“Arthur Rubenstein, one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century, when asked how he creates the tone he plays, said he once heard a woman sing. She sang with the most beautiful tone and he observed how she would pause. She stopped to take a breath. Rubenstein learned to do the same at the piano. Every time his fingers paused to touch the keys, it was like taking a breath.
“The act of pausing at the keys created a beautiful tone. Rubenstein said when he touched the keys, he would feel the song sing in him . . .”
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10 NIV 1984)
“The root word for workmanship is poiema. It means “work of art.” Poiema gives us the English word poem. You and I are God’s poetry. We are his masterpiece.
“When we pause in solitude, a beautiful tone is created. God touching our soul is God’s workmanship. We are God’s artwork . . .
“Solitude has become the canvas of whitespace I can enter into–vibrant and real–for God. I want that special tone to resonate from my soul. I want a quality in my relationship with Jesus that comes only through breathing in whitespace.
“Solitude has become my soul art.” ~
Bonnie Gray in Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest
In the stillness,
Sandy
Welcome to the Still Saturday Community where we pause after a busy week, move in quiet pilgrimage, maybe linger a while in some still place, and soak in the beauty of images and reflect on the depth of sparse words. We’d love for you to join us. Grab the button and link up below. We all love to hear if something especially speaks to your heart, but please don’t feel pressured to comment. Simply take some time to gaze long and drink deep.
I am so looking forward to reading this book. just need to find the ‘quiet’ to do it.
I’ve just started to thumb through it. I knew I’d find a Still Saturday shareable. 🙂
I’m looking forward to settling down with it, too.
Lovely quotes. Given Bonnie’s comments about music and pauses, I thought to share this quote by another famous pianist, Artur Schnabel: “The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides.”
We make art in the pauses, in the rest.
So glad for Bonnie. Love the part about solitude as soul art!
Sounds like a wonderful book. Have a beautiful weekend, my friend. xox
Thankyou Sandra for the link up!
I always enjoyed the Still Saturday link up!
Have a great weekend!
Perfect thoughts for a still Saturday, Sandra! Enjoyed your cedar wax-wing pics!
I’ve been doing some study on the discipline of solitude and silence. Don’t you love when God directs you in your writing then you read about everywhere? I picked up a book and there it was. I came here and there it was. How sweetly God leads us to what we need to be inhaling and filling our heart with.
Have a blest Sabbath
Joyfully,
Pamela
Sandy, thank you sharing Bonnie’s sweet words. And thank you for knitting this wonderful community into a fabric of sharing.
And I think I saw that outlaw bird on a wanted poster.
“Breathing whitespace – a wonderful picture and metaphore, as well as being God’s art and His masterpiece … Thank you for sharing these pearls, I will look up this book!
Blessings to your week, Sandy!
Beautiful concept — without the stillness in music, or the emptiness in art, or solitude in our lives, we cannot appreciate the symphony, or the sculpture, or the Creator. Thanks for hosting & God bless.