Masterpiece Painted

Bob Dylan was right. Everything changes once we see our masterpiece. Let me tell you what I mean. Last week as I was reading/learning the Sfas Emes' insights into the parsha, I came across a beautiful teaching. He said the essence of exile is when a person does not allow himself to live and appreciate the expansive beauty of things. Exile is when I live in a state where everything has to be defined and static. In a world like that, a person cannot be free because he's bound by his own rules and assumptions. Not to be in exile, to be a redeemed person, implies that I recognize the dynamism of life and the world around me. Redemption is a state of mind where I appreciate the I'm not in control and that the details of my life are part of a greater whole. Redemption is to live my life like it's a masterpiece and to appreciate all of its beautiful details as they weave together. Finally, redemption is a state of surrender to the wonder of life and to its mysteries with the faith that the Artist painting it has the most sensitive aesthetic sense.