“you are Gods work of art...” Ephesians 2 v 10

Michelangelo : Slave

God’s work of art.

That’s me ?

Then Beauty must lie

In the eye of the

Beholder.

I feel more like

One of those statues

Michelangelo left

Half emerging

From the marble block;

Full of potential,

On the verge of life,

but prisoned still

By circumstance and

Fear.

Michelangelo : Slaves

yet part of me is free -

And you are still creating,

Bringing to life

The promise that is there.

Michelangelo : Slave

Sometimes by 

Hammer blows

Which jar my being,

Sometimes by

Tender strokes half felt

Which waken me to

Life.

Go on, Lord.

Love me into wholeness.

Set me free 

To share with you

In your creative joy;

To laugh with you

At your delight

In me,

Your work of art.

poem by Ann Lewin, ‘Revelation’  found in ‘Invitations’ by Francis Dewar p 98

Advent 3

Continuing with the narrative in the first chapter of St Luke, we move from the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem and an elderly priestly couple longing for a child, to almost the direct opposite... this time the same Angel visits a young woman, presumably at her parental home in Nazareth.

The Annunciation : Henry Tanner

At first I found this painting moving in its simplicity...so different from the painting of Zechariah in
 the Temple, and yet the more I look at it the more I begin to see ...
Mary, looking & listening intently, described by Luke as "deeply disturbed..." but not, like Zechariah, "overcome by fear", but instead Mary "asked herself what this greeting could mean"
 ... puzzled... but more accepting than afraid...

"....Who, me?"

for further reflection....poem by Edwin Muir : The Annunciation   http://www.journeywithjesus.net/poemsandprayers/649-edwin-muir-the-annunciation

• * my painting "Who me?" was originally part of a series based on John 20 v 1-18 :  the account of Mary of Magdala finding the empty tomb...and eventually recognizing the Risen Christ...
• if you wish to see why it is here as an Annunciation painting...please read my blog from December 2014: "How can this be ?"

however you wish to interpret the painting, maybe it can speak of anyone's sense of calling today...  "Who ...me? " can often be an initial response... a pause, before saying "Yes" !

• ... you might like to read this unusual story of Amy Peake, a Yoga Teacher who was so shocked by a photo of crowds of people queuing up for aid in a bombed out street in Damascus, she suddenly realised.....                 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34925238

 [dont be put off by the title...read on further, she is clearly being called to answer a vital problem whilst asking now & then "who me?"  !