tumblr faithposting: april + may 2022
Apr. 30th, 2022 09:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prismaticbleed
Mikhail Nesterov: The Empty Tomb (1889)
I love the link of light between the flaming sword & the tiny candle. Both burn with hope and love.
And yes, through Christ-- Who is both the Crucified and the Risen One-- death is not the end! Through His Resurrection, the "worst thing", the end of earthly life itself, is not the last thing... which means that, once the worst is over, all we have left is joy.
I just read Luke 21 today, and that verse in this context is giving me chills. Here, Christ has died, and today, Christ is risen... but at a time only God knows, Christ will come again-- terrible, beautiful, with all the glory He both hid and held at the Cross.
But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand. (Luke 21:28)
Remember that, too, when you lift your head to look at Him upon it!
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Holy Saturday is a POWERFUL reminder that the silence of God does NOT mean the absence of God.
Holy Saturday is eerily quiet, but it is in that quiet that God paradoxically speaks. You just can’t hear Him with your ears. Today, listen– even now, as always, there is a hint of heaven in the air.
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Holy Women Leaving the Sepulchre
Philip Galle––1587
How terrible that departure must have felt-- especially for His Mother! To leave Jesus there, cold and covered in blood... the utter heartache in this is tangible, made even more stark by the mundane background details... the men carrying the ladder away from the Cross, Joseph and Nicodemus unaware of the worst horrors, the City towering on the horizon just like any other day. The only thing markedly unusual is the empty Cross, soon to be removed as well. Business as usual.
But the women know the truth. Something great and awful has happened, and nothing is the same. And Mary, perhaps Mary alone, knows even more, that there is an even greater event coming. Still, she must leave Him until then, and no amount of hope, however actual, can erase her equally real agony.
The Pieta - Gaspero Bruschi
Oh this is stunning.
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The Harrowing of Hell (or 'Christ's Descent into Limbo') is my FAVORITE thing; it strikes me to the heart with unutterable joy.
Christ dies, goes down to the netherworld as all humans did until then, and the devil thinks he's got Him, game over! Except Christ has come carrying the battering ram (pun intended) of the Cross. Fearlessly and with incandescent purpose, He wrenches open the jaws of Hell and breaks through its prison bars, takes Adam & Eve by the hands, and marches with them and all the ancient Saints in blissful triumph right through the also-thrown-open gates of Heaven. He destroys death WITH death, because once He touched it with those Bloodied Hands, it changed-- transformed from a lethal weapon to an instrument of life. Satan was, indeed, bound and plundered, never to recover. It's glorious beyond words.
To think; while His Apostles and beloved friends were mourning and waiting, lost out in the cold before the Tomb, Jesus was wrecking Hell itself, and changing history by redeeming all that the ages had long held in hope.
THAT is the triumph we are celebrating even tonight, when the Tomb itself becomes flooded with light, emptied of all but promises fulfilled. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn-- rejoicing, infinite and eternal!
Christ is not risen yet, but believe me, He is having a hell of a time until then.
Jesus is legit just stepping over the busted door, with Satan UNDER IT.
Look at that exultant entrance! Look at the skulls and snakes crushed beneath His Pierced Feet! Look how every poor soul reaches to Him with every fiber of their being!
VICTORY IS COMING!
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(all image credit to the photographer)
Fountain.
Come to the Fountain-- see this overflow of grace, of life, of joy, of love! Yet what a shock we encounter; for it is still all His Blood. All of that beauteous promise is wrapped up in red. Yes, we can drink from the wellspring of salvation, indeed we must, but that infinite source is His Heart.
Can you-- will you-- stand so close? Why do you hesitate?
I'm struck to the core by how Christ is looking at her, clear agony in His gaunt Face and yet so tenderly, terribly compassionate even then. He seems almost imploring-- her fingers are stained with mercy but there is so much more to be had-- He bids her to drink, My child; take as much as you need; this is all for you, the one I love enough to die for.
He says that to all of us, there on the Cross.
