Matthew Kelly is an avid story teller. And I’m just thinking you’re about ready for some “lighter fare,” but beware, their truths are heavy! These two stories are taken from his book The Rhythms of Life. I trust both will stretch you.
Perhaps you are familiar with Leonardo da Vinci‘s famous painting The Last Supper. Leonardo was living in Milan at the time he painted it, and when he committed himself to that particular composition, he wanted to find thirteen men to pose, one for each of the disciples and one as Jesus. He wanted each of his models to look exactly as he envisioned Jesus and each of the disciples to have looked. And so his search for these men began.
One day while he was sitting in church, the voices of the choir were so angelic that he turned around and looked up into the choir loft. As he did his gaze fell upon one young man in the choir. He perfectly matched how Leonardo had visualized Jesus to look. After church Leonardo approached the young man, explained his project, and inquired as to whether he would be interested in posing for the painting. The young man agreed, and the following week he spent four days posing for Leonardo in his studio in Milan.
Leonardo’s search continued, and he quickly found someone to pose as Peter, Simon, and Matthew. Within eleven months he had found and painted all the persons in the scene except for Judas.
Leonardo could not find his Judas. He looked everywhere. He would walk through the streets of Milan, some days for endless hours, searching the nameless faces in the crowd for a man who embodied how he envisioned Judas to have looked. Eleven years passed in his search for Judas when he finally realized he had been looking for his Judas in the wrong places.
Leonardo thought, if I am to find a man who has the qualities and appearance of Judas, I must look where such men are gathered. With that in mind, Leonardo went to the prisons in and around Milan, searching for a man with pain and anger in his eyes, with harsh impatience on his face, with the scars of pride and bitterness on his cheeks, and with the marks of brokenness in his features – a man who looked to him like Judas.
After many days and many prisons, he came across that man. He explained to the man what he was doing and asked him if he would be willing to pose for the paining. The prisoner agreed, and Leonardo made arrangements for him to be brought to his studio in Milan under guard.
The following week he was brought to the studio, and Leonardo begin the final stage of his work. As he painted, Leonardo noticed that the prisoner was growing more restless and distressed, even by the hour. Leonardo observed that the man would look at him, then at the painting, and every time he seem to be filled with a certain remorseful sadness.
By the middle of the second day, Leonardo was so disturbed by what he was witnessing in his model that he stopped work and said to him, “Is there something wrong? Do you not like my work?“ The prisoner said nothing, and Leonardo inquired once more, saying, “You seem very upset, and if I am causing you pain in any way, perhaps we should stop.“ The man looked at the master painter and then at the paining one more time. As his gaze fell away from the painting, he lowered his head, lifted his hands to his face, and began to weep inconsolably.
After several minutes, Leonardo was finally able to settle him down. “What is it?“ He asked.
The prisoner looked expectantly into the artist’s eyes and said, “Do you not recognize me, master?“
In confusion, Leonardo replied, “No, have we met before?“
“Oh yes,” the prisoner explained. “Eleven years ago I posed for you, for this same painting, as the person of Jesus.“
In each of us there is a Judas and a Jesus. Our lives here on earth are an incomplete work unless we can discover the Judas and the Jesus within us. We must come to know our strengths and our weaknesses. It is often very easy to find the Jesus within us. Too often we shrink from the task of examining our faults. Yet it is only by knowing the flaws and defects of our character that we can begin to work to overcome them.
Our weaknesses are the keys to our richer, more abundant future. Our strengths are already bearing the fruit they can. Our weaknesses are the unfarmed lands of our character. Pull the weeds from that land, till the soil, plant some seeds, and we will yield a great harvest.
Most people don’t want to know about their weaknesses. This is a classic sign of mediocrity. While the rest of us are standing around arguing for our weaknesses, trying to convince people that our lack of character is our character; the heroes, leaders, legends, champions, and saints who fill the history books went looking for their weaknesses. They didn’t hide their weaknesses, and they didn’t hide from them. They woke early each morning and went out to face them, because they knew their weaknesses were the keys to their richer, more abundant future.
If you want your future to be bigger than your past, start to transform your weaknesses into strengths!
Are you prepared to face the Judas in you?
The following heavenly trivia is priceless!
When God was creating the universe, some of the angels were discussing where each of them felt God should hide the truth. One angel said, “I think God should hide the truth at the very summit of the highest mountain.“ The next proclaimed, “I think God should hide the truth at the very depths of the ocean.“ Another said, “No, I think God should hide the truth on the farthest star.“
God overheard the angels and spoke up, saying, “I will hide the truth in none of these places. I will hide the truth in the very depths of every man and every woman’s heart. This way, those who search humbly and sincerely will find it easily, and those who do not will have to search the whole universe before they do.”
Know thyself; know your strengths and weaknesses; your relation to the universe (more accurately, God); your potentialities; your spiritual heritage; your aims and purposes; take stock of thyself. Socrates