Matthew 7:10

Matthew 7:10
Graphite on Paper 28x28

 

Prayer. Faith. Trust. I’m not so good at these. Worry. Fear. Delusional self-sufficiency. These I
have an extensive history with. Every so often the clouds break just for an instant, and I see the
truth. Always there, real, solid, unchangeable. I never was, or ever will be, in control of the
universe. I can plan and work and be careful. Try harder. Act smarter. Exercise my body,
exercise my mind. Read, practice, research. But I live in a fallen world. I cannot avoid pain, or
sorrow, or loss, no matter how careful or smart or prepared I am.

When my teenage son showed me the black, odd-looking mole on his back I panicked. Trying to
hide my fear I calmly said “We should have that looked at.” Quickly my mind began calculating,
how long could that have been there? Does it match the description of melanoma? But wait,
how could that be, his back rarely gets sun on it. (I didn't know at the time that direct sunlight is
not a requirement for a melanoma to form.) How soon can we get him to a doctor?

If I had had any power, he would have seen the doctor the next day and had lab results within
the week. But appointments have to be scheduled and doctors are busy. And then, the local lab
was unable to diagnose the tissue conclusively, “There appear to be 2 populations of
melanocytes, one clearly benign, the other however, well, the lab here is unable to
determine”…. “possible melanoma” …”tissue sent to a specialty lab in San Francisco”…

 

Waiting, phone calls, waiting, the tissue sample is temporarily lost, more waiting. Of course, my
son wasn’t concerned at all, but I was very troubled. I remembered the parable where Jesus
taught, “If a son asks for a fish, will his father give him a snake? No. If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts, how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who
ask.”

 

So I asked. Begged. Pleaded. Bring us the good gift of a benign lab report.

During this time, I was enrolled in a college art class. My current assignment was to create a
drawing using graphite pencils of varying degrees of hardness, to draw images that captured my
attention, and to include circle and square shapes. I found myself envisioning snakes, fish,
angels, wings, mythical scaled things, medieval arches, tunnels, and archaic Gothic numbers. I
saw a woman dressed in medieval attire standing in an arched doorway which led into a dark
tunnel. An angel is standing on a serpent. Scales and wings appear in the corners. As these
images began to fill my drawing I continued to think about the snake and fish parable.
Searching key words I found the specific reference, Matthew 7:10. Around this time I spotted
an article on medieval numbers in a Mathematical Intelligencer periodical. I copied the symbols
for 7, 10, and 40 (Matthew is the 40th book of the Bible) and used them as a design element in
various places on the drawing, morphing them into scales and fish hooks and mountain peaks.

Shortly after completing the work, I glanced at the 7 and the 10, and I saw it! 7:10--my son‘s
birthday is July 10!

Out of curiosity, since his name is Luke, I wondered what Luke 7:10 said. Verses 1-9 of Luke 7
tell the story of a Roman centurion who pleads with Jesus to heal his servant. Luke 7:10 reports
"And they went home and found him (the servant) in good health.”

Years later, when my son was living in Hollywood, I had a dream about this drawing. I don’t
remember the entire content of the dream, but I do remember that it was disturbing enough to
get me out of bed to go look at the artwork. I found it curious that the piece was about Luke,
but where was he in the drawing? As I studied the images the Holy One showed me these
things:

-The angel standing on the snake symbolizes victory over evil, in this case, cancer.

-The woman in the dark doorway, her hands held as if in prayer, is me.

-In the second arched doorway there is a strong band of light on the floor moving into a dark
cavern. This is where Luke is! His name, from the Latin “lux”, means light, or one who brings
light. Yes, Luke was there, bringing light into the darkness of Hollywood.

And now, I tell you with gratitude in my heart, the good Father gifted us with a benign lab
report. Amen and amen.