Juggling, sketching and other things we do for God.
Aside from juggling, the idea that God may want to use a skill was probably the biggest subconscious motivation behind trying to develop my artistic talents during that long stretch of years when creating beautiful or meaningful art seemed beyond me. I knew I had some talent, and hadn’t I said that if we have talent, and we are able to, we should develop it?
When we only do what’s urgent, we can miss doing what’s important. For me, that was art.
It took years for me to realise the wisdom of not conflating importance with urgency. Often urgent things are important. But there are many important things are not urgent, in my case, art, that risk falling by the wayside of our lives.
Saints care about art (and about us) more than we think.
I suspect the saints must have a particular affinity with art. After all, that’s how most us come to know them: a holy card at a piety stall, a stained-glass window, an Instagram post. But how much do they really care? And how close can art bring you to a saint?