A Glimpse of Eternity
Wheatfield with Crows, 1890
VINCENT VAN GOGH
Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 103 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Opening Prayer:
Lord, please draw my attention to the good, true, and beautiful in this artist’s work.
Open my mind to realize connections between the captivating elements of this painting and my core yearnings.
Stir within me those yearnings that expose how my soul longs to be with You for every moment of this life and for eternity.
Help me see my finite existence, including my daily labor, in light of your presence.
An Excerpt from the Visual Commentary on Scripture
Notice the dead-end road at the centre of the painting.
Art and theology connoisseur, Elizabeth Powell, offers this insight from the Visual Commentary on Scripture:
"As one of the last paintings Van Gogh was to create, the seemingly dead-end road at its centre is often seen as a symbol of the end of his own artistic labour, a kind of scar of his finite existence on the earth. Indeed, his heavy use of impasto technique draws attention to the painting as the work of his hands, just as the wheatfields are emblematic of human labour more broadly. But perhaps Van Gogh is not simply anticipating an end here, but asking, to what end is this labour?
With the flight of the birds, our eyes lift from the enveloping yellow toward that which is beyond it. Their minimalist black forms prompt us, with the Gospels, to remember this ‘more than’ value of our life and work[.]"
Take some time to read the following passage of Scripture:
Luke 12.22-34
English Standard Version
22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[c] 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,[d] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his[e] kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Reflections:
The black and blue sky feels eerie, untrustworthy. The path ends in the field, in the midst of the work of our hands. There is something unsettling about the unknown and unpromised, and Jesus knows this.
“Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (v33-34).
Jesus urges his followers to invest their treasure in things of the Kingdom, not because He needs their money and not just because God is glorious and deserves it all (though He is and He does), but because He knows that their hearts will follow. If all the goals and securities we work for on earth can fall through, are uncertain like the path in Van Gogh’s wheatfield, then our hearts can fall with them. He cares for our hearts not to be strung along and thus implores us to use our tangible choices to move our intangible hearts into a secure holding. When our efforts have His Kingdom in view, there is still sadness and there is still difficulty, but there is no risk of ultimate defeat; He has won. Redemption for this world is secured, and life to the full is promised for those who receive that unearnable gift.
Jesus tenderly tells his followers to fear not, as it is our Father’s “good pleasure” to give us the kingdom (v32). He wants our hearts connected to the real things behind the temporary things of this life, held securely in His hands and not the frail arms of the world.
Seek His kingdom. Seek and spend your life on ways to bring His vision for humanity here on earth now.
Closing PRAYER:
God, please help me see some things that I am investing time, money, or energy in right now that are uncertain.
God please give me an idea of a way or ways I can use my choices in time, money, or energy to invest myself in Your Kingdom during my life now.
