Dear Ones,
Once, at a staff development day at the library, our director thought it would be fun to have us sit individually for a professional caricature artist. She was VERY excited about the prospect! “Won’t it be great! I’m paying for them on my own —I want everyone to take home their own caricature!” It will be something different!”
Different for sure! In the weeks leading up to the meeting and our “sittings,” one or two people were looking forward to it, but by and large…no late-middle-aged woman wants to sit across from some bloke with a marker who is going to PURPOSELY accentuate her less-than-attractive features in the name of good fun.
When the day came, though…it wasn’t horrible. It turned out the artist was herself a late-middle-aged woman with a warm, inviting spirit. Even the shyest among us felt at ease. We took turns meeting with her privately, but of course, as soon as we were finished, we all exchanged our thoughts on the experience. We had very similar reactions. The artist made us feel SEEN and HEARD. The questions she asked as her pen flew over the canvas seemed to draw out the best in us. It was almost like a great therapy session!
She did not show us our portraits after she finished them. The idea was that she would finish, head out, and then, after our meeting ended for the day, we would look at her caricatured rendering of us.
We couldn’t wait! We all went into the Conference Room where the finished pictures were laid out on tables. As we looked at her work, conversation faded out, and our normally chatty group became very quiet.
I remember being the first to say something (shocking, I know), and I asked, “Dudes, are these…wait…do these women maybe work at ANOTHER library?”
I thought it was possible and others agreed. Just when we thought MAYBE this one here was Miss Jill and that one over there POSSIBLY could have been Miss Amy, someone would pick up a different portrait and shout, “No, I think Jill is over here!”
Isn’t that fabulous! Truth is more amusing than fiction! AND before we saw the pictures, our boss was thinking about using the caricatures in a “name the librarian” contest for our patrons during Love Your Library Month! Wouldn’t that have been a hit? “Guess the librarian! Can you identify your favorite staff member from this collection of drawings of random women who do not resemble them in the slightest way?”
I have been waiting FOREVER to share this story in a sermon, my friends! There has to be a lesson in here…surely there is some way I can wrap this all up with something like, “It just goes to show us how God’s beloved community…” or “Just like Jesus, looking upon these pictures…” But for the life of me, I can’t make the stretch. And, ironically, I think THAT might be the lesson! Not everything has to be a “teaching moment!” God delights in our delight, even when it comes from something bizarre and nonsensical — like this incident about a caricaturist with a beautiful spirit but limited artistic talent!
Maybe we do just need to laugh sometimes, at ourselves, at the wacky, complicated, difficult and sacred world in which we live!
Who is up for hiring a caricature artist for the next Annual Meeting?
Love,
Pastor Ing