Even now, we too are wrapped in red. 
Compassion.
"If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do... I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other." (John 13:14-15, 34 CEB)
We are His servants of love-- bound in joyful duty to Love Himself. Our every action is to be defined by this blissful mandate.
So then... why do we neglect compassion towards Him? Is He not in need, too? Has He not suffered more than we can imagine? Indeed, we must also love our Lord in the same way He loves us.
Wash His feet. Bind up His Wounds. Gently wipe the Blood from His Face, and kiss away His Tears of pain.
Do not be afraid of the Cross. It, too, is an act of compassion.
Tenderness for my wounded God.
Tenderness for my wounded God.
There is such aching softness in this; one even forgets that Christ has just been crucified. Lying there in her arms, reclining on her lap, the Beloved One rests in His completed work and in the embrace of His own Beloved child.
The dawn breaks; the doves appear. Light shines in the darkness, and hope spreads wings of freedom over the weary world.
Spring sets its emerald promise like a jewel upon the trees. New life is coming... the Tree of Life has borne its fruit.
In the heart of it all, red wounds color a red woman, the hue of salvation echoed in the very sunrise. Tenderness so deep it aches has soaked into the very fabric of our souls, of reality itself.
There, together, is unending peace... unending joy... unending love. The pain lasts but a moment. With the dawn comes this.
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Jesus Washing the Feet of his Disciples
Albert Edelfelt⏤1898
The tenderness of Christ, and the tension of the Apostles, are amazingly tangible in this. Look at their hands!
Look at all the closed body language– how nervous they are, how sheepish they appear, strangely humbled by their Lord’s shocking humility, by this sudden mundane intimacy. Christ has never touched them so carefully before. Christ has never seen how dirty and pungent their calloused feet are. If they balked at revealing the filth of their soles, is it because they were now just as immediately aware of the far more malodorous sin on their souls?
Even so, there He is, meek and quiet and impossibly gentle, washing the dust of the wearisome road from between their toes, beneath their nails. It’s such a motherly action, far moreso than a servile one: yes, a servant will clean your feet, but only a mother will bathe you, washing away even your darkest fears with her knowing touch– and only a mother is allowed to be so purely intimate. Well… a mother or a lover.
“Unless I was you, you won’t belong to Me.” How much more depth that phrase holds, in such a light. What trust, what fidelity, what selfless love He gave them, and implored them to give in return! What sweet meekness, to serve others not as obligation, but as an honor– as a true joy! This is what it means to be His disciple, a child of His Kingdom. This is His example; this is the heart of God.
The Last Supper, Jaume Huguet, ca. 1470
Judas’s shocking lack of a halo is almost unnoticeable at first, his hair blending in with Jesus’s robe– and with the wine, both cruel and chalice. His role as the betrayer links him to both the “cup of suffering” Jesus was about to drink, and the “outer garment” that was to be gambled away at His death… to blood and greed.
He reaches for the lamb, alone dipping his hand into the dish, his portion of bread the only one with a piece “cut off”. He is helping himself, not waiting to be fed by the Lord. Perhaps he fears he will not get “what he wants,” or as much as he desires… certainly that thought motivated his apostasy; he wanted an earthly kingdom, not a heavenly one. He sees this dead lamb and only thinks of eating it. His appetite is for the dead flesh, not the Living Bread.
There’s a cat at his feet. Medievally, they were often symbols of vice. Historian Damien Kemf says, “Unlike dogs, cats cannot be trained to be loyal and obedient; they will go to whoever gives them food… Their ability to see in the dark was often associated with heretics, who ignored the light of Christ and preferred to stay in darkness.” I daresay that, domesticated, the “roaring lion” is harder to hear or even suspect, but he still “prowls about, looks for someone to devour”…
I look at the dark robe shrouding our Lord and I just think, “and it was night.” Yet even that will be shed in time. Despite all, the light shines through. It is tragic, that Judas could not see it… ironically, his head is the only one bereft of gold.
