Lawren Stuart Harris (1885-1970) was a Canadian painter. He was a leading member of the Group of Seven, artists who painted to build a sense of national identity for Canada. He painted in an abstracted manner and was influenced by early Modernism. His use of color, line, shape and texture brings a structural, surreal quality to his work. Many of his originals have sold at auction for amounts in the millions. Many are part of the collection of the Hammer Museum at UCLA.

As we look into the many layers of this painting, it implies another reality of foothills, peaks and clouds. His progression of blue and white with the smallest places of yellow and green push us into something both never seen and vaguely familiar. It seems an apt image for the times in which we live – never exactly experienced but vaguely familiar. As we pivot again and again, deciding and creating for ourselves and others, we still have those moments when God’s creation brings us back to what we know. Maybe when you have taken a walk or shoveled a drive these past days, with white and blue and light all around, with movement and strength and freedom, you have recalled other snowy days of other times.

A force of nature can be felt in image and experience. A force from our creator God who holds us in a world of abundance assuring us through reflection and memory that we will have what we need and all will be well even to the end of the age.

I hope you can rest your eyes upon this mountain scene and say a pray of adoration and trust to our God of all that is and was and will be. Amen

In gratitude, faith, and hope,

Sandy Prouty  
Minister of Children and Families
Montview Church