Meaning

Splashes of colours and shapes covered the huge canvas. Abstract design: abstract thoughts, or cohering through the viewer’s perceptions? I gazed for several minutes and began to see things. A bridge. A lighthouse. A cityscape. The shape of a face.

It drew me in. Perhaps in a way that a more realistic painting wouldn’t. I’m not sure I’m a fan. But for the first time I began to see a point to the abstract.

The paintings lack titles, so the viewer is not conformed to the artist’s imagination but is free to explore her own.

Issues. Maybe we are too conformed to what we’re being told about the political scene. It looks a mess. The environmental crisis is a mess. On so many levels, our world appears to be in a mess.

We need a visionary who can step outside of the rhetoric and imagine. Someone who can perceive a path through the confusion.

God didn’t get angry when things were going wrong in Noah’s day. He grieved, grieved for his creation, and extended the time in case people could turn things round.

May he enlighten us in our days, so that we can step into the high calling he has for us all. May he call forth leaders in our day, leaders with humble hearts and open ears and compassionate souls, who long for justice and truth to prevail.

May we, through our prayers, be part of the solution.