Things Hoped For: Faith for a Generous King
John and I are walking through the streets of Sarasota on a crowded Friday night. We are headed to the gallery to meet an art collector who is interested in a couple of my paintings. I’m wearing my new shoes from Johnny Fluevog that Dimitra and Jake gave me for Christmas. I can see the red tips peek through my wide-legged jeans with each step.
This designer names each of his shoe styles he creates and carves an inspirational saying into the sole of the shoe. The saying on these shoes reads “’F’ is for things hoped for,” and the name of these particular glorious, high-heeled red-winged tips is “Ellie.” The fact that I share the name of these shoes is why Dimitra bought them for me.
Walking in Hope
Briskly moving forward to the gallery to meet the collector, I walk in hope that one, he will show up to the appointment, and two, that there will be a match made in heaven and he will buy something. I almost didn't come to meet him. I am leaving for a conference in two days and have way too many things on my plate to get accomplished before I leave. Friday night was stacked up with numerous tasks, but those boxes will have to wait to be checked.
Our gallery director, Jock, told me that this collector was a lawyer from Louisville, Kentucky, and was interested in my fox painting from my Song of Solomon series and one of my Kings, and wanted to meet me. As I enter the gallery, I see several people standing around looking at the work, but none looks like a lawyer from Kentucky. I don't see Jock either. Then, in the back viewing room, I see him talking with Jock as they stand under dimmed lights with spotlights on the paintings.
The Meaning of Generosity
We meet, and Jock slips out. The man introduces himself as Jack. He has a beautiful camel-colored wool jacket and pointy Italian shoes. I notice a thick gold bracelet peeking through the sleeve of his coat and a fiery gold ring with at least 24 small diamonds precisely stacked in a bent rectangle over his finger.
He immediately cuts to his burning question: “You’ve got to tell me about this painting. I can't figure it out. The man is looking at us like he wants to kill us. He’s fierce like a warrior, but he’s dressed really flamboyantly, and there's flowers all around him and that glowing thing over his head, and then you called it ‘Generosity!’ How on earth is this generosity? It doesn’t fit. Why on earth did you call it ‘Generosity?’ I have to know!”
His question stuns me. How astute, perceptive, and curious! But what is my answer? Why did I name it “Generosity?” I have found that when I step out in “F” and hope for my mouth to fill with the words I need, it happens.
“Well, that is a very good question! I love your question.” I’m stalling, hoping for the words to come…. ”This man is a king, a good king, who is also fierce, and he has spent his whole life towards a cause, even at his own self sacrifice and peril, and THAT, to me, is the ultimate expression of generosity.”
Jack gets it. I see something click inside of him. I see it all connect. “So what is his cause?” he asks, as if he already knows the answer.
“To defeat evil.”
I wait for it to click, but he looks like he wants to know more. “This series of kings came about after I watched a movie on an airplane called The Sound of Freedom. Do you know it?”
“Yes, I do. The movie about human trafficking with Jim Caviezel.”
“Yes! So after I saw that movie, I was completely wrecked. I thought, ‘What am I doing with my life? I need to go into the jungle and save children!’ But then I thought, ‘How can I save the children from these evil men? Only strong, courageous men can save these children form the evil men.’ So I thought I would paint the good kings that will stand up and do that.”
My “F” hopes that we paint our futures.
“Yes! We need strong men,” Jack says.
He wants to know more about the other king on the wall called “Wisdom,” so we join Jock outside the viewing room and continue our conversation. He tells Jock that he wants to buy “Generosity.” As the transaction takes place, we continue to talk, and I learn more about Jack.
Courage in Action
Jack practices law in Louisville and has a podcast and writes books. He has a charitable foundation and is a key advisor to a prominent politician. He has taken a stand and held ground to his own peril and spoken against popular opinion. He said the things many of us wished we could say, but didn't want to take the risk. He has stood for what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. He has been fierce when he needed to be and gentle and kind when he needed to be.
He tells me, “I always carry with me a wad of five-dollar bills so that if I see someone in need or a homeless person, I can give them money. My friends tell me I’m foolish because they will just buy booze or drugs with it. But that is NOT my problem. Once the money leaves my hands, it's not my responsibility what they do with it. That is between them and God, and not me. I only know that I have been enriched so that I can be generous on all occasions.”
The Heart of a King
We spend about an hour and a half together talking and hearing his heart and his life’s work. He is “Generosity,” and that is why it stopped him in his tracks. Instead of a flamboyant, glowing uniform, he wears fashionable Italian shoes; and instead of a glowing halo crown, he wears a flashing diamond ring. He has a stare that kills but wears his heart on his sleeve. Jack is “Generosity.”
My power statement that I have had for about a year now has a line that reads, “I sell my art to strong men who are movers and shakers.” To see this prophetically come to fruition is confirmation that painting the Kings was necessary to the cause, that art moves the heart of kings, and that “F” is the commodity of heaven.
Have you been inspired by a good, generous king in your life?
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