The Painting, A Parable

In the last several years, my wife and I have been gaining more and more appreciation for antiques. In an increasingly disposable world, we have come to recognize and admire the quality and care put into things meant to last generations. I also recently finished The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, a convicting book that corroborates the simple, methodical approach that is pro-hand-carved and anti-flat-pack. All this to say, in my personal life and my counseling practice, I am growing to understand that the way of Jesus is simple and deep and slow and quiet.

It was in this spirit that my wife and I recently visited the flea market with a friend. If you haven’t been to a flea market, I advise caution: it is a sprawling cacophony of a few diamonds surrounded by a lot of rough. It’s kind of like a hundred garage sales shoved into a building big enough to fit seventy-five garage sales. But for those willing to patiently brave the chaos, there are sometimes delightful rewards.

On this particular visit, I had an inexplicable feeling as I walked in that I was going to find an original painting, which was a feeling I have never had before. Sure enough, as I scanned the wares, I found it about a third of the way through my journey. I saw it from far off: an original oil painting in a custom fine art frame. You see, my father is an artist, and my time with him trained me to instantly recognize a valuable work of art, even when hundreds if not thousands of people had missed it before me. 

"Mr. Popular" - Anita Mosher Solich

The painter’s skill was evident: a masterful, courageous use of color; rich oils generously applied, the dimension of form beckoning from the canvas; a timeless, pastoral scene inviting the viewer to sample and emulate its merits. As I drank it in, my heart leapt. It seemed too good to be true. I researched the artist and learned she was a renowned local painter. The price for this painting was impossibly low, so I decided to purchase it and figure out what to do with it later.

In the days that followed, I reached out to the artist, who recognized her work and confirmed its authenticity. Interestingly, she mentioned that many people have reached out to her claiming to be in possession of her work, yet most of those turned out not to be hers. But mine was. She kindly issued me a certificate of authenticity and a dollar value for insurance purposes. The true value of the painting was over fifty times what I had paid for it.

The more my wife and I looked at this painting throughout those days, the more we fell in love with it. We decided to hang it in my office, where it will stay for the foreseeable future to be appreciated by many and to offer this parable:

This painting is like many of my clients. You are masterfully created, imbued with immense value. This world is the flea market. It places a price on you — one far below your real worth. As a therapist, I am me in this story. I have been trained by my Father to see your true nature and to help accomplish that work of redemption. For you have been purchased at a price. God himself recognizes his workmanship, the immeasurable worth he placed within you. He calls you to reject that flea market price tag and to accept your actual value, functioning as he has designed you: to display his glory, to bless and encourage others. And it is precisely by accepting that appraisal that the function is best fulfilled.

I pray you may you see the Artist's masterful strokes within yourself, for each part has been designed, crafted with care and intention. May you obediently and humbly agree with his appraisal, and may you submit yourself to display the riches of his glory, his goodness, and his love as he wills. May you boast in him, not hiding yourself under a basket but accepting your God-given radiance so you may shine before men and proclaim Christ.

* I should mention that my mother is also a highly skilled artist, and I learned just as much from her! For purposes of the parable, though, I wrote specifically about my father in this post. Love you, Mom and Dad!