Last year, I had painted a mountain stream where my family had picnicked before, but the picture just wasn’t coming together. There came a point where I just wanted to toss it in the trash, but I put it under my drawing table instead and forgot about it.
Months later I came across it, and I swallowed my pride and took it to art class to see if my teacher could make some suggestions or even tell me that I should toss it. She suggested two simple ideas I had not thought of, which I incorporated, and today the painting is one of my favorites.
This experience became a lesson in meekness and humility—not only for my art, but in my life.
Around this time, my ex-husband passed away and my son and I became estranged following a misunderstanding of words. When I thought of my son, I would get frustrated and caught up in the issues, just as I had when I had looked at this painting.
I realized I needed to pray to find a way forward. Because of my limited view of how I thought things should be, I knew I was not approaching issues from the right angle. I needed to remove my self-will in order to remove my limited view and take on a fresh, spiritual approach.
When we focus our thought on the problem, we cannot see what God sees, which is always spiritual and perfect. In Second Corinthians 4:18, Paul writes about how we can see what God sees: “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Things of the Spirit—love, for example—are everlasting and are what heal us. I realized I hadn’t been listening for God’s loving and healing ideas, and I knew I needed to rid myself of dark thoughts to move forward. In prayer, I stilled my thought to recognize that God is always in control. Psalms 46:10 states, “Be still, and know that I am God.” He created all that is good, and that includes me. And when my attention is on God, my work is good as well.
I also needed to be patient with myself when I couldn’t see the full picture—both with my son and in my work as an artist. Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, says in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures on page 485: “Emerge gently from matter into Spirit. Think not to thwart the spiritual ultimate of all things, but come naturally into Spirit through better health and morals and as the result of spiritual growth.” Having patience with myself helped me better hear what God was communicating.
In prayer, I began to see that I had been painting to get validation and human approval of my ideas, rather than painting as a way of expressing God. But when I began to step back and release this willfulness, I saw that not only is painting a way of expressing my love for God, but everything I do can be done as an expression of divine Love.
Instead of having to get it right and having to be right, I realized that only God was right, and I needed to be meek in order to see God’s view and to move forward.
This revelation played a major role in the healing of my relationship with my son. We had allowed a misunderstanding and miscommunication to try to destroy the masterpiece of love between us. And when I stepped back to take a higher, spiritual view, that meekness helped me release my human will and realize where my son was coming from, his point of view. I released my pride, and our issue was resolved.
We ended up talking on the phone for hours—something we had never done before. I was so happy to know that not only could we speak to each other, but love was apparent between us.
When we start with God and His spiritual view, we are taking away the human, limited, material views that show only the problems in front of us. Instead of having to get it right and having to be right, I realized that only God was right, and I needed to be meek in order to see God’s view and to move forward. God’s view shows that our true identity and individuality are purely spiritual; we come from Love and express love. When I overcame the resistance to this truth, I found healing. Through humility, I created a painting that I love—and found joy everywhere! I couldn’t be more grateful for my renewed relationship with my son. I am amazed and humbled.
