"JESUS PRAYS ALONE"

"Jesus Prays Alone" - Doug Blanchard

And he said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.’ And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, ‘Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.’

 (Mark 14:34-36)

If you visit his blog, you can see Doug Blanchard's entire stunning series of "Gay Passion of Christ" paintings, which carry great power when seen all together.  Every single painting is marvelous, but as I looked at the pictures a day or so ago and came upon "Jesus Prays Alone", my heart skipped a beat when I saw the depiction of the lonely Jesus.  Why do particular pieces of art affect us with such force?  And then today at church, we heard the words above from Mark's Gospel.  

A couple of years ago, Doug honored me with permission to use his paintings during Holy Week and Eastertide.  Today, Jesus in Love Blog begins a Holy Week series which includes Doug's "Gay Passion of Christ" paintings and reflections on passages from the Scriptures.

GAY PASSION OF CHRIST CONTINUES...

11.Jesus Before the Soldiers (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus… and they stripped him.” -- Matthew 27:27-28 (RSV)

The Gay Passion of Christ series, up to No. 11, is posted at the Jesus in Love Blog. The combination of Doug Blanchard's paintings and Kittredge Cherry's words, along with passages from Scripture is powerful, indeed. The series will run daily throughout the Lenten season. See for yourself.

Doug's painting shown above is powerful, indeed, as are KittKatt's words.

The magistrate’s soldiers pulled off Jesus’ clothes and mocked him with contempt. They made ethnic jokes about him for being Jewish, and taunted him as a “king” because he taught that God’s kingdom of unconditional love is here and now. They could have used “queer” or a “faggot” or “lezzy” or any other slur.

THE GAY PASSION OF CHRIST CONTINUES...

4. Jesus Preaches in the Temple (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“And he was teaching daily in the temple.” -- Luke 19:47 (RSV)

All kinds of people crowded around Jesus when he taught at the temple: male and female, young and old, rich and poor, healthy and sick, people from every race and nation -- and the queer ones: women who acted like men, men who acted like women, those who loved someone of the same sex, those with bodies somewhere between male and female....

Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 of the Gay Passion of Christ series are now posted at the Jesus in Love Blog. The combination of Doug Blanchard's paintings and Kittredge Cherry's words, along with passages from Scripture is powerful, indeed. The series will run daily throughout the Lenten season. See for yourself.

THE GAY PASSION OF CHRIST CONTINUES...

3. Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” -- Matthew 21:13 (RSV)

Jesus acted up when he saw something wrong. Nothing made him angrier than religious hypocrisy blocking the way to God....

Part 2 and Part 3 of of the Passion of Christ series are now posted at the Jesus in Love Blog. The combination of Doug Blanchard's paintings and Kittredge Cherry's words, along with passages from Scripture is powerful, indeed. The series will run daily throughout the Lenten season. Check it out.

GAY PASSION OF CHRIST SERIES

(Photo by Dorie Hagler)
From the Jesus in Love Blog:

A gay vision of Christ’s Passion starts tomorrow here at the Jesus in Love Blog. New posts will run daily for three weeks from April 8-29.

Each daily post features art by gay New York painter Douglas Blanchard, text by lesbian author Kittredge Cherry of Los Angeles, and a short Bible passage. The three-week blog series includes all 24 paintings in Blanchard’s epic masterpiece “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision.”

Doug blogs as Counterlight at Counterlight's Peculiars. His "The Passion of Christ" paintings are marvelous, indeed. Doug was kind enough to give me permission to post the images of selected paintings from the series during Lent last year and the year before. I urge you all to follow the posts at Jesus in Love. Kittredge Cherry writes beautifully, and the pairing of Doug's paintings and Kittredge's text, along with appropriate passages from Scripture, will make for excellent Lenten meditations.

Thanks to Ann Fontaine for the link.

UPDATE: Part 1 of "The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision" started today at the Jesus in Love Blog. It is excellent.