Presentation

"Have you had any prospects on the sale of your house?" I asked our son Trevor as we chatted with him on the phone this morning.  (Coincidentally, two of our sons have placed their homes on the market recently.)

He told me they had had several lookers, then he said the real estate agent reported they had all complained about the same thing.  I couldn't imagine what it would be in their beautiful, spacious home in an upscale area. "What was it?" I asked.

"You know that large poster we have over the fireplace?" he began.  Of course, I remembered it. It was a reproduction of Michaelangelo's The Last Judgment that they had brought home from a trip to Rome a few years ago. I admit it was a bit startling, but they had pondered over a meaningful souvenir and had decided on a piece of art.  "Well, they didn't like it!" he finished.

"Then you should take it down," I suggested, to which he replied, "That's just what the agent said, so we did!"

How odd that prospective buyers would focus on non-permanent wall decor!  Trevor said he guessed it was just so big and a such a focal point in their 18' high den that it distracted them.  "I had to remove the deer heads from my office, too," he went on, "Their advice was to de-personalize everything."

I thought it was a shame about the multi-point mounted displays of his hunting trophies; they had looked very handsome and added to the  masculine motif of the space. I had to wonder about the painting, though.  Were people disconcerted about the subject, which not only portrayed saints going to heaven, but some people being cast into hell?  Or were they offended by the art style of the day, with nude or barely clothed figures?

In today's politically-correct agenda and attitude, some would rather ignore or be shielded from life's realities.  In an amusing "for instance,"  I thought of something our 7-year-old granddaughter said last evening.  Earlier that day, our neighbor had called and asked if we liked trout, saying he had caught several recently and wanted to give us some.  Of course, we took them!

Howard was showing the nicely packaged trout, frozen in sealed plastic bags, to our son's family who had dropped by after supper.  "Ooh! Those fish have eyes!" Beth exclaimed as she pointed to the handsome, dressed fish that seemed to be balefully looking up at her.  I plan to cook them that way!  Whole, either in the oven in a lemon-butter sauce, or fried crispy, golden brown and served on a platter, old-world style!  

The fish Jesus served the disciples were probably whole, as well as the ones he multiplied from a young boy's lunch.  And it was Jesus who warned of the coming judgment, the whole, unvarnished truth!