May 2nd, just a few days away, will be our
grandson Henry’s third birthday, the first to be celebrated here in the Midwest.
His parents moved the family from their
home in in the mountains of North Carolina to Eastern Illinois last
summer. Celebrating his third year of life
amid all the new life blossoming around us is a joyous occasion.
I have thought back to the month we
spent in North Carolina three years ago waiting for Henry and then enjoying his
first few weeks “on his own.” Along with
the wonderful, simple family times that month, we took a side trip to two
nearby towns in the mountains to see the renowned frescos at two Episcopal
churches. Seeing those frescos brought
an unexpected illustration of what Christian life can and should be.
When we came to the first small,
wooden church, we were surprised by its beautiful stained glass windows in
addition to the expected frescos across the altar area. On the right side of the altar was a
rectangular fresco of Mary with child.
On the other side was one of John the Baptist, sparsely clothed,
creating somewhat of a wild man appearance consistent with Biblical
descriptions of him. Both characters in
the frescos were immediately recognizable.
Not
surprisingly, Jesus on the cross was the prominent figure in the middle
area. He and the other figures were
painted in somewhat muted colors. But at
the top of the cross just above Jesus’ head was an image of the resurrected
Christ, his head, chest and arms appearing almost as if sketched in various
shades of gray. Seeing this combination
of the crucifixion and Jesus rising from the dead was very striking and
memorable.
We then
drove through some very dense fog—we were determined—as we ventured higher into
the mountains toward the second church.
This, too, was a small, wooden, church, green and white on the
outside. Sadly, there were no pretty
windows but inside, the fresco of the last supper filled the altar area with
rich colors in the very recognizable depiction of this special meal.
At both
churches, we pushed a button at the entrance to hear a recorded commentary on
the churches and the frescos. The
information was surprisingly interesting, including each church’s history and
detailed descriptions of the making of the frescos. The distinctive feature about a painting of
this kind is in how the masterpiece is created.
An artist works on the wall’s plaster while it is still wet and fresh,
creating the artwork as something intrinsic with the wall, not just on its surface. The wall and the painting then are
inseparable, woven into each other’s actual substance.
Is this
merging of substances in the creation of a fresco not an illustration of what
our lives are to be like as members of the body of Christ? Our belief in Christ and the living out of
the faith God gives to us are not to be externally applied to parts of our
lives, such as church attendance and related activities.
Instead, His
holy substance, His life is to be soaked into every aspect of who we are and how
we live. Jesus spoke of Himself as what
should be the permeating substance of our very beings. “I am the
vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much
fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 ) .He is to be our spiritual food and drink as
the bread of life and the living water.
Sharing little Henry’s début in the world that spring three years ago was beyond
special and joyous. A sweet addition was
the side trip to the churches and the illustration of Christian life that the frescoes
presented. May we all as Christians
feast on this life-giving substance of Christ and strive to be living frescos,
wet and yielding to the brush strokes of God’s Holy Spirit.
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