Blood Brothers
Canvas: 36” x 48”
Date: February 2019
[Not For Sale]
Artist Statement
Mark 5:6-8—When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran and bowed in worship before him—then bellowed in protest, “What business do you have, Jesus, Son of the High God, messing with me? I swear to God, don’t give me a hard time! (Jesus had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit, “Out! Get out of the man!”)
Rumi—“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
I painted this as a commission for a close friend and brother in the faith, Dr. Jason Buck, based on our shared experience as mental health counselors. The painting became a seven month journey.
In counseling, a critical role of a counselor is to join another in the depth of their pain, and inevitably the counselor re-enters one’s own wounds as well. At one moment, panic constricts one’s chest like a python, the next heavy despair settles into one’s bones, and so on. My own first impulse as a counselor is to grapple with the storm, to outsmart the demon, but it’s like fighting a hydra…eventually I get exhausted...I let go. I pray, “Jesus, be my strength! Be my vision! Whatever it takes...I’m Yours!”
The image depicts this very act of letting go. Jason, in the middle of swirling chaos has an uncanny state of peace as he fixes his eyes on Jesus who for the joy set before him surrendered his life in complete vulnerability and trust in the Father. Like Jesus, my friend lets the pain of the world break his heart—he chooses the Way. Then, with Krav Maga fierceness, Christ in him goes about the work of obliterating the lies, smashing the demons and liberating Jason and those around him longing for freedom!! [As L.L. Cool J said so eloquently…”Competition paying the price!”] Their blood mingles together...protection is complete…they are brothers forever!!