I think if we are going to love God and love all…it begins with loving ourselves. If you cannot love your own soul, how can you love others? Paul in Ephesians 5 writes, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” If God finds us worthy of His love and care, then perhaps we should try to first love ourselves.
I recently had the opportunity to attend the Vincent Van Gogh Exhibit called the Immersive Experience here in Oklahoma City with my wife, Kelly. It was a wonderful way to experience the famous painter’s works through projections of his works on the walls all around you in the exhibit room coupled with a beautiful soundtrack. His works, his landscapes and his self portraits seem to come to life through animation as streams flow, flowers bloom, and candles burn.
I learned a great deal about the Dutch artist that night. He created most of his works within a few short years. He is most famous for his landscapes and self-portraits and works such as Starry Night and Sunflowers and The Yellow House. He was only 37 when he took his own life. He was not commercially successful and struggled with severe depression and poverty. In his lifetime he was considered a madman and a failure. Yet today, he is considered one of the greatest painters and his works typically sell for tens of millions of dollars.
I thought to myself, how sad that a man could find himself such a failure who, today, is celebrated around the world with these immersive exhibits in cities on different continents. Millions of people have attended the exhibits and marveled at his talent. When I was a young man, Don McLean even wrote a song about his life entitled “Vincent”. McLean would sing… “And when no hope was left inside on that starry, starry night you took your life as lovers often do, but I could have told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.”
It seems that Van Gogh cried out for acceptance but no one noticed. He once said, “A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-by only see a wisp of smoke.” How tragic that no one paid any attention to the passion that Van Gogh clearly had for his art. Sometimes the world is slow to warm to genius.
The lesson, it seems to me, is to understand that all of us have something to share with the world. Most of us will never paint like a Van Gogh certainly, but God still gives each of us gifts which make us unique and worth loving. It starts with seeing our own self-worth and loving ourselves so we can then love others.
“Whoever loves much can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.” – Vincent Van Gogh.
-Rev. Dave Poteet, Pastor of Congregational Care
