Warning! Sharing Taboo Speakings, He said, Tongue in Cheek~ Some 35 years ago, filled with all the passion and thirst for kowledge of a young man in his teens/20s, I pondered the meaning of life, with that came the questions of religion, particularly, world religions. Then, 25 years ago, having recently become fascinated with the impressionists, post-impressionists & expressionists, with a high interest in Van Gogh/Gauguin, my ‘Blue Jesus’ emerged, merging Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ & Gauguin’s ‘Yellow Christ’.
Being primarily of Western European descent and raised in the midwest U.S.A. , as a young child went to a Baptist Church and then later a non-demominational Bible Church, until age 12, as was part of the custom for a moral/ethical upbringing and education, at the time. But my life particulars and experiences, for a vast variety of reasons, including confused and blurred teachings within the churches that I went to, had me questioning these ideas from an early age and sometime in High School I began to reach out for answers and study the primary religions of the world.
Interestingly, I discovered that from the earliest mythologies to the most ancient religions, a great many of the stories were similar, like the creation story. So much so, as it were, three major religions had the same origins book. The Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions are basically derived from the same book. It also seemed that much of the daily living info was practical to its time. More important is we need to keep in mind that language has changed over time as well, so it’s important to understand a words meaning in its time, not ours, and varied translations. It then became abundently clear that the divisions were unique to geographic and cultural enviornments, thus human thought process’s and logic. So it was the regional prophets of God, the universe & everything were different, while the messages were similar. So much so are the divisions though, even within the various sects of christianity and the various preacher/priests teaching, that the message had become seemingly lost to dogma & ritual. That being the common threads & central messsage of most religions~
They/we believe in, love, and honor God(however you define it), don’t do evil, selfish, and destructive things., & do good, loving, kind, and useful things instead.
Having found that when you pulled only the words of Jesus from the Bible this supported that message. Then I discovered the Unitarian/Universalists, and it was a perfect fit for me. As I realized, I did not need to make others beliefs wrong, in order to have mine, so it is that I cherish and study the peoples of the world and their various religions, so it was impressionism, post-impressionism & expressionism, for the most part, a better way for me share my ideas utilizing the visual art form, as they were more emotive and less literal.
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
~Jesus
As always, feel free to comment, peace & love always~ Richard
‘Blue Jesus’ 20”x24” oil on linen (1994)
