The Transfiguration : St Luke 9 v 28 - 36

The Transfiguration : c. T.A.Thomas

This Indian painting conveys a strong sense of stillness, awe  and wonder, whereas the Cameroonian one below reminds me of disappearing into mist and cloud rolling down the mountain in Snowdonia...or Kilimanjaro in East Africa with its summit often surrounded by cloud.

How do you imagine this scene ?

Luke’s Gospel recounts many times when Jesus went up into the hills alone to pray, and I can well imagine the silence and solitude... walking alone... gaining perspective away from the crowds... and taking his inner group of followers up the mountainside would immediately remind them of Moses and Elijah seeking God in mountain silence & solitude.

The Indian painting reminds me of depictions of the Buddha in the Sri Lankan Dambulla  Caves, where his Enlightenment is portrayed by a rainbow of coloured light surrounding him as he sits in meditation. This Indian artist has shown Christ as an Indian Holy Man, surrounded by colourful light which both comes down upon him and shines out from within him...

The Transfiguration : c. Jesusmafa

Advent ... Annunciation

‘Annunciation’  etched glass panel : Janet Driver

“I love the way the sun shines through this glass !  But why call it Annunciation? ...Where is the Angel ? “

The questioner was quite perplexed...and certainly St Luke describes this as a conversation between Mary and an Angel: ‘...the Angel Gabriel was sent from God...’ [St Luke ch 1 v26 f ]  I have read this many times, and even had to take the part of the Angel in  Nativity plays as a child because I was tall & could shoulder the large heavy wings! 

I don't think I left out the angel... but wanted to portray a much more etherial indication of both angel and message...of the angel as an emanation of spiritual power...of light...of joy...of new  life...vitality...of something both seen and unseen...how do you describe or portray visually something so powerful and deeply spiritual ?   

Hence the spiral of flaming light...the shimmering sense of wings half seen, half understood... and the sense of Mary’s “yes” with echoing flames of the Spirit throughout her being...

 “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you...”

Whenever I see the sunlight  pouring through this glass...the deep reds dancing with flickering yellows, reflecting across the floor or lighting up someone’s hair with a halo of coloured light, I am reminded of  glimpses of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people I have met...