Gazing in the Museum of the Divine Artist

Today at Mass I had the unique experience of feeling the love our Lord Jesus has for each one of us, but in a unique way that He seemed to just be singling me out. But before I get to that experience I want to address the idea of experiencing God's love.

It is an awesome reality that there is an all knowing, all loving God that really cares about me. That desires to spend time with me and walk with me wherever I go. But sometimes through the hustle and bustle of life, I run too fast, I don't stop to smell the flowers and look around and experience the truth, beauty, and goodness that surrounds me each day. For instance, I love art. I enjoy going to a museum and looking at a piece of art, examining it for the artist intention and hopes and dreams that are filled in the mingling of colors and shapes. It is amazing that each time the brush goes across the canvas, that there is a desired intention, an end that the artist is working towards. Each color, each line is one more step towards the perfection of the creation that started in the mind of the painter. So when I am looking at a piece of art, I start to contemplate and experience something that takes me out of myself into the minds and hearts of others

In a sense, this is what happens when I take a moment (or longer) to dive into the art of Divine Artist. I look at my own life and the life of others as a mere painting in the making. We have a purpose, we have an end in which we were intended to move towards. I might have an experience of joyfulness or loneliness or frustration, but each of these are strokes that the Divine Artist is brushing upon my canvas. He is either allowing things to happen to me because He knows that I can make it through them or He graces me with consolation, but in a word, He paints with peace. Often, we are too frantic in our modern world to slow down and see that all things are working according to his purpose (Romans 8:28) or that there is nothing that He cannot make good! There is no need to discouragement when you are a child of God. There is no need for despair, even in our darkness moments, because the Divine Artist is fashioning us into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and making us who we are meant to be. Be not afraid of being put in the hands of the potter (Jeremiah 18:4-6) for He will make you into who you have always desired to be and even more.

As so, as I knelt before an image of the Divine Mercy today after I received Holy Communion at the Holy Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus seem to walk out of the photo and start taking steps towards me. There is nothing that I can do that can keep Him away from walking towards me...now I have the choice, do I start walk towards Him, do I stay where I am, or do I run away? I choose to run at Him...He is also walking towards you, what will you choose?