Monet

“…I am enraged not to be more skillful in rendering all this. I would need two hands and hundreds of canvases.” 

He was talking about one specific place in context of that quote but in the commentaries at the Monet Exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, his frustration in his ability to accurately render a place was often mentioned. Claude Monet was inspired by nature and it was absolutely breathtaking! I have seen these paintings printed in books before, but to be beholding the actual painting, the colors were brighter, the textures so rich it was hard not to be overcome by emotion by a lot of them. They were so intricate, every stroke intentional. Yet this great artist and impressionist still was often frustrated that he couldn’t quite capture the real beauty of where he was standing.

People in the museum had their phones and cameras, myself included, taking photos of these paintings. These photos that would never do any justice to the real thing. Beauty begets beauty, and beauty always demands to be shared - we can’t help it. This is what happens when you encounter something beautiful or when you encounter something overwhelming. You try to replicate it so that we can share it. Whether it be in pictures, paintings, words, or movement. I think it’s fascinating that Monet was overcome by the beauty of the place, tries to replicate it through his paintings, which we then pay to see, get overcome by the beauty and try to share. As I am doing now. 

See when you encounter Jesus, when you taste and see his goodness and his beauty we explode in worship. Whatever form it is, in song, in loving people, in simple surrender. Beauty begets beauty - we might feel it is never adequate because of the greatness of His beauty but your worship is beautiful and will cause others to go and find that beauty that you encountered first.

Monet would often go back to a place and paint it multiple times to really understand its beauty. May I never stop returning to the beauty of Jesus and exploding in the beautiful worship that he deserves.