“Bugs, Tools, and Beyond”
Gary Robbins, Chaplain
Shenandoah University
August 19, 2005

This summer, I stumbled upon a fascinating artist, James Janknegt. Janknegt is one of those gifted artists who speaks to the heart, to the head and to the spirit.
Maybe it was because I was thinking about a column entitled “Tending Your Spirit” that one of his works especially spoke to me.

The painting is called, “Bugs, Tools and Beyond.”

In some ways, the construction of the painting is very simple.

In the foreground of the painting is a desk covered with tools — saws, hammers, chisels, pliers. My guess is that the tools are to represent the world of technology. Like real life, it is often technology — TVs, computers, iPods and VCRs — that most capture our attention.

But for those willing to look a little deeper, Janknegt captures an intriguing world of nature represented by a beautiful array of insects. Here, for those who have the eyes to see them, are green grasshoppers, blue moths and festive butterflies.
But deeper still in the painting is yet another world. It is, as the title suggests, the vast Beyond.

Represented by the Milky Way and an ever-expanding universe, it is a world filled with mystery and wonder. It is a chilling, exciting, humbling and awe-inspiring world — an extraordinary expanse that invites us to gasp in wonder and to reflect on our place in this amazing universe.

Still, like the structure of the painting itself, one wonders whether people will look deep enough to see it.

This article represents the first of a series of articles I will write for The SUN on “Tending Your Spirit.”

It is an invitation to cultivate your own sense of wonder — your sense of the mystery of life — and the richness of your own spirit.

It is an invitation to escape the lure of technology for a few moments each week and be willing to wrestle with the things of the Spirit.

Over the weeks, I will talk about prayer, meditation, solitude, silence and wonder. I will talk about the things that can nurture our sense of wholeness and the things that can bring us a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

Mine is a column for everyone — young and old, students and not-students, religious or not-quite-sure. It is a column that will speak to our deep human hunger to come to terms with the mystery that fills us and surrounds us.

You may decide that you are content to live in the world of chisels, saws, hammers and pliers.

Or you may decide that you are willing to step out and begin an extraordinary adventure — an adventure of heart, of mind and of spirit.

It may be that you are willing to explore ways to tend your spirit.

— Gary Robbins, chaplain