Historical Setting, 626 C.E. Creekside near the farm in the Vosges
“I did pray about it, Papa. And God answered with that kind of backwards answer when God expects us to already know something. So, the second verse of my prayer was, ‘Yes, dear God, Creator of all Creation, I don’t even want to think about going off for a year or two to a foreign land that speaks a strange language just to look for that icon painter to teach me how to tell the bible stories in pictures so not speak them with poetry and dancing.’”
So, Brandell believes God is calling him to become an “icon painter.”
He feels his prayer was answered with a holy dare.
He tells me, “God knows it’s all I can think about. I’ve tried not to think of it at all. But now I really have to go to Constantinople to find the teacher of this art. I have to learn this so I can give the gospel stories to the people who are illiterate, the common people Jesus most wanted to teach, those who are hungry for stories of how God loves them like a mother, when what the Church provides for these longing hearts is hollow incantations of doctrine.”
“Maybe Greg and Gaillard will be going back there again soon. You can go with them.”
“They said they are gathering sponsors for a journey to escort bishops to Rome. But probably Constantinople is on the way to Rome, wouldn’t you think?”
He has no idea of faraway places. And yet he feels such an urgency to go off somewhere and learn something new. It’s more than the words of a song, or even the rumors of a living Lazarus. He isn’t running from anything so much as he is driven to find a way to retool his skills to tell bible stories using visual images that speak without words. And he feels God is demanding this holy mission.
Brandell explains, “When I talked with Greg about my need to go to Constantinople he said I would have to wait until they went there again, which might be months or years, or else I will have to go alone without any sponsors or purse.”
“He told you that?”
“Well, actually Greg said he couldn’t imagine anyone going alone on a journey like that. And so, I’m hoping they will stop off at Constantinople on their other journey, or else I’ll have to go it alone.”
(Continues tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 