When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they met together. One of them, a legal expert, tested him. “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Matthew 22:24-40

If you go to the Accademia Gallery in Florence, you can see a wonderful series of sculptures by Michelangelo known as “The Prisoners.” These forms, seemingly struggling to be free of the stone, beautifully illustrate how, rather than building a figure with something like clay, masters such as Michelangelo literally reduce a piece of marble until they are satisfied with what remains.

“Every block of stone has a statue inside it,” Michelangelo is reputed to have said, “and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”

If you ever have the opportunity to travel to Florence (it is one of my “top five” cities in Italy) be sure to set aside several day to explore extensively, including enough time just to wander the amazing streets without rushing, and to visit the Accademia Gallery to see Michelangelo’s sculptures.

Cutting through the stone to find the words:

I started thinking about Michelangelo’s “Prisoners” the moment I sat down to write this morning. One of my friends asked, “How can you possible come up with new things to write about every day?” And my answer is always, “The challenge is not finding something to put in, it’s sorting through all the material and knowing what to leave out!”

Or, if Michelangelo had been a writer, “Every day has a story inside it; it is the task of the writer to discover it.”

Which also reminds me of something C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter to a friend: “I am sorry this letter is so long; I did not have time to write a short one.”

I need to be careful not to give the whole block of stone every day, but instead to chip away until what is important is revealed.

Lincoln’s two minutes and 272 words at Gettysburg, set against Everett’s more than two hours and over 13,000 words.

Jesus also summarized what was important in just a few sentences: Love, love, love, he said… “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Sorry I couldn’t make today’s post any shorter. I guess “If I’d had more time…” – DEREK