'The Artist' - A Blog About Time

The Artist: Oil on canvas by Avril Thomas.
Used with permission 

My husband, Marc, and I recently celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. We booked a gorgeous B&B at McLaren Vale and snuggled together in the warmth as the wind blasted rain against the windows. It was great to spend quality time together in this cosy retreat.
      When we checked out on Sunday morning we decided to look at some art galleries. We considered a list of local galleries but in the end we only braved the weather to take in one exhibition, that of South Australian artist, Avril Thomas, at Magpie Springs winery in Willunga.
     Avril’s works are striking. I immediately liked the large portrait of South Australian politician, Alexander Downer, and a series of paintings commissioned by the Flinders Medical Centre. These are unusual: Oil paintings of medical professionals, including doctors and nurses working in an operating theatre.  I enjoy Avril’s ‘tonal realism’ style and the humanity that seems to imbibe her work.
     But there was one painting that stood out for me. The Artist (pictured above) depicts a woman in the act of creating. Colours on her palate stream onto brushes and onto the canvas as the woman paints an image of herself in the act of painting. On first impression I thought it a passionate, unusual work, but then I saw the small hourglass in the lower right quadrant of the painting.
     The beauty of art, whatever its form, is that it can pierce us in that place which is the core of who we are. It doesn’t matter whether the medium is oil paint or music or words, art can get inside us and bring conviction. The small hourglass in the painting suggests that time is passing. The notes to the side of the painting explain that the hourglass symbolises the finite nature of time – the artist only has so many days to do the things they’ve been made to do.
     As I looked at this painting I sensed that God was speaking to me. ‘Are you doing what I made you to do?’
     The conviction didn’t come with judgement. There was no, ‘Come on Susan, you need to do more. MORE!’ It came instead with a sweet sense of grace. I’m in the middle of my life and God has spoken things over me along the way: A call to ministry, a call to write and I think to visual art as well. He has given me some wonderful promises that have budded but are yet to fully flower and fruit.  Am I tending those promises as fully as I can? God reminded me that the time available to do that is finite. I need to seek his face and make some tough decisions.
     In Ecclesiastes 3:1 it says there’s a time for everything under the sun. So I don’t think Jesus wants us to drop everything and make our art the sole priority. There’s a right time and place for everything. But I sense that for some reading this, like me, God is saying, ‘You’ve been patient, you’ve waited, now it’s time to do the things you've been made for.’
     What things has God put on your heart to do?

Sue Jeffrey was born in Scotland but moved to Brisbane, Australia with her family when she was just a wee lass. After a childhood spent reading, drawing and accumulating stray animals, Sue studied veterinary science and later moved to Adelaide where she worked as both a vet and a pastor. After a sojourn of several years in the Australian Capital Territory, Sue returned to Adelaide with two dogs, a very nice husband, and a deepdesire to write. Sue has a MA in creative writing and her short stories and poems have appeared in several anthologies including Tales of the Upper Room, Something in the Blood: Vampire Stories With a Christian Bite and Glimpses of Light. Her e-book Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story is available on Amazon.com. Sue also paints animal portraits.

Is Writing Your 'Calling'? (Sue Jeffrey)

As Christians we use the word ‘call’ a lot. Does God have a calling on our life? Has he called us to write or is writing a distraction from the important things in life such as earning money for our retirement or serving the Lord in a mosquito infested third world country? If writing is part of our calling, what are we called to write?

I remember having this conversation with God almost ten years ago. I was newly married and my husband and I had recently moved to Adelaide from Canberra. I was doing a veterinary locum and I had a couple of hours free in the middle of the day so I decided to go for a walk and talk to God about writing. I’d heard from a friend that the Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing at Tabor-Adelaide was a great course. I wanted to do it, but I wasn’t sure I was meant to. God had given me a clear call to ministry when I was 25 and I’d worked as a pastor for a few years. Was I meant to write fiction? Surely it was more likely that God wanted me to go an above-mentioned mosquito infested country.

I walked through the Payneham streets talking to God about this.

‘I want to do this Lord, but I’m not sure I’m meant to.’

Then God spoke to me by a strong impression in my spirit. ‘Go back to your car, drive to Koorong bookstore, pick a book off the shelf and open it. There you will find your guidance.’

I checked my watch. I had just enough time, so I drove to Koorong and walked inside. The first book that caught my eye was Max Lucado’s, Cure For the Common Life and I opened it (randomly) to page 28 and read:

'That last question trips up a lot of well meaning folks. God wouldn’t let me do what I like to do – would he? According to Paul, he would. “God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases him.” (Phil. 2:13 NCV).’

I was stunned that the Lord would answer me so quickly and so clearly. He wanted me to write? I was amazed. I enrolled at Tabor the following year and dived into the delight of honing my craft.

Do we all need a story like this to convince us that we have a calling? I don’t believe so. Recently a friend of mine spoke at my church on this subject.  Hoa Stone felt called to go to Vietnam (a mosquito infested country!) to set up an orphanage for abandoned, disabled children. Hoa made these points in his message:

·   Your calling/life purpose is already within you. It’s part of your DNA. Look at your life and the special passion you have and that will be your calling.

