A Glimpse of Eternityනියැදිය

Wheatfield with Crows
VINCENT VAN GOGH

1890, Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 103 cm, The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; s0149V1962, David Tipling Photo Library / Alamy Stock Photo / WikiMedia.org

Opening Prayer

Lord, please draw my attention to the good, true, and beautiful in this artist’s work.

Open my mind to realize connections between the captivating elements of this painting and my core yearnings.

Stir within me those yearnings that expose how my soul longs to be with You for every moment of this life and for eternity.

Help me see my finite existence, including my daily labor, in light of your presence.

Art and theology connoisseur, Elizabeth Power, offers this insight from the Visual Commentary on Scripture:

As one of the last paintings Van Gogh was to create, the seemingly dead-end road at its centre is often seen as a symbol of the end of his own artistic labour, a kind of scar of his finite existence on the earth. Indeed, his heavy use of impasto technique draws attention to the painting as the work of his hands, just as the wheatfields are emblematic of human labour more broadly. But perhaps Van Gogh is not simply anticipating an end here, but asking, to what end is this labour?

With the flight of the birds, our eyes lift from the enveloping yellow toward that which is beyond it. Their minimalist black forms prompt us, with the Gospels, to remember this ‘more than’ value of our life and work[.]

Thoughts to reflect upon as you read the passage from Luke on the next page:

Art and theology connoisseur, Elizabeth Power, offers this insight from the Visual Commentary on Scripture:

As one of the last paintings Van Gogh was to create, the seemingly dead-end road at its centre is often seen as a symbol of the end of his own artistic labour, a kind of scar of his finite existence on the earth. Indeed, his heavy use of impasto technique draws attention to the painting as the work of his hands, just as the wheatfields are emblematic of human labour more broadly. But perhaps Van Gogh is not simply anticipating an end here, but asking, to what end is this labour?

With the flight of the birds, our eyes lift from the enveloping yellow toward that which is beyond it. Their minimalist black forms prompt us, with the Gospels, to remember this ‘more than’ value of our life and work[.]

The black and blue sky feels eerie, untrustworthy. The path ends in the field, in the midst of the work of our hands. There is something unsettling about the unknown and unpromised, and Jesus knows this.

“Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33-34).

Jesus urges his followers to invest their treasure in things of the Kingdom, not because He needs their money and not just because God is glorious and deserves it all (though He is and He does), but because He knows that their hearts will follow. If all the goals and securities we work for on earth can fall through, are uncertain like the path in Van Gogh’s wheatfield, then our hearts can fall with them. He cares for our hearts not to be strung along and thus implores us to use our tangible choices to move our intangible hearts into a secure holding. When our efforts have His Kingdom in view, there is still sadness and there is still difficulty, but there is no risk of ultimate defeat; He has won. Redemption for this world is secured, and life to the full is promised for those who receive that unearnable gift.

Jesus tenderly tells his followers to fear not, as it is our Father’s “good pleasure” to give us the kingdom (v32). He wants our hearts connected to the real things behind the temporary things of this life, held securely in His hands and not the frail arms of the world.

Seek His kingdom. Seek and spend your life on ways to bring His vision for humanity here on earth now.

Closing Prayer

God, please help me see some things that I am investing time, money, or energy in right now that are uncertain.

God please give me an idea of a way or ways I can use my choices in time, money, or energy to invest myself in Your Kingdom during my life now.