Look East

"Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the star, is on the way."      

Lyrics Credit:  Stanza 4 from People Look East written by Eleanor Farjeon 

       

Perhaps this article would have been best served a few weeks ago, but I didn’t know that “East” would be my ‘Word of the Year’. 

Let's begin.

Recently created family art-work, a Spanish painter named Antoni Tapies born in 1923, and a hymn written in 1871, were all factors that inspired today’s musings.  Intertwining these seemingly unconnected elements will be my goal this morning.

The original decision for the word “East” was triggered by the idea that the quickest way to see the sunrise is not to chase the sun as it sets in the west, but to go East and catch the sunrise.  This metaphor reveals that to find light quickly, we must walk through the dark of night. This is not a comfortable thought, but logic says, "True."

Recently, I was intrigued by Antoni Tapies's quote in a document he called The Game of Knowing How to Look.

"Take a look at the simplest of objects. Let's take, for example, an old chair. It seems like nothing.

But think of the universe comprised within it: the sweaty hands cutting the wood that used to be a robust tree, full of energy, in the middle of a luxuriant forest by some high mountains. The loving work that built it, the joyful anticipation of the one who bought it, the tired bodies it has helped, the pains and the joys it must have endured, whether in fancy halls or in a humble dining room in your neighborhood.

Everything, everything shares life and has its importance! Even the most worn down of chair carries inside the initial force of the sap climbing from the earth, out there in the forest, and will still be useful the day when, broken into kindling, it burns in some fireplace."

I am not an artist.  For the most part, I don’t understand things like the LLibertat of Mr. Tapies.  I would be lost in a museum of art and probably bored out of my mind.  Sorry to offend. 

But I do like creativity. People in my family seem to have some artistic abilities and I thoroughly enjoy their masterpieces! 

The hymn points to seeing the Star in the darkness of the sky. The painter encourages us to see everything around us in a more thoughtful and exploratory manner.  The masterpiece-of-family-creation allows me to see what’s in their hearts and minds.

I think I can tie these components together with just one word, "See".

Every creation can be examined from unique angles. Spend time to think with your heart, soul, and mind.  Use logic,  use emotion, and use personal experience combined with imagination. The light that is available to each of us is found in these words from the quote above.  

"Everything, everything shares life and has its importance!"

Let's practice on old chairs, buildings, and trees. Let's develop our senses to bring us to SEE our neighbor as well. 

Everyone, everyone shares life and has importance!

"Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly."  -  Mark 8:25