Mtr Mary Trainor

Dear friend,

Artists and technicians.

An acquaintance once said in conversation, “In all pursuits there are artists and technicians.”

The older I get the more I witness this simple truth. I see it as the root dispute in the Daily Office Gospel today. Jesus is teaching in the temple when critics complain: “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?”

Jesus draws fire because he sees into the heart of scripture, knows the intent of his Father, teaches with heavenly artistry. We may recall the man with the withered hand who Jesus healed on the sabbath. He was criticized for violating the commandment about keeping the sabbath holy by not doing work. For his opponents, technicians of the law, healing this man was a clear violation. For Jesus, the divine artist, healing at any time in any way was in full keeping with God’s desires for us.

Artists and technicians

Some fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with one of the cancers that is almost always fatal. Except I was blessed to have an artist surgeon, one who imagined possibilities of hope. He combined his technical skills with his artist’s eye to develop a surgical cure for pancreatic cancer in some patients, of whom I was  blessed to be one. Prior to his technique, there were only strategies to mitigate this cancer, to buy some time. Never cure.

Artists and technicians

The technician satisfies minimum expectations, the rules. The Pharisees who give Jesus grief when he heals on a sabbath could only apply the narrowest understanding of the commandments. They play it safe, but their safety keeps others from benefiting from God’s love. 

It is far easier to study, retain, regurgitate the rules, than it is to go through life open to seeing through the eyes of God.

Mtr Mary