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Image of Oil Painting "To the Others' Side"
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How do
we respond when we are forced outside our comfort zone? How does it feel to come face-to-face with
strangers in a strange land, or even worse, enemies in enemy territory? Even more, how does it undo the balance of
our lives and our world when we discover that God is the one leading us into
this liminal space of transition and possible transformation?
I've
tried to capture those feelings and our initial responses to such an adventure
in the painting above entitled, "To the Others' Side." I imagined Jesus leading his followers
"to the other side" of the lake of Galilee. He led them from the
comfort of their known world of the Capernaum fishing business into the strange
and discomforting world of the "Decapolis." This was a region
inhabited by a cosmopolitan variety of cultures. Most of these
cities--including the city of Geresa--had been founded by Greek colonists after
Alexander the Great had conquered this area.
These cities continued to enjoy their freedom as independent city-states
under the watchful eyes of the Roman imperial legions during the time of Jesus.
The
Gospel of Mark, as well as Matthew and Luke, tell us that Jesus compelled his
followers to travel with him outside the comforts of their neighborhood into
the storm of face-to-face encounter with "the other." Strange this other appeared to the small
group of Galilean Jewish travelers. He
is described as a "Geresene man" who haunted the tombs with evil
spirits after he had broken the bonds used by the local villagers. They had attempted to control this man of uncontrollable
force.
As this
man confronted Jesus and his apprentices with his distorted and destructive
spirit, Jesus confronted the man with the freeing Spirit of the healing reign
of God. The man
had been tortured by legions and destroyed by the spirits sent into the
region's industrial pigsty. Jesus frees the man from these destroying powers.
These
distorted powers then were terrified by this freeing action. They wanted Jesus to leave their region. And we can understand why the man wanted to
leave, as well, don't we? In his health
and wholeness, the man was possibly now as much, maybe even more, of a
terror to these ones who had in the past so terrorized his own distorted life.
The
blessing Jesus gave to that man may very well be what we also need to hear. Jesus is leading us into the storm of
freeing ourselves as we free others.
Perhaps the Spirit also says to us: "Go home to your own people and
tell them what the Lord has done for you and how he has shown you mercy"
(Mark 5.19). As we encounter that
terrifying other with the freeing mercy of God, we will also be set free within
our own entangled and stormy relationships.
In our journey of transformation, we are becoming witnesses to what the Lord has
done for us. Me and Mine against Those
and Them, with mercy, become I and Us learning something new together with the
Spirit.