·   Your past is your qualification, not your hindrance. Hardships often prepare people for an extraordinary destiny.

·   We need to take steps of faith in God. Tiny, mustard seed steps may be all we can do, but God will honour us.

·   The church is about partnering with God for the healing of the world. Together we can make a difference.

If God has put writing on our hearts I believe he will use us as part of that world-healing process. We may have a heart to encourage other believers or our passion might be to write for the mainstream and ‘build bridges’ between God and the lost. We might have a passion for social justice and write spec-fic with a prophetic edge. Whatever our heart, I believe the Lord is saying, ‘Go for it!’

What is your calling? What is your passion as a writer? Please let me know in the comments below.

Sue Jeffrey was born in Scotland but moved to Brisbane, Australia with her family when she was just a wee lass. After a childhood spent reading, drawing and accumulating stray animals, Sue studied veterinary science and later moved to Adelaide where she worked as both a vet and a pastor. After a sojourn of several years in the Australian Capital Territory,  where she also worked as a TAFE teacher and a freelance science writer, Sue returned to Adelaide with two dogs, a very nice husband, and a deep desire to write. Sue has a MA in creative writing and her short stories and poems have appeared in several anthologies including Tales of the Upper Room, Something in the Blood: Vampire Stories With a Christian Bite, and Glimpses of Light. Her e-book Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story is available on Amazon.com. Sue also paints animal portraits.

'One Day' by Sue Jeffrey

Late last year I decided to start blogging. I love writing and I like to express my opinion on things that matter. A blog seemed to be a natural outlet for those opinions. Alas, nothing happened. I'd think about setting it up then all too eagerly relegate the idea to my ‘one day’ pile. There were good reasons for this. Unexpected health issues, other writing projects, general busyness of life and church, along with paid work, are all factors that fuelled my exceptional gift for procrastination. [My honorary PhD in this subject will be coming in in the mail soon, I’m sure…] 

I might never have started but for Nola calling for writers for this blog. I reasoned that it was a great opportunity to begin. Even if it were just a one-time-only trek up the snow-capped mountain of bloggerdom, it would be a start. And so here I am. Hi, everyone!

I know I’m not alone in succumbing to the ‘one day’ phenomenon. It’s rife in our world where there are so many demands on our time and peace of mind. As writers we are especially at risk. This thing we do has no immediate productive value as our society judges it, unless we have a contract and a deadline. Even then there are those who question us.

‘Isn’t writing something you do when you retire?’ one woman said, when I enrolled at Tabor Adelaide to do my Masters (creative writing). I laugh about it now, but sometimes I still hear the whisper in my soul that creativity isn’t important. Not really. Not now. Maybe one day…

But it is important. For most of us Christian Writers Downunder, writing is a key part of our heart and our call. Our Father, the creator of all things, whispers into the deepest places of our being, saying, ‘Come, create with me.’  We obey as best we can but sometimes it’s still tempting to say, ‘Yes - but one day.’

In Ephesians 5:16 Paul tells us to make the most of every opportunity, as the days are evil. How we do that depends on our call. But we need to do it now – not one day – because one day might never come.

Adelaide is still reeling from the news that a prominent sporting personality was murdered last Friday – by his son. It’s unbelievable. Phil Walsh was senior coach of the AFL team the Adelaide Crows and in that role was a well-liked mentor to many young footballers. He had been a strong influence at several clubs before this. I remember reading an article about Phil before the current footy season. In 2012 he had an accident while on holiday in Peru. He was hit by a mini-bus and his injuries left him in hospital for weeks. He realised that life was precious – and brief – and he needed to take risks and make the most of his potential. When he returned to Australia he listed all the things he wanted to accomplish. Until that time he’d been content to be an assistant coach but in late 2014 he agreed to be the senior coach at the Crows. He died a few months later.

The whole thing is tragic and many in their grief will ask ‘why?’ There is no answer other than ‘the days in which we live are evil’.

I don’t know where Phil’s heart was/is with God – only the Lord knows that – but I do believe that when he died he was fully engaged in what he perceived was his life purpose. 

Are we?

Our God is gracious as he calls us forward in our craft. He forgives our procrastinations. He whispers to us as we feel his tug to co-create. ‘Begin afresh, my child. Forget about yesterday, don’t worry about ‘one day’, today is here. It is precious; so are you!’

What has God put on your heart to accomplish? What will you do today?

Sue Jeffrey was born in Scotland but moved to Brisbane, Australia with her family when she was just a wee lass. After a childhood spent reading, drawing and accumulating stray animals, Sue studied veterinary science and later moved to Adelaide where she worked as both a vet and a pastor. After a sojourn of several years in the Australian Capital Territory, Sue returned to Adelaide with two dogs, a very nice husband, and a deep desire to write. Sue recently completed a MA in creative writing at Tabor, Adelaide and now lives in Grange, South Australia, with her husband, two ancient doglets, a fat, tortoiseshell cat and a recently rescued cockatiel (yes, she still accumulates strays). Sue also paints animal portraits.