Whatsoever |
Whatsoever |
I was asked to give a talk on Zoom today and I chose as my theme the verses from the Bible : The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means “God with us”. Matthew 1:23, quoting Isaiah 7:14 How can we start to understand what this means. I talked about three favourite paintings that help me appreciate more the wonder of 'Immanuel" GOD WITH US - what does it mean? Christmas may in many ways be seen as full of light, predictable and simple and straightforward.. At the centre of the Christmas story however is a dark night, a dirty stable, a puzzled young woman and the man who cares for her, the agony of a baby being born. It was hard there and it hurt. For many this time of year is coloured by sadness, hard memories, frustrations, loneliness and even fear. How can any of us cope with shock, unpredictability? By sitting close to the manger, allowing all the fragile certainties to slip away and go down to the very centre of history. The birth of Christ is the most unpredictable thing in the world. God coming to earth, having to learn to walk again. It seems that the comforting image of Christmas as light, predictable and simple is far too trite to deal with the realities of life. And yet, as we battle through complexity and unpredictability, what do we find as we come to kneel before that new born baby?
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This painting by Carpaccio depicts Christ calling Matthew to follow him as a disciple The costumes and setting are strangely Italian and there are some slightly troubling aspects to the perspective of the buildings. Yet right in the centre are two hands joined. Christ holds out his hands to gently call the proud tax collector away from his money and reckoning. He calls him away from all he has known and relied upon. By the inclination of his head and the slight pull of his hand he beckons to a new life. Matthew has to step down onto the rough ground. He will need to discard his rich brocade cloak and gold trimmed hat. He will be able to discard the notoriety and resentment of his job for an even less respectable crowd of itinerant followers of a deeply disturbing teacher. He does not yet know what the future will hold : that he will discover the ability to exchange accounting with numbers for accounting for the truth of this man, this Messiah. In those hands there is such a clear image of God, coming to earth as a man and coming to meet us and lead us out into the future.
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WhatsoeverThe posts are 'postcards' on my journey through faith and art. The name 'Whatsoever' comes from Philippians 4:8 in the Bible : Categories
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