Just Remember

Someone was playing the piano in the Community Room one day and it drew me to find out who. Carol, one of the members of the senior community, was playing a song she had written for her husband after their trip to Canada for their anniversary.

Mountains and sky and you and I alone in Canada,
We traveled far and now I know the meaning of the ‘fall’.
Do you recall the times together? Just Remember. (1976 CJ)

Carol also paints, mostly with watercolors, but also utilizes charcoal, etc. Carol paints mostly wildlife and animals because “animals elicit a feeling of love which melts one’s heart.” Her paintings have won awards—first place blue ribbon for the Sister Kenney International Art Show in 1999. Fortunately, her husband also shared a love and passion for painting and excelled at it.

It is always a question for songwriters and artists: what motivates them to write or paint? What spurs them to create such peaks of beauty and accomplishment?

When asked about her drive to paint, Carol explained she had experienced more than her share of very difficult physical ailments. One right after another, very difficult to diagnose, and a longtime recovering! The frustration seemed to take over her mind and spirit. So, she started to paint, studying mostly on her own, to help take her mind off her body. And it worked!! She progressed to the point some of her paintings were commissioned! This is her painting of her beloved dog Boone.

So, ask yourself, what helps you to refocus your mind when the troubles of your body seem to take over all thought processes? Where do you turn for solace and redirection when the world spins out of control? Perhaps you listen to music, or read a good book, or pray.

From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint;
 lead me to the rock that is higher than I. (Psalm 61:2)  

+ Written by Campus Pastor Sherree Lane

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