"In Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the finger of God approaches—but does not touch—the finger of Adam... We never fully achieve what we set out to do… needing more time … stretching and always just approximating our goal." ~ Barrie Sanford Greiff
The focal point of the The Creation of Adam is the small separation between two reaching hands: the divine spirit passed from God's right index finger to Adam.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact."
This "finger of God" celebrates the passionate spark of life, love, and strength. The legendary masterpiece could be a metaphor for those spiritual events which cannot be explained by science or reason.
In this beautiful fresco, Michelangelo shared his vision of faith and human possibilities. The gap between the two fingers is the space between humanity and divinity. The space between what you desire and what you achieve.
Michelangelo said, "Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I accomplish."
It's this desire that propels our dreams and helps us to set and achieve our goals. The harder the goal, the further we rise and stretch to achieve success...
The Danish philospher Søren Kierkegaard said: "If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never.
Life is a gift: Reach for it!