Beauty in the Ordinary
September by Konstantin G. Dorokhov
We get a peek in this painting at two hard-working girls who are preparing produce in a backroom. They will make the cabbages and tomatoes presentable to display in the store. It's not very glamorous work as we see both of them lifting heavy baskets of produce.
They are doing one of those jobs that go on behind the scenes. The produce looks beautiful because of their care of it, but the customer won't see or appreciate their work. Their reward is making the food beautiful for the customer's satisfaction.
But there is something else in this painting worth noting. Just look at how colorful this backroom is. The colors of the cauliflower and tomatoes are vibrant. While the walls are drab everything else is rich in texture and color.
When I first saw this painting it reminded me that even the most mundane jobs have something of color and beauty or truth surrounding them. The trucker driving long hours on the open road can observe the expanse of the sky and the land and the beauty in nature.
The accountant looking at numbers all day can observe the order and the satisfaction of how they add up. The maid cleaning motel rooms can experience the satisfaction of a room cleaned and put into order.
In any situation, we can see something of God if we look for it. He is the one behind color, beauty, truth, order, and cleanliness. He makes the ordinary -- extraordinary. His arrangements and light fill the universe. His arrangements and light fill our mundane lives as well. The question is, will we notice them?