It has been said that these are times when the speediness of our response is more important than listening, reading, thinking, processing and formulating a suitable answer.
This image made me stop in my tracks and look again...and again...and consider... What did the artist mean? Which image came first? Is it a trick, a joke, or is there a deeper layer still?
I love that it made me linger.
Things aren't what they seem. A quick response is risky in many situations. The danger of misunderstanding being that you may respond with words to be regretted.
Another risk of going too fast, is missing out. On beauty.
What I love in art is that sometimes you just don't understand. You know something worthy is being said, sung, drawn or portrayed. Something worthy of your attention. Something perhaps too wonderful to fully grasp. Mystery.
Every human being is such a piece of art. Abraham Lincoln once said:
What if we found time to look for that good in one another?
Mother Theresa was declared a saint this weekend. Immediately media challenge whether she's worthy of such a title. Apparently she wasn't all good. Poor woman. She probably knew better than anyone that she was a struggling human being. She didn't ask to be worshiped. The criticism on her is the opposite of what I'm advocating here. We find someone admirable and immediately look for proof that they were flawed, so we can justify ourselves. What if we were slower to judge and more eager to see heroism in ordinary people?
I don't know if anyone should be called a saint. Such post-mortem pressure on a person! And I don't think their mistakes should prevent us from having a look at their qualities or from heeding their good advice.
Every person deserves to be seen from more than one perspective.
This image made me stop in my tracks and look again...and again...and consider... What did the artist mean? Which image came first? Is it a trick, a joke, or is there a deeper layer still?
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| work of an unknown fotographer, the idea of a portrait front on and in profile is of Erwin Blumenfeld (source: Pinterest) |
I love that it made me linger.
Things aren't what they seem. A quick response is risky in many situations. The danger of misunderstanding being that you may respond with words to be regretted.
Another risk of going too fast, is missing out. On beauty.
What I love in art is that sometimes you just don't understand. You know something worthy is being said, sung, drawn or portrayed. Something worthy of your attention. Something perhaps too wonderful to fully grasp. Mystery.
Every human being is such a piece of art. Abraham Lincoln once said:
"I don't like that man. I'll have to get to know him better."The humanist believes all men essentially have good intentions. The Christian believes all men have something of God hidden inside them.
What if we found time to look for that good in one another?
Mother Theresa was declared a saint this weekend. Immediately media challenge whether she's worthy of such a title. Apparently she wasn't all good. Poor woman. She probably knew better than anyone that she was a struggling human being. She didn't ask to be worshiped. The criticism on her is the opposite of what I'm advocating here. We find someone admirable and immediately look for proof that they were flawed, so we can justify ourselves. What if we were slower to judge and more eager to see heroism in ordinary people?
I don't know if anyone should be called a saint. Such post-mortem pressure on a person! And I don't think their mistakes should prevent us from having a look at their qualities or from heeding their good advice.
Every person deserves to be seen from more than one perspective.
