Notes From Patmos July 10th

Happy Wednesday to one and all:
Hoping you all had a safe and happy holiday weekend and had some down time to take a few deep breaths.  We are hard at work getting the programming ready for this school year, and if you would like to get more involved, maybe help with Sunday School, or one of the guilds, reply to this email and we will worked to get you plugged in. 
Recently, I completed a conceptual portraiture project that tried to imagine the Annunciation happening in our own time.  When I’m with our youth group, I often ask them questions like- if John the Baptist preached and lived in our own time, what would he look like?  How would he dress?  So I put my money where my mouth is and gave it a go.  The Annunciation has always played an important part in my faith, so I set to work.  And while I didn’t do a terrible job, for me, it left a good bit to be desired.  The folks I worked with were great, and the shots went as planned… but it was lacking that special something.  If you delve into the world of religious art, you will find that most of it is otherworldly, or it is very identifiably religious.  There are usually tons of signs and symbols pointing us to Jesus. Holiness is shown in things like the nimbus (halo) and clothing.  When you see a religious piece of art work, you know it is religious.  In the photos I took, I tried to use some of those signs and symbols, but it still left something to be desired.  The project also got me to thinking about our actual lives of faith.  There are still things that set holy people apart in our world- be it virtue or love or other manifestations of faith.  If you haven’t, spend a few moment and think about the holy people you have met or known or seen in your life- what set them apart from the rest of the world? And then ask yourself, in what ways can people look at me and see Jesus? How does my faith set me apart from the ordinary world? Since the completion of that project, those thoughts have been on my mind a good bit- its also helped me to resolve to work on my life of faith so that I can better point other to Jesus. Give yourself a bit of time to think on these things, it could only work to increase your faith. 
See you around the parish,
Jeff+