Perhaps this is a good place to visit early-on in Lent as Camille Pissarro painted this picture in 1864, when he was just 34 years old. It is an example of plein-air technique: taking the easel outside to capture all the variety of natural light and color.
Here the artist is sitting on the banks of the River Marne - a great river that runs east-southeast of Paris, roughly 320 miles long and which feeds into the Seine River. Important note: There may be few early Pissarro paintings as the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1871, causing Pissarro to flee to London and to leave behind all his belongings. When he returned home, all but 40 of 1500 paintings had been stolen, paintings which represented twenty years of work.
We should never minimize the losses of other people or allow anyone to minimize our own. I was ordained only one month in 1979 when someone broke into the church and stole my ordination chalice. It was an antique, sterling silver and gold cup. In the morning, the policeman said I shouldn't even try to find it; that it would have already been melted down. Some losses are profound. We can be sure that Pissarro's great loss informed his later work.
So we are lucky to have this painting. Pissarro loved trees, ground and roads. Roads are very important - they give depth to the painting. Christians are familiar with the road to Calvary, the Easter road to Emmaus, the road to Bethlehem or Jerusalem. But we don't know where this Road Along the Marne leads; it simply opens up for us at the bottom of the painting. Can I imagine stepping on to it?
The road invites us, as if to say, "Come along, let's see where we go together." Notice that the road bends to the left, a little past the woman who is walking along. But there is a horizon way beyond. What might we discover there?
As Lent begins, we set out together. Every church saw crowds of people on Ash Wednesday. Some were serious, others superficial or even superstitious. Some have never grown up spiritually, and all they can think of is what to give up for forty days, something that doesn't cost to much.
But ultimately we are alone on this well-traveled road. It is an alive road - green and watery, with wispy clouds above. The journey is an interior one. How do I feel about that? And do I have any creative ideas or insights about this Lent?
But ultimately we are alone on this well-traveled road. It is an alive road - green and watery, with wispy clouds above. The journey is an interior one. How do I feel about that? And do I have any creative ideas or insights about this Lent?
