My father was a pretty good painter. While at university in Toronto, he took lessons from A.Y. Jackson and others of the famed Group of Seven. But as the years passed and his life got taken over, more and more, by academic studies in psychology and religion, he grew more and more cautious in his use of paint.
Perhaps the Depression and World War II had something to do with his change in attitude. Paint was expensive; canvas, unavailable. During the war years, he did some of his paintings on common cardboard coated with glue, to keep it from soaking up the oils in his paints.
Whatever the reason, as he grew older, his paintings became less bold, more monochromatic.
One day, a friend who was also a painter dropped in. She watched him working with fine brushstrokes and tiny dabs of paint. She squeezed flaming magenta onto his palette. She took his brush. She slapped a blob of magenta onto his canvas.
It stood out like an erupting volcano.
“There!” she commanded. “Paint to that!”
To his credit, my father did. A single blob of vivid colour changed that painting. And all the paintings\ he did thereafter.
What’s worthwhile, anyway?
I think of that in the context of a discussion that a group of editors had, earlier this year. It started as a discussion of what one can, or could, charge for one’s editing services. It morphed into a discussion of the value of editing.
Editing is more than just correcting spelling and punctuation. One editor called it, “the wonderful and sometimes excruciating task of moulding big ideas into elegant and accessible words.”
Another editor wrote, “Not every job I do makes the world a better place. But I also admit that I get a sense of accomplishment from improving something even if, in the greater scheme of things, that something is not world-changing. Doing good work can be fulfilling in its own way.”
I agree. During my editing years, I slogged away at manuscripts, reports, and newsletters that would never have any impact on the world. They would not solve conflicts in the Middle East, trade wars across the Pacific, or partisan bickering in Question Period. They would not even change anyone’s mind.
And I also disagree. Because “world-changing” things do not happen only at the highest levels of government. Making a text -- even an unimportant text -- clearer, cleaner, easier to read and easier to comprehend, is never a wasted effort.
Any more than adding a blob of colour to a painting was a waste of paint.
Indeed, it is the only way that change happens. Every great wave sweeping across the ocean begins as tiny ripples. Every social revolution starts with one woman refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Memphis. With one student standing in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square. With one hockey player from Humboldt donating his organs so that others might live.
Christianity – whether you endorse it or not -- started with one human being, living in a fractious corner of the mighty Roman Empire, coming from a town that even his fellow Jews considered backward.
Changing the world starts small.
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Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.
To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca
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YOUR TURN
For some reason, I received more feedback about my psalm paraphrase (of Psalm 23) than about the column on Earth Day.
Isabel Gibson wrote, “That's a stunning beautiful paraphrase of Psalm 23. As I sat with my dying mother, sorting through many awful bits of Scripture recommended for funerals, I wish now I'd thought of your book of paraphrases, which was on the bookshelf in the next room.”
Bob Mason: “You have used this paraphrase of the Shepherd's Psalm previously in your column, and I printed it off, and regularly use it, along with the King James version, in my daily devotions. Thanks for sharing it again.”
And Margaret Marquis: “Last Saturday, as my husband was transitioning into the final phase of his life on earth, we read that to him and for our comfort. I would like to use it on the bulletin for his memorial service, if you would allow that.”
Of course I said yes.
Okay, now to comments about Earth Day.
Tom Watson wondered “how many gazillion plastic water bottles are littering our landfill sites? I can see people using bottled water where their own is not fit to drink but, somehow, many have been suckered into thinking that bottled water is better for them than their tap water...in spite of the fact that both may well come from the same aquifer, and costs perhaps as much as 80 times more out of the bottle than out of the tap. Here in the Guelph, Ontario area Nestle Corporation pays a pittance to draw water and then sell it back to consumers in bottles -- their new agreement, if signed, would allow Nestle to draw 4.7 million liters of water per day, at a cost of $4 per million liters.
“Recent studies show that bottled water contains micro plastic fragments so I guess people must like ingesting plastic along with their water. Also, I wonder what kind of microbes grow in the bottles that sit in the hot sun on pallets outside various vendors?”
On that last point, some UBC researchers have found that setting bottles of water out in the sun sterilizes it. Strangely enough, they’re recommending that people in some African countries who don’t have access to clean water can use those plastic bottles as a means of getting safer water.
Lynne McNaughton connected my column to “Sally McFague's writing on metaphor and her book The Body of God: an ecological theology. [Ever since reading it]I have thought of Earth as God's Body. God is not limited to God's body, and is beyond Earth, the same way we are more than our bodies. Thinking of Earth as God's Body makes it holy, to be treated with reverence.”
Bob Rollwagen concurred with my point: “You got it. No comment needed. Even my kids have figured it out, in fact some of my grandkids have figured it out. Looking at the so-called leaders dealing with the climate issues, I understand their concern for their future.”
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PSALM PARAPHRASES
I suppose it’s a sign of progress that every time I use this paraphrase of the closing verses of Psalm 22, I feel compelled to make further amendments.
25 In every part of the world, there are those who honor God. They form a great congregation of the faithful.
26 And this is their sign -- the poor among them no longer go to sleep hungry; their weak are protected, their strangers welcomed. Their God gives life to the forgotten!
27 From the river deltas to the mountain tops, from the rain forests to the ice caps, all nations, all peoples, all creation lives and breathes its praise of the Creator.
28 For in the end, everything comes back to God, who is incarnate in all life.
29 Fat moles that burrow in the earth and birds the fly above it, sleek fish that swim the oceans and birds that feather the sky, all owe their being to God. None are self-sufficient; they will all decay into dust, except as they live in God.
30 As they teach their children about the great mystery of life, their successors will also serve the Lord. Thus the Lord touches generations still unborn, and transcends the tyranny of time.
For paraphrases of mostof the psalms used by the Revised Common Lectionary, you can order my book Everyday Psalmsfrom Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.
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TECHNICAL STUFF
If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, jimt@quixotic.ca.
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I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca
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PROMOTION STUFF
To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols.
Ralph Milton ’s latest project is called “Sing Hallelujah” -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at wwwDOTsinghallelujahDOTca
Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up, http://wwwDOThymnsightDOTca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)
Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,”an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca>
I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom
Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town -- not particularly religious, but fun; alvawoodATgmailDOTcom to get onto her mailing list.
Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony”-- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’sreaders. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom or twatsonATsentexDOTnet