God's Pattern in Life's Pieces

My brother, Ken, and I were born roughly ten years apart. That means for every “significant” birthday – especially the ones with round numbers – Ken has already blazed the trail.

While Ken and I share the same gene pool, we are different on many fronts. Over the years, those differences have provided wonderful opportunities to support, complement, and cheer for each other.

As I continue to journey through a more reflective season of life, I am increasingly aware of the lessons we can learn from those in our orbit who march to a different drumbeat. Ken is one of those individuals in my life.

Ironically, Ken and I are both painters.

I spent many summers during my high school and college years painting exteriors of residential homes in the heat and humidity of the Chicago suburbs. I was trained by College Craft painters to efficiently use a roller and a wide brush to cover large surface areas quickly.

Ken, on the other hand, spent his time painting with tiny brushes, watercolors, and oils. The success of his work was never measured by the number of boards he covered, but by the beauty he captured. Vivid, alternating colors and shapes that seemed to come alive – that was Ken.

My painting was all about transformation; his was about beauty. My work was about functionality; his was about aesthetics. My work had a five-year life expectancy; Ken’s is enduring.

Painting with a roller and a broad brush is easy. That is true for exterior walls, and it is true in life. If I can aggregate a large population and paint them all with the same brush, things become simpler.

But true beauty comes from smaller brushstrokes: personal engagement and individual connection. What Ken loves to do as a hobby, Jesus did as a lifestyle.

The Samaritans: Written off as a group with a wide brush.

The Samaritan woman at the well: A carefully and sensitively crafted, individual stroke.

Women, especially those with a reputation or a disorder: Rolled over without a second thought by society.

Women, according to the Creator: Beloved, valued, elevated, and healed.

The sick or impoverished: Judged and ignored by the masses, but to the Artist, filled with a beauty to be exposed and celebrated.

Painting with a broad brush is easy – lazy, perhaps. It allows us to dismiss an entire group of people as though they are monochromatic. But that is not how Jesus commands us to live, and He beautifully shows us a better way.

A tale of two painters. A roller and a wide brush versus an artist with concern and care for every stroke. One was good for a summer job; the other is for a lifetime.

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