent Christ is that I keep looking at Him. That to capture His essence and convey it, that I am taking Him in, referencing Him over and over, after every line, every curve, checking to see that the face of God I am transposing is God's face.
And when I am done, will my creation resemble the Creator?
Will a curve I've drawn spark recognition in you?
I would hope so but even if it doesn't my Father is pleased, because in seeking to portray him, I have been still and have spent time with Him.
Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
She would draw a line then look up at me intently, place a curve, then look up again. Her entire posture reflected her concentration. She was both serious and still. The process continued and now her paper reflected the shape of my face, the sweep of my hair, two eyes and an spot where my mouth had already been erased several times as she was having a hard time with it.
It was one of those proud parent moments as I sat there watching her trying her very best to translate how I look to her paper.
She was focused and intense and kept looking up at me to make sure she was drawing me correctly.
Now no matter how hard she would try, her drawing will be that of an early elementary sort - somewhere between stick people and recognizable characters, but it wasn't her drawing that was bringing me this great pleasure. I was so proud of her because of her efforts.
So as I posed and smiled, I had my own moment of insight.
This is exactly what I try to do.
I am trying to draw a portrait.
I am attempting to draw a picture of God for you who read what I write, to those who hear what I say, to those who watch how I live my life.
And will I capture Him? His image, His essence? Will I present something almost photographic,
or an elementary drawing on lined paper?
My skill is not what matters.
But the attitude of this artist does.
What matters as I attempt to represent Christ is that I keep looking at Him. That to capture His essence and convey it, that I am taking Him in, referencing Him over and over, after every line, every curve, checking to see that the face of God I am transposing is God's face.
And when I am done, will my creation resemble the Creator?
Will a curve I've drawn spark recognition in you?
I would hope so but even if it doesn't my Father is pleased, because in seeking to portray him, I have been still and have spent time with Him.
Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
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