Good from bad

High up in the north of Scotland there is a hunting lodge which has become a famous show Place. One day, many years ago, a guest opened a bottle of soda and Splashed its contents Over the newly decorated wall. The other guests hoped it would dry and disappear, but it didn't; it left a long unsightly splotch, stretching almost from floor to ceiling. The guests went away feeling that the scolding of their host was justified.

But one man remained behind. He studied the blotch on the wall; then he went to work on it with crayons and Charcoal and, finally, oil Paints. With quick, bold strokes he turned the brown stains into brown Highland rocks, with a cataract pouring over them. Where the stain was deepest he painted a glorious Highland stag leaping into the torrent, pursued by hunters in the background. His name? Sir Edwin Landseer, the artist famous for his paintings of animals. By his thoughtful and considerate action he brought good out of evil and beauty out of ugliness. Ever since then, every artist passing through the town has stopped to study Landseer's picture, and on the walls of the lodge many have added drawings of their own, until now it is no longer just a lodge for careless guests, but an abiding place of beauty for those who love beauty.

Thank God for our great Gospel of redemption that can take our blunders, our failures, even our deliberate sins, and weave them into a pattern of beauty and make even our frustrations fruitful!

RIDE THE WILD HORSES, Revell: p.157-58