The most important things about me are not my successes but my failures. If you knew nothing of who I was except for where I had fallen down and had to get back up, you would know the most about my life, my character, and my relationship with my saviour Jesus Christ.
Problem is that doesn't work on a resume.
More to come later...
31.3.10
12.3.10
I did something very liturgical today. It is Lenten season and I haven't done much to think through and prepare myself for the Passion week ahead. See, I told you it was something liturgical in nature. Actually, maybe it's better to say that I did something Catholic. Why do I associate anything ritual with Catholicism? Does the reformed faith really have no ritual aspect to it? I think it is in my evangelical roots to see ritual as bad and that it gets in the way of relationship with Jesus. However, my life without the rituals would be without discipline in reading the Word and in prayer. hmmm ... Anyway...
I went to Our Lady of Mercy Parish to view the Man of the Shroud exhibit. I had been to the website and read some of the material, and I spoke with a teacher at STMC regarding the nature of the exhibit, yet I still wasn't sure what I would encounter. I went out of curiosity; as a student of history; as a religious investigator per se; as a protestant nay sayer; and as a woman of faith dipping her foot in the pool of mystery that surrounds the world of religious artifacts.
A brief description of the shroud;
The Shroud is an old bloodstained, dirty piece of linen cloth containing life-sized front and back images of a naked man who appears to have been crucified. In a climate of superstition, naiveté and disorder (for historical reasons that I will not go into here), a lucrative market in false relics flourished in Medieval Europe. Our knowledge of this history rightly conditions us to be suspicious of any medieval relic. New evidence however has put the Shroud back into the limelight, with the possibility of its authenticity. New Evidence includes; textile analysis that shows it is from first century Israel; pollen and floral imprints which show that it was in the environs of Jerusalem; chemical analysis that shows it was in physical contact with Jerusalem's limestone caves; portraits of Jesus on coins in the Byzantine Empire which suggest that they were derived from the face of the Shroud; links to a clothe in Spain that was said to be wrapped around the same head as the Shroud; blood stains proven to be human blood; forensic analysis of the body image is consistent with the markings of flogging, in a state of rigor mortis, and shows no decomposition.
My personal experience;
I went through the whole display; reading each display board slowly; the history, the art, the pathology, the iconography of it all encircling me as a walked and read. The church was quiet with the music of monks playing softly yet seemingly surrounding me as I was not able to tell where it was coming from (bear with me... I know they must have surround sound - I'm trying to create a feeling here). There were three stops that intrigued me the most. The first was the pathological explanation of the crucifixion that the shroud gives evidence too. Some of the description and understanding we currently have today actually comes from investigation into this piece of clothe that shows the wounds, the blood and the imprint of the crown of thorns. I had no idea what we believe to be true comes from this artifact so hotly debated. I stood and read about how Jesus died and began to weep. This is imagery I don't ever conjure up. My head was spinning and I became self conscience of my surroundings, and so began to hold back my tears.
The second was the actual life size photograph of the shroud itself. It hung ominously from the high ceiling at the front of the church. With the crucifix behind it and the music playing, I was emotionally moved; frozen still staring at it. I stood there gazing at it for a long time. Others in the exhibit passed me by. I kept asking myself; what is this thing? Could it really be the clothe that wrapped Jesus at his death? Why would God allow this to be found? Are not some people worshipping this artifact and not Jesus? It reminds me of the bones of Moses never being found; and for good reason. This great leader of Israel was not to be revered over the coming Messiah. His bones may have been used to cause many to stumble over a worship of him. Is not this shroud the same thing? Something that merely distracts from seeing Jesus the Messiah? I don't know what to think. It sure looks real. The evidence seems sound. If not Jesus, it certainly was a man crucified, with a spear wound in his side, and wounds on the crown of his head.
The third aspect of the exhibit that has stayed with me is the evidence that the shroud provides for the resurrection of Jesus. This is the single most important event to the believer in Jesus. As Paul says in 1 Corinthian 15:12-19
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
My belief hinges on the resurrection. The evidence laid out before me was fascinating and again left me filled with emotions and tears welled up in my eyes. Scientific evidence shows that the body of whoever was wrapped in this cloth did not decay as most buried bodies do in their burial clothes. Evidence of radiation, intense light or heat has been found in testing. The images are composed of microscopic lengths of oxidized and dehydrated fibres that are part of the thread of the cloth. These darkened strands of cellulous fibre are called pixels because they form the Shroud image in much the same way that an image is formed on a computer screen or a half- tone printed photograph. No known artistic technique or any known natural process could have produced these microscopic pixels. What does this all suggest? The resurrection is real? I never needed any further evidence than scripture and the Holy Spirit revealing it to be true. Yet I read account after account that as men studied this piece of cloth, their doubt was removed and they believed in the resurrected Jesus Christ. This dirty old piece of clothe was bringing people to the Messiah!? I couldn't believe it.
