Come to the Garden - A Pictorial devotional for Holy Week

Last Sunday, I was in Karen, Kenya at the Dimessi Sisters' Convent and Monastery, a retreat center where we frequently go for small workshops and meetings. Karen is the site of the Karen Blixen farm, where "Out of Africa" was set. The historic site is just a kilometer from where we were.

So after a nap on sunday afternoon, I went out in the afternoon to their garden, hoping to read and journal in the quiet. What I discovered was much more.

Come with me to the garden and find a bench to sit on in the late afternoon sun.

What's that back in the trees?  At first it blends in to the bushes and branches and cacti.

 

Let's move closer to get a better view. .

  

The light breaking through the trees catches the figures and draws you

                            to stand with them, at the foot of the cross. 

Your focus draws inward to the central figure.

 Behold, the Man, hung on a tree.

 The Lamb of God -  Broken for you and for me.

 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering....He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

 Take a moment to ponder just how much he loves you and me. 

 

 We adore you O Christ and we bless you. All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

 

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