Apr
20
2017
The Painting
Posted in Salvation 4 Comments
Every four weeks I get my hair cut.
More than a haircut per se, I really get a trim.
Even more than a trim, it is a reshaping.
It is making sure the light layers remain as they grow out over the course of a month.
I have been going to the same person for years.
Every woman knows the importance of finding someone they trust to cut their hair.
It is so wonderful to sit down in the chair and not have to worry about the end result.
Sitting there calm and relaxed, conversations just naturally happen.
She has known me for many years and has seen my children grow up.
I knew her as she carried and delivered her two sons.
She may be a hair stylist but she is also a friend.
I enjoy our monthly chats as I sit in her chair.
It is the shampoo station that one must go to first.
I sit in the chair that tilts back ever so slightly.
My neck rests in the cut out of the sink.
She washes my hair and we begin to catch up.
Every time I go to the shampoo station, she leads me to the same chair.
Since the hair salon has just been totally renovated, there is always something new to see.
Directly in front of the chair in which I sit, there is a painting.
For months, the painting caught my eye.
We were always engaged in conversation, so I never stopped to really looked at it closely.
This day would be different.
This day the painting seemed to call to me but I did not know why.
Each time I had my hair shampooed, I mentioned that I really liked that painting.
It is a modern painting, which is usually not my taste.
It is not a painting I would put in my country home.
However, the painting seemed to demand reflection.
The painting urged me to ponder what the artist was trying to convey.
Art tends to be subjective.
Even if the artist has a particular meaning in mind, no two people will view it the same way.
Artists either welcome the discussion surrounding their painting or it frustrates them.
This day was the day I would take a picture of the painting.
After my hair was washed, I mentioned again how much that painting calls to me.
I mentioned that I intended to take a picture with my phone.
Are you going to write about it? My hair stylist/friend asked me.
I just might, I said, but I have to think about it for a while.
You can just do that? She asked me.
You can just see something and write about it? She added.
When something hits me like that, I have to pay attention, I told her.
After I ponder it for a while, then I can see what comes out in my writing, I explained.
We walked away from the shampoo station and towards her chair.
For the next thirty minutes, we talked about everything.
When I was all finished, I went back over to the painting.
I took two pictures with my phone while she watched me.
I let the painting tumble in my mind.
I was so drawn to it and needed to see what it was saying to me.
I stared at it and then clicked out of my photos only to return to it later in the day.
Then I saw what the picture said to me.
The painting is of a woman in a black dress.
She has a hat made of flowers upon her head.
Her eyes are closed; she is still and peaceful despite all the bustle that is going on around her.
Her arms are folded and in her hand she holds three keys.
I thought it might have been the hummingbirds that made me notice this painting.
The fact that the birds were hummingbirds is secondary to me.
It was what the birds are doing that intrigued me.
Some of the hummingbirds are taking from the woman and some are giving.
Some of the hummingbirds are flying away carrying bits of her flowered hat in their beak.
Other hummingbirds are flying towards her, carrying keys.
There are so many keys.
Each of the keys seemed to be dangling in front of her.
However, despite all the activity around her, the woman remained still.
The keys dangling before her did not seem to affect her.
The flowers that were being taken from her flowered hat did not seem to phase her.
Two hummingbirds are flying towards her to drink the sweet nectar from her flowered hat.
It is the viewpoint of the world that I see in this picture.
Look at what we have to offer you.
We have the answers to all your questions, as the keys dangle before her.
The world nags and cajoles and takes bits of ourselves along with it, yet we can be still.
Why was the woman still?
With everything bustling around her, how did she stay peaceful and contemplative?
It was the keys in her hand that held the answer.
She found in those keys her Source of peace.
When I looked and saw that the woman held three keys in her hand, I saw the Trinity.
She held onto the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit with surety.
Holding onto them allowed her to be still.
Holding fast to them allowed her to be unaffected by the noise of the world.
Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
I pondered the woman’s stillness.
It is not so much what she holds onto as much as Who holds onto her.
The keys that the world offers us rarely satisfy.
The keys that God offers us in Himself, as told to us in His Word, satisfies and holds us fast.
We are held.
That surety and confidence we have in Him keeps us still and peaceful.
Even amidst the tumult of the world all around us, we can know His peace.
He holds us fast.
Be still and know that I am God! One of my favorites. Also it seems to be our family motto on many occasions. Thank you for this touching reminder that He is in control at all times. You’re so talented Gina in your ability to express such meaningful messages to your readers.
Thank you, Bonnie! That verse is precious to me as well. I actually have a sign in my kitchen with that verse on it. I look at it every day. I need the reminder, too!
Gina
Love this Gina! Your amazing A special gift you haveXoxo
Thank you, Jen! You were part of the process as I wrote this post. How can one painting say so much? God whispers everywhere.
Gina