Comments and Notes

The following are notes left during the 'Way of the Cross' Holy Week devotional experience. Also included is detailed information about the artists and art that has been such a significant part of this experience. We owe such a tremendous debt of gratitude to each of our artists, for their work and their gifts of worship.




Sermon on the Mount

· Lord, forgive me that I am too preoccupied by my own agenda and my own business to listen for you. Thank you for a space and time that I can set aside for you, and simply be still before you.

· I feel ashamed of my own stinginess when I think of the abundant hospitality of Jesus. Thank you Lord for providing.

The Last Supper

· Lord- Thank you that you included Judas in the Last Supper, though that astounds me! There were 12 places set. Your love is so amazing that it encompasses even those who turn against you. You not only taught us, but showed us how to love our enemies, and to forsake the way of violence. Thank you.

Zacchaeus

· Lord, I try to look at your unlovely people and see them with your loving eyes, but I confess that I am unable. I still judge and put people in categories. Forgive me, and Lord, help to transform my heart that I may truly reflect your love, not my own weak and inadequate version. Let me begin by being able to truly accept your love for me. I know myself to be unworthy, and yet you love me, too.

Feeding of the 5000

· The bread that you provided,in the miracle story, brings life. Similarly, the bread you offer us, the giving of your body, gives us life also ---but more than physical life, it gave spiritual life, wholeness of life. Thank you.

Tenants in the Vineyard

· Lord forgive me. I am tempted to keep your gifts all to myself, and use them to glorify myself. Open my heart, Lord, that your gifts might flow to me and out from me freely. Help me not to cling so much to myself and my worldly attachments, but to trust you.

· The hands of God are open to all who will give themselves to him.

Crucifixion

· Lord, thank you for your great love for us, and for your willingness to die. You did not succumb to a path of violence and revolution, but instead taught us, showed us a better way. Thank you for your steadfastness and for your courage. Even my cold, calloused heart breaks when I meditate on your love.

· How you suffered, Oh Jesus.

Lazarus

· I love Gerry’s picture. It speaks to me of modern man. It is multicultural and raucous. It speaks of oppression and discrimination. The figure in the middle is weighed down by life. Yet there is hope present also. In the midst of razorwire fences and bars and crosses, this person is still fully alive, has not given up on life. This painting speaks to me of hope within a diseased body; it speaks of spirit that is struggling to survive, not willing to give up. Lord, thank you for the strength and tenacity you have given Gerry. He has inspired me; he who has so many obstacles sets an example for me, who has had few obstacles in life. Lord, help me to speak to those in pain. Help me to be your presence to them, even when I cannot imagine what they’ve been through. Help me to trust in the power of your healing presence, even as you healed Lazarus –which is beyond my understanding.

Here is the information that should accompany each work on the blog. Probably best in caption form beneath or beside each image. Also, the following statement should be included once at the bottom or the top of the page:
Images are the property of the artists and may not be reproduced or used without permission.

· Kelly Downer
Spanish Church, 2006
11” x 8 ½ “
Photograph

The Rockies, 2006
8 ½” x 11”
Photograph

· David Reed
The Feeding of the Five Thousand, 2007
12” x 12”
Digital print with applied mixed media on watercolor paper

· Virginia Rice Thompson
Returning the Harvest, 2007
22” x 30”
Oil on canvas

· Gerry Mitchell
Lazarus, 2007
48” x 48”
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas

· Barbara Oblinger
"Yo, Zacchaeus!", 2007
24” x 18”
Wet and dry watercolor pencil on paper

· Elizabeth Bartlett
Cloaks on the Road, 2007
22” x 28”
Watercolor on paper and watercolor on canvas

· Brigitte Turquois-Freeman
The Last Supper, 2007
48” x 36”
Oil on canvas

· Brigitte Turquois-Freeman
Crucifixion of Christ, 2004
38” x 28”
Oil on canvas

· Virginia Rice Thompson
Welcome, Happy Morning, 2007
48” x 36”
Oil on canvas