Monday, March 28, 2011

Colossal Power, Tender Love


In Eric Metaxas’s biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he recounts the forces that shaped this renowned theologian. An early trip to Italy proved to be monumental in Bonhoeffer’s growth and understanding of God.

The following quote in Bonhoeffer’s own words, regarding Michaelango’s masterpiece work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - more specifically about the portion regarding God’s creation of Adam - caused me to reflect more on the intricate character of the unique, mighty God that we are called to serve:

"I was hardly able to move past Adam. There is an inexhaustible abundance of ideas in the picture. The figure of God reverberates with colossal power and tender love, or rather with the divine attributes that supersede these two human attributes that are often far removed from each other." (Metaxas, 64)

God is all that we are not and cannot be. Amazing, isn't it?