NONFICTION
Scroll Painting
Life has as much linear narrative as a scroll painting, forever in motion, revealing and retrieving its intricate scenes — connecting into a larger whole never to be fully seen …. There’s always memory to revisit, hope to gaze upon. Nothing has disappeared; nothing is unforeseen. God, in His omnipresence, sees every moment of our lives all at once. We mere men, bound by our limited vision, are graced with remembrance and faith to somewhat transcend time and choose what shoulder-length of the elaborate artwork we should behold.
We have our forgetfulness. We hold close our pride. But there are times when we see past the treacherous roads, raging seas, and exotic flowers and really see the journey as it is. And then we really see ourselves as we are. We are never the passengers, nor the pilgrims: we are the maps.
Marcus Aurelius defined man as “soul that bears up the corpse,” in the sense that it is our souls moving us to places. It’s a beautiful and convincing interpretation, but what if it’s never we who go places? What if, in fact, we are the places — or at least the documentation of such? We are each offered by Heaven a choice to be the canvas, the visual presentation to testify God’s glory, a glimpse of the perfect life eternal.
I’ve been the artist. I’ve been the muse. I’ve played the curator once or twice. But to be the artwork asks something different of you, something rare: total submission. And I’m only starting to learn —
To be used and stretched, or to be rolled up and set aside; to be drawn and stamped upon; to bear His mark and show His wonder; to be content in the knowledge that I am more than what is seen in the moment. As for the ones I’ve said goodbye to, I’m not carrying a part of them as I depart, but His love travels through us all and connects our souls. I haven’t lacked anything. And the losses I suffer — I haven’t really lost.
So have your way. Walk over me and teach me to see the dark waters as paint, my Lord, my God.
Based in China, Sassette Liu is a writer, performer, and survivor of schizoglossia. With an ardent love for expressive arts, she holds deep reverence for confessional literature and that picture of Sylvia Plath in her locket. Her previous work has been published in Spittoon. She is now working on her first collection, Bickering Fruits. You can find her at sassetteliu@gmail.com or via Instagram: @feedmyravens.
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Image: Rosy Sunset, attributed to Wen Tong. Public domain.
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