Today is an exceedingly sad day for happy reasons. Lisa and I are driving our youngest child, our daughter Casile, to university. It’s only 2.5 hours drive away, but we won’t be seeing her for a while. She’s a wonderful daughter and has become a great friend. So I’m going to be gone for the whole day. I’ll do my best to check emails and respond to nakedpastor, Facebook, Twitter and emails.
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There are all kinds of obstacles to your success. If they are not in your own mind, then they are in the minds of others. There are some people who encourage success. But there are also a lot of nay-sayers out there. As Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid would say: “Ignore everybody!” (Get the book! It’s a good read.). I don’t know how many times in my life I have run into the attitude, “Who do you think you are?” Most people don’t say it, but they think it. Talk of success is really cool until one experiences it. Then many others grow resentful and suspicious.
I heard an interesting statistic the other day: people tend to pull away from friends who are very generous to others. The reason? They don’t like to be made to feel guilty for not being generous. They don’t want to be reminded of their lack of generosity. So the conclusion was that if you decide to become generous, be prepared to lose some friends.
But you will make new ones.
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(Click on image for a larger picture in order to see the detail in his eyes.)
I am giving away a 7.5″x9.5″ (19cm x 24cm) fine art print of this portrait of “Jesus, 12 years“, OR: any print of your choice from my cartoons or from my fine art. Read the instructions on how to win below.
I recently had a dream in which I saw the face of Jesus at 12 years of age. He was standing in sunlight against a white wall. He was tanned with black hair and freckles. His eyes were very peculiar. There was a cross in his eyes. It had to be drawn. It is pen and ink, graphite pencil and charcoal on Strathmore vellum.
Something I learned in the church: organizations and the cross don’t get along. Like the human being, at the core of an organization’s spirit is the overpowering need to survive and not die. The protection of the organism is the primary impulse of the human mind. It is the same with organizations like the church. The cross is antithetical to this. The cross may be hung, adored, preached and heard, but it is rarely taken up.
“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set his eyes toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).
Luther says the same of Paul: “In every creature Saint Paul, with his sharp, discerning, apostolic eye, perceived the holy and beloved Cross.” What was different about Jesus, however, was that the cross he foresaw shaped his present life. The social philosopher Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy wrote: “Man as an animal organism lives forward from birth toward death, but, as a soul who knows beforehand that he will die, he molds his life looking backward from the end.” The gospels indicate that the reality of the cross permeated the life of Jesus from the beginning. And he allowed it.
Singer/songwriter/poet Leonard Cohen said, “Mankind must rediscover the crucifixion as a universal symbol, not just an experiment in sadism or masochism or arrogance. It will have to be rediscovered because that’s where man is at… on the cross!”
All you have to do to enter the contest is 2 things:
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You can buy a fine art print of this cartoon.
Even in our deepest sadness, our most profound grief, our loneliest moment, our most frustrating anxiety, there is a Presence that cares for us. There is a Compassion that sustains us. There is a Comfort that provides solace. This Blessing pronounces Benediction over us. Of this I am certain.
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This image reminds me of a recurring nightmare I had when I was growing up: I had to carry a gigantic weight, like a globe, on my back, descend dark stairs into the basement, and appear before an austere panel of judges. It was always terrifying. I have some understanding of what it means now. I am aware that this dynamic is still at work in my life.
Jesus is before an austere panel of judges. He listened to them and asked them questions. They were amazed at his understanding. Notice that the scroll actually blocks the light from the reader. Is it possible, by studying the texts, to totally miss the truth and in fact prevent it from being birthed in you? Can the truth can be standing right in front of us and we can miss it altogether?
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