Starry Night

During a recent visit to a Van Gogh exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Art, I was surprised to learn how prolific the painter was in the last few months of his life: 70 paintings in his last 70 days, including many masterpieces displayed in the exhibit.  As you probably know, Van Gogh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 37. These final paintings reveal a master at the very height of his painterly powers- bursting with emotion at the beauty he experienced in the world around him. Many paintings, like “Wheat Fields After the Rain,” convey the tranquility and peace that he drew from nature. They must have been a bulwark against a deeply troubled mind. In one portrait of a local woman, “The Arlésienne,” Van Gogh includes two books in the painting that he wants us to know are important to him. If you look closely, you can see the titles painted on the spines: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Interesting, isn’t it? The former is a novel about the conflict between the values of Christianity, as expressed through the social justice teachings of Jesus, and the extreme inequalities wrought by unbridled capitalism. And the latter, a work that highlights a similar conflict between the teachings of Jesus and the inhumanity of slavery. The exhibit guidebook confirms what I was getting a sense of during my visit with his works: that Van Gogh was striving to express the beauty of the divine that he saw and felt in the world around him. In fact, when discussing his painting The Sower, the exhibit guidebook says: “Van Gogh was a deeply spiritual person with an affinity for the subject of the sower as a symbol of regeneration, life, and the spread of Christianity.” He painted over 30 pieces on the theme of the sower, according to the guide.

And then, there is his painting “Starry Night.” As you turn the corner in the very last room of the exhibit…there it is. In a space full of masterworks, it seems as though it is the only painting in the room- that’s how vibrant and powerful it is. In this version - there are 21 versions of “Starry Night”, a couple is strolling along the water with the lights of their village shimmering across the harbor, beneath a sky full of fiery starlight. Through this swirl of color and globs of paint, we somehow experience the same magical moment this couple is soaking in. And it strikes me that the greatest masterpieces, at their most brilliant, only recreate these kinds of moments of beauty and wonder in world around them. Around us. The world God created for us to enjoy. Looking at Starry Night, I realize that I have savored the same profound sense of peace and awe in countless magical moments, strolling along the water in San Diego, as I’m sure you have enjoyed under the stars in the mountains, by a lake, or on your front porch holding hands with your beloved. Or holding your children on your lap- or tucking them in. Gifts from God. Scripture tells us: Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17.

Starry Night is breathtaking, but in the end, it is only a reproduction of what God provides for us all in real life- if we take a quiet moment to look up. The musical pairing is “Hallowed Ground.”  

Until next time, stay safe, be brave and keep walking in the light.

Hallowed Ground
Look up, look down
you are standing on hallowed ground
Look up, look down
We are standing on hallowed ground

Now some doors
God opens wide
You can step right up
and go inside
and some doors may be open to you
that sure enough
you should never go through

So look up, look down
you are standing on hallowed ground
Look up, look down
We are standing on hallowed ground

So take your crown
down off the shelf
Step right up
and express yourself
yes, polish up that golden crown
’cause you are standing
on hallowed ground

Look up, look down
we are standing on hallowed ground
Look up, look down
we are standing on hallowed ground