The challenge for me was that the Lent materials suggest the prayee participate in Jesus' baptism through focused imagery. While I have a good imagination, I found myself struggling to imagine myself at the scene in a real way. Mostly because I struggle with what Jesus Christ looks like.
I grew up with the most fabulous Sunday School teacher. She should be eligible for an Oscar in Creative Arts the way she wielded flannelgraph backgrounds and figures to make the Bible come to life! Other childhood images of Jesus include pictures of a nice man, wearing a white tunic and a blue stole, looking very peaceful. My grandma had some paintings of Jesus, one a headshot of sorts and one where he was knocking on the proverbial door of someone's heart. In other words, Jesus starts off as a two-dimensional image that floats along in my brain, almost like he is attached to a Popsicle stick...
Realizing this isn't correct, I draw upon a more recent image of Jesus: that of James Caviezel in the Passion of the Christ. Those powerful images are in sharp contrast to the Sunday School Jesus. There are a few flashback scenes where we observe Jesus Christ prior to his torture and suffering, and I try and draw upon those when attempting to imagine a three dimensional person...
At our Lent Retreat, I shared my Jesus-identity-crisis, and I was reminded that there isn't a "wrong" way to view Jesus. When I think of Jesus, whatever comes to mind IS JESUS TO ME. And that sometimes, the image is fuzzy except for perhaps his eyes, or his hands. I applied this advice to my reflection today, and found flannelgraph Jesus - when given permission to exist - quickly took on a high-definition quality.
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