The Healing Value of Art

Today, I tried to help a student with the draft of a college admissions essay. She had written the thoughts that spring to mind from observing a woman with a dog on a city street. She wrote about the Big Bang, chemistry, human thought and feelings, existence . . . all the biggies.

I couldn't help but be reminded of a painting in my living room, hanging directly over my most precious photographs of my parents, my brothers, my deceased sister-in-law, and my nephew's and my niece's families. The painting was created by an artist who lives here in Sewanee, a retired lawyer and cotton farmer and dedicated tennis player. He paints nature and words.When I saw this painting on the Internet, I connected with it so powerfully that I drove to Nashville and bought it the next day. I believe, as did Pascal, that "Earth is but an atom in nature." I would add that I am but an atom on Earth.

Last night my friend Boo and I watched a remarkable, life-affirming film called Beyond Belief. Two 9.11 widows decided to abandon hate and embraced love instead. They raised money for Afghan widows and travel to Afghanistan to meet the women they helped. Those women, desperately poor in a society that offers women no freedom, were not only grateful but moved by the Americans' suffering. Suddenly, warring nations disappeared in the sympathies of loving individuals.

If only we could all remember that we are atoms connected by our nature. How much better each of us -- and the Earth -- would be.