The Empty Spaces

There are some "discoveries" I have that I want to marinate in and one of those discoveries is the idea that the empty parts of a painting are just as much a part of the beauty of the painting as the objects themselves.

What got me going in this direction was an article in the WSJ that was talking about Japanese paintings and the fact that their uniqueness was in the amazing amount of empty space. David Littlejohn writes, "One quality of Japanese art that puzzles Westerners is its astonishing degree of empty space."

And I thought, if my life consisted of the forming of a painting, the empty spaces would be like the moments we don't experience God or notice Him. That turns the direction of my life around 180 degrees. The heavy "pressure" to experience God or to seek Him or to notice Him or to be aware of what He is doing slips down off my shoulders and I am free.

So after church, I am cooking sausage for a sausage and rice recipe and am thinking, this so-called "non-moment" is just as much a part of the beauty of who I am as any ecstasy I feel when I sense His presence.