I have this picture of John Wesley as the background on my computer. At least for now. I have not looked up the history of this portrait so I am more than a little free with my interpretation. It would be another good reason to heed the sage advice...don't let the facts get in the way of an excuse to make up a story. Is this John Wesley saying "hello" to me when I sit down at my computer? That's not a bad way to keep a Wesleyan view on the morning devotions. Maybe.... maybe Mr Wesley's hand is in a gesture of blessing? Or is this just a gesture in his preaching.Or is he waiving goodbye? In my cynical or satirical moments I might think its Mr Wesley's comment on much of today's church behavior: "Good riddance. ..lots a luck." I would like to think he is clutching the Bible close to himself in silent prayer. Maybe his handed is lifted in prayer too. Or maybe his hand is lifted in a send off : "Remember what we are about! Have a good day! God be with you! "
Thanks John.
2 comments:
Or maybe he's about to slap his forehead and say "Lord help us" after reading articles like the one you have posted above this!
Curiosity got me to do a little research. This Wesley portrait is on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London. It is by Nathaniel Hone, circa 1766, and depicts "Wesley preaching in a rural setting."
That's still vague enough to let me do my silly interpretations. We have just installed new projection equipment in The Park Church sanctuary and as we played with some power point I made up a slide that said over 50% of United Methodist Churches are using projection equipment in their services. I added this same Wesley picture to the slide with those words. Beth, immediately wanted to insert a remote control into John Wesley's hand but we didn't have enough time to get it done!
PS I haven't figured out how to edit a comment after I post it so I did a delete and started over.
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