This amazing piece of sculpture is entitled "The Thinker." (Le Penseur in French) It is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin, whose first cast, of 1902, is now in the Musée Rodin in Paris; there are some 20 other original castings, as well as various other versions, studies, and posthumous castings. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle, and is often used to represent philosophy.
Although I often can be found with a pencil in my hand, sketching . . . I don't think I could ever do anything as beautiful as sculpting a work of art, not to this scale anyways. I do think I could manage a pear or an apple! I think most of us would be quite intimidated by the prospect of sculpting a man, and think it quite impossible.
Auguste Rodin, however, once gave an admirer of his work some simple advice when the admirer had expressed to him how very difficult sculpting must be.
"Not at all," said Rodin. "You simply buy a block of marble and chip away at what you don't want."
Makes it sound rather simple doesn't it? I think there is an allegory there for us as human beings though. A lot of us wander through life, never accomplishing half of what we would like to do, or becoming close to what we want to be . . . simply because we cave into fear of the unknown, laziness . . . narcissism, self doubt, etc. There is no end to the things that hold us back . . . but at the very root of all of this is the fact that many of us just don't think we are capable of change, or we are afraid of the challenge of trying to improve ourselves.
If, however . . . we were to take Rodin's advice to heart and "simply chip away" at the things we don't want or don't like about ourselves, we might find at the end of the day, we truly do become the "Masterpieces" we were created to become.
No, I am not perfect now . . . and I may never be perfect . . . but I can embrace the journey towards perfection, chipping away the things which I don't like about myself, and improving the things I can improve, bit by bit along the way. At the end of each day . . . I should be able to ask myself, "How did I improve today . . . what did I do better, what did I learn???" and feel confident that there will be at least some small thing, some small change which is a step in the right direction. I can rest in the assurance that, in the end, whatever shortcomings I may not have been able to conquer . . . the Saviour will make up the difference. It only matters that I am headed in the right direction and that I sincerely try to do better. That is the beauty of the Gospel and the atonement in action . . . and the power it has to create "Masterpieces" out of simple clay.
Just my thoughts this morning . . .
Big change in the bath yesterday. The electrics are completely done now, which is good. Although I was a bit disheartened that they had to cut a big chunk out of the wall next to our lounge fire . . . and now we will have to see if we still have paint to match it so we can repair that area. The Electrics were a big job though as the wiring in this house is quite old. They put in a new outdoor light at the back of the house as well as the original one was too close to the outlet pipe. The sink is all plumbed in now and in place, and the walls without tiling painted in the light blue, which is a huge difference from the original turquoise! Very elegant! I am very pleased with how it's all going!
I think I can tell you today about what was going to happen on Saturday because now it's not going to happen. I had been going to Harrogate to appear in the preliminary heat for my area for a new cooking program that they are filming for ITV. My recipe had been picked as one of the finalists for this area. I was contacted last Thursday and told I was being considered and then on Monday the paperwork arrived in the post. However yesterday morning, Todd was going through it, (He's my management/paper reading guy.) and he noticed that these papers should have been returned by the 3rd September, a full week before they even arrived at our door. So he called the number on them for inquiries . . . and they told him it was indeed far too late and that was that. I can tell you I was more than a bit miffed . . . to have gotten my hopes up like that when all along I didn't even have a chance is just plain wrong. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it. I am very grateful though for my husband . . . we were almost ready to book a B&B and a kennel for Mitzie, which would have been a great expense that we can't really afford now. Thankfully he had the foresight to make this inquiry.
You know this is the second experience I have had with television . . . and both have been disappointing experiences. If I am ever asked again . . . I'm going to say thanks but no thanks.
The plus side of it all now though is . . . I am free to go on a play-date with my friends Sheilagh and Trish on Saturday! Every cloud has a silver lining!
Enough of my babble for today though. Shall I leave you with a happy thought? But of course! Let's get the day off to a good start!
(Source Whimsicalities)
"There are moments of such pure, sublime, unparalleled perfection that they will force you to close your eyes and hold on to them as best you can. Life is a series of these moments. Everything else is just waiting for them." ~ Iain Thomas
Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . A Simple Pasta Dish. Delicious!!
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