The Queen and I had the opportunity to vacate for a few days and, thanks to some vouchers that expired at the end of the year, ended up in Paris. It's a beautiful city, full of a lot of nice people and a few stinky ones. We managed to be on the subway with the latter, but encountered a lot of the former too. But I digress.
I hit the Louvre one afternoon while the Queen was unjetlagging (aka napping) and found it as overwhelming as most people do. I'm not a big art guy, but I'm in Paris and so I can't not go to the Louvre, right? Yes, I saw the Mona Lisa. Yes, Venus de Milo too. And as a sheer painting from a non-art guy, the Wedding Feast at Cana piece at which the Mona Lisa perpetually looks was far more impressive. A close second were all the Greek statues. But, again, I digress.
Here's what really struck me from the Louvre. I walked by dozens of paintings (and maybe more) that depicted the crucifixion of Jesus. Dozens. And hundreds of people were there right beside me looking at them too. They took pictures. They posed in front of them. They read the descriptions.
And they moved on.
Here is the singular event that changed history. It is rivaled by nothing. It is reflected in the multiple pieces of art hanging in the most important museum in the world. Some pieces were beautiful. Some were brutal. All told the story.
But they moved on.
God forbid it that I ever get to that place, that my family members ever get to that place, that our church ever get to the place where we see it and just move on:
Other parts are happier, so I'll think about them...
It demands so much, so I'll think about something lighter...
I've heard that one, so give me something new, better, deeper, shinier...
I'm not really that bad, so let's talk about...
He died for what my heart is desiring right now, so I'll go ahead because He'll forgive me...
If we move on from the cross we miss Christianity all together. It's not the door in, it's the entire path.
But that's just me thinking thoughts...
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