Passion of the signs

Sun., April 8, 2007

Story And Essays By Virginia De Leon X Photography By Brian Plonka X The Spokesman-Review Staff writer

RESURRECTION

There were tears, certainly, when they buried Cleo Juanita Bithell, who died last month at the age of 92.

But her funeral was also a time of great joy.

"We rejoiced because we knew she had gone to heaven to be with her Lord," said her daughter, Susan Lyons of Deer Park. "She's in heaven."

Fueled by a fervent belief that Jesus rose from the dead, most Christians also have faith in an afterlife – that they, too, will someday join loved ones who have died before them.

"We'll see grandma again in heaven," the Rev. Dale Williams, Bithell's grandchild, reassured the family during the funeral service at Deer Park's Church of the Nazarene.

Others in attendance – including Bithell's 12 other grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren – found solace in those words.

"Without Jesus, there is no hope," said Lyons, as she pondered the meaning of Easter.

"We know where my mom is and I know where I'm going to be along with most of my family. We're all going to meet up there and it's going to be a time of rejoicing."

BELIEVER

She didn't want anything too flashy. Just something straightforward, a simple image to convey her faith.

"I wanted something centered around God," said Collyn "Joy" Miller, reflecting on the tattoo inscribed on her lower back four years ago.

So she chose the universal symbol of the cross, surrounded by Easter lilies in bloom.

"The cross is very central to what I believe – it's a symbol of freedom, of what Christ did for me and for everyone," said Miller, 33 and a single mom of two young children. "He died on the cross to take away my sins."

BODY AND BLOOD

"This is my body, which is given for you," Jesus tells his disciples in the Gospel of Luke. "Do this in remembrance of me."

During the celebration of the Eucharist, Christians believe they receive the actual body and blood of Jesus by taking the small wafer of bread and a sip of wine from the chalice.

Communion, for many, becomes nourishment for the soul – a deep, spiritual and intimate encounter with Jesus.

CREATION

Six years ago, Roman Catholic leaders throughout the Northwest and British Columbia called on area residents to recognize the Columbia River as a sacred source of life.

"The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good" was the first pastoral letter ever issued by the Catholic Church about a river. It became a call for environmental justice. "God entrusts the Earth to human care," the bishops wrote. "People are the stewards of God's world."

By reveling in nature – the wonders of creation – some Christians are able to discover and experience God.

COMPANION

Despite the darkness of night and the isolation of driving a semitruck on long stretches of highway, Florence Flores of Moses Lake doesn't believe he's alone.

The yellow glow of the cross on his truck lights up the road ahead of him. And Jesus, he said, is always his companion on the journey.

ADVERTISER

"Jesus is Lord."

It's a message that die-hard believers have proclaimed for centuries. Since the early days of the Christian Church, people have shouted his name in the open markets, busy street corners, from the highest mountain tops.

The efforts to evangelize continue today.

Consider some of the slogans people use to promote Christianity: Got Jesus? Jesus rules. Jesus saves.

Apparently, Jesus also sells.

Up there with the likes of Disney, Nike and Old Navy, Jesus has evolved into a brand name.

You can find his image on hats, mugs and bumper stickers. The "What Would Jesus Do" line of products even offers golf balls with the popular WWJD acronym.

Religious retailing is a growth business in this country. CBA International, the trade association for Christian bookstores and retailers, reported sales by member suppliers at $4.2 billion in 2002.

While the marketing of Christ might seem offensive to some, those who wear the T-shirts or wave the signs say it's simply another way to show they believe.

"I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ," said Pastor Bruce Wakeman, who spends two days a week walking around town with a sign that says, "Got Jesus???"

PASSION

Whenever Alice Darroch sees the image of a bloody Christ, crowned with thorns and nailed to the cross, she is reminded of the horrors of sin and God's love for humanity.

"It took that much pain and agony to rid the world of sin," said Darroch, one of the directors of "Behold the Lamb," a drama about the life of Christ that recently drew an audience of nearly 1,800 people.

"We are all sinners," she said. "We all need a savior. Jesus came to this earth because he loved us so much."

In the eyes of Christians worldwide, Jesus lives – in nature, in art, in bread and wine transubstantiated into body and blood.

He lives in the rituals of Sunday worship, in bold public displays and in quieter, more private encounters like prayer.

Even in the ordinary, God exists, Scott Kolbo tells his students.

“That’s the beauty of Christianity,” said the art professor at Whitworth College. “It’s an embodied faith. You can find Christ in people. … You can find Christ in the beauty of nature. Some people find God in the everyday things of life.”

As an artist and as a Christian, he encourages students to seek images of the divine in objects that are personal to them, in the people who touch their lives, in occasions and instances that bring meaning to their lives.

Unlike a cross or dove or other traditional symbols of Christianity, the signs and images people choose may not always seem religious or spiritual at first glance.

Take, for instance, one of Kolbo’s prints, which depicts a man and a woman holding a child as they sit on a bench at a bus stop. Above them loom a Godzilla-like balloon figure and a monorail car with tentacles.

It’s called “Flight to Egypt” and offers a contemporary interpretation of what Jesus, Mary and Joseph might have experienced as they fled from Herod’s death threats.

If they were around today, the family probably would have been poor and would have had no choice but to take a bus to get out of town, said Kolbo, who came up with the image based on his experience as a resident of the West Central neighborhood.

Like Kolbo and his students, others throughout the region have discovered a myriad of ways to express their values, perspectives and spirituality in every day life.

There’s the single mom with the tattoo in Coeur d’Alene, the man with a “Got Jesus?” sign at a busy Spokane Valley intersection, the driver with the cross of lights displayed prominently on his semitruck.

In Deer Park, a family recently buried a loved one.

In downtown Spokane, hundreds gathered to watch a Passion play produced by a local congregation.

Every day, everywhere, people line up before a church altar for Communion.

Through their actions and the symbols they’ve embraced, they proclaim their Christianity – their belief in God, in resurrection and in Jesus Christ as their savior.