Unique Works of Art
/”Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
-From “The Summer Day“ by Mary Oliver
At the school whereI began my teaching career, they encouraged us to use the mimeograph machine rather than the xerox machine in an effort to save money. For those too young to have ever heard of such a thing, the mimeograph machine takes an original piece and then makes copies from the original as it circles around a drum loaded with ink. It was cheaper than the copy machine, but with every copy the ink was lighter, the words more faint. If you made enough copies, I suppose, eventually the words would be too faint to read.
It was not unlike my approach to painting when I started out. I took someone else’s work and tried to copy it. Because I was not very good, my version was nothing like the original so there was no worries of plagerism, but, like the mimeograph machine, the spiritual lesson was sitting on the canvas for me to discover.
Each of us was created unique, a one of a kind work of art. It’s one of the most basic and wonderful spiritual truths that we so often forget, or choose not to embrace. Instead, we spend our lives trying to be like other people. Maybe it’s a father or mother, teacher, or friend. We see someone we admire and set out to be like them. Following the examples of others can be a wonderful inspiration, but not when it comes at the cost of who WE are. If we try to imitate others, our uniqueness becomes more faint with each turn of the drum. The words of our own life become too faint to read.
I remember the story of a devout Jew named Isaac who died and, when at heaven’s gate, tried to explain how hard he tried to be Moses. God shook his head and said he was kind of hoping he would be Isaac.
I am guilty of trying to be someone other than who I was created to be. In the shadow of an amazing father, I thought it was my job to carry on his life through mine, as a teacher I tried to be like Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, and as a father I always wanted to be Atticus Finch as played by Gregory Peck in the movie adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. In each case, and countless others, I’ve been unsuccessful. Perhaps it’s time to stop the mimeograph machine and create a unique work of art out of the precious life I’ve been given.
Want to try it, too?