The Saturday Journal: He Never Knew.

tathelmillerwriter
7 days ago
4 min read

She hurriedly got out of her car--her white hair glimmering in what light the morning clouds would allow. A younger lady was with her and I noticed the older lady was wearing a blouse with blues and yellows--The Starry Sky--Van Gogh's most famous painting. The ladies walked close and asked, 'What's going on? Are they not opened yet?'

No, my friend and I replied. The doors are still locked.

I pointed to her blouse and said, "I like your blouse."

She was thrilled and reached for her necklace, "Look!" she said. I have the necklace too!"

The necklace--a glass pendant dangled from a tiny silver chain--the pendant engulfed the same vivid colors as her blouse.

It was only a few minutes and the doors opened--the lady who wore the necklace--the blouse--she was almost in a sprint and we were greeted, 'Good morning. Welcome to the Van Gogh, The Immersive.'

We walked around--saturated in whispers--silence--each of us reading, drawing emotion and searching for understanding from paintings such as The Starry Sky, Wheatfield with Crows, Irises, and many others, the Sunflowers series and many of the artist's self-portraits.

One of the displays read Van Gogh only sold one painting during his short life here on this earth and now his paintings hang in museums--one in a private collection selling as recently as 2022, in the amount of $117 million dollars.

Van Gogh was then and is still called an "artist genius". He had his demons suffering from mental illness and breakdowns--committed himself and spending some time in an asylum where he had only a tiny window in which he could look out. From there he painted and continued to create--pouring his dreams onto the canvas. He was also the artist who was known to have cut off his ear.

He was also the artist who said, "I dream my painting and I paint my dream." and "Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter's soul."

And this and this, "It is good to love many things, for therein lies strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done with love is well done." and "There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”

And this, "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"

And this, "If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”

And this and this, "Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." and "If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.”

Sadly, Vincent Van Gogh took his life at the young age of 36.

I walk through a hallway surrounded by oranges and yellows and red hues--sunflowers on each side. The next room opens up--it's a huge room. We take our seats in the low reclining chairs--like beach chairs. There are others here and we are suddenly surrounded by the most azure blues--bright yellows, crimson reds--the colors--his paintings--his story is coming to life. Fish are swimming on the floor--the sun twirls--a train whistles by--a teal blue door opens--then a green window. A butterfly flutters her wings and sunflowers line the walls in rose colored vases--in fields that reflect a golden hue.

There's this one lady and I watched her walk into the room by herself and she took her seat on a bench rather than in one of the low chairs. And every so often I would glance at her--she sat perfectly still. It was as if she was drinking from a golden fountain--nourishing her soul--breathing in the colors as oxygen to her lungs.

The artist and writer, Van Gogh said, "I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say ‘he feels deeply, he feels tenderly.’”

His art is alive in this room--in this very building.

I look around the room again, there's this woman sitting beside who I am assuming her husband--they are both over "middle age". He's relaxed. The woman, she turns her head in my direction and she smiles--I believe if she would have spoke, she would have said, 'Isn't this wonderful?...Can you even?...'

Another young girl she sits with a woman--they share the same color of hair--facial features--a mother and daughter perhaps--they sit quiet and the daughter lifts her head toward the sky--her face is a shadow of colors from the walls--the very colors from Van Gogh's artist pallet.

And I see the words, The Starry Sky and the date, 1889 on the wall--the year he painted his most famous painting--one year before he died. And here we sit on this day, 136 years later to be exact, we--a small group of women, men, and children sit under the same roof--and his gift binds us--together.

Van Gogh never knew what magnitude his gift would be on this world. He never knew how the tiny brushstrokes would weave together story after story--how his love of people and nature and art is still giving today.

And I guess why I'm writing this story--sharing this story with you today, is this...Van Gogh's life story got me to thinking about my own life story--how fast tomorrow comes, and how fast this earthly home is no more, and what we share with others. The gifts will matter--no difference, how large or how small.

Van Gogh--no, he never knew.

We will never know.

But God will.

Here is the link to learn more about the Van Gogh, The Immersive Experience. https://vangoghexpo.com/winston-salem/

During the month of September, I hope you will join me in learning more about

A Widow's Mite

and how we can all be a part of this giving of small gifts.