It isn't fair

I was listening to an interview with the painter David Hockney. Hockney is a charming man. He is now in his seventies and has returned to his native Yorkshire to live. He was talking about how he treasures every day. He was asked rather bluntly what he thought about dying and he said it was his next adventure. He hinted that he believed that objects did not have a natural colour but only what the light gave them. We may consider certain objects to be gray but in some light they are olive. He sounded like a man at ease with himself.

Vincent Van Gogh was a totally different soul. Tortured by demons in his head and misunderstood most of his life. Were it not for his kindly brother, Theo, his life would have been worse probably. We all know of his severing his ear. He was dead by 37. He died by his own hand. Above is his famous painting Starry Night. It oozes originality.

Hockney has been a very successful man and he has been able to have positive publicity most of his life. He seems always to have been able to use life to his advantage. He is probably the UK's best known painter. He is known as a playboy artist. He has had several homes in California.

I once talked to a painter and he referred to Hockney as the Noel Coward of art. He is an entertainer but I could tell he did not regard him highly. Van Gogh is now seen as one of the greats in art. His use of colour was revolutionary. I once went into a gallery and I found my eye immediately drawn to a painting. It was Van Gogh.

Life is not 'fair.' The talented are overlooked and the untalented ( and I do not refer to Hockney here ) are praised. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Yet time has a way of redressing the balance in life sometimes. In time lies are discovered and truths appreciated. To me this is even more reason for dedicating one's life to God. Men and women are capricious in their appreciation and so easily led by the latest marketing campaign. God however is truth.

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to the men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9.11