Jack’s Winning Words 10/9/17
“I stand in awe of my body.”  (Thoreau)  In this world of ours, with its penchant for “rating” people based on bodily appearance…each of us needs to look in the mirror and repeat, “I am not my body.”  The body is simply a transportation device for the real me, my soul.  It is a marvelous gift to have been created in the image of God, to have a spirit.  Yes, the body is a remarkable piece of equipment, but what is that compared to being like God?  I’m in awe!    ;-)  Jack

FROM SHALOM JAN:  In my late teens and early 20s when my friends and I at Capital University referred to Sallman's "Head of Christ" (a copy of which I carried in my wallet for decades), we called it "The Girl Jesus" because of the long, dark-blonde, curly hair on "Jesus".  My favorite(s) are several of Rembrandt's paintings.  He used as his models young, Jewish men who lived near his studio in Amsterdam, where Jews were much better accepted into the fabric of the city than elsewhere in Europe in the 17th century.  One copy, stuck on the side of my fridge, is an almost wistful-looking "Jesus".  Maybe that is why Rembrandt's depictions of Jesus weren't as well-accepted as his other paintings, because Jesus looked, as you say, like a Middle Eastern "misfit".  One of my favorite children's books about the birth of Christ is Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell, because of the illustrations by Jason Cockcroft of Mary and Joseph appearing very Middle Eastern.  I often have used this book to "tell" the story during Children's Time at worship.====JACK:  We received Sallman's Head of Christ as a wedding gift and still have it hanging on the wall,,,a reminder of "the good old days."  But, times change, and so do our tastes...even religious ones.