Here is a sampling of my mind's wanderings throughout my first year of teaching and first time living on my own; nothing extraordinary, just simple, short, and sweet. My friend Alli asked that I create a blog so she could follow my adventures, and I have willingly obliged.

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love. Stay in love. And it will decide everything."-Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

5.25.2011

Open Pages

I visited the art museum on Saturday.  There were beautiful impressionist paintings, interesting suits of armour, and eye-twitch inducing "modern art," but there was one painting that really stood out: "Christ and the Virgin in the House of Nazareth" by Francisco Zurbaran. By the time my dad pointed it out to me, I was all too quickly thinking this museum was blending in with the numerous museums we painstakingly walked through in Rome. It was, however, a picture that spoke a thousand words. A young Jesus of about 10 years had pricked his finger on a crown of thorns he was weaving, foreshadowing His later fate, while Mary looked on, quietly letting tears fall down her cheeks. It was a rather beautiful portrayal of what might have been a moment in Christ's home on Earth. I then noted books strewn across the table. My first though was, "Oh, Jesus is reading the Bible. How fitting!" This was only followed with, "But there was no Bible then." This lead me to my lingering question: "Just what did Jesus read?"
 
(Franciso de Zurbarán (Spanish, 1598-1664)
Christ and the Virgin in the House at Nazareth, about 1635-40)

2 comments:

  1. hurray for art museums and new discoveries!

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    Replies
    1. modern/contemporary/ and all eras of painting hold the history of time, you just need to see instead of look

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