How we Image(ine) Jesus in the Atrium
We will be starting up Catechesis of the Good Shepherd again on September 12th, and in order to give the children more time in the atrium, it will be taking place after the 10 a.m. service from now on. You can learn more about the specifics and register your child here. As we’re leading up to this time, our Lead Catechist, Leah Wall, has some thoughts to share. This is the second part of her two-part blog series on Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at Redeemer. You can find the first part here.
Enter any atrium of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) around the world and you will see the same small white statue representing the Good Shepherd whom the children come to know as Jesus. It is a replica of an ancient statue – one of the earliest representations of Jesus in worship. This statue, which has been reconstructed from fragments found in the catacombs, links our worship of God with those of the early church. Like borrowing a brother’s college sweatshirt or a grandmother’s apron—I wear it not because it best fits me, but in recognition of the relationship we share: I feel comfortable expressing myself by wearing it. When I wear it, I am celebrating my relationship with my brother. I understand that this metaphor falls short, but it is for a similar reason that I value the statuary representation of the Good Shepherd. I don’t value the statue because it is the most factually accurate, but because of the unity it affords me with those early followers of the same living Christ I follow now. This statue of the Good Shepherd is a reliably historical and relational link to early saints. Mary Mirrione, the national director of CGS, explains: “This particular image of the Good Shepherd was the first three dimensional image to be used by Jesus’ followers in the early Church. It is the common image in the Roman catacombs.” [1] It is this relationship with our brothers and sisters in the faith that inspires our use of this statue.
We should acknowledge that all of our images and representations of God will contain failure in accuracy, for it is not possible for God to be constrained by human hands. There have been those in the past who have concluded that we should not make images because of this reality of falling short. Yet humanity instinctively desires imagery and creates it naturally from the overflow of their hearts. A better question might be: what kind of image of God do we come to know throughout this time of catechesis?
“In our statues, as with all of our images, we are not re-presenting God, but artistically imagining some aspect of God. We hear and worship a living God who reveals Godself to us.”
A primary consideration is that the Good Shepherd statue replica does not stand alone. The most essential means of understanding God is the content of the spiritual formation in CGS. Catechesis is solidly and fundamentally based on the Holy Scripture, and the liturgy of the church as experienced in community. In coming to know God, we are led by the Holy Spirit to know God as a God who speaks. He is not a dead idol. In our statues, as with all of our images, we are not re-presenting God, but artistically imagining some aspect of God. We hear and worship a living God who reveals Godself to us. It is precisely in this prayerful place, the atrium, that we are presented with a unique opportunity to know God truthfully.
Secondly, in CGS, we come to know Jesus as a real man who lived in a real place at a real time. Even from 3 years old, the child sees a globe and recognizes that Israel is a real place. They learn that Jesus was born to a real woman, Mary, who lived many years before us. We use maps of the land; we run our hands over models of the mountains, and stretch our fingers down the paths the rivers make. He lived and died and rose again. He is not in the statue. He is not in the tomb. In level 2, in a presentation related to the Eucharist, we ask the children “do we need this statue to remember that He is present?” At this time, the children resoundingly proclaim: “No! He is with us in the bread and wine!” The children know that He is alive and present together with God’s people.
Thirdly, we learn that the gifts that God gives people in all places and all times can lead to a fulfillment of God’s Kingdom. In God’s Kingdom, God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28) and all creation, together with people of all nations, who will sing glory to God for all eternity. When we look in the Bible corner of the atrium and see Bibles written in many languages, we see that God’s Words are for all people of all times. We recall and thank God for those who have used their gifts to make it possible for others to hear God’s Word. We also see that people respond from their own cultures and we celebrate the diversity present in God’s Kingdom. We do this particularly by seeing words of worship appear in Hebrew or seeing the Lord’s prayer present in a variety of languages. As the children grow, we consider valuable contributions made to humanity from those we don’t know (for example, the inventor of the wheel), and many that we do know by using a work in Level 3 called The Peoples and the People of God. Atria are also designed to be able to accommodate those whose language is not the language the materials are printed in. Because of the incarnational nature of the materials, I have seen those who cannot speak the language of their neighbor worship together in the atrium.
And lastly, most catechists, understanding the great love of God for all the people whom God has made, are incredibly intentional about the diversity of images we choose to add. In our atria in Greensboro, we have a Mexican folk-art cross crafted from straw, a painting of Jesus’ Baptism from South Korea, a gorgeous series of painted cards showing the life and parables of Jesus from artists in Cameroon. We have Byzantine art, European art, woven baskets from Rwanda, and wooden boxes from Israel. We imagine God as a vine, as bread, as gate and in other non-human ways as well. And always, the children are invited to create their own artwork showing us how they have come to understand God. Often, God is seen as Light and a tree (from the parable of the mustard seed). We leave the factually historic image of Jesus for the historians to discover. The representations in the atrium show us something more valuable. They show us the face of God that our brothers and sisters have come to know. That knowledge illumines our own.
In the atrium, when we look at the images there, illuminating the Holy Scripture, we sometimes consider what they might show us about The One whom we all know and love. We may choose one image or another that speaks to us in that mysterious way that art does, but our best imagining of God is through God’s Word, the church - the body of Christ, and one another. Our time together in the atrium is a time of catechetical training. We proclaim, or echo, God’s Words, and do this with the sustaining hope of becoming formed ourselves, together, into God’s image. We trust with Isaiah that God is the potter and we are the clay. We are all the work of God’s hand, the master craftsman.
-Leah Wall
[1] https://www.cgsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/Falling_in_Love_GS_Statue_updated_edit.pdf, accessed Aug 1 2020
