The
Instant of Recognition
13Now on that same day two of them were going to a village
called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and
talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus
himself came near and went with them, 16but their eyes
were kept from recognizing him. 17And he said to them,
"What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood
still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, whose name was
Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know
the things that have taken place there in these days?"
19He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The
things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before
God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests
and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.
21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem
Israel.
Luke 24:13-35
Supper at
Emmaus *
CARAVAGGIO,
1601 - 02
National Gallery,
London
In every
difficult situation is potential value.
Believe this,
then begin looking for it.
~
Norman Vincent Peale
It is
not only easier to find fault with another person
than
to examine one's own character,
it is
also tempting.
~ Martin Dansky
Our
Rotary Dine-Around Dinner
was at
my home this time ...
Linda and
Marcia
Sam and
Carolyn
When I saw
this picture I apologized to him ...
I hadn't
realized quite how friendly I had been with his
knee!
David brought his latest painting to breakfast on
Wednesday!!!
Lovely!
Happy 102nd
Birthday, Isobel!!!
Isobel is
my oldest artist and she loves it!
Born April 6,
1906
I spent a lot
of time making this fused glass trivet!!!
(Not the
little two-cup teapot!)
I had planned
to slump it into a serving dish, but I decided
to leave it
flat and use it as a trivet or cheese tray.
When the oak is felled the whole forest echoes with its fall,
but a hundred acorns are sown in silence
by an unnoticed breeze.
~
Thomas Carlyle
April 6,
2008 Third Sunday of Easter
Previous
OPQs may be found at:
* The gospel according to St Luke
(24:13-32) tells of the meeting of two disciples with the resurrected Christ.
It is only during the meal that his companions recognize him in the way he
blesses and breaks the bread. But with that, the vision of Christ vanishes. In
the gospel according to St Mark (16:12) he is said to have appeared to them
"in an other form" which is why Caravaggio did not paint him with a beard at
the age of his crucifixion, but as a youth.
The host seems interested but somewhat confused at the
surprise and emotion shown by the disciples. The light falling sharply from
the top left to illuminate the scene has all the suddenness of the moment of
recognition. It captures the climax of the story, the moment at which seeing
becomes recognizing. In other words, the lighting in the painting is not
merely illumination, but also an allegory. It models the objects, makes them
visible to the eye and is at the same time a spiritual portrayal of the
revelation, the vision, that will be gone in an instant.
Caravaggio has offset the transience of this fleeting moment
in the tranquility of his still life on the table. On the surfaces of the
glasses, crockery, bread and fruit, poultry and vine leaves, he unfurls all
the sensual magic of textural portrayal in a manner hitherto unprecedented in
Italian painting.
The realism with which Caravaggio treated even religious
subjects - apostles who look like labourers, the plump and slightly feminine
figure of Christ - met with the vehement disapproval of the clergy.
Agnus Day, by James
Wetzstein
Supper At Emmaus
He Qi,
China
Acts
2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke
24:13-35