“If something is easy, you will not enjoy it, really.” Krzysztof Wielicki, Polish Mountain Climber.
“Behind every beautiful thing, there’s been some kind of pain.” Bob Dylan.
“A heart that hurts is a heart that beats.” Bono
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Paul, 2 Corinthians 4:7
When I was a young man, I saw life in black and white, in monochrome. A monochrome image is one whose shades of definition are simply variations upon a single color. Mine was a monochrome world. I tended to appreciate only a limited range of values in the world around me. For example, in music and movies, it was the dramatic, bold, extravagant expressions that impressed me most. Often, I would hear of accolades given a particular musician and shake my head in wonder, as the artist seemed very vanilla to me. “What does everyone see in this guy?” was my common reaction. It was the flashy, the flamboyant, the maker of big waves that impressed me most.
But with age, I am growing gradually to live in color, in Technicolor. Technicolor was a film process developed in the 1930’s, used in famous movies like The Wizard of Oz and Snow White, that wowed audiences with its vivid tapestry of color. In a sense, Technicolor allowed moviegoers to experience the depth of the color spectrum we see in daily life. It is the appreciation of this spectrum that I am growing to savor. Subtlety of expression. I am coming with age to appreciate some of the musicians, for example, that I had once passed over. Valuing a tasteful and well-placed note and not just the speedy riff. Less is more where good music is concerned. More profoundly, I am gaining an appreciation for a quiet word well spoken, an oft-overlooked act of service, a tender expression in another’s pain, a cup of coffee with a friend and no agenda.
Why is this happening with age? I have long felt that growing older is a mixed bag of trials and blessings. On the one hand, we tire more easily, grow sore after the most innocuous of activities, and forget things more often. On the other hand, age gifts us with a better sense of proportion about what matters most, helps us to savor the simple pleasures, and provides a broader appreciation for subtlety. Part of my growing appreciation for the subtleties of life (and I assure you, I am very much still a neophyte here) comes through the very pain and difficulty, the very hardship and struggle, the very soreness and fatigue that I would think is the “downside” of aging. Famous American novelist, Willa Cather (1905-1947) wrote, “Hardship is the only thing that brings out the good in most people.” Yes, it is through the struggles, repeated mistakes, drop-dead sort of exhaustion and even exasperation of experience over time that I come to value God’s simple, more subtle blessings.
A handful of my favorite movies and songs, for example, are sad ones. Why? I don’t enjoy being sad. Why would I like these things then? It is what they stir within me. It is these movies and songs that cause me to care, to think, to examine my own life, and to savor God’s blessings. Singer Bono of U2 describes his love for the Blues in a similar way—it is in the Blues that the reality of life is captured. The Blues express the spectrum of life colors from the lofty ideals and unshakeable principles to the wrenching frailties and harsh realities of their application. We are a mixture of both bland and beautiful, of heroic and tragic, of ambitious and apathetic, of bold and fearful. I am beginning to learn that God’s richest blessings are indeed the subtle ones, meeting me in my bland, sore, tired, and everyday life. It is this that is helping me live in Technicolor…
