dear
limners, my friend estella (who is a friend of stefan eicher's) referred me to your website and i just wanted to let you all know that i was blessed by my visit. though i'm not an artist myself, for many years i've been saddened to find that the children of the Creator are often so poorly represented in the creative arts. i'm always encouraged to find believers who are creating authentic work dealing with spiritual themes. i was particularly moved by the "the weight," "the pain of the world," and "the winner" from the 2003 and the accompanying statement about these works. the visual and written reflections on suffering and the incarnation struck a chord with me because of some recent work in a community clinic that serves a population who are dealing with drug addictions, abuse, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and sexual confusion. trying to find the point of resolution between the struggles of my patients and Christ's incarnation has been hard and my understanding is far from complete, but it has made me learn the love of God in a broken world in a new way. the images and these statements were helpful in framing my lessons of the past months: "Not only is God 'caring' about this person, he is literally taking his or her suffering into his own body. Suddenly this person's experience takes on infinite value." equally revelatory were daniel baltzer's "bread" and "wine" -perhaps the most honest, shocking, yet comforting depiction i've seen of Jesus' demands that we eat his flesh and drink his blood. thank you all for your vision and commitment and may God continue to make your efforts prosper. ruth anne beutler |