When You Haven’t The Strength

Author Chaim Potok has written a novel entitled “My Name Is Asher Lev.” It is the story of a twelve-year-old Jewish boy who wants to become an artist. The boy is in an Orthodox Jewish family, and his desire to become an artist creates many problems. In this Orthodox Jewish Family, the son simply does not become an artist. He may become a Rabbi or a doctor or a lawyer. Perhaps even a businessman, but not an artist. The boy’s father cannot accept the idea of an artist-son. The boy’s mother is emotionally torn because she deeply loves her husband and her son, both. At one point in the story, the boy tells one of his teachers of the overwhelming need he feels to become an artist. The teacher says to him, “Art is whether or not there is a scream or laugh inside of you wanting to come out in a very special way.”

That sentence speaks to us today as we reflect…