In this story from John (the 11th Chapter) Lazarus leaves his grave clothes behind. Meanwhile others believe he best stay in the tomb. Jesus knows it is a real challenge to let someone come back to life.
These images were projected during the Advent Season 2011 in Asbury United Methodist Church in Harrisonburg Virginia. They are the property of the artist. Seek permission if you want to use them.
John is a wonderful story teller. In the 5th chapter he tells of a man born blind who causes quite a problem in his neighborhood. Sometimes we don’t want to see what is happening right in front of us. Living in the house of Lent calls us to see God’s new activity in our lives, or maybe to see what we have been ignoring.
These images are based on the scriptures for the Sundays of Lent and were projected as part of worship during the 2011 Lenten Season at Asbury United Methodist Church in Harrisonburg Virginia. They are the work of the artist. Seek her permission if you desire to use them.
The reading for the third Sunday of Lent is about the meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman at the well where she has gone to get water. In John 4:7 Jesus asks her for a drink of water. This is a beautiful and rich story about asking and offering, giving and receiving, questioning and courage.
As always this series of graphics is the property of the artist. They were projected as part of worship at Asbury United Methodist Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia during Lent 2011. Contact the artist for permission to use.
To be a Christian during Lent is to live in a purple house, purple being the color for the Lenten season. It is a house not like the neighbors who do no think of their lives in terms of what Jesus taught and lived out on his way to the cross. And maybe we don’t either most of the time. But as we Christians approach Easter, there is that cross on the hill above the purple house.
This particular station points to the importance of women to the journey of Jesus. Veronica is not a Biblical reference, but somehow this act of a woman is too important to be dismissed. In this narrative she comes forth at the moment when Jesus needs her intervention, at that moment which gives scholars and Biblical interpreters much for discussion and debate. The weight of dust is heavy here.
Station 6 — His Face Washed by Veronica
The sweat salted his face, stung his eyes.
Beyond the pain he saw
the rocky ground
the crowd of friends and enemies,
those attracted by the spectacle,
and God, where was God…
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.”
Then he saw a woman among
the faces moving in and out of focus.
She reached toward him
holding up both hands to keep her balance
stretching to reach his face
her eyes hidden
by the cloth she held up to him –
cloth to absorb the sweat
cloth to bring the comfort of a touch
cloth to companion him on his journey.
Writers often talk about how the characters take over the story. This happened to me as I worked with the clay in this case. The hand would not get into proper proportion. When I wrote the poem much later, I saw this large hand as an emotional statement. When one is being assisted, the hand that helps appears out of proportion to what is happening around the actors. God became visible for me in this act of Simon, despite all that is unknown about Simon and his motivations.
Station 5— Simon Compelled to Carry the Cross
That hand, Jesus–
How big it must have looked to you,
a human hand stretched out
lifting your burden.
Hand of one unknown to you,
in the crowd of mixed intentions.
Compelled by love or virtue or
simply the rule of current law,
a hand interrupting the circle of violence.
In one small opportunity
in one large moment
the Hand of God.
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A reminder: the stations and the photographs as well as the poems are the property of the artist. Contact her for information and permission to use.
Station 4— Jesus Sees His Mother
This tile surface is more broken in this tile due to some unavoidable firing variations. This station cuts deeply for me and the surface brokenness is appropriate.
Station 4 — Jesus Sees His Mother
In Her Image….
He looked down and for a moment
the agony that shook his body split open–
it was her face that broke the darkness
and spoke to him the beauty of his life.
How he cradled in her womb
as the donkey bounced to Bethlehem,
then the cradle of her arms
as they took the road to Egypt– to safety–
of the many ways she’d loved him
and let him go in God.
Now she stood with her friends and his
refusing the safety of not seeing, and he loved her–
so many memories of goodness
lit the space between them–
“John”, he said before the agony closed in again,
“be to her, her son.”
Station 4— Jesus Sees His Mother
This tile surface is more broken in this tile due to some unavoidable firing variations. It is for me the most emotional of the stations and the surface brokenness is appropriate.
Station 4 — Jesus Sees His Mother
In Her Image….
He looked down and for a moment
the agony that shook his body split open–
it was her face that broke the darkness
and spoke to him the beauty of his life.
How he cradled in her womb
as the donkey bounced to Bethlehem,
then the cradle of her arms
as they took the road to Egypt– to safety–
of the many ways she’d loved him
and let him go in God.
Now she stood with her friends and his
refusing the safety of not seeing, and he loved her–
so many memories of goodness
lit the space between them–
“John”, he said before the agony closed in again,
“be to her, her son.”
Station 3 : Jesus Falls the First Time
The title of this set of 14 Stations is The Weight of Dust. The set contains the traditional stations rooted in church history. The photos are of clay tiles framed in pine and completed in 2008. After completing the clay work I responded to the process by writing poems beginning with Station 4: Jesus and His Mother, a tile completed during Advent of 2007 and personally meaningful. Station 4 will be posted on Wednesday, March 3rd of this year, 2010. The tiles and images and poems are the property of the artist. Contact her for permission to use.
Station 3 — Jesus Falls the First Time
Jesus, I leave now.
The cross upon your back
was hard enough to witness–
Now you fall.
I don’t want a stumbling God.
I don’t want a God who ends up in the dirt.
Yet there is something compelling here.
I’ll walk a little farther.
Stations of the Cross: The Weight of Dust
Station 2
When they laid the cross on your back, Jesus
what did your heart do and your blood pressure.
When they laid the cross on your back
it was a physical experience not a spiritual triumph.
When they laid the cross on your back
it was heavy with the weight of
wood and nails and fear–
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The tiles, photos, poems are the property of the author. Feel free to contact her. Next posting of a station will be on Sunday, Feb.28th.
The Cross Is Laid Upon Him
