My first memories of school were at Sacred Heart Congregation in the small town of Allenton. I can still see standing at the school entrance a statue of Jesus touching His heart and it wasn't just your typical heart. I would say that might have been the moment my spiritual journey started. There was something about how Jesus was touching His Sacred Heart that made Him magical. Little did I know that years later I would be painting a picture of that same sacred heart and telling stories about Jesus with hearts flowing from my hand--an artist's hand standing in a bed of hay telling stories about the perfect love of Jesus.
Jesus Inspired Art
I believe that art strengthens our faith. At one point or another, everyone struggles with authenticity in their life. Since I was a child, I followed my heart and would hope for the best. But then I started to question what might it mean for me to follow my heart? Is it merely to follow the fleetingness of my human desires and to be compelled by the intensity of my emotions? Or is it to connect with something deeper, something spiritual, something eternal? That's what painting a picture does for me. It gives me a connection to my Lord and Savior that I cannot get by just reading the Bible or going to church just on Sunday. As my inspiration Jesus wants all of my heart not just parts of it!
Why the Sacred Heart?
The memory of the statue of Jesus holding His Sacred Heart kept bouncing around in my brain. As you know, I did go to Sacred Heart School, but for some reason I knew very little about the meaning of the Sacred Heart. I really needed to do some research and here’s what I found out. The love God has for us signifies the divine light of love. His heart, pierced on the Cross reveals God's boundless and passionate love for me. He loves us unconditionally. All we can do is accept His love and try each and every day to offer it to others. What I learned over the past week is that His Sacred Heart is a symbol of great self-sacrifice and unconditional divine love for all beings captured in the actions and deeds of Jesus Christ. Here’s what His Sacred Heart includes:
Heart: The center of being - both physical and spiritual. The heart represents compassion, understanding, love and charity. It also represents the temple of God - His divine center and dwelling place. The heart is the spiritual center of a being. The pierced and bleeding heart alludes to the manner of Jesus’ death and reveals to us Christ’s goodness and charity through his wounds and ultimate sacrifice.
Crown of thorns: A crown is a symbol that represents sovereignty, victory, honor, dignity, reward, the highest attainment, dedication, completeness, the circle of time, of continuity and endless duration. For Christians, it is also a symbol of the righteous, blessing and favor, and victory over death. Yet the crown that was placed on Christ’s head was made of thorns to deliberately parody the crown of roses worn by the Roman Emperor. The crown of thorns has thus become the symbol of the Passion and martyrdom of Jesus Christ.
Cross: This is a cosmic symbol from the most remote times that is better than all others. It is a world center and therefore, a point of communication between heaven and earth and a cosmic axis. The cross represents the Tree of Life and the Tree of Nourishment. In Christianity, the cross is a symbol of salvation through Christ’s sacrifice. It is redemption, atonement, suffering and a symbol of faith.
Flames or Fire: Flames represent transformation, purification, renewal of life, power, strength, and energy. Fire facilitates change or passage from one state to the other. Fire manifested as flame symbolizes spiritual power and forces. Fire and flame both represent truth and knowledge as consumers of lies, ignorance, illusion and death.
Light: It is the manifestation of divinity - of cosmic creation. Light is a symbol of life, truth, illumination and a source of goodness. Radiance emitted by light symbolizes new life from divinity and the power of dispelling evil and the forces of darkness. It also embodies the aspects of splendor, glory and joy. When illustrated, the straight line usually represents light and the undulating line is symbolically heat. Light and heat are symbolically complementary and polarize the element of fire.
As I get to know Jesus and His sacred heart, I am always amazed by His goodness. God gave me the ability to create the Sacred Heart you see above as inspiration for me to know His son Jesus more intimately. Then after I painted it He told me to go forth and fill it with love. Love is the only thing that can change the unchangeable. Love invigorates. Love revitalizes. Love renews. Love refreshes. Love is the most powerful force in the universe, because God is love. The Bible doesn’t say God has love; it says He is love. Love heals what cannot otherwise be healed. Love uplifts. Love strengthens. Love energizes. Love empowers. Love is an action. If you think of it, we just don’t suddenly fall in love one day. We choose to fall in love. Love is choice - “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” Romans 12:9-10,NLT
The reason for devotion to the Sacred Heart is the love of Jesus for His Father, and thus for the love He has for us. “And I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh” Ezekiel 36:26 Jesus gives us a new heart, His Sacred Heart. Maybe it’s time for a heart transplant!
WHY STORY TELLING?
Jesus knew that the simple stories or parables acted as a gateway to reach people. For those who had no wish to dive below the surface were free to go on their way, while those who were drawn in by the simple stories would follow Him to receive answers for their questions, answers which would eventually lead to truth, love and forgiveness.
"And He was not speaking to them apart from a parable. But He was explaining[a] everything privately to His own disciples Mark 4:34We read in scripture that those who sought answers soon became His disciples, and the Lord explained it when He said,
“To you has been given the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables” Mark 4:11, ESV What does Mark 4:11 mean? Jesus speaks in parables to the assembled crowd, giving them an opportunity to decide how much spiritual truth they want to absorb. As Jesus explains these ideas, He demonstrates that a person's spiritual knowledge is based on their willingness to pursue truth.
Discipleship brings one into a level of intimacy with the Lord that others cannot experience. As in John 15:15, it is to His intimate friends that His intimate secrets are revealed. It's the simple stories that draw people in to be disciples of Jesus! It is up to us if we want to drop whatever we are doing to follow Him to ask questions that reveal the mysteries of His Kingdom.
Tell Your Story
Everyone has a story to tell. It may be a parable that impacted our lives--one from Jesus or it may be our own. No matter what it is, we all need to tell our own story about God. I wanted to share my story so I created a website to do so and then put it into a format that would help others to tell their story. Here is that website - TELL Your STORY... about the ultimate love of Jesus.
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