Not long ago, I took a painting class at a studio near my house. For one of our exercises, the instructor set up a terra cotta clay pot near some fruit. The room was dim and the warm glow of the light shining on the earth-toned items comforted me, especially on a cold winter day.
Music played low in the background and I carefully sketched some lines on the canvas marking the edge of the table and the distance between the objects. I was positioned in front of the objects and my classmates surrounded me, concentrating on their piece. We glanced at the objects, then back at our canvas, stepped back for a better view, then added another stroke.
I mixed my colors and washed the canvas with a neutral shade, filling in the initial sketches with browns, greens and purples, adding cool colors to the shadowy places and warm colors to the illuminated places. One of my favorite parts of the class was observing the other students’ work. We were all beginners painting the same objects but our paintings always looked unique.
It amazed me the way each of us translated the objects onto our canvases in a different way.
If we paint objects differently, how differently would we paint an abstract idea . . . like a relationship?
Imagine there is a clean white canvas in front of you. Close your eyes and picture a relationship with your friend, spouse or even your future spouse. What does it look like? Chances are your painting would look different than that of the other person’s.
Depending on our mood, past experiences or maybe a difficult situation going on in life, the colors, perspective and images we choose to paint would probably look different.
How does the way we see our relationships affect them?
There have been times when my relationships have hit a bump because we approach the idea of spending time together in a different way.
Being an introvert, I’ve learned that I need quality alone time to just hang out at my house each week. I also assumed that everyone needed the same amount of time that I do, until one of my good friends told me that she needs little time to herself. She enjoys being with someone else most of the time. Now that we know this about each other, we are more understanding of the other’s expectation in the area of time. She is less likely to feel hurt when I want to stay home, knowing that I still value our friendship very much!
The issue of time is just one part of my painting and there are many others. Communicating with my friend about our different views helped us to avoid potential conflicts.
God as the instructor…
God is like the painting instructor. If we have a relationship with Him first and if we listen to the wisdom He provides, we are much more likely to be sensitive to our loved ones’ different perspectives. He gives us room to make mistakes and provides us with tools to correct them and learn from them.
He transforms my painting, making me a much more skilled artist. He is teaching me the techniques of sacrifice, generosity, grace and forgiveness. And He is teaching me how to use my techniques consistently, even if I don’t feel like using them.
