The Way to Wonder: artist's commentary on the drawing for July 12 sermon

T H E W A Y T O W O N D E R
(JOB’S LAMENT & LOSS )
by Lisle Gwynn Garrity
inspired by job 28:12-28 | acrylic on canvas (shown below)

Everything Job holds dear—his property, his family, his wealth,
his physical health—has been taken from him. His life has
unraveled in every way imaginable. How can we possibly make
sense of the pain we endure, especially the pain we don’t cause
or deserve?
Much of Job’s journey requires him to untangle the punitive,
quid pro quo theology he has absorbed. If I do good things,
God will reward me. If I do bad things, God will punish me. On a
cerebral level, I disagree with the logic of these words. But I remember how easily I can fall into
the trap of feeling these words viscerally and bodily in moments of pain, especially in suffering
that is so awful and unfair.
When I first began this painting, I hoped to render Job’s hymn to wisdom visually. I imagined being
stuck in the deep, as if my body was anchored underwater and I was looking up to the surface.
I imagined textures and symbols emerging in the swirl of the dark to portray Job’s search for
meaning, his grasping to find a way out. But as the painting came together, it was all wrong. The
strokes and symbols were too literal, too formulaic. I almost scrapped the canvas altogether, but
decided to keep going, to add more layers, more depth, more gold.
A window, doorway, or portal emerged in the middle of the painting. I felt a release and realized
that, while I started with lament, I ended with awe. “To fear God is wisdom” (Job 28:28). The Hebrew
word for “fear,” yirah, literally translates to “awesome.” True wisdom lies in breathless reverence
for God’s mystery and expansiveness—for God’s presence that is beyond what we can control, or reason, or make far too small. - Lisle Gwynn Garrity