At the Picasso Museum yesterday, we were struck by a room full of paintings Pablo created in 1957 in response to a famous painting of Velasquez called "The Children". He worked on paintings of characters and groupings from this Velasquez masterpiece virtually daily for six weeks and then regularly for another six weeks. The discipline of working on a single theme, exploring all it's variations, was on display so vividly to us as we viewed this room full of paintings. All the paintings are recognizable as "Picassos", but each was a unique image of the same tableau that brought out something different each time. We saw the same discipline at work today at the Museum here in Barcelona dedicated to Joan Miro. Similar themes and titles and shapes reoccur, over both short and long spans of time.
Since this weekend our church and many other UU congregations are honoring the Day of Atonement, we were reminded of the power that is in our discipline of honoring in worship the important days and themes of a liturgical calendar. Next time we gripe about preparing for another Day of Atonement, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas, we'll recall Picasso's 38 ways to work a Velasquez.
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