[00:04.22]The artist Michelangelo often stirred up the opposition of the contemporary artists of his day.
[00:11.07]Many of them envied his magnificent abilities.
[00:15.28]One example was the architect Bramante.
[00:18.54]Pope Julius retained Michelangelo to build him a splendid tomb.
[00:24.32]Michelangelo gladly accepted the project and spent eight months in a marble pit personally cutting and selecting the most perfect stones.
[00:34.22]When he returned, he found the pope had second thoughts.
[00:40.22]Bramante had turned Pope Julius against the project. The Pope cancelled it.
[00:45.66]Later the idea for another special project entered the Pope’s mind.
[00:50.67]Bramante saw the project as a time consuming trap for which there would be little public recognition.
[00:57.09]Bramante recommended Michelangelo for the job.
[01:01.56]The great artist saw the trap.
[01:04.61]He knew what Bramante was up to.
[01:07.22]He wished to turn the project down but did not want to refuse the Pope’s request.
[01:13.10]So Michelangelo went to work.
[01:15.93]He spent many years doing the slow and tedious labor the project required.
[01:21.48]It was the Sistine Chapel.
[01:24.75]The inspiration that flowed through Michelangelo can likewise flow through any human being.
[01:30.96]That is what inspiration wants to do. It cannot be stopped.
[01:35.85]It is a living, powerful river that easily circumvents all obstacles.
[01:41.52]Michelangelo collected his inner forces for a complete victory.
[01:46.53]Likewise, we must not fear to face the trickery of some people and expose it for what it is.
[01:53.28]This is not negative, but intelligent protection and spiritual perception.
[01:59.06]In his many books on inner development author Vernon Howard refers to Michelangelo several times.
[02:06.28]He quotes him as saying, “The more the marble wastes, the more the statue grows.”
[02:12.95]And, “I released the statue from the stone.”
[02:17.33]He chiseled away all that was unnecessary, and David emerged.
