The Painter

Thomas Gainsborough [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

By Alyssa Jackson 

Managing Editor (Fall 2018) and former Life Editor of "The Collegian" student newspaper of Grove City College, PA

Psalm 19:1“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
 
The painter’s hand lightly grasps the brush. Green and black splash together on the bristles forming a leafy green. As the paint hits the canvas, the foliage blooms. Each new stroke fills the canvas with life. The angle of the brush changes to release more black than green, forming the shadow of the leaf.  Each complex stroke diminishes the white background.  Days pass before the painter calls his work complete.
  
Such care is unmatched. Each release of color holds thought and intention. Every move is carefully planned.
   
If the human artist takes such great care in the making of one painting, how much more does the Creator commit when He created the world and everything in it? He carefully crafted each leaf, each flower, each sunrise, each ocean, each human.
  
How can God not exist? Innately we know that a power greater than us exists. How can someone choose not to acknowledge the God who reveals Himself so clearly? It is the fool who says, “There is no God!” (Psalm 14:1).
  
No human can deny the beauty of a purple orange sunset, or the calming sound of waves hitting the shore. We know what beauty is because we are created in the image of the God, the Inventor of beauty. It’s like an instinct in an animal, we recognize beautiful things. Yet unlike animals, we can know the source of that beauty. We can know intimately our Creator. We can begin to understand the mystery of His greatness. We can look to Him who sent His only Son to die for our sins that we may live forever with Him in the ultimate beauty of heaven.  We can long for that day and be reminded of this reward to come every time we see Him reflected in his creation here on earth.  

Look around at the spectrum of color from the tiniest spider to the swooping rainbow. See how lines innumerable run through the delicate, sheer leaf like veins on your hand. Taste the sweetness of a cherry or the heartiness of a steak. Smell the warm summer rain. Feel the smoothness of a stone or the fluff of a dog. Hear the wind brush the trees like waves hitting the shore.  Creation does indeed declare the glory of God and proclaim his handiwork. Let us do the same.