As he progressed with his work, Monet removed all edges from the water and all external objects like trees or houses, so that, in his words, the viewer is given “the illusion of an endless whole of water without horizon or bank.†He or she is drawn through the sight of the flowers on the water into a contemplation of beauty which now loses its concrete definition and takes the person beyond into the spiritual.
Monet opened up a world beyond, which beckons human beings to take notice. He drew out of nature a vision of life in its fullness far beyond the enticements of glossy magazines. He pointed to the rich harvest for which we were born into the world. He expressed through his painting the invitation to believe in grace, which is the transforming power of God to open up our being to receive our “daily bread.â€
In the water lilies we are given a glimpse of the eternal and a sense that all creation speaks to us of God. Jesus too speaks of lilies (Matt 6:28) and of a plentiful harvest and he is not just thinking of people coming forward for baptism and becoming part of the Church. These are necessary as the witnesses of the gospel. But the gospel reaches far beyond the visible membership of the Church. It permeates all creation and anyone touched by beauty is touched by it.
As with Jesus and the prophets, Monet was rejected and ridiculed in his day by many of his contemporaries. While the human heart loves beauty there is also something within it which resists it. As Shug says in The Colour Purple, “It is what we run from that chases us.†We run from God but he loves us, waits for us, “chases†us. Monet pointed us beyond what we could see to a world pregnant with life and hope.
3 July 2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sunday 14 C
Isaiah 66:10-14Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Galatians 6:14-18Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Luke 10:1-1
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