Art to Heart Benediction

Vincent van Gogh: Starry Night

©2002 by Jeff Dugan

Have you ever seen a real night sky that looked like van Gogh's Starry Night?  I hope not!  But consider for a moment that van Gogh might not have been hallucinating on the night he painted this.  

Instead, think about what it’s like to be outside at night under a crystal clear sky.  There’s a crispness in the air; everything seems clean and refreshing.  It's the kind of night we imagine when we think of a chorus of angels singing to frightened shepherds.  So you look up, perhaps to see if the angels really are there.  And suddenly – it’s not just the same old sky tonight.  Instead, the blackness is a deep, rich, velvet blue that is more bottomless than any ocean.  The stars are not spots of light but brilliant, magical diamonds, twirling like tiny ballerinas.  In this moment, the sky is somehow alive, and it speaks to you silently about the meaning of infinity.  Oh, how wonderful it would be if you could preserve this moment, so you could return to it again and again!

Can you begin to see why this is such a famous and well-loved image?

Van Gogh painted this while he was held in the grip of a debilitating disease, and feared he would never escape his suffering.  It’s a fear we all know because each of us has faced our own personal torment, whether it’s disease, the loss of a loved one, financial problems, addiction, or any of the troubles that make us wonder whether God knows of our suffering; whether He will ever truly deliver us from affliction.  In such moments it is tempting to collapse in hopelessness.

So imagine van Gogh in just such a moment of despair, when he is struck by the memory of one of those amazing night skies.  He recalls that sense that he is not alone; that there is a living, infinite, loving God whose awesome creation reminds us, sometimes, that He has never left our side. 

And so the sky swirls across the canvas – full of vitality and power that speaks of God’s presence.  The stars don't just sparkle; they explode in radiance.  The earth itself responds to the movement in the heavens, forming its own living waves in the mountains and the rolling trees beneath them.  Windows in the sleepy village glow with the same light that illuminates the universe.  The church steeple struggles to point to God, but it’s dwarfed by the cypress trees at the left, which capture the joy of the creation around them by erupting in a living flame of praise.

As you depart, may you take with you the tremendous message of hope there is in this masterpiece.  Even if our troubles persist, the world around us assures us that God has heard His people cry, and has acted to calm our fears, heal our hurts, and dry our tears. 

That's what the angels sang about.  Doesn't it make you want to sing, too?