Losing my mind over the gospel of Luke being like “they wrapped his body in linen cloth and laid him in a tomb” after the beginning of the story being “they wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger”
Also, consider that the man who wrapped & buried Jesus’s body was named Joseph. At the beginning and the end, Mary and Jesus were with a Joseph. I wonder how she felt, if she knew his name.
But the name is also shared by the ancient Patriarch. The name in Hebrew holds meanings of “gathering together” and “harvesting”– with a core message of “feeding the hungry.” The first Joseph did that in Egypt, saving thousands from famine with the bread only he had. Mary’s husband Joseph did that with Christ, the Bread of Life, placed in the feeding-trough… and Joseph of Arimathea did that by placing Christ in the tomb, like planting the seed for the eternal life-giving harvest of the Resurrection.
Just… there’s so much. It’s wrenchingly beautiful.
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They say, "sin wouldn't be so attractive if the wages were paid immediately."
A very bold, dangerous prayer is to ask for this-- even just a little. "God, when I am attracted by sin, show me immediately the true nature of it! Show me its ugliness; show me that it is not worth what I think it is!"
Be vigilant! Sin can only allure you if you are looking with worldly eyes; if you look through the lens of faith, its facade fails. God will give you that sight if you stay close to Him, your desires fixed on Him alone.
The wages of sin is death, and the more your life is spent abiding in the sweetness of Christ, the more clearly you will smell the opposing stench of death in every temptation to sin. Fear not! Stay close to Christ; He will guard you.
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There are only two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’
— C.S. Lewis
I am genuinely terrified of ever hearing that statement from God. It's an immediate death sentence-- a clear testament to the fact that whatever "way" I might be insisting upon, it isn't God's Way.
The good news? If I-- if you-- ever hear Him say that, we can just as instantly stop and repent. We can respond, "wait, I have been foolish and ignorant; now that I clearly know You are not with me on that path, I forsake it. I do not want "my way" if it means going on without You. Please forgive me; have mercy, and lead me in Your Way instead."
God warns us, not to damn us, but to rescue us. He says these things to purposely shock us, to make us fearfully realize the grave nature of our rebellion, however blind it may be. God will not deny His mercy to anyone, if they sincerely seek it from Him with a contrite heart. He will never turn away a soul that returns to Him in truth, no matter how far they may have wandered before.
Practice saying "Thy Will be done." If you've never actually affirmed it before, do so now. Even if its feeble and afraid, hold it in your heart, and pray for the grace to day it ever more strongly, until it becomes part of every breath you take. Never give up. You do not want to be in that second group, and you never have to be. God doesn't want you lost, either. Take courage, and trust Him.
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Spiritual desolation is terrifying; God feels utterly absent, distant, unreal; all memories of consolation become untranslatable or inaccessible. The heart becomes dry and hollow; prayer suffers, joy withers, peace disappears. How, then, can this profound numbing of the soul benefit us? How can such a chasm of emptiness possibly do us any good?
That’s what this quote clarifies. That’s the paradox. It doesn’t.
Desolation is the anaesthetic. That’s it’s true job. But God is the surgeon.
When we are desolate, we still know God is real; we still have faith burned into our being, even if we feel nothing, even if doubts and fears plague us nonstop. We hope against hope. We cling to what we cannot even sense anymore, and yet we cannot ever deny it outright. Even collapsed under the weight of our cross, we know Someone gave it to us for a Good Reason, and if that raw fact is ALL we have to go on as we hobble on to Calvary, then so be it; it is enough. It must be enough, if it is all we were given. God knows. We don’t. That’s the point.
We forget that we’re not the ones doing the work. When we are anesthetized, desolate, we cease striving after our own notions of success. We stop taking on more than our share, we abandon ambition, we no longer try to guess or even edit God’s plan for our life. We are like unruly yet beloved children, who genuinely want to help Him with the home repairs but keep losing the tools and touching all the wet paint… we don’t understand when He says “no,” even though He says it with love. We can’t quite grasp the truth of our “not knowing”– of our not even being able to know. We just want to help. Come on, Dad, let me plug in the wires. Let me hold the drill. It looks so easy! But pride is lurking, and ultimately the only way to humble our childish enthusiasm is to give us a time-out. Out of the room, away from Dad, unable to interfere. Out of love.