I still can't believe it. What I've learned is to take away the mystery, the miraculous, is to make Christianity a simple humanitarian way of thinking and living. We will completely lose our spirituality if we don't believe in the God of creation who performs miracles; the God who makes something out of nothing; and because of his holiness and our sinfulness, came and died for us to bring us into relationship with him; and then rose from the dead to conquer its power and to give us eternal life. Whatever the Shroud is - fake or authentic - I believe in the resurrected Jesus and the mystery of his life in me.
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Philippians 1:15-18
I went to Our Lady of Mercy Parish to view the Man of the Shroud exhibit. I had been to the website and read some of the material, and I spoke with a teacher at STMC regarding the nature of the exhibit, yet I still wasn't sure what I would encounter. I went out of curiosity; as a student of history; as a religious investigator per se; as a protestant nay sayer; and as a woman of faith dipping her foot in the pool of mystery that surrounds the world of religious artifacts.
A brief description of the shroud;
The Shroud is an old bloodstained, dirty piece of linen cloth containing life-sized front and back images of a naked man who appears to have been crucified. In a climate of superstition, naiveté and disorder (for historical reasons that I will not go into here), a lucrative market in false relics flourished in Medieval Europe. Our knowledge of this history rightly conditions us to be suspicious of any medieval relic. New evidence however has put the Shroud back into the limelight, with the possibility of its authenticity. New Evidence includes; textile analysis that shows it is from first century Israel; pollen and floral imprints which show that it was in the environs of Jerusalem; chemical analysis that shows it was in physical contact with Jerusalem's limestone caves; portraits of Jesus on coins in the Byzantine Empire which suggest that they were derived from the face of the Shroud; links to a clothe in Spain that was said to be wrapped around the same head as the Shroud; blood stains proven to be human blood; forensic analysis of the body image is consistent with the markings of flogging, in a state of rigor mortis, and shows no decomposition.
My personal experience;
I went through the whole display; reading each display board slowly; the history, the art, the pathology, the iconography of it all encircling me as a walked and read. The church was quiet with the music of monks playing softly yet seemingly surrounding me as I was not able to tell where it was coming from (bear with me... I know they must have surround sound - I'm trying to create a feeling here). There were three stops that intrigued me the most. The first was the pathological explanation of the crucifixion that the shroud gives evidence too. Some of the description and understanding we currently have today actually comes from investigation into this piece of clothe that shows the wounds, the blood and the imprint of the crown of thorns. I had no idea what we believe to be true comes from this artifact so hotly debated. I stood and read about how Jesus died and began to weep. This is imagery I don't ever conjure up. My head was spinning and I became self conscience of my surroundings, and so began to hold back my tears.
The second was the actual life size photograph of the shroud itself. It hung ominously from the high ceiling at the front of the church. With the crucifix behind it and the music playing, I was emotionally moved; frozen still staring at it. I stood there gazing at it for a long time. Others in the exhibit passed me by. I kept asking myself; what is this thing? Could it really be the clothe that wrapped Jesus at his death? Why would God allow this to be found? Are not some people worshipping this artifact and not Jesus? It reminds me of the bones of Moses never being found; and for good reason. This great leader of Israel was not to be revered over the coming Messiah. His bones may have been used to cause many to stumble over a worship of him. Is not this shroud the same thing? Something that merely distracts from seeing Jesus the Messiah? I don't know what to think. It sure looks real. The evidence seems sound. If not Jesus, it certainly was a man crucified, with a spear wound in his side, and wounds on the crown of his head.
The third aspect of the exhibit that has stayed with me is the evidence that the shroud provides for the resurrection of Jesus. This is the single most important event to the believer in Jesus. As Paul says in 1 Corinthian 15:12-19
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
My belief hinges on the resurrection. The evidence laid out before me was fascinating and again left me filled with emotions and tears welled up in my eyes. Scientific evidence shows that the body of whoever was wrapped in this cloth did not decay as most buried bodies do in their burial clothes. Evidence of radiation, intense light or heat has been found in testing. The images are composed of microscopic lengths of oxidized and dehydrated fibres that are part of the thread of the cloth. These darkened strands of cellulous fibre are called pixels because they form the Shroud image in much the same way that an image is formed on a computer screen or a half- tone printed photograph. No known artistic technique or any known natural process could have produced these microscopic pixels. What does this all suggest? The resurrection is real? I never needed any further evidence than scripture and the Holy Spirit revealing it to be true. Yet I read account after account that as men studied this piece of cloth, their doubt was removed and they believed in the resurrected Jesus Christ. This dirty old piece of clothe was bringing people to the Messiah!? I couldn't believe it.
I still can't believe it. What I've learned is to take away the mystery, the miraculous, is to make Christianity a simple humanitarian way of thinking and living. We will completely lose our spirituality if we don't believe in the God of creation who performs miracles; the God who makes something out of nothing; and because of his holiness and our sinfulness, came and died for us to bring us into relationship with him; and then rose from the dead to conquer its power and to give us eternal life. Whatever the Shroud is - fake or authentic - I believe in the resurrected Jesus and the mystery of his life in me.
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Philippians 1:15-18
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)