Legacies

The John Lennon art exhibit was sparsely attended, at least when we were there. Miss North Carolina was there to greet us, a lovely beauty queen, sash and all. I wondered briefly what John Lennon would have thought of her presence at his art show. It seemed incongruous to me. However, the show itself was spectacular. I loved the whimsy and humor that his art portrayed, though it was a whole lot less humorous when we took a gander at the price tags. One piece was $28,000. Imagine! I can almost hear John Lennon humming along. And none of these were originals...they were all limited edition prints. Nicely framed...but still. Some were hand signed by John Lennon, unless they were forgeries.

One did get a sense of the humanity behind the legend by looking at his artwork. He clearly loved Yoko, and his son, Sean. He also seemed to have an endearing and playful zest for life, and didn't seem to take himself too seriously. He was actually a talented artist, and I admired his economy of line to convey so perfectly the essence of his subject. The section titled "Erotica" was my least favorite, though for what it was, it was pretty good. Arvo and Asherel skimmed right past that section.

All we could afford was a T-shirt, which we did buy for Asherel. It was pricey for a T-shirt, but a heck of a lot less than $28,000 for a limited edition John Lennon print. I was glad Arvo joined us- we had picked him up en route. He had spent the day (again) at his mother's bedside at the Nursing Home. She was still alive, and seemed comfortable, but fairly non-responsive. We went to dinner afterwards and prayed that Mom K would pass easily to the next great adventure awaiting her. Then we dropped Arvo back at the Home, where he returned to his vigil at her side. I think he appreciated the break, and the sense of fun that John Lennon whispered from the echoes of a life now gone, snuffed out so suddenly.

I found myself wishing he had lived as I moved slowly from one art work to the next. But, thinking of Mom K and her slow, painful descent into eternity, I wondered if he would have been a happy old man. He had gone out still full of vigor, laughter, and delight. Perhaps that was not as awful as it seemed.
Of course it was awful for Yoko and Sean, and all these years later, my Asherel. She grows very sad on the date of his death every year. But how wonderful that not only his music lives on, but his art. Still, I am personally more impressed by the legacy of my mother-in-law, who loved God and left a lifelong impression on her son that He was real, and worth knowing. I hope that there is a part of her consciousness that knows he has spent every day for the past week at her side, wanting her journey to finally meet her God to be as peaceful and gentle as passage as it can be.

Titus 2:3-5
Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.







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