Ecclesiastes 3:11 “God has made everything beautiful in its time. God has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
I was listening to a program on NPR about marriage as I drove home from an event earlier this month and they mentioned Michelangelo and his ideas on sculpting. (I really don’t remember the connection they made between Michelangelo and marriage!) When Michelangelo sculpted he did not carve INTO the stone but rather sought to REMOVE stone which was not necessary. In essence, he removed the superfluous and kept the important parts. In his mind, the sculpture was already within the stone and his job as an artist was to chip away what was not needed and bring forth the beautiful figure within.
I pondered this in relation to what I’ve experienced spiritually. I imagined a sculptor chipping away on stone and saw pieces of stone and dust flying away from a large chunk of rock in my mind’s eye. I imagined the clank*clank*clank of the hammer striking the chisel and envisioned the hour after hour the sculptor worked. Slowly the image emerged. It was rough at first but the sculptor refined it with smaller chisels and sandpaper until the figure fully emerged from the stone.
God is like a sculptor. God gently carves away the parts of the stone in which we are encased and slowly refines our rough edges into a thing of beauty.  In my own life, I’ve experienced the feeling of parts of myself being chipped away, polished, and refined. Sometimes it is a painful process. Other times the excess falls off with a gentle nudge of the chisel. I believe God sees the work of art we all are. God sees each one of us as unique individual sculpture molded and formed with Love and Grace. God makes everything – and everyone – beautiful in their own time. That’s hard to take in about myself. I am a unique and beautiful sculpture formed by the Love and Grace of the Creator. Wow!
I invite you to reflect on that very idea – YOU are unique and beautiful and molded by Grace and Love of a Creator who created all things GOOD. It even says it in the Good Book. “God saw all that God had created and it was very good.” Gen 1:31
What parts of you have been “carved away” recently? What aspects of yourself need further polishing? How do you resist God from “taking away” what is not needed? What is your beauty within? What aspects of yourself can you see emerging as the rough edges are polished and refined? How are you “very good”?
Remember: You ARE a work of art and you ARE good. You are unique and special in the eyes of The Sculptor. When you feel those rough edges or feel encased in stone, not quite fully formed, remember the unnecessary parts are being chipped away and polished. Your beauty and goodness is emerging. God will make all things beautiful in time. God created all and it IS very good.
If you would like to talk more about how you are being sculpted, please contact me. I would be honored to companion you on your journey.
Blessings always,
Christy
I was thinking of you this am. In my reflection was in response to the Gospel and being true my heart cleansing the inside. So often having to get up and start again, knowing that in the ups and downs I/We have to chip away at those things that are seemingly stuck in place until it is time for the beauty to shine forth. Thanks for the opportunity to share. Ruth Eggering