Last August, my friend Meg took me to the Getty Art Museum in L.A. I found myself strangely captivated by a statue entitled, "Winter: The Shivering Girl" by Jean-Antoine Houdon. In his piece, Houdon portrays the season of winter as a young woman clinging to a shawl that only covers her upper-body...leaving her exposed in a way that is profound, painful, saddening.
Staring at her vulnerability in the museum, I had the urge to find her cover. (Note: Art connoisseurs do not respond well to crazy girls, "Sir? Do you happen to have a spare pair of pants for this naked statue? She looks cold.")
The image of 'The Shivering Girl' has been on my mind since my visit to the Getty. The statue reminds me of struggling friends... and of myself. There's a tragedy to her exposure. Though she clings to cover, she can't control her vulnerability.
I'm reminded of my home church and the man next to his wife suffering from MS, or the middle aged couple raising their grandchild, or the wife who sat alone in worship...while the whole congregation knew her husband sat at home. And they can't control their vulnerability. The rest of us blindly have pity on them--denying our own nakedness.
Yet, 'The Shivering Girl' is the rest of us...
who think we've fooled people with our empty smiles and strained greetings...
who try to hide our pain and brokenness with a small shawl.
I think John understood how destructive it is to cling to covering and deny our nakedness. There's healing when brokenness comes to the light:
"God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Seriously good one, my friend. I was very moved by this statue and I remember it well. Thank you for your words.
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ReplyDeleteI really like and am convicted by your thought process here.
ReplyDeleteQuite the image. Quite the illusion.
ReplyDeleteThis image struck me profoundly when you first posted it, and after a couple of recent experiences of feeling excruciatingly vulnerable, it came to mind again. I just went through your whole blog because I had to find it and look at it one more time. Wow.
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