Someday…

How long is your “Books to Read” list? Mine is quite lengthy. And it keeps growing. I hear of new books via podcasts and I think, “I should/want to read that someday (soon?).” So I add to my list on my Notes app. The list continues to grow with some getting trumped by more pertinent suggestions. Books suggested by trusted friends and colleagues tend to rise to the top of the list. Well-written books seem to point me to additional good reads. So the list grows.

Several months ago it was suggested that I consider reading Brian Zahnd’s new book, The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross, which explores the rich tapestry of artistic expressions and interpretations of the cross through the ages…

On canvas and wood, in stone and metal, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ has been painted, carved, sculpted, and molded billions of times. Billions! Everyone has seen a crucifix. Its long history and sheer ubiquity have rendered it almost invisible.¹

Zanhd posits that if the Bible is fundamentally the grand narrative of divine intervention in human redemption, then the crucifixion of Jesus Christ stands as the essential turning point. The cross acts as the central axis of the biblical narrative.

He suggests the meaning of the cross is not one-dimensional but rather kaleidoscopic. Just as a kaleidoscope reveals a new pattern with every turn, we should view the cross through a theological kaleidoscope. The term “kaleidoscope” comes from Greek, meaning “beautiful form.” Thus A Poetic Theology of the Cross.

Early in the book, we are introduced to Franz Jägerstätter (1907-1943) and the biographical book of his life, In Solitary Witness.

So naturally I had to read the book (via Audible)

The theological lens through which Jägerstätter viewed the cross of Jesus Christ was as a martyr. Following the 1938 annexation of Austria by Germany, Austrian conscripts were obliged to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler. Jägerstätter, who refused to do so, was the only person in his village to resist and was arrested on March 1, 1943. For five months of prison, he was repeatedly offered the chance to be released on the condition that he sign the oath. He steadfastly refused and the 36-year-old husband and father was executed by guillotine in August 1943.

Zahnd pointed readers to the fairly new and unheralded movie of Jägerstätter’s life and martyrdom, A Hidden Life, written and directed masterfully by Terrence Malick. One of my favorite scenes depicted Jägerstätter visiting a church where his friend Ohlendorf, an artist, was creating frescos on the walls. The two friends discussed the difficult times under Nazi oppression. Ohlendorf, standing on a scaffold painting scenes of Christ’s life, commented to Jägerstätter…

I paint the tombs of the prophets. I help people look up from [the] pews and dream.  They look up and imagine if they lived back in Christ’s time they wouldn’t have done what the others did. They would have murdered those whom they now adore.

I paint all these sufferings but I don’t suffer myself.  I make a living of it.  What we do is just create sympathy.  We create admirers. We don’t create followers.  Christ’s life is a demand. [We] don’t want to be reminded of it. So we don’t have to see what happens to the truth.  A darker time is coming when men will be more clever. They won’t fight the truth, they’ll just ignore it.

I paint their comfortable Christ, with a halo over His head. How can I show what I haven’t lived?  Someday I might have the courage to venture.  Not yet.  Someday I’ll paint the true Christ. 

Something Kevin Thomas wrote in his Ludicrous contribution posted last week caused me to recall the exchange between Jägerstätter and the artist…

Whatever surety of intellectual positions I held before delving deeply into Jesus’ life and teachings, I now find myself sitting with only my toes in the ocean of the mystery of God’s work in our world. Maybe someday I’ll be able to wade out ankle-deep in the unknown fathoms of God.  Yet despite my best efforts, I don’t think that’s likely to happen anytime soon. 

I value the honesty and humility shown by both Ohlendorf and Kevin – they acknowledge they don’t have all the answers. Yet they persist, striving for a deeper understanding of Jesus and His work in the world, while faithfully carrying out the work God entrusted to them. And then…

¹Zahnd, Brian. The Wood Between the Worlds: A Poetic Theology of the Cross (p. 5). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.