“An important aspect of living through change and transition is the ability to take the longer view,” I read aloud these words to my class. “A fly walking across a work of art such as the Mona Lisa would have absolutely no chance of making sense of what was beneath its feet. Even we, who think we can see the whole picture are hard-pressed to express what this painting means to us! The Mona Lisa is mysterious. Life is the same. When we are stuck in one place, we can see only that tiny bit of the picture, and there appears to be no sense in it at all. We can’t see the longer view – a view that may well be a lot longer than our own lifetime – so how can we trust it?” (Margaret Silf’s The Other Side of Chaos, 82).
My heart does cartwheels whenever I meet an analogy I will never forget.
We are each like a fly walking on the face of the Mona Lisa, unable to fully comprehend the mysterious masterpiece beneath our feet. Firm faith in the longer view flies in the face of our desire to know now, to comprehend completely, to grasp fully what God is doing in this moment, on this day, in our lifetime and beyond. Harnessing the powerful perspective of God’s Holy Spirit, we must trust the LORD to guide our blind feet down the path to eternal wholeness, For we live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7, NIV).
Little fly, little fly, do not shuffle along, eyes glued down on the Mona Lisa…absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert…See things from God’s perspective (Colossians 3:2, MSG).
Believing without seeing, we trust the Creator of life’s mysterious masterpiece, living by faith into God’s longer view.
