Caricatures

Over the years we've had several caricatures of family members painted or sketched. Before Tam and I were married, we had individual sketches done--playing softball with one hitting the ball to be caught by the other. A few years ago, while in Atlanta, the kids were the subject as they made fun of each other. Finally, I presented this one to Tam for Christmas.

The odd and amazing thing about caricatures is that they both resemble and don't resemble the real thing! Usually, body parts, such as the head, are way out of proportion to the others.

Currently, we're asking the question "Who is this Jesus?" One of our DHVC (www.dickensheathchurch.org.uk) number has written 5 monologues of people who are trying to make sense of Jesus, both before the cross (Palm Sunday) and after the cross and resurrection (Easter Sunday). Chris did a great job in writing them, while he and Sarah, Bernard, Gloria, and Caleb did a great job of presenting them. My job was to tie them all together, and I did that at the end by showing our family caricatures.

The point being, of course, that people need to be encouraged to think about their view of Jesus. Often, it's the case that people have a caricature of Jesus in mind, and accept or reject that caricature. We wouldn't think it fair to accept or reject a caricature of people we meet each day, why should we do so with Jesus?