The reality of Jesus Christ, the reality of His birth and life, His humble service, His love, His suffering, His gruesome death, His glorious triumph over the grave, His role as our Savior - these are critical elements of our faith that we must never forget. So much of our religion is designed to help us to always remember Him - the scriptures, prayer, the weekly sacrament, Sunday worship, Temple worship, and personal covenants to follow Him. And here in Arizona, there is now one more powerful tool to help us remember him - to remember that He is REAL - and this witness of Christ does not require membership in the Church or a temple recommend or anything more than simply going to the Visitors Centers at the Mesa, Arizona Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint and experiencing the incredible photographic exhibit, "Reflections of Christ" by local photographer Mark Mabry, who happens to be my friends son-in-law.
For family night we decided to attend this showing.In a quiet, darkened gallery on the west side of the Visitor's Center, members of the public can experience beautifully crafted photographs from a massive project aimed at helping us to better grasp the reality of Jesus Christ. There are about 25 photos in this exhibit, composed during a four-month effort by Mark with the help of many others. They are accompanied by a special soundtrack of sacred music prepared by my couisn's son Freddy Ashby specifically for these photos. The story of the making of this exhibit and its music is told in a beautiful 30-minute film that plays continuously in a side room next to the gallery. You can also see some related video footage at Mark's Webpage about the Reflections of Christ project.
The experience began with large black and white photos of a manger scene, taken at the mouth of a little cave in the Arizona desert, with a reposing Mary and the Infant on some hay, with our eyes drawn to the watching Joseph, who is the center of attraction in these photos. Then I delighted in the color photo of the baptism of Christ, in which the model really convincingly represents our Lord. The photo shows the joy of Christ and John the baptist moments after Christ has risen from the waters of Jordan, and is about to embrace his friend.
Then came the angels. Oh, the angels! Joyous, beautiful angels, swooshing down toward the ground to announce the birth of the Savior to shepherds who aren't visible in the photo. Mark Mabry used a trampoline to get his angel models captured in mid-air, and spent hours with them to get the shots that he would bring together in a composite of angels more joyous and dynamic than any I've ever seen (so far, anyway). And the star of Bethlehem shines brightly in the background. This large, beautiful composite photograph is one that I would love to display in my home, especially at christmas along with many of the others. Please, I hope this will be reproduced and marketed!
Another outstanding photo, one I would love to display in my home, is the Ten Virgins. Such variety, beauty, and majestic lighting. Looks like it was photographed at night, but it was done in daylight.
One of my favorites is the scene of Christ just after the Resurrection. We see him walking away into bright light, strong, unstoppable, majestic, with the palm of his hand subtly revealing the mark of the nail still there, for our benefit.
The joy that sings in so many of these photos finds solemn counterpoint in a painful sequence including the agony of Gethsemane, an introspective Judas now beyond all hope, the flogging of Christ, and His suffering on the cross, enhanced by an unexpected rain during the photo shoot that helped all the people in the scene look a little more miserable.
At the last photo, we see the remaining 11 apostles reaching up as Christ ascends above them to heaven. A dramatic moment of reaching is created in this image. This one is the one I looked at the longest while waiting in line for the documentary on the making of this exhibit. As I was looking at that photo and pondering my conversion to this church and the kindness of our Lord, I noticed that the music in the background had changed to a most appropriate song, Amazing Grace. Yes, how amazing the grace of Jesus Christ is. No one of us is past His reach, if only we'll reach up to Him and allow Him to bless us and forgive us.
As I walked through the gallery again, the message delivered by this majestic work of art was stronger than ever: Jesus Christ is real! He is real, as real and as tangible as any of the people in these realistic photos. His love is real, His triumph over death is real, His grace is real. And each of us will one day stand before Him, kneel before Him, and recognize Him as our Lord and Savior. When that moment comes, we will either recognize Him as our Lord whom we have sought to serve and already know, or as a stranger who was far from the thoughts and intents of our hearts. May it be the former! But in either case, we will see that He is real, more real than any scene in any photograph. So why wait? Why wait for reality to surprise us when we can accept it now - accept Him now - and prepare for that wonderful day when we are united with the Lord, our true and very real Friend and Savior.
If you're in Arizona or anywhere close to Arizona, like, say, New Jersey, you might wish to visit Reflections of Christ at the Mesa, Arizona Temple.
