Supporting the Arts
I celebrate people I know or have met who are authors. Two friends since my teens have books. Charles Harkins wrote a sweet, gentle story for his grandson called Naptime Adventures of Luksi the Turtle. Another friend, James R. Haley wrote The Unlocking Melody which I describe as a thought provoking, religious, science fiction. A while back I wrote about a talented muralist, Phillip Martin. I was delighted with the artwork and the stories from other countries and his experiences that he turned into books.
Today at a farmers’ market, I was blessed to meet Margaret Omokhodion Tari at a farmers’ market. She had been born and raised in Nigeria, come to America, and been a second grade teacher for twenty years. Like me, she loves that age and believes in the importance of reading. Most importantly, we share the love of our Savior.
She expressed her desire that children enjoy reading. It was important for her to be able to share storybooks that would show children of other cultures and color. Her book was informative to me – one who has a limited experience with other countries and their customs.
This book, Ose, is a retelling of Cinderella from the standpoint of a polygamous family in Africa. She explained that was common back in the day, but not widely practiced now in her culture. How interesting!
Between Margaret and Phillip, I now have an interest in reading stories from other cultures.
Though my books are adult rather than child oriented, I have purposely left out physical descriptions of most of my characters so the reader can imagine them to look like what they would want. Since I have often read that an author should write stories within her own sphere of knowledge or experience, I’m sure most of my characters act like a typical person of my ethnicity.
Last week, I read through a book by Gary Larson, the author of The Far Side. His story of the creative process and the angst involved in his artistic endeavor. I so appreciated his honesty, as well as his funny cartoons. Quirky creativity is right up my alley.
Today, I also spoke with a guy who works with wood and glass and saw beautiful wooden mosaics and jewelry by others. Another vendor offered cute children’s clothing. Others sold homemade jellies and pastries while others had pots of all sorts of unique plants for sale.
I honor those who dabble in the arts or make it their full-time job. And yes, baking is an art! And successfully propagating plants is definitely an impressive skill!
As we go through life, let’s value the imaginative abilities of others who dedicate hours and hours doing something they love and want to share with others.
Since we are made in God’s image – the ultimate Creator – should we follow His lead?
I love the verses in Exodus that describes the man who was filled with the Spirit of God and gave him skill, intelligence, knowledge and craftsmanship to devise artistic designs. The man was also given a heart for teaching others.
Though 1 Timothy 4 speaks of spiritual things, does it make sense to anyone else that we can apply these words to the talents God has given us? The command to not neglect the gift we have is also mentioned in Romans 12 we are told, ‘Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.’
I apologize to any of the readers who are offended by my Biblical references being used in day-to-day applications, but God does say He is concerned with what concerns me. He wants to be part of every part of my life, and I like to let Him!
Blessings
KB
