Lordy Lord!

As a vocal atheist (yes, I can feel all those Christian mommy bloggers deleting me now....) many of my friends find it highly amusing that I have a lovely picture of Jesus in my front room. (Sorry, I did pop him on the floor to take the snaps as the flash was flaring so much his face was disappearing and frankly - that was kinda spooky!)

I do love this kind of art. If I could afford an original, I would. The light and emotion, as well as the symbolism are just beautiful - regardless of any faith.

So back to why it's in my front room: my partner (the plumber) does work for the Sisters of Charity in Fitzroy. I'm pretty sure he was doing his charitable bit in terms of the bill - which is fair enough given the work they do with the homeless and families in crisis, so they presented him with this framed snap of JC himself.

Naturally, curiosity got the better of me. First piqued by the "Made In China" sticker on the back of the highly elaborative (plastic) frame. (I'm not complaining. The colour and style works brilliantly in the front room!). Prying back the layers, I unearthed the back of Jesus - and it appears that this particular portrait has been clipped from The Christian Weekly (I'm guessing such a publication exists - I don't subscribe as noted in the first sentence.) How natty!

Not content with just this one religious icon, I was quick to snap up a bottle of Holy Water whilst we were in Jordan to add to the collection. For $5, who could resist? It even came with a hologram sticker of authenticity whacked right on the Pope's picture!

I've even done my own art work of the subject of God's existence - or not - which in retrospect is probably a tad agnostic for my current state of mind.

The back side of Jesus - so to speak.

I'm reminded of a conversation with my mate Jez, when I said I'd heard someone comment that they'd rather live their life believing in God to discover there isn't one, than live their life not believing in God, to discover there is one.

He quickly responded that it wasn't an original thought and a friend of his counters it; she's going to live her life like there is no God and if she dies to discover there is one, boy, has she got a thing or two to say to him!!!

Amen.