Van Gogh and his eyes….
A while ago we were at an exhibition about Vincent van Gogh. You know, the painter….
The exhibition was really beautifully put together and certainly a treat… but… it didn’t really make me happy… because… Vincent had a problem with his eyes…
Vincent van Gogh never saw this exhibition… nor did he ever know how great his influence was, even to this day. Literally… and figuratively. When you read what his life has been like… it doesn’t sound very happy to me. His life seems to have gone from depression to depression… from painter, to teacher, to assistant preacher, studied theology, taught at a Sunday school, trained at the Flemish Training School for Protestant Evangelists, and he continued to be interested in painting.
In December 1878, Van Gogh was sent to Petit-Wasmes in the Borinage (Hainault), where he began a trial period as a lay preacher among the miners on February 1, 1879. He worked there in abject poverty and was depressed. These crises would determine the further course of his life. In 1879, after six months, he was rejected as a lay preacher by the Protestant community in Petit-Wasmes because he was too fanatical and too difficult to deal with. Finally, he was at his wits’ end and his family was deeply disappointed in him.
Around 1880 he made a 70 kilometer hike from Cuesmes to Courrières in northern France, but considered most of his drawings as failures and threw them away. As a result, not many works from this period have survived.
Can you imagine it? One of the most talented painters ever(!)… but he just didn’t see it… he even threw away his own work… At his death (suicide), the value of his works was estimated at around 2000 florins… converted, you come to today out around 31,000 Euro… but he just didn’t see it. Literally and figuratively….
And then to the present day… In 2021, one painting was sold for $71 million dollars… (Wooden Cabins among the Olive Trees and Cypresses) The total value of all his paintings is estimated at around $10 trillion dollars… How much? 944600000.00 Euro…. What if Vincent van Gogh had known, seen or trusted the BIG picture… what if? Vincent van Gogh tried to understand… but he failed, and that resulted in a bad ending…. 🙁 Let it perhaps be a lesson to all of us, keep an eye on the Big Picture, what seems like “nothing” today can become Gold in the future! The fact that I (or you) don’t see that is a problem that many more people struggle with… if you struggle with that too, I would like to encourage you with the following verses:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
1 Corinthians 13:12
What you do today has an effect in God’s future. Even if you cannot see that presently, together with God, your “works of art” will be worth more than 944600000.00 Euro. Much more. Trust, persevere.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession [a]for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Romans 8:26-30
