A Boy Named Jesus

who would be King?
I wanted to update you on my almost finished painting (NOW finished as of September 2009), based on items in a Catholic church sacristy, including the image of the Infant of Prague – but this representation of the child Jesus has more standard Arab features and coloring and a multicolored robe (more on this later and sorry for the blurry image)

Who is it...I am me, or I have belief in God
For a moment I wondered if my painting would somehow insult the Infant of Prague. Then it came to me…it is so very easy to make any icon into more than it really it is. Just like our own goodness or our own “rightness”, our “own” beliefs I suppose.

Who is it...I am live, or is it I have Memorex? (or Tivo)
We don’t worship the material parts of a painting/sculpture, any more than we worship our own bodies….we worship God.

As a Catholic Christian, icons enhance my overall understanding of Jesus and my relationship with Him, and my ability to communicate my way of experiencing God. NO matter the color of the icon, nor its shape nor its feel ie., icons are not just visual representations of something but seems like popular stories, mottos, actions, people behaviors, styles, life-styles, can also be icon-like.

Who is it...I am Universal, or I have rights?
Disrespectful images of Jesus can infuriate me, but in the USA, our Constitutional first amendment rights protects a citizen’s freedom of speech which includes speaking through images. Mainly it is to protect the citizen of this country from governmental thought-control and censorship.

In the same regard…anybody claiming to be children of the God of Abraham – Jews, Christians and Muslims, ALL have been given Free Will which includes choosing disrespect or choosing respect... whatever that means to you.

Free Will protects the child-of-God’s God-given-right to choose for himself/herself.

Who is it..I am...in what You do?...or in what You say?
Recognise Similarites – Respect Differences.
In this regard, I understand, even though I don’t agree with some of their methods, the Muslims persistent ire when any image of the Prophet Mohammed is made.

Remember how Catholics were so upset with the Davinci Code. Non-catholics would roll their eyes and say “puh-leaze…It is just fiction!”

Have you ever been upset when someone shares a potentially compromising or unflattering photo of yourself? You feel like your real image will be mocked or misunderstood somehow.


Who is it...I am Love?
Jesus was not unaccustomed to being mocked, nor was he unaccustomed to being Loved.

“There is nothing in other people's point of view, nor nothing in other people's choices that can destroy the God in me”

To me it seems this holds true for all of us.

Peace
Keren