A student in a beginning art class was puzzled because the picture he was drawing looked flat. It had no depth. Then his teacher asked, "Where is the sun?" "I didn't want to put the sun in the picture" was the reply. Then, with a few lines here and there the teacher gave the picture a sun, although no sun could be seen. "You must decide where the light is coming from and keep the light source in mind as you draw," she said. The student completed the picture by shading trees and buildings and animals with sunny sides and shadow sides. Now the trees looked like trees, the meadow looked cool and inviting, the cows looked alive, and all was well.
During every conscious moment, we have a picture before our thought and this picture is our own. If our picture looks flat—if life seems dull, if justice seems delayed, if health, joy, or peace seem out of reach— we need to locate the true light source, which is God, divine Love. As we recognize the presence of God, everything we mentally see takes on proper perspective. The good and the evil in the human scene are clearly distinguishable. But in the divine light we can recognize that good is real and evil is unreal. Therefore, we are actually free of dullness, of conflicts, of fears. And this freedom is demonstrable. As we become conscious of the presence of divine Love, our encounter with today and its vicissitudes is not mere survival; it is victory.
Christ Jesus set the standard for Christian work when he said, "The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him."john 8:29; When we pray, do we remember that God is our very Life, and do we seek to do "those things that please him"? Do we unselfishly, trustingly, adoringly acknowledge God as the source of light in our picture of life? Then we shall demonstrate the justice of Truth, the beauty of Soul, the immortality of Spirit. The healing we seek will come swiftly and naturally.
