The Giving Tree
Canvas: 30” x 30”
Date: December 3rd, 2023
Cost: $600
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered, “may it be to me as you have said.” –Luke 1:38
Going on the theme of Advent with a focus on Mary, I listened and waited for an image. I heard scriptures read about the violence of King Herod killing all male children under two, and concern about the current state of war in the world, but also the promise of peace in Christ. I started to see in my mind an image of Mary holding up baby Jesus facing a Roman soldier kneeling in reverence. Then I thought, ‘Oh, that’s like the shape of a Christmas tree. Wait. What if I paint Mary as the Christmas tree?’ Hold on, that’s too weird. But, yes, it felt right. So I followed Mary’s lead…‘may it be…’
Then, Duane Cross got up to deliver the message and spoke about how The Incarnation was much more than a miracle: it was a physical display of our journey of salvation and service. Duane highlighted Catholics’ deep veneration for Mary as Mother of God full of Grace since it’s Grace growing from inside Mary. It’s a way for Catholics to understand this mystery of God growing inside us until He becomes one with us, and us with Him. (“...the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”–Col.1:27) Like Mary, we all conceive Grace when we say ‘yes’ to the Holy Spirit. In turn, we also become like trees giving the fruit of Grace to others–who then go on to bear fruit for yet others, and so on. (And from the desert sprang a forest.)
In the painting, Pilate lays down his javelin, Herod his scepter, which (I suddenly realize) forms a cross at the base of the tree to show Mary’s legacy of dying to self. Mary, a poor powerless teenager, was the first to believe God could be born as a human being from her own womb, and later, the first to believe he could rise from the tomb. Mary’s simple trust in God activated The Incarnation–God becoming one of us and eventually becoming all of us–the promise of peace on Earth. At the very end, Duane said to everyone, “Have a Mary Christmas!”