After attending a book signing by my former spiritual director, Sharon Garlough Brown, I felt compelled to first read her recommended book about VanGogh for a bit of background. I am not familiar at all with art education nor the different types of painting genres...although, interestingly I do have a Vincent reproduction of "Wheatfield with Crows" in my family room. Purchased when we first remodeled the lower level, it's the colors that made me choose it. I now have a new comprehension of all he was painting.
Van Gogh was raised by ministry parents in a very conservative home. He loved Jesus and this book is a compilation of his letters to Theo, a younger brother. The point of Sharon's recommendation was to get a glimpse into the mind of a man who was plagued with mental illness all of his life, and to understand her main character, Wren, who took great comfort from VanGogh's life and art.
Shades of Light was a very personal effort for Sharon as her only son has struggled with this "darkness" for many years. I am challenged to listen better to others who are depressed and don't seem to "get over it". To those of us who have only scratched the surface of this illness, and who tend towards optimism--I feel inadequate to understand. (My only "real" bout with depression was after both my sisters died when I cried daily for a year, but was still able to carry on with most responsibilities.) Wren's life is a picture of functioning well for quite some time, then slipping again into the deep abyss where she could not climb out without counseling, meds and truly supportive people. Her mom's story is one of support, guilt and anxiety -- only wanting to see her girl well; but slowly understanding that God alone can give comfort, give healing, give strength. I think what I see in Wren is the type of person who "feels deeply" about everything, which is exactly what was true about Vincent VanGogh.
I thought I was reading a novel, but it was so much more.
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