The Thread Line

"With kindness and a smile you can lead an elephant by a thread."

Persian Proverb

     She said she liked to draw. 

     "What do you like to draw?" I asked.

     "Animals."

     "Will you draw me an animal?" She drew several animals for me. I especially liked the deer. It was unlike any deer I had seen. But then, that's just it. This was a deer no one had ever seen until Carly drew it. Part memory, part imagination, Carly's deer was personal. As I watched this deer form I saw line as it is meant to be- confident, intentional, with an occasional pause as Carly would stare at the wall. She was remembering. As she drew one animal after another I remembered the drawings of old. Cave paintings. The earliest record of art on the planet depicting animals. Untrained (by our standards), unknown artists, painted these animals with the confidence and intentionality I was witnessing as Carly drew. I had the strong impression she had never been told, "You can't draw!" Or, if she had, she chose not to believe them. Praise God for that.
     "I like it," I said. Carly put the pencil down and smiled.

Carly's Deer