I had considered being an art major. I studied under a well known artist and worked in his studio. He made art about social change. I was all about it.
I was like the karate kid. He gave me chores to do. Cleaning out boxes. Sorting books. Making files. And he left me with little proverbs to ponder. He would talk about my life to me in a cryptic way that I would try to decode as I sorted another box of his old teaching materials.
Once in art class he took us on a walk and made us look at things. No painting. No technical discussion. Just looking. Looking is the way of the artist.
Miles has a natural second serving of the ability to look.
He came up to me yesterday with two beetles on his hand.
"I think I figured it out" he said.
"What?" I asked.
"This one has a dent here and this one has a point here. " he mumbled
Silence.
I looked trying to see what he was trying to explain.
"Oh, this is male and female?" I asked
"Yes." And he ran off with them.
I scratched my head. Had miles just figured out how to sex beetles by looking at lots of them and finding common different features?
I pulled out my phone and googled it.
I couldn't quite follow the academic page I had landed on but it seemed that Miles might be right. I would need someone more knowledgeable to confirm.
It is a gift to see. It is a treasure to notice.
I have been learning my whole life how to see and one of my best teachers is 8 years old.
You can paint something, if you can't see it. Really see it. What looks like just blue in the ocean is really hundreds of blues and greens and grays and purples. That detail is important if you want to paint it.
I think if different kind of seeing is a important to participate in the work of God. I cannot join God if I cannot find God at work. Sometimes I need to sit and watch. Sometimes I need to be like miles with the beetles. Patiently allowing my mind to register the movement of the spirit in my life and in the lives around me.
I'm so glad God gave me Miles. He is a good teacher.
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