For the past few weeks I have been painting a mural at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Ft. Worth. It has been far more of a blessing than I had ever expected. The nurses, doctors and chaplains are all so supportive and cheering me on, but the most wonderful part of this experience are the people I have been meeting. They are the families of patients who are going through some of the hardest transitions we all have to go through at some point in life.
Yesterday, as my shoulder was about to give out, one of the nurses wheeled a patient into the small dining room where I was painting. He was a feeble man who was obviously frustrated that he could not communicate verbally what turned out to possibly be one of his last requests. He waved his arms around to show what he wanted until one of his family understood. He wanted to paint.
This man had once been an artist of many southwestern paintings and he just wanted to stroke the brush one last time. So we put some paint on a a paper plate, the nurse grabbed several blank sheets of paper and I gave him one of my brushes.
What a sacred moment for all of us...a memory none of us will soon forget. His shaky hands could barely hold the brush, but he painted as far as he could go. Then he lowered his head from weakness and pain and let the brush drop.
I don't know how long that man's heart will continue to beat on this earth, but he certainly made an impression on my artistic motives. Art is a God-given, God -driven language that anyone can understand. He understood my art and I understood his.
One eternal day, we will paint together with all the other God-loving artists in a studio built by Jesus Himself. Our hands won't be shaky and our shoulders won't ache.
Until then, I will remember that man and humbly paint what God inspires in my heart.
- Karen Kennedy-Chatham
Local Artist
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