{"id":264,"date":"2013-04-01T23:24:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-01T23:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/04\/beauty-and-power-in-christ.html"},"modified":"2016-03-25T18:35:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T23:35:22","slug":"beauty-and-power-in-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/04\/beauty-and-power-in-christ.html","title":{"rendered":"Beauty and Power in Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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I stood silently at the edge of the square of San Lorenzo waiting, occasionally sitting on the concrete curb to give my aching legs a deserved rest. \u00a0The night was warm but not enough to make me sweat. \u00a0I was restless, yet I anticipated the wait was certainly worth enduring. \u00a0With my legs stretched out into the street, I fixed my tired and hazy eyes on the closed wooden doors of the small church on the opposite side of the square. \u00a0I did not wait alone. \u00a0Thousands had gathered to catch a glimpse of El Se\u00f1or del Gran Poder<\/i>, the patron of Seville, Spain.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a magnificent Holy Thursday liturgy at the cathedral, I had journeyed through Seville\u2019s winding streets to patiently wait for the madrugada <\/i>procession to begin. \u00a0I had never seen a rendition of Seville\u2019s beloved patron saint and his name intrigued me. \u00a0I used my creative powers to imagine this artistic rendition of Jesus Christ. \u00a0He either sat triumphantly on a throne with rays of sunlight gloriously emerging from behind an imposing throne or he sat with one right hand elevated in blessing and the other holding Scripture reminiscent of the traditional Greek pantocrator. \u00a0What an appropriate name for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the creator and sustainer of all that exists, the Lord of Great Power.<\/p>\n

Suddenly the wait came to an end. \u00a0A few minutes past midnight, in the first minutes of Good Friday, a loud clash signaled the doors of the church were being unlocked and they were soon opened. \u00a0The assembled crowd fell silent immediately, every eye fixed on the dark doorway. \u00a0Penitents began emerging from inside, walking solemnly in silence. \u00a0Dark hoods concealed their identity, with only two small holes revealing their eyes. \u00a0Every penitent reverently carried a tall, dark orange candle. \u00a0After what seemed hundreds of penitents exited the church, I became bored with this endless stream of penitents, when will El\u00a0Se\u00f1or del Gran Poder<\/i> emerge?<\/p>\n

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Looking across the square I caught a glimpse of gold and silver softly glimmering, reflecting the light of the lamps on the paso <\/i>and the few lights inside the church. \u00a0Christ emerged triumphantly and powerfully from the church that bears his name, Se\u00f1or del Gran Poder<\/i>. \u00a0I was stunned. \u00a0I had been terribly wrong. \u00a0The power of Christ does not rest on lofty thrones or on a mighty pantocrator depiction. \u00a0The power of Jesus Christ rests on the cross. \u00a0The 17th century rendition of Christ in all his power had our Lord carrying the cross, the source of his power.<\/p>\n

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The Lord of Great Power carried the cross triumphantly out of the Church into San Lorenzo Square while scores of men below the paso <\/i>steadily carried him on the way to the cathedral. \u00a0As the image reached the opposite end of the square closer to where I stood, the captain of the men ordered the image to be lowered by hammering onto the wood of the paso. \u00a0A woman emerged from a balcony over me and the silence was broken by the most haunting tune, a saeta <\/i>to El Se\u00f1or del Gran Poder<\/i>. \u00a0The richness, antiquity and otherness of the sound filled my ears. \u00a0It became almost unbearable for me to hear the saeta <\/i>as tears streamed down my eyes. \u00a0My startled senses could not absorb the wholeness of such a solemn and beautiful moment. \u00a0 [Click below to listen to a saeta <\/i>sung\u00a0to El Se\u00f1or del Gran Poder<\/i>]<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtube.googleapis.com\/v\/AJmZFxFypwg&source=uds<\/div>\n
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Unfortunately for me the saeta <\/i>ended, the paso <\/i>was raised and it continued on its way to the cathedral to venerate Jesus Christ at the altar of repose. \u00a0Seven hours later, as the sun rose over Seville, the image would return to the same square and back into the church. \u00a0The encounter at San Lorenzo left my soul wounded, yearning to hold on tightly to the moment so it would last forever. \u00a0The profound encounter with beauty wounded me, but the wound was healed by following the path beauty invited me to follow, the path to the transcendent God who fulfills every desire.<\/p>\n

While in Seville Jesus surprised me by revealing the source of his power, the cross, and he stunned me with an experience of beauty that can only reach its completion in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cChrist Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. \u00a0Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. \u00a0Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank you Saint Paul.<\/p>\n

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Our Lady of La Macarena, Patroness of Seville<\/div>\n
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Pictures are mine, all rights reserved<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I stood silently at the edge of the square of San Lorenzo waiting, occasionally sitting on the concrete curb to give my aching legs a deserved rest. \u00a0The night was warm but not enough to make me sweat. \u00a0I was restless, yet I anticipated the wait was certainly worth enduring. \u00a0With my legs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBeauty and Power in Christ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I stood silently at the edge of the square of San Lorenzo waiting, occasionally sitting on the concrete curb to give my aching legs a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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