I recently watched a delightful movie called The Half of It. It’s a coming-of-age-comedy-drama stoked with some splendid narrative. At a critical juncture in the movie, one of the characters, Aster, explains that she “had a painting teacher once tell her that the difference between a good painting and a great painting is typically five strokes, and they are usually the five boldest strokes in the painting.” Most people who paint don’t want to ruin a pretty good painting by making a bold stroke, and so they settle for a pretty good painting.  

This is certainly not the way that it is with God. The story of the creation of the world has God making bold stroke after bold stroke until finally, as God steps back to survey what God has done, God declares it “very good.” And it doesn’t stop with the creation either. The Bible is full of stories about God making bold strokes… empowering Sarah to give birth in her old age, felling Goliath with a small round stone, tumbling the unrelenting walls of Jericho, protecting Daniel in the fierce lions’ den, empowering the utterly impoverished and unwed Mary to give birth to the Messiah, ripping the thick veil of the temple in two as Jesus dies upon the cross. Further, Jesus’ ministry on earth is depicted as a collage of bold strokes… changing water into wine, healing on the Sabbath, casting demons into pigs, walking on the water, overturning the tables of the money changers, washing the disciples feet.

If we are to take seriously the witness of Holy Scripture, then we must conclude that God does not shy away from taking some bold strokes in God’s relationship with human beings. Sure, there are days and days, even years and years, when God’s brush strokes are quite mundane and ordinary. But it is the pattern of God also to make some big, bold strokes. God does this because, well, God is painting something great, not just pretty good.

As we partner with God in rendering the paintings of our lives, I wonder… where are the 5 bold strokes? Can we see any occasions when we dared greatly to follow Christ even when it meant ridicule or risk or sacrifice? Or are we so concerned with not messing up something pretty good that we have settled for a life-painting with no bold strokes? Do we yearn for our lives to be great in God’s sight? Or are we playing it safe day after day after day? Before we make the next decision for our lives, before we make the next movement of our brush, perhaps we might ask ourselves, “Is this the best stroke I can make?”

~ Father Art