Beginning with the Genesis account of creation, the flood story tells us who has the power. Later, the testing of Abraham with Issac tells us to never assume we know the mind of God. And the exit from Egypt through the water to freedom tells us there is abundant hope for unexpected outcomes.
GOD is here with us in ways that are easy to forget.
Isaiah 55:1-11 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. In Ezekiel, the story of the valley of the dry bones expresses that death is not as we know it, but all things are possible. The trajectory of faith experiences and pronouncements adds layer upon layer of stories and imagery to the final proclamation: GOD is here with us; we are visitors to witness glory and majesty happening in mystery that we can never fully understand.
The New Testament Christ story adds one more twist to our imaginings: the Resurrection and resurrected life — calling everyone to be refreshed. We are baptized in water and the Spirit, giving us new life, and again at the Resurrection. Several times Jesus invited us to “Come to the waters!” Beloved, I have made you for feasting and abundant life. These intense stories revealed after lives of contemplation lead us to conclude we are never alone, GOD is here with us, and the mind is not something to be trusted entirely. The more of God;s reality is housed in the human capacity to see, to choose, to have faith, and trust we are loved without limit. Every bible story is about this.
Even under oppression, in exile, or in Palestine, we are being nourished with enough to survive. The high cost of liberty and freedom is great. The people endure with Jesus all kinds of devastation, anguish, loneliness, guilt, shame, terror, and more. Who in your community, state, nation, and on earth live in conditions of exile, devoid of what is stable and nourishing? Why is there anguish and hopelessness? Where can we find what is life-giving and know, without a doubt, that GOD is here with us?
If we are to travel from exile to resurrection,
it is the heart and mind that will take us there.
Miller works closely with her husband, Valentine Gomez.
They have worked together for three decades in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She does all the painting, and he is a master of embellishments in gold, hand-hammered pewter, and semi-precious stones. She is the author of seventeen published books, including Byzantine Iconography; the life of Christ, Icon Painting Revealed, The Mary Collection, and In Light of Women. She has been published online and in publications such as Divine Temple Russian Orthodox Journal and Faith and Forum Magazine. Mary Jane Miller hopes to continually be inspired by women iconographers around the world.