A friend of mine shared this the other day. I have this written in a journal from many moons ago - maybe I was all of fifteen. I loved it then and I love it now.
"To the right and to the left, I throw to my little birds the good grain that God places in my hands. And then I let things take their course! I busy myself with it no more. Sometimes it's just as though I had thrown nothing' at other times, it does some good. But God tells me: 'Give, give always, without being concerned about the results'".
St. Therese of Lisieux
Like everything she says, great profundity lies just underneath a very homey image. These words can be used for many things. Our acts of charity, our acts of humility, anything. But I have come to see them as the motto of the arts. For me it is writing. For others it might be choral music or painting or music or acting. Whatever the art, these are good words to live by.
Our seed is for the birds - all those people we might never know who will be affected by what we say, paint, or sing. As artists we must throw our seeds - our gift. It is harder than you think to throw a part of yourself out to the world - leaving it open to misunderstanding, theft by another sometimes, or having it maligned - but that is what you exist for as an artist - this free will throwing with no strings attached. You don't exist for adulation, praise, honors, and celebrity, likes, comments, shares - although these are quite tempting and consoling to be sure. No, an artist exists solely to feed the birds. The suffering comes in realizing the art is not the artist's own. It is God's seed. And it must be thrown, as St. Therese so wisely advises, it take its course - not ours. We don't look back. We move on.
All my favorite writers knew this in their hearts. They were never known in their lifetime. Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins come to mind. All their seed was freely given without any selfishness on their part. They moved through the world and spread such beauty and never asked thanks or adulation or praise. There is something so noble, exquisitely serene and triumphant about someone who is so detached from praise and worldly adulation as they were. As St. Therese was. It shows a right understanding of the world.
But imagine all the birds who flock now to their works. Thousands and thousands of birds feeding on their words and their prayers sent like roses from heaven. Birds they never even knew existed, but who are fed by their seeds. God knew. He knows now.
Detachment from this silly, fair weather world is one of the most beautiful things you can pursue in life, though it might take a long time. It will free your art and your soul, though it be so difficult at times. Feeding the birds and not yourself. It is a joy devoutly to be wished!
Love St. Therese and have never come across this quote until now. Thank you so much for sharing it and for generously spreading seeds for us to wonder and ponder.
Thank you Denise. God uses you to throw these crumbs of truth out into the world. I am like one of these little birds that happily devours the crumbs in my inbox most mornings :) God bless you and your family.