Earlier this week, our Historical Foundation hosted an evening that featured several of the artists and artisans who live or have lived here. The artists were invited to share their own stories and display a sample of their works, and it was quickly apparent that our tiny island has a disproportionate number of people who are able to capture their vision of beauty through various media and do it exceptionally well. What I found most interesting about their stories, however, was that most of them didn’t tap into their artistic side until they arrived on Daufuskie.
Something about this island helps to coax the inner artist out of people, inspiring them to produce something that they could then share with others. And for any of you who have been here, even for only a day, you understand that the natural beauty of this place is that very force of inspiration. We are surrounded by beauty here, along the rivers and marshes, strolling the beaches, or wandering through the forests. We see the beauty from the moment that the sun rises over the ocean, revealing the patterns of light and dark as the colors of the sunrise filter through the voids of the tree limbs, and we see it in the sunsets over the marshes when the clouds become the canvas for an array of pastels that God paints with. And in between those two points on the clock, we have the flora and fauna that provide color and purpose of their own that reveal further the joy and pleasure of our Creator. To spend time here is to see beauty as presented by the original artist, and it cannot help but inspire.
Certainly, our artists were born with some capacity to produce beautiful pieces of art, but it took being here for most of them to subsequently develop and refine them. In that sense, it seems that in the long-standing question of which measures of human performance reflect traits that a person was born with versus traits that result from a person’s surroundings, many of our artists are the perfect blend of innate ability meeting the proper nurturing conditions. Living on this island provided the perfect setting for bringing to the surface something that had always lived within them.
But I see this also happening for those of us who lack that natural artistic ability. That same natural beauty is at work within all of us, inspiring us as well, because we too are constantly bombarded with the joy and pleasure of our Creator. We cannot help but be impacted by it, and it comes through in our interactions with each other. Because we feel the serenity of our surroundings, we have peace to offer to our neighbors when someone feels stressed. Because we know that we are blessed to live in this setting, we tend to be willing to bless others however we can. And when loved ones and dear friends who don’t live here are going through hard times, we want them to come here and be nurtured by a place that only God could provide.
God made us in His image and programmed within us certain behaviors that reflect His character, yet often the ugliness of humanity suppresses those traits. Vast expanses of concrete, steel, and asphalt do little to bring out love, joy, peace, and patience. Yet here, where “what He did” is so much more apparent that “what I did,” those traits begin to rise to the surface thanks to the inspiration of our surroundings. The artistry of God becomes more evident in all of our lives, and not just in those who can craft something that deserves to be in a museum.
So, what is God trying to draw out of you today?
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron