Philippians 4:8 - See the Manure (but Focus on the Barn)

 

Little Sister Bay Resort Barn, c.1963

My dad set up an artist's studio in the home for his oil painting. I loved to smell the turpentine, the oils, and just sit nearby to watch. Sometimes we'd talk while he painted. He might paint still life: a bowl of fruit--never mind that the fruit was plastic. Another would include a plate of my mom's sweet rolls. (The rolls were real. And were later eaten.) Some of Dad's paintings were based on photographs that he or someone else had taken. Some were sketched and then painted from his own memories or imagination.

But not all art is painted in a studio. The French term, "en plein air," means "in plain air"... outdoor painting, especially for landscapes or anything painted outdoors.

A favorite vacation spot for our family was Little Sister Bay Resort in Door County, Wisconsin. Perhaps it was because my dad had grown up in the city; he always had an affinity for sheds, log cabins, and barns. The resort had an old, gray dairy barn that captured his imagination. He set up his easel and a lawn chair in the pasture and began painting a landscape with the barn as the centerpiece. He seemed a bit surprised when some cows came to observe his artistic efforts. Hadn't he noticed the cow pies that announced a potential audience?

I tended to be pessimistic as a kid, and a bit melancholic. My dad's sage advice was, "See the bad; focus on the good." That's exactly what he did when he painted that barn. He didn't pay attention to the manure all around him. He portrayed what captured his own eye: a stately, Wisconsin dairy barn.

The apostle Paul wrote,
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." (Philippians 4:8, New Living Translation, 2015)

He starts out saying, "think about what's true." Christians should deny that bad things truly exist. But what then?

Creator above,  There are plenty of reminders around us of manure: the ugly things, the evil things in the world. Broaden our minds to take in the larger landscape as well: everything else that is honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. In Christ's name, Amen.

 

There wasn't a manure in 2015!