Soon enough, He will come and get us, and show us what beautiful work He has done… all for us! All within us! So we must doggedly hold on to faith, and hope, and charity, even if just with our feeble will– no feelings, no fervor, just a weak but honest resolution to not give up on God. Wait one more day. One more. One more. Keep waiting. Keep trusting. He remembers you, of course! He is working on you, remember? You’re just under anaesthetic for a while. The numbness is not permanent. Be patient, beloved. Carry the cross with gratitude. It is, truly, our only hope, even in this.
Transformation requires desolation. Remember that. So it was with Christ; so it must be with us.
Re-read the Archbishop’s words and take them deeply to heart. You need this understanding, this acceptance. Sometimes, for the greatest good of our souls, all we can do is let ourselves be put aside so God can do His work. This takes immense trust, and love, and humility. Tell God you are willing. Pray fervently for the grace. Then… well, “count backwards from 100”, as they say. Let God decide when to work. Do not impede Him, even in good will. Surrender to that sanctified numbness. And wait on the Lord.
“Never be afraid of your Bibles. If there is a text of Scripture you dare not meet, humble yourself till you can. If your creed and Scripture do not agree, cut your creed to pieces, but make it agree with this book. If there be anything in the church to which you belong which is contrary to the inspired word, leave that church.”— Charles Spurgeon
This, right here, is the powerful heart of Christian living, the true fire of Charity.
The Bible contains many “hard sayings,” many difficult commands, and plenty of convicting truths. Being the Holy Book, it will inevitably point out our unholiness with piercing accuracy. Don’t run away. Don’t let pride make you hide! That Biblical cutting-down-to-size is what cuts out our sinful habits, if we humbly accept that we both need and deserve the process.
Likewise, some of your personal beliefs, opinions, preferences, ideas, etc., being formed by the world, will stand opposed or contrary– however minimally– to what it says in God’s Word. You may laugh this off as mistranslation or “outdated doctrine” or the like, trying to justify yourself and validate all your thoughts instead, forgetting that you are terribly fallible and prone to commit error every moment. When your viewpoint clashes with that of Scripture, you get off that high hill of yours and seek a different vantage point. When your own “book” of rules disagrees with the one Good Book, you tear your tome apart at the very spine. I use brutal language because we cannot be mincing or hesitant in these matters. There is One Truth that is God, and if we encounter opposition to it in ourselves, however “minor,” it is still a lie in the face of God and it must be removed and replaced.
Lastly, we live in the last days. The Church, though her heart is safeguarded as the Bride of Christ, nevertheless is maintained by thousands of human sons & daughters who maim their Lord’s teachings by their own errors, by gutless lies and social pride and moral laxity. Your local church is not exempt from this plague. You must keep your eyes & heart fixed on God’s Word, vigilant for any missteps or malice both within yourself and in your worship community, and like a devout soldier, always ready to defend your Lord’s honor and guard His Church from the enemy, the Liar. Be gentle but firm, courageous but meek, merciful but just– and start with yourself. Get the beam out of your own eye, by the grace of God! Only in true humble piety can you discern dangers in the church, which includes you. If you aren’t properly living as a sheep of His flock, you won’t recognize the impropriety of a wolf… and a true sheep knows their Master’s Voice: a Voice we learn to love through His Word.
Never be afraid of the Bible. Yes, it is full of fearful power, but that power is meant to save! Such is the nature of holiness. Its fire is meant to purify and enlighten! Every word within it has been given for Good. Trust in its heart, and read it constantly. Let it define your entire life, for when this life ends, only the soul who has loved God’s Word will know the Way to life eternal.
