​Don’t Condemn God’s Art

A Reflection on the Second Reading for December 26th, 2021:
The Feast of the Holy Family

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1 John
3.1-2, 21-24

Beloved: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever obeys his commandments abides in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
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"... what we will be has not yet been revealed."
 

When I was a preteen and teenager, I liked to draw. One year, I got some charcoal and paper for Christmas. I remember I sketched a portrait of Paul McCartney off the back of a Beatles album. My mom tried to get me to do art classes but I refused, too shy and too afraid of my work not being “good.” I never took art in school, never tried painting or any other medium. Many years ago, my husband gave me an easel that I never used. For many years I pursued my education, career, and family, and only rarely, mostly privately and always tentatively acknowledged the creative desire within me. It was locked up inside me by perfectionism, fear, and comparison.
 

My heart condemned my art.
 

I didn’t know God. I didn’t know the creative energy with which He sculpts the earth and each one of us creatures who inhabit it. I didn’t recognize that the creative energy He placed inside me was a reflection of Him, and that He is revealed to the world through my brave “yes” to develop and use the gifts He has given me. 
 

Our gifts may not be obvious to us. There are many aspects of the unexpected pregnancy of our Blessed Mother Mary that she and Saint Joseph likely struggled to see as gifts – yet, in Christ, it was revealed to be the greatest gift the world has ever seen. Through this humble, Holy Family, and their encouragement of one another, God revealed Himself. 
 

And He will reveal Himself in me, and in you, if only we can trust the gentle, healing hand of Jesus to help guide our hearts toward Him. Only He knows what He can accomplish, what He can reveal through each one of us. What hope! What purpose!  
 

To be steadfast in hope is very difficult at the best of times, let alone in the face of pain. Our lives don’t always feel conducive to discovering our God-given gifts – yet we must remember that to encourage one another is a gift in itself. This encouragement is a great gift that has been given to me by many, which has helped Him to be revealed in me and for which I couldn’t be more grateful.
 

You may have heard the advice of choosing a word or phrase that stands out to you as you read scripture; this word or phrase can then become a guiding light in our days. Let this promise be our guiding light: 
 

"... what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when He is revealed, we will be like Him ..."
 
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Thanks be to God.




​Lindsay Elford

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