26: God is an artist.

-Rev Melissa Fain-

You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden.
Matthew 5:15 CEB

Technical expertise does not make an artist. It might show talent, but not art. As my husband aptly put it, recalling what an art educator had shared with him. Sure, technically expertise is a gift, but expertise does not make one an artist. 

An artist gives vision or voice to an idea. Specifically, it's an idea worth knowing. It's not the technical skill of painting a flower, but the expression of the fragility of life found in that painting. It's not singing notes, it's the expression of love found in that song. If the expression is lost, than the person may be technically astute, but incapable of ever being an artist.

To be sure, it completely changed how I view other's "art." Raw talent is not about expertise, but the ability to express an important idea. An artist can tell me a story with sticks and mud if need be; a child's piano and a voice. An artist will move the soul. An artist could miss the notes, or not draw the right perspective lines. We give the artist the tools of education to clarify the point, but not to make them what they already are 

Go find God in the artist. Find God in the point behind the painting or song. Go be an artist- while you are working on hitting the correct pitch. Sing because your soul yearns to be heard. Paint because there is a story to tell. Give vision or voice to an idea. God is an artist.

Pray with me: