Bethlehem has an interesting painting behind the altar. I have yet to hear anyone tell me exactly when it was installed in the church (it is not in the earliest pictures of the sactuary) nor do I know who painted it. But even more interesting is what the painting is of - as in most of us don't know what exactly that painting is of. Many people, including myself at first, thought it is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. One person thinks it is Jesus telling the angel "Hey don't worry, I got this." However Bob once explained his thoughts on the painting to me, and so it was part of our sermon discussion today.
The gospel for today was Mark 1:9-15 which includes Jesus being driven into the wilderness by the Spirit where he was tempted by Satan and the wild beast were with him and the angels waited on him.
So Bob's thoughts on this painting, and I now agree with him, is that this is not Jesus in the garden because at least in the bible angels never came to him there, but this is Jesus in the wilderness.
And this was the opening portion of our sermon discussion today, which lead to thoughts about what is the wilderness in our lives, what is it like to be in the wilderness, who are the angels in our lives, what if we feel alone who are the angels then and many more thoughts, comments, and stories about being in the wilderness and being angels to one another.
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