Saturday, April 26, 2014

The Artist and the Pie Pans

An artist friend told me about a fellow artist who had a factory job, where he put a sheet of metal into a machine and pressed a button. A hydraulic press then descended on the sheet and formed a set of pie pans. His friend put them into a box and when the box was full he placed it onto a conveyor belt. Same thing, every shift.

He asked his friend, a bright fellow, why he did such an unchallenging job. "When I am at work, I can think about my art all the time," he replied.

I know just how he felt. I have avoided jobs that require a lot of thought. It is as if I felt, "You can have my body for eight hours a day, but my mind belongs to me." That is how I became the nothing I am today.

When we think of those who tended flocks, great men of the Bible, it speaks so well of their occupations. By the time of the birth of Jesus, I understand shepherds were "out of style", relics of a pre-empire age. Yet the angel announced His birth to them.

At His resurrection, women were the first witnesses. No status there either.

Later, as a night time security guard, I found the ideal job--read for hours on company time. And I did, for years.

Society may look down on shepherds, uneducated women, and security guards, but I am so thankful that God does not.

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