Lessons in Catechism

You're probably all thinking 'why are you telling us all this information?   Which is a good question since I am an artist and I should be telling you about artsy things.   Right?  But part of being an artist is how we see the world around us.   It is my lost years that led me to the person that I am today.  One has to look back in order to move forward.  One has to understand the self, the true authentic self.   Once we understand and look back with detachment, we can begin the healing process to move forward with our lives.
When I was kid growing up, I went to Catholic church every Sunday. I loved looking at the statues of Mother Mary and Jesus.   I loved the colorful stained glass windows.   
I just didn't like or understand the message that was being taught to me.   God loved me so I was told, but only if  you went through Jesus,   Now, that didn't make any sense to me at all. Jesus was the only way to get to God and Heaven.  Now, that wasn't fair!   How about the people who didn't know about Jesus?   Were they going to Hell too?
Remember, I was a kid back then! 
Where was the Love?   I learned about the Spanish Inquisition, not a very nice group of Catholics at all.    Yes, things were starting to change within me.   This was not the God that I wanted to know, my God was a nice God.   I decided that Jesus was not going to be a part of my life.   I would still talk to Mother Mary and God but no more Catholicism for me.  
I loved hearing stories about St. Joan of Arc, St. Francis and St. Bernadette.   My mother even brought me a bottle of the Holy Water from Lourdes which I am embarrassed to  say that I drank.  Maybe that is why I do not get sick very often.
When I was 15, I went to see St. Bernadette's body that is in a crystal coffin at the Church of St. Gildard at the convent in Nevers.   St. Bernadette lived there for 13 years.   She has remained undisturbed and on view since August 3, 1925 and that was a special moment for me.   One of God's many miracles that I have seen.
It is kind of funny when I look back, in my 20's, 30's and even part of my 40's, I lost touch with God.   I loved the stories yet, I fell out of touch with the one thing that created it all.
I was the hamster running around and around in the wheel of my cage until I stopped and asked why?
Be careful what you ask, you may not like the answers.

I love photographing Mother Mary.
She is peaceful and beautiful.