Great Influences

Posted: March 23rd, 2011   Category: Christianity, Common Sense

Frederick Law Olmstead may be the most renowned Landscape Architect in the United States. He’s been credited with a great many natural landscaping achievements which still flourish, more than 100 years after his death. Among many other projects, Frederick designed New York City’s Central Park, the magnificent Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, the University of California Berkley and the University of Chicago campuses. He even worked on the landscaping around the U.S. Capital building in Washington, D.C. Would it surprise you to know that Frederick never went to college or received specialized training in landscape design? He was a successful journalist. I could paint similar portraits of the 12 Apostles that Jesus chose, fisherman, tax collector, etc. The point is that we each have gifts that God gave us, which often have nothing to do with our chosen vocation but everything to do with our life passions. Leonardo da Vinci, grew up in Florence, Italy, at that time, the center of humanist Christian culture and thought. Through apprenticeship, da Vinci honed his artistic skills, through associations his appreciation of beauty, but through life his most private secrets. He was an accomplished inventor, painter and sculptor. Despite the absence of a strong moral community code, the Christian culture of the time did influence Leonardo. It’s argued that his clients (or artistic benefactors) forced his very private life, while also using and promoting his precious gifts in public forums. “Virgin of the Rocks, John the Baptist” and “The Last Supper” are great works of art created by Leonardo, which for centuries served and continue to serve the critically important need of giving our spiritual beliefs, historical faces with very human expressions to identify and associate with.

God has chosen unusual, not usual people, throughout history to help him get His messages of the miracles of creation, suffering, sacrifice, faith, redemption and salvation out to the masses. Between da Vinci’s works and Michelangelo’s “The Sistine Chapel Ceiling” depicting the creation of man, our sensible approach to understanding has been nourished. The bible offers us living guidelines, history and parables, but God didn’t stop there. He continues to use nature and His children to spread the Word, to witness His work, to seek, share and fish for more of his wandering children. I can’t in good conscience condemn any person who by using their special gifts, successfully converts the lost and searching to seekers of God, where the Holy Spirit picks up whomever we can drop off. Influence is a powerful gift.

JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON (and unusual) PEOPLE

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