A Picture is Worth …

1 Corinthians 13:9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!

 When I say “God,” what picture comes to mind? If I say “Jesus,” what appears? Or If I say “Spirit,” what? Come on, now, what picture? It might hold a clue as to your relationship with the Trinity. It may be hard for us adults to visualize or even to describe our images, but thank God children are so free with revealing their inner thoughts.

 A little girl was drawing a picture when her mother asked her what she was drawing. Without looking up, she answered confidently, “I’m drawing a picture of God. “But, honey,” the mother said, “how can you do that? Nobody knows what God looks like.” The little girl smiled and said, “Well, they will when I’m done with this.”

In one Conformation class, after weeks of Bible study and discussions about the qualities of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the students were still having difficulty describing the characteristics of the three in words. So, the instructor asked them to draw a picture of each. The results were revealing and helped to focus future discussions. Here are some interesting examples:

 God: 1) A man with long, white beard sitting on a throne. 2) A cloud with arrows shooting out. [Not sure what that meant] 3) A cloud with strings going down to a puppet. [This student definitely needs more instruction] 4) A head talking on a phone. 5) A face with light pencil lines scribbled all over. [“I see dimly.”]

 Jesus: 1) Man in robe with outstretched hands, inviting a hug. [Many liked this one] 2) Three crosses with the middle one larger and colored red. 3) Man sitting, surrounded with kids and two climbing on him. 4) Man on knees praying.

 Spirit: 1) Wavy lines. [Breath or wind] 2) A small cloud and a big cloud with double-headed arrow in between. [Talking to God for us] 3) On the left side, broken things. Wavy lines in middle. On the right side, complete things. [Helping make things whole]

 The instructor wisely held individual sessions with each student to discuss their pictures. It proved to be an excellent tool for learning—for both student and instructor.

 What might your pictures look like? What comes to mind when you think of each of the three persons? And then, what comes to mind for the word, “Trinity?” What might these pictures reveal about your relationship with each person of the Trinity?

Here is one meaning to The Face of God, these are some of my favorites.

We would love to have some of your hand drawn pictures sent to the church office—with captions but no signatures. No one will be identified. Some pictures may even show up in a sermon. St James Lutheran Church, 93 Kugler Rd. Limerick PA, 19458.