A Path Through . . .

( Christ Pantokrator (detail from the deesis mosaic in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul) - found here ) His right hand raised, its slender fingers curled, the left hand holding up the holy book. He offers His salvation to the world, and blessing from the One whom it forsook. The figure dominates the apse, its cloak of blue held-open, seeming to embrace all those who would assume His gentle yoke, and find redemption in His sacred face. Reflections from the dome illuminate with gold the nimbused cross around His head; below, archangels, Virgin saints await the resurrection of the ransomed dead. His steady eyes appear to turn their gaze on every viewer—deep, unblinking, dark, yet luminous and searching as the rays that light the nave, the covenant’s new ark. Anonymous, just strangers in a crowd, like those who stood on a Judean hill to watch, and heard Him as He cried aloud, we know the power of His passion still. The letters come alive, the voice is clear, as though, through two millennia, we hea...