The Mercy of Layers
What is it about perfection that is so alluring and ensnaring?
None of us volunteer to try and try and try again. No one jumps at the opportunity to make an effort, make mistakes, and then...make amends. Nobody voluntarily signs up for the pain and heartache-- the trial and error-- of a layered life...but we know beauty when we see it, and most of the time, beauty is layered.
I still remember the first time I truly endeavored a painting on canvas. I could see the desired finished product in my head, and I just went for it.
But if you've ever worked with paints, you know that a blank canvas is not covered in one stroke of paint. In spite of my eager desire to complete the painting, there simply wasn't any way to fully complete a work of art without building up layers, or waiting for each layer to dry before beginning another.
The Mercy of Layers
And as I grew as an artist, I realized that every work of art that I deeply loved, always revealed a history, a story behind a story, a layer revealed and a layer hidden. I discovered that there is beauty and complexity that can only be achieved through many layers. Sometimes the loveliest surface is one that came as a result of trying again after a layer full of mistakes.
The Mercy of Layers
The Mercy of Layers
It is the beauty of reworking, building again, and allowing the past to bleed through the new story being told.
A life lived like that makes a glorious work of art.
I used to always feel scared when first staring down a blank, pristine canvas. The thought of not getting it right paralyzed me. But, now, knowing that mistakes are inevitable and part of the process, I have learned to consider layers a mercy; a mercy of new beginnings and second chances. That just as it is in our life in Christ, beautiful paintings are not produced with one stroke or one layer of paint...they are made lovely as His redeeming LOVE does the work of layering in our lives, covering over the ugliness of sin, and revealing the beauty of something new.
The Mercy of Layers
I'm drawing close, today, to the mercy of layers in my own life and the life I bring to a canvas...
Join me everyday this month for the Drawing Close series.
Day 1: Drawing Close Intro Day 2: A Portrait Day 3: Parts of A Whole Day 4: Be Strong and Courageous Day 5: A World Where There Are Octobers {My Birthday} Day 6: Keep Moving Forward Day 7: Bearing Fruit Day 8: Capturing Life In Motion Day 9: Real (Uncomfortable) Hospitality Day 10: In Process, In Progress Day 11: Beginnings Day 12: Underpinnings Day 13: Rest In Him Day 14: The Mercy of Layers Day 15: Day 16: Day 17: Day 18: Day 19: Day 20: Day 21: Day 22: Day 23: Day 24: Day 25: Day 26: Day 27: Day 28: Day 29: Day 30: Day 31: