What DOES Jesus look like?

 Anyone watching the latest series of Killing Eve?

Hopefully I won’t give away any spoilers but I want to start by thinking about the visions Villanelle has of Jesus.

For those who have never watched the show or have no idea what I’m writing about I shall give a brief resume.

Villanelle is a psychopath, a ruthless killer who works for a shadowy organisation as an assassin.

Her dress sense is incredibly flamboyant and for a murderess there is something endearing about her, she seems a little lost, in need of mothering but I don’t think she would make a good daughter or a faithful best friend. She would put you on her hit list if you just looked at her in a funny way.

The fourth and final series begins with her “finding God” wanting to prove that she has turned over a new leaf. She uses her extensive charms to join a church, even moving in with the kindly vicar of the parish. She is desperate to get Baptised, for all the wrong reasons, and actually belong to something good for the first time in her life.

This is when she starts to see visions of Jesus, her own version of Jesus, Jesus in drag.

To be honest I’ve avoided looking up any reaction to this but I suspect there is some outcry from the more conservative quarters that this image of Jesus is blasphemous. I’m sure if this series was on the BBC at a specific time rather than streamed on iPlayer it might have got more reaction.

However, I take a different view as I think we all have a tendency to make Jesus in our image to suit ourselves and make Jesus relatable.

The Victorians were fond of portraying Jesus as white with glowing blonde hair and clear crystal blue eyes and that image has pretty much stuck for many people.

One day on our church Facebook page I dared to post an image of Jesus that was black and someone got very upset about it. But each culture has their own idea of what Jesus/God looks like, basically we like to make Jesus someone we can identify with, usually with our own colouring and style.

Ethiopian Last Supper (anonymous)

Peace, Be Still by James He Qi (1998)

No one knows what Jesus really looked like as there are obviously no photographs from that time but one of the the best approximations I’ve seen is this image by child prodigy Akiane Kramarik, amazingly she was only 8 years old when she painted this! WOW!

Prince of Peace

Then there is this model by Richard Neave which never claims to be Jesus but a representation of what a Jewish man of that time and place might look like. It is far removed from the the blonde haired image we so often see.

Model by Richard Neave  2001

Jesus might not look like us but if we are made in God’s image then each of us displays something of God and his son Jesus in our essence. The family resemblance is not in looks but something in our personality - our caring nature, our creativity, the sense of justice or wonder we possess, the ache of compassion, the joy we experience seeing a sunset or hearing good news.

I refuse to be offended at Villenelle’s vision and likewise didn’t get upset when my bother bought me a dancing with Jesus bobbling figurine at Christmas. Was it a present meant to provoke a reaction? It just made me laugh, as I’m sure God does when we often get things wrong in a crazy way, not when we do something blatantly sinful on purpose.

Our own childish view of Jesus is like a child’s stick figure drawing. Perhaps God has hundreds and thousands of these images stuck on his giant fridge and each day as he passes he smiles benevolently at our crude likenesses.

I’m sure God has a sense of humour and can take a joke far better than the rest of us and see the funny side when it doesn’t mean harm. God has broad shoulders and one day we will see him face to face and perhaps then he (or she) really will have the last laugh at our shocked faces.

A long time ago on a blog post far far away I wrote this poem called Jesus is an Action Man - if you enjoyed this you might like this too CLICK HERE to read it.

Lockdown Art - Emerging and Blooming

Do you remember having plans for 2020? Those dates on the calendar that seemed set in stone, places to be and people to see.

For me the end of the university year coincided perfectly with a retreat to Lindisfarne. I planned a weekend away enjoying some space before picking youngest son up after his exams on the way home and starting the LONG summer break.

Well the long summer break became extended, starting way before Easter and I suppose at least the weather played along.

However my weekend retreat at the end of May was, like so many things this year - a casualty of Covid.

Whereas many events have “zoomed” ahead in the virtual world, it was felt that this would have excluded some participants, so instead we were all sent a “Ladies Retreat to Lindisfarne staying at home” pack.

Included was information, prayers, colouring in sheets but most exciting to me a “slow stitching pack”. Scraps of fabric, thread, yarn and buttons. A cornucopia of tactile goodies yearning to be played with, stitched together and overlaid creating shifting patterns, emerging and evolving into ART.

Now for only having 3 letters ART is a pretty big word and I would struggle to call myself an ARTIST, in much the same way as I struggle with the concept of being a Writer with a capital W. But I sometimes write so therefore sometimes I am!

Unfortunately most of us set ourselves such lofty ideas of what these terms actually mean and yet we ALL have the ability to be creative in our own ways.

I knew of a man who painted the most exquisite watercolour pictures but because he couldn’t expressive himself in BOLDER acrylics, he didn’t think much of his obvious talent that everyone else could clearly see.

We always set the bar high and often judge our own efforts much harsher than we would our contemporaries.

It sadly can take years to recognise our own talents, they need gentle nurturing to make them flourish.

I was fortunate to have been part of a church for many years which encouraged art in ALL its forms, and that is the church which had organised this retreat, following in the footsteps of many other artistic endeavours and exhibitions in the past.

So I was in no way daunted by the pack of fabric and buttons – mostly in my favourite colours of pink and green.

I threw open the patio doors, sat cross legged in the sunshine and tipped everything our at my feet to play and see what I could make.

It seemed obvious that the goose had to be a focal point – although I confess I originally thought of the story of the ugly duckling and how he emerges as a swan – but whatever kind of bird it is in reality I wanted it to peep out.

I pulled threads tight and frayed edges; it was emerging boldly from a tangled mess into something new. The felt fabric provided neater boundaries, some enclosed by tidy blanket stitch.

The lily is a representation of the first lily that opened this year on Easter Sunday. New potential, new beginnings – blooming in a world that’s been turned upside down and irretrievably changed.

The sequins are the little pieces of joy that sparkle often catching us unawares. And buttons are a symbol of what holds us altogether. I often use buttons and other found items in what I create, It's repurposing for the next chapter.

I’ve written before about this lockdown being a time of mending and I’m sure there is still much to do, overall what emerges and blooms when this is over is up to us. These are the themes that keep reverberating around my head. Although the continued head spinning often leaves me so dizzy my focus blurs – perhaps that’s a topic I should explore another day?

For many the new ways of doing things will continue to be embraced. The frayed areas will add character making us resilient – Is it any wonder that I called my very first blog unravelling edges about mending my life after my husband died. Some edges will always be raw.

My words, my sewing, my garden and everything I create is a tapestry of my ever-changing life. Some bits may be messy but hopefully there is also much to delight in. And once joined with everyone else’s efforts we can make something really beautiful!

Whether that beauty is displayed in an artspace at the back of a church or in our High Street windows, or the virtual world we also inhabit – let’s resolve to make the world a brighter place as we emerge blinking into something new.

Other Lockdown art - photos from my garden and other creations...