Blank Canvas - 5 January 2009

An artist stands in front of a blank canvas, pencil in hand, ready to draw the outline of his next work.  Many times in the past he has stood ready and many times he has found fresh inspiration for his work; so much so that that he has been amazed at his ability to create within his area of excellence.

True, in his early years he struggled with some technical aspects and experimented with various genres, all under the gaze of colleagues and mentors.  Now, though, he feels more confident in his ability and sure of his chosen genre.  His hand begins to move over the canvas, sweeping movements followed by short intricate ones, and sure enough an outline emerges…..

Like the artist we stand in front of a blank canvas of time, the year 2009. We don’t have complete freedom over what we do with this chunk of time; we do after all have family and work commitments.  Yet we need to cherish, pursue and nurture the gifts which are uniquely ours and which are so desperately needed for the kingdom to advance.

January is a good time for forward planning but let’s be careful to build into our year specific periods for reflection, retreat and re-assessment of direction and activity. In this way we can step back to see the big picture.