Day 4: A Masterpiece

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Eph. 2:10 - “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

So, the above is a bible verse that says that you and I are masterpieces of God. I believe that wholeheartedly, which is a special liberation for me because in those inevitable moments where I feel invalid (in whatever capacity), I can reflect that I am not a mistake, and hence, there is more to be seen than I do in that moment. Even if you have no belief in God, and instead think that you exist solely because of the process of natural selection, it means that you exist today because your features, your traits and characteristics were superior and made you better adapted to survive your environment. Imagine this: whether you believe in God or in a spontaneous natural process of evolution, the fact that you survived to this moment means that you have what it takes to do so. 

If you believe that you are a fine specimen of everything you are supposed to be, that doesn't mean you have everything all set. Actually, if you are a masterpiece it means that you should take care of your surfaces, it means that exposure to extreme temperatures may dull your beauty and you may need to be touched up. The challenge for you and I, masterpieces that we are, is to make sure that the conditions in which we are kept and the means by which we are restored do not compromise the original work of art. 

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The above is a Spanish painting (Ecce Homo, or Behold the Man) originally completed by artist Elias Garcia Martinez in the 1800s, an endeavour commissioned by the church that it has been in for more than 100 years. Recently (August, 2012), an 80 year old woman took it upon herself to restore the painting (picture on the right). Apparently, critics have taken to calling the painting "Ecce Mono" or Behold the Monkey, because of the extent to which the church patron altered the work. 

To go back to our ideas about Masterpieces, some amount of supervision is necessary when you restore yourself to your original glory. If light and moisture (read: the stresses of life) make your colours less brilliant, or etch holes in your canvas, you must be restored. In doing so though, you have to protect the integrity of your original work. To use the natural selection argument, if you find your old methods no longer sustainable, or the practices no longer produce food for you and your family, then you have to evolve. In either stance, you must follow a trusted path to restoration, lest you transform or evolve into something altogether separate from your original self. 

My position is that you have good inside of you. It is that the deep seated person that only you know about is the one that needs to come out. People walk by and they add a brush stroke here or a hostile environment there and these things show up on us when our colours start becoming dull. When people can't really describe you when asked, or when they describe you and you don't recognise the person that they've illustrated, then you know you're starting to fade. It's time to be restored. 

Do you know where your good restoration is? The kind that will take you back to your original glory? Today I'm thinking about this question, because ultimately this suggests that I am enough, I have enough and who I am originally is beautiful. 

I believe this of you, too.