Christ in the Wilderness, Ivan Kramskoy
I.
After you hear the Father’s words,
“You are my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased,”
the Spirit leads you into the desert,
there to be tempted by Satan.
What is this, the only Son
entering into our place of estrangement,
tempted as we are, in every way,
yet without falling into sin?
I know that your heart yearns, little one, to create something beautiful, a testament of love, a reflection, in the dimness of this world, of the radiant beauty of my own eternal light. I know the longing within to give birth without, the desire to create, sharing in eternal creativity. I want you to know, beloved, and to feel that the greatest masterpiece which I desire for you is the unspeakable beauty which is you yourself. You, the one whom I infinitely love, are the icon, transparent to my shining glory, enfolded in my grace, a blaze of fiery light bursting through the eyes, a figure whose countenance, whose heart, whose life is a reflection of the life, the heart, the face which is my own.