Poetry With A Mission



...a thought provoking poetical exercise.

Isn't A Picture An Image?

There are so many pictures of Jesus, and yet, they’re all mere speculation,
For no photo exists providing the necessary verification.
Therefore, could all those pictures that we're seeing, be a misrepresentation?
And might it be that they portray someone else, unworthy of adoration?

Could there not be a danger here, that such portrayals might very well convey
An image that unpleasantly reminds someone of another who's made of clay?
Yes, one who during their life time, caused them a great deal of misery and pain,
Someone who very selfishly sought not sacrifice but some personal gain.

Tell me, why is it that Christ is often pictured with that long hair that we see?
For as I understand it, His hair would've been short, befitting masculinity.
Therefore, could it be that we have got this wrong, and maybe some other things too,
That have our Lord and Saviour pictured in a way that is very far from true?

And say, isn't a picture an image? — because we know such mustn’t be made,
That is, an image that depicts the Godhead, for such images God forbade.
Yes, any image, according to the second Commandment, God has outlawed,
For such deeply offend the true creator God — the bona fide risen Lord.

And say, is there also not a danger here, that once such images are made,
That someone, somewhere, sometime, those very representations might degrade?
You see, something that is done in ignorance, and even prompted by the heart,
Can usher in serious abuses that a wrongful future path then chart.

Images are often found where Christian worship is being abused and defiled,
And history bears witness that via such, God was (and still is) very soon riled.
You see, images are nothing but substitutes that attention wrongly get,
Be such pictures perhaps — and certainly so, a crucifix or statuette.

But surely it is also unethical, as well as biblically wrong,
To incorrectly portray Jesus via features that simply do not belong.
But all this is exactly what can happen once such images are wrongly made,
And what can be expected when the Word of God is altered and disobeyed.

By Lance Landall