The Portrait of Anna Christine

As a man of God
I am always curious
About the work of man
For man is the work of God

More specifically
I am curious
About the ability man has
To create true beauty

The likes of which
Seem as if
They could only come
From divine inspiration

Such is The Portrait of Anna Christine

The painter of the portrait
Sir Edward Harrington
Was madly in love with Anna
A woman who did not love him back

Edward painted this portrait
In the hopes that Anna would gaze upon it
And see the love he felt for her

Sadly, the opposite occurred

Anna saw the portrait
Felt that it did not resemble her
In the slightest
And continued to scorn Edward
Until she married another man
And died in childbirth

Edward never painted another thing
For the rest of his life
And he died in obscurity

The portrait was discovered many years later
And has since been called a masterpiece
By every critic and art lover
Who takes it in

The Portrait of Anna Christine
Interests me also
As a lover of art

But strangely
It interests me more
As a priest

This is because I see the relationship
Between Anna Christine and Sir Edward
As a lovely and sad sort of metaphor

Anna Christine couldn't love Edward
Because he painted her as he saw her
In brilliant blues and reds
Showing her nothing
But a pure and good version of herself

She had such trouble recognizing
The good in herself
That she turned away from Edward
Because she was ashamed
And embarrassed

She was not the woman in the portrait
Nor could she ever hope to me

There are times when I wonder
If there is a similar situation
Going on between Man and God

He made all of us in His image
And so he made us Good
But he also made us imperfect
He allowed us to fail

Yet since we have failed
Since we are no longer able
To feel we can be that version of ourselves
The one in God's portrait of us
We have turned away from him in shame

I realize this was meant to be a lecture
That has now become a sermon
But when you're a priest
The two are one and the same

I should add that I feel my metaphor
Also lends itself to the argument
That struggling with our belief in our own goodness
And in God
Can sometimes lead to great beauty

Had Anna Christine loved Sir Edward
We would not have this portrait

This beautiful work
Proving that God is in us
And that he can take our heartbreak
And turn it into something

Breathtaking