This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing not being but becoming, not rest, exercise.  We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it. The process is not yet finished but it is going on. This is not the end but it is the road.  All does not gleam in glory, but all is being purified. Martin Luther.  

And so Protestants of all ages continue to bang their heads against the wall trying to be better instead of knowing they were made perfect in God’s image in the first place.  And  the price of their sin was paid by Christ. 

I say aspire to happiness; it makes people better.  

This Luther quote reminds me of the American Dream and the constant striving, which the man, those few who control all the wealth, find so amusing.  He, in his infinite wisdom, likes to get us all riled up, setting us at each others’ throats, triggering our egos with hopes and empty promises, dangling our dreams in front if us, but keeping them always out of reach.  The game is rigged.

This angst ridden existence is no place in which to make art.  As I’ve researched my play, I note that Vincent Van Gogh made his art, despite his issues with mental illness, not because of them.  He created his best work between bouts of severe depression.  His constant striving was not the cause of his genius. 

I can say, at least for myself, I do my best work when I am calm, content and yes, happy.   I prefer to avoid people who go out of their way to create drama and conflict as their primary form of inspiration.  I am a firm believer that 99% of what happens to us, we set into motion by our previous thoughts and actions.  So lets set peace and tranquility into action and make our best art yet!