Last year Patricia and I got the opportunity to hear in concert the singer Don McLean.
His song “Vincent” has always been one of my favorites. McLean, painting with words, captures the essence of Van Gogh’s genius:
Colors changing hueMorning fields of amber grainWeathered faces lined in painAre soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand
That beautiful image, “Weathered faces lined in pain, are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand,” reminds me of my high calling as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I too am called to “sooth the weathered faces.”
My prayer this morning is:
Lord, please help me see my hurting world as deeply as Vincent Van Gogh saw his.
‘The Potato Eaters’ (1885) by Vincent Van Gogh, via the New York Times