Last week, I talked about the picture book Of Thee I Sing, by Barack Obama and Loren Long. The book highlights thirteen people whose stories have impacted the history, culture and values of the United States. This week and next, I want to talk about some of the people who have inspired or changed the way I think or act either through their words or by the examples of their lives. It would take the rest of the year to describe how the people who I’ve actually met have affected my life for the better. So here, I’ll limit myself to the heroes I don’t know. Other than that, the list is rather arbitrary. Some of them are still alive, some of them aren’t. Some are fictional, some aren’t. Many have connections to writing or art, but not all of them do. I’m sure I have left many people out, but as with Obama’s list, mine is meant to represent a broader community. So here, in no particular order, are the first six of my personal heroes and the lessons they have taught me, the rest to follow next week:
1.) Leonardo Da Vinci:
(Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man)While I’ve never really been into naked snow angels and I’ve never seen the big deal about his Mona Lisa, I admire Da Vinci because, perhaps more than anyone else in history, he represents a true “Renaissance Man.” In addition to his role as a painter, he was an engineer, a scientist, a cartographer, a botanist and many other things. His unrestrained curiosity reminds me that art is often stronger when it is influenced and supported by a diversity of interests.
2.) Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web:
(art by Garth Williams)The title character from E.B. White’s well-known book, Charlotte exemplifies the sacrificial nature of friendship. She uses words that could perhaps more accurately describe herself to save her friend Wilbur. She is articulate, clever and beautiful and, as her last word for Wilbur attests, “humble.” She is willing to stand back and let Wilbur take the glory for her work simply because he is her friend. The last two lines of Charlotte’s Web are as beautiful a conclusion as any I’ve come across: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”
3.) C. S. Lewis:
I appreciate Lewis for many reasons. His desire to explain Christianity in a concise, logical way, coupled with his unabashed belief in the value and truth of stories, shine throughout his varied writings. He said that the only books (apart from books of knowledge) worth reading are those that you will want to reread, and his best work falls into that category for me; I know I will grow old with his writing. Perhaps the most influential concept that I have taken from Lewis is his explanation of what he calls “Joy”: our deepest desires -- whether for peace or beauty or companionship or a sense of home -- cannot be completely filled in this time and this place. However, he says, these longings are hints of an ultimate reality which is both our destination and, miraculously, our guide along the way.
4.) Saint George:
(art by Trina Schart Hyman)For 13 years, I attended Saint George’s School, and therefore was familiar with the story of Saint George, the patron saint of England, slaying the infamous dragon. However, it wasn’t until college that I read the legend in Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene, an epic English poem written in the late 16th century. I was struck with George’s persistence and courage as he encounters the dragon multiple times, getting injured and becoming exhausted. I find it helpful to remember his example whenever I am facing a dragon. Or a tough assignment. Or a spider.
5.) Karl Barth:
I know next to nothing about this important Swiss theologian, but he features in one of my favorite anecdotes of all time. A prolific writer and brilliant scholar, he was once asked how he would sum up all of the works he had written. He responded, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” In this story, Barth reminds me that while it is important to recognize the paradoxes and complexities of Christianity, the essence of what I believe can be summed up and understood by a three-year-old. This simplicity of belief is an important reminder when I get stuck in theological brain-eddies.
6.) Père Tanguy:
(Van Gogh's Père Tanguy)Julien Tanguy, affectionately called “Père,” or “Father” Tanguy, owned an art supply store and informal gallery in Paris. He befriended many young Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, and often “bought” their paintings in exchange for supplies so that they could continue painting. His shop was a hub for artists in Paris, and his collection of Japanese prints helped usher in the wave of Japonism that influenced late 19th and early 20th century Western Art. Because Van Gogh was among the least profitable of the artists Tanguy encouraged, I find it fitting that his portraits of this fatherly figure have kept his legacy alive. As I (hopefully!) transition from being a young, penniless student to a self-sustaining adult with a career, I want to remember his support of young people with the resources he had available.
Tune in next week for 7-13.
Have a good week,
Sarah/Mouse
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