Why the children’s art matters

The responsibility of exegesis falls upon the human mind with an indefinable weight. Meanwhile, the very act of walking out into the spring rain can be seen as exegesis if it is in response to the gospel. If there is a place for experiential knowledge of the gospel, it is in the hands of a child with a paintbrush.

Painting and drawing is more than putting pencil or brush to paper; it is the transfiguration of thought; it is an action that transforms belief.

“…He would have given you living water.”

A group of children gathered at Christ Church Cathedral Victoria last Sunday morning. They listened to the gospel story of the Samaritan Women talking to Christ and they painted living water. What can their work teach us?

The vibrant colour in this painting of living water arises from a dark middle; just as our vibrant creation began from a void.

What is the moment

when we understand
Living Water?

What vibrancy in us
Arises from the void?

In this picture by a 3 year old, contrast sets the deep water apart from surface water.

Is the transformation of
Living Water continual,
just as our thirst is continual?

Do we allow
Living Water to
reach our depths?

In this painting by a child, joyful rain tumbles from a heights while water rises up to greet it.

What happens
when Living Water
meets Living Water?

Would we
know Living Water
when we met it?

How do we greet it?