Messages of Grace

In my last post, I talked about receiving messages of Grace, often when we least expect them!  I'd like to share a couple examples of messages of Grace:

One Saturday, a number of years ago, I drove up to Cave Creek, Arizona, for an art fair.  I expected to see a lot of the same artists from the previous art fair I had attended the week prior.  The day was gorgeous though, so I decided to go.  As I expected, there were a lot of the same artists displaying their work; but as I was about to leave, I realized I had missed a whole row of artists.  I wandered down the aisle and these beautiful sculptures caught my eye and stopped me in my tracks.  I was mesmerized!  The artist’s work was so very spiritual and so profound.  The artist, Ernest Caballero, saw that I was interested so he began, what turned out to be, a lengthy conversation.  As we spoke, I knew in my heart he was giving me a strong, spiritual message, yet his words were swirling around my head—I just couldn’t take them all in quickly enough.  The more we spoke of his sculptures, the more his spirituality poured from his soul, both in his words and in his works.  Something most intriguing to me was a plaque with words he had created to express a particular sculpture, entitled The Alchemist:

“Alchemy, once considered merely the medieval science of converting base metals into gold, is now believed by many to represent a series of symbolic processes for inner work and the transmutation of the soul.

One of the aspects of the soul’s journey is the transmutation of suffering and limitation into wisdom and peace.  The sculpture, The Alchemist, is an image that embodies this often painful part of the journey.  Acceptance of our limitation and pain is the key to healing.  This is the process by which the Eternal can enter us and transform agony into ecstasy.”  Ernest Caballero

I came home from the art fair and quickly wrote down some of the things he said—he talked quite a bit about “facing your shadows” – lots to ponder, I thought.

Here is a link to his website, which happens to show The Alchemist on this page:

http://www.ernestcaballerosculpture.com/Ernest_Caballero_Sculpture/About_the_Artist.html

Ernest shared with me that some monks stand on one leg to pray, which gives them a feeling of being solidly rooted into the ground while they pray.  He displayed The Alchemist on a turntable, so that one can see the whole transformation – on one side of the sculpture, the face is saddened and forlorn, as you revolve the turntable, the face is lifted and resilient.

One of his other works, in acrylic, is a very large crucifix, which was commissioned for the Holy Family Parish in Inverness, Illinois.  I visited the church a number of years ago, while visiting my family in the Chicago area – it is an amazing sculpture and well worth seeing.  If you pull up the website, you will notice that “his” crucifix depicts Christ rising from the cross:

http://www.ernestcaballerosculpture.com/Ernest_Caballero_Sculpture/Commissions.html.

Much of what Ernest shared with me was over my head and beyond my reach; however, about a week later, our local PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) station held its annual fund drive.  One night, I tuned in and there was a series by Joseph Campbell airing—The Power of Myth.  Ironically, or maybe fortuitously, what he said helped me to understand what the artist was telling me.  Campbell spoke of a “hero’s journey”—that is, a transformation of consciousness—being transformed by our trials in life.  We become a “hero” because we are willing to face our trials, our shadows.  The spiritual beauty expressed by both Caballero and Campbell was such a gift—once again, Grace.  In future posts, I will speak more about facing our trials and shadows.