As we begin Black History Month, I am always reminded of how important images are in our lives. We who are white have little experience of not seeing ourselves in the movies we watch, the books we read, the people in government offices, the images of the Sacred and our Sacred stories.
For people of color, it is a very different experience. It is becoming less and less of a challenge. There are more children’s books being printed with children of color as the characters. Animated movies have begun to incorporate different cultures and races. Even the Marvel Universe has begun to shift from predominantly white superheroes to superheroes of color – from a white Captain America to a black Captain America in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
And yet, our images of the Sacred remain predominantly white. Walk around any mainstream church and it is rare to see an image of Jesus that is not white.
There is a reason that the 10 Commandments include not making any graven images of God. God understood that humans would make God out in their image, their likeness. This image, this likeness would then allow for ‘god’ to be used in the cycle of oppression.
And yet, we know anthropologically that Jesus was not white. Jesus’s skin was dark. Why do we not have images of Jesus that reflect who he was when he walked this earth? This is how racism has institutionalized itself in the Church and it is our job to undo that by celebrating and using images of color when illustrating Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.
Today, on this Monday Meditation, I invite you to pray with images – Sacred images that take you out of your comfort zone.
We know the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Images invoke something in us, usually much deeper than we want to acknowledge. By sitting in contemplative silence we can allow the image to bring forth an understanding and experience of the Sacred that can open us to new ways of being.
Today, I invite you to seek out an image of color of Jesus. (Google is a wonderful tool for finding images, especially when in the ‘image’ mode).
Find a quiet space. Allow yourself to take in the image.
Do your best to avoid any premature interpretation of the image. Take it in fully.
Allow the image to point you in the direction of God, of the Sacred.
Notice the memories, associations, and longings to which your image gives rise in your mind, heart and soul.
When you feel complete, feel God’s presence, have paid attention to what has arisen in you, what the Sacred is communicating to you through this image, thank God for being with you in this prayer experience.
We can’t expect visual images to clarify points or supply us with decisions; they won’t. We can, however, expect that having a regular practice of praying with visual images will form and inform our discipleship, training our religious affections. When we pray with a diversity of images we begin to notice God’s diverse image more fully in the world around us, we begin to experience God fully in everyone, every being, every thing we encounter.
Praying with Sacred images that show the Sacred, whether God, Mary, Jesus, or a Saint, as a person of color will begin to undo our internal racism. We all have it. We grew up in a culture where whiteness is privileged. That permeates into our being. God, through diverse images, will transform our hearts, undo the racism engrained by our culture, and invite us to act to bring forth God’s Realm fully in our world.
May God bless your journey this day as you pray with a diverse image of the Sacred.
Below is an icon by Father William Hart McNichols called Black Madonna, your lap has become the Holy Table.
