There is a quaint old legend that is firmly believed in the artists’ colony in Paris. It appears that many years ago a poor struggling artist was so hard up that he did not have even enough money to buy a piece of canvas upon which to paint what he felt sure would be a masterpiece. Going along the quays he saw an old daub selling for a few sous, frame included. It was supposed to represent Napoleon III in full dress uniform, and doubtless had adorned some wall in the days of the Second Empire. That artist decided that he could clean off the picture and use the canvas for his own work.
Arrived home, he proceeded to remove Napoleon III, not a difficult task, and to his astonishment found that there was another picture underneath. The last artist had not even removed the original but simply worked over it. When the last traces of Napoleon III had disappeared, the student was amazed to discover what looked to him like a very fine Corot. Of course, his days of poverty were ended.
Whether this story be truth or fable, it is a perfect allegory of the nature of man as we know him. Outside we find the “marred image” showing limitation, sin, sickness, and inharmony—the unskilled daub; but underneath is the masterwork of the Great Artist, and our prayers act by clearing away the false accretions—the “many inventions” of the carnal mind—that the already existing Truth and harmony may appear.
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
God did make mankind upright, yet we chose to separate ourselves from God. All of our “many inventions” that we call sin result from that separation. When we reunite with God in thought, prayer and obedience, all the marred images are wiped away and our true nature can again manifest communion with God. Then, in harmony with God once again, we can return to that Eden in which we were created to live with God.
Cleaning the canvas,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
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