THE ARTIST AND THE GARDENER
Both the artist and the gardener begin with contemplation, paying close attention to what is already there.
The gardner looks carefully at the landscape; the existing plants, both flowers and weeds; the way the sun falls on the land, and so on. The artist regards their subject, the canvas, the paint that they have at their disposal, etc.
Following their contemplation, the artist and the gardener both begin their work, they both bring their creativity and their effort to their calling.
The gardener tends what has gone before, making the most of what is beautiful and weeding out what is distracting or useless. The artist can be more daring... they start with a blank canvas or a solid piece of stone and gradually... ever so carefully, they take the paint to the canvas or the chisel to the stone and make something out of it that wasn’t there before.
Now I say all of that to ask this one question... what are Christians known for in the world outside of the church?