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By Barry Buzza
[other pieces by By Barry Buzza]
 Alan Artner wrote a story in the Chicago Tribune underlining the fact that the value of something depends on who created it. Sometimes we own something and don't realize its worth until we discover where it came from.
The Art Institute in Chicago owned a treasure for years, but didn't realize it. It was a simple chalk drawing of an upraised hand in a position of blessing. If we were to look at it, we may simply see a hand waving good-bye. The drawing had been severely damaged by ageÑthe white lead chalk had oxidized and turned black.
Years earlier, in 1943, a widow of one of the University's former paleontologists had donated two thousand drawings. Because of the poor condition of the drawing and it being one of thousands, scholars did not notice anything unusual about it. The simple piece of art went into storage with thousands of other drawings and copies by lesser artists.
In 1987 the Art Institute decided to re-examine and categorize every work in its collection. During the research, art experts at first assumed the drawing was a copy made by a student or assistant of the Renaissance artist Raphael. When they showed the chalk drawing to Raphael scholar Konrad Abrahuber, he felt it was a drawing from the hand of the Master himself. You'll remember that Raphael was a student of Michelangelo and Da Vinci. He was one of the artists who painted and decorated the Vatican and Sistine Chapel in the 16th Century.
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Institute scholars then flew to England to show the drawing to experts and to compare it to other Raphael originals. They all agreed that the chalk picture was a true original of Raphael, one of the greatest masters in art history.
The work needed restoration however so the oxidized paint was chemically converted to a light grey. When the cardboard mount was removed, further evidence that the drawing was a bonafide Raphael, was found. There was a watermark in the paper similar to the ones used in Florence around the time of Raphael's death in 1520.
The chalk drawing became a priceless part of the Art Institute's collection. It was the only original Raphael they owned and one of only twelve of his originals in North America.
The value of a piece of art depends on the one who created it--and it's the same with us. Our value does not depend upon how big our home is, what our career is or how much money we have in the bank. It is determined by the fact that we are God's handiwork.
The Apostle Paul wrote in a letter "for we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago".
Each of us, from conception through eternity are works of God's genius. Too often we're shuffled aside and filed as worthless copies. Take a new look at yourself in the mirror and remember that you were made by God for a purpose bigger than you can imagine!
Barry Buzza, a veteran pastor, is also the president of the The Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada. www.foursquare.ca
August 28/2008
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