A very long time ago, when I worked for the Kent State University Museum, I saw a piece of artwork at the Canton Museum of Art. It was called, “Concerned With Many Issues.” I wanted to find a photo of it online to share with you, but had no success finding any reference to it. I’ll have to describe it instead.
It was a diorama about twelve inches square and nine inches high. It depicted a simply appointed living room with a chair, a carpet, a door, and a woman vacuuming. It was an ordinary scene with absolutely nothing remarkable about it. What made this piece of art so memorable to me was what was going on outside the room.
Outside was a fanciful array of men and monsters of all different colors, sizes and shapes. Their tentacles, arms, legs and eyes were all interwoven and they surrounded the room and the woman doing her chores. Inside was a scene of mundane toil; outside was total chaos.
UPDATE: Here is the work of art described above. Click for a larger version.
That piece of artwork depicted my life at the time. To the casual observer, I was an average guy working an average job living in an average house and driving an average car. My main worries were losing my job, losing my wife, losing my house, losing my car and my dwindling bank account.
Since saving faith was granted to me by God through Jesus, I really don’t worry much about my job or whether I will have enough food or clothing (Luke 12:29-31), nor even about having enough money. Strangely enough, I still identify with this piece of artwork and am still concerned with many things.
The monsters lurking outside my window today are my sins that I don’t want to do, but keep doing (Romans 7:15); my unsaved family (both those who claim to know Christ but produce no fruit and those who overtly deny Him); my friends at church who seem biblically illiterate and apathetic about the Gospel; people I work with who are trapped in a legalistic religion; and what, if anything, I can do to help bring these people to Christ.
For now I think I will pray about it (1 Peter 5:7), be still, and know that God reigns. (Psalm 46:10)
