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| Lesson
Three: Creativity is the path to God I walk the hall towards Herman’s studio. Before entering I decide on a new approach. Today, I will listen, not argue. I will learn, not confront. Whether I am a believer or not, a Jew or an atheist, the teachings of Herman are fascinating to me. I will swallow his arrogant assumptions about the nature of my soul in order to retrieve a lesson in mysticism. I reach the door. I knock gently. “Come in” Herman calls. His high pitch voice has an ability to transcend matter. Even though there is a door separating his voice from my ears, I hear him, clearly, directly. I turn the doorknob and enter. I am once again in the familiar shower of light. Herman’s hands are clean. He is sitting on a stool, glancing at pictures in a book. His heaviness clashes with the thin lines of the stool. “Genius” he exclaims. “What brilliant work.” He raises his head from the large book and turns to me. “Come, have a look.” I look over his shoulder and see a photograph of a sculpture by August Rodin. It is a sculpture of a pair of hands. They are massive, heavy and very detailed. I feel I should comment, but I have nothing intelligent to say. “Beautiful. I like the details.” I reply. Herman is looking at me. He is silent for a moment. It is as if only now I have entered the room in his mind. “Yes, it is beautiful. But the beauty is not in the details. It is in the truthfulness, the sense of man, not of matter that these hands convey.” An awkward smile of ignorance develops on my face. I remove my eyes from the book and take a few steps backwards. I slowly begin to undress. I start with my shoes and my socks. “You are not impressed by the details at all?” I ask in a diplomatic tone. Herman closes the book with a sudden motion that produces a bang. |
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