The genius Renaissance
artist Leonard Da Vinci once remarked, “Art is never finished only abandoned.” Artists
fail to complete their work for many reasons. Sometimes outside events
intervene. Other times they lose the spark of inspiration and creativity. In
some instances, they may deliberately leave their work unfinished in order to
make an artistic statement.
For every great work of art,
literature, or music that gets completed, there are probably just as many that
are abandoned and left unfinished because of wars, political strife, lack of
funding, or the death of the artist. Most of these works are lost and forgotten,
but some of these instances of “art interrupted” are still considered incomplete
masterpieces.
Speaking of Da Vinci, his most
famous piece of unfinished art was left undone due to circumstances outside his
control. In the 15th century, Da Vinci was commissioned by the Duke
of Milan to build a statue of a horse to honor his father. Da Vinci spent
twelve years working on the statue, and in 1492 he unveiled the 23-foot tall
clay model of his “Gran Cavallo,” which was praised by many as one of the most
beautiful works of art ever created. But before the mold of the horse could be
cast in bronze, war broke out between France and Italy. The Duke then decided
to donate the 200,000 pounds of metal intended for the horse to the military,
which used it to build cannons. Da Vinci’s massive horse statue was never
completed, and it is said that the invading French archers later used his clay
horse model for target practice.
Da Vinci's "Gran Cavallo"
Then there is Mozart’s
Requiem. Shortly before his death in 1791, the famed composer was contacted by
a mysterious stranger and commissioned to write a Requiem to be played at a
ceremony for the man’s deceased wife. Mozart, who was ailing from an
unidentified illness, supposedly took the task as a sign of his own impending
mortality, and even came to believe that the piece he was composing was
actually a requiem for his own funeral. Mozart died before the piece could be
completed, and the missing movements were finished by one of his students,
Franz Sussmayr. The haunting melodies of the Requiem are still touching lives
today.[1]
In 1945 while vacationing
in Warm Springs, Ga. at his part-time home, The Little White House, President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt agreed to sit for a portrait. The artist, Elizabeth Shoumatoff,
decided to portray a highly flattering depiction of the President, who was
emaciated and obviously ill at the time. On April 12, 1945, her second day of
painting the President, Shoumatoff was filling in the outlines of his face and
shoulders. Roosevelt experienced a severe pain in the back of his head and
collapsed. He died three hours later in his bed. As a result, the painting was
never finished. It remains on display in the Little White House, a testament to
the vagaries of fate.[2]
These instances of unfinished
work are a sad reality of this fallen planet. We all have instances of dashed
hopes, dreams deferred and nagging thoughts of what might have been. The unpredictable
nature of this life robs us of the opportunities to reach our fullest
potential.
Yet, as I open the pages
of Scripture I find that this is an incredibly compelling reason for the hope
of heaven. Notice the promise tagged on the end of this verse in Rev. 22:3, “And
there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in
it, and His servants shall serve Him.”
Take notice of Jesus’ words concerning heavenly stewardship in Matt. 25:23, “His
lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful
over a few things, I will make you ruler
over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”
Contrary to what you might
have been taught to believe, in heaven we will not be sitting on clouds,
strumming harps and eating bon-bons with the angels. According to the Bible, we
will be serving Christ and ruling over the New Heavens and New Earth as His
stewards. One thing is for sure, heaven will not be boring. And I believe that God
promises to make up for the heartbreak of this earth by giving us the chance to
regain what was lost in this life. In heaven the curse of sin will be totally
reversed (Rev. 22:3). The blight of this curse is far-reaching but in heaven I
believe we will recover lost time, talents, relationships, resources and opportunities.
Study this excerpt from
Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven: “Are you living
with the disappointment of unfulfilled dreams? In heaven you’ll find their fulfillment.
Did poverty, poor health, war or lack of time prevent you from pursuing an adventure
or dream? Did you never get to finish building that boat or painting that
picture or writing that book—or reading that pile of books? Good news. On the
New Earth you will have a second chance to do what you dreamed of doing—and far
more besides . . . The smartest person God ever created in this world may have
never learned to read because he or she had no opportunity. The most musically
gifted person may never have touched an instrument. The greatest athlete may
never have competed in a game. The sport your best at may be a sport you’ve
never tried, because your favorite hobby is one that you’ve thought of. The
reversing of the Curse, and the resurrection of our bodies and our Earth, mean
we’ll regain lost opportunities and inherit many more.”[3]
Let this hope fill your
heart, child of God (Col. 3:2). Your best days have yet to arrive. Your perfect
body is waiting. Your heavenly home is being prepared (John 14:3). Your ashes
will become something beautiful. Your Savior is making all things new (Rev.
21:5). -DM
No comments:
Post a Comment