Much like the beauty we can see in a dreary winter scene and know
that it will convert into spring and a colorful bouquet of flowers and
foliage, each new day is a golden moment in time, your life’s time, to
start afresh, to look anew, at what is ahead and paint life as you
would like it to be.
Prior to returning to the military as a Chaplain, I had the unique
opportunity of living in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. While living there
I worked and walked on the streets where American Illustrator Norman Rockwell affectionately depicted American life.
In my home office hang many of his canvases depicting real people:
family, friends, and neighbors living and experiencing true-to-life
moments. It has been reported that in his 84 years, he painted over 300
covers for the Saturday Evening Post, and
although critics didn’t always appreciate his talent, most people
instinctively are drawn to his work. It has helped me, and I think
many, to remember the good things in life. Rockwell once said of his work: “I paint life as I would like it to be.”
Like each of us, Rockwell could have looked at life, and then painted, “life as it really IS”.
He could have concentrated on the difficulties of life, the hatred,
suffering and pain. He could have filled his canvases with all the
cruelty, war, and ugliness of real life. He had plenty of models to go
with. He could have depicted some of the scenes as he lived through
WWI, The Great Depression, and WWII.
Although Stockbridge is a fairly small town, it had plenty of hard
and difficult times. Yet, despite all that he lived through, Rockwell
decided to choose all the good, kind, simple and happy times he could
find, to depict the joys and ironies of life he wanted to capture.
Could you imagine what it would be like if we decided to paint, in
our own mind’s eye, our life, as we really want it to be? We might be
surprised. We may see more of the good things: love, peace,
contentment, friendship and forgiveness, simply because we are focused
and looking for it. We might see and even realize the life we are
looking for.
Yeah, I know, this sounds like it is too good to be true, looking through “rose colored”
glasses and all. Most of us tend to see life from its ugly side.
However, great and wonderful things do actually happen on rather ugly
days. I know that my Marine son and many of our loved ones, who have
been in Iraq or other areas of combat, actually saw and experienced
some joy and beautiful things amidst the horrors of war.
Of Rockwell, one art critic stated: “He… reassured people of their own essential goodness. And that is a very powerful thing”. In an article it said that this is so powerful that, “for
many of us, Rockwell’s “life as he would like it to be” is somehow
remembered as life as it really WAS: the “good old days” for which we
long”.
If we can just grasp that those good old days never have to be over. We all have the power to take hold of our life and can “Paint life as we’d like it to be”. The more we decide to look for the positives in life, you know what? We may actually find them. If we do this, we may find “life as we would like it to be”
turning into our life as it really IS. I think that is what we really
long for when we look at a Rockwell painting. I know I do.
Again, as we see with winter turning into spring… may your every new
day, homecomings and reunions be as precious an original moment in time
that Rockwell himself would envy to capture. Our Picture Perfect…
It is my hope that this message will help you this week to, “mount up as on eagle’s wings”, and renews a little of your strength to keep moving forward and find joy… (Isaiah 40:31)
Until next week, may God bless you and may God continue to bless our great nation… SEMPER FI
Chaplain Ringo, is the Command
Chaplain at MCRD H&S BN, holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in
Counseling, and is a Certified Trauma Specialist.
Chaplain Ringo is a good friend and supporter of HealthWalk’s.
We are grateful that he is working with us on our integrated total
health approach to enhancing and restoring our veterans’ resilience for
re-engagement and for their transition from the high operational tempo
back to their families and civilian life.
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