He is the one my mother painted

This image brings a lot of memories back to me: I was a teenager and longed to see Jesus as more than just a law giver; I wanted a friend. I wanted a smiling Jesus, not a stern one. And this is Whom I found! --------------There was a stencil with a simplified version of with this image that my mother had and would use to paint many variations, all with that smile of His and those eyes! ---------------I look back at my memory--I know we all see Him in different ways--amazed at the usefulness of a stencil. It is a way, a simplified way fixed for us to be able to "paint" better than we could without.-------- We could learn a lesson from stencils: as long as the stencil (the Truth) is used, the variations are different angles of the same Person. It is when we go off and "invent" Him that we end up with distortion. --------------The stencil is helpful, necessary to getting it right each time. Boundaries are limits that keep the original intent in mind. "This is what I want to accomplish. If I go beyond that, I am doing something else. I can, but then I need to acknowledge that I am going somewhere else. My boundary shows me--shows others--what I am aiming for." ------------I want to use stencils.

Not necessarily literally. I mean figuratively. ----------------My best explanation of Mary is that She is God's model of what He offers to each of us: He calls us each by name, each with a mission, each supported at every moment to live that life, each with the ability at every moment to say "yes" or "no" to it. ----------------If we want to follow Jesus, the best way is the one He gave us... having a Mother--a stencil--John 19:26. "He directs her to look upon John as her son: "Behold him as thy son, who stands there by you, and be as a mother to him." We also know from Scripture that we are called to see ourselves in it; in this case, to see Mary at the foot of the Cross being asked to be our mother and mentor. We are called there to take care of Her. For He is entrusting Her to us. ------I am to be Her daughter. She is to be my mother. He made it so. I can say "yes" or "no." --------------It was my mother who taught me this. With words, actions, and painting... Gracias, Mama!