read John 3:1-17
from the artist | Carmelle Beaugelin (Renacimiento, conte crayon, charcoal, acrylic, gold gild on paper)
I was raised in a Spanish-speaking Pentecostal church in
Miami called “Renacimiento.” A simple translation of renacimiento to English
means “rebirth” or “renaissance.” For my small Pentecostal church, renacimiento
meant far more than the symbolism of being “born-again” Christians. It was a
perpetual reminder that each time the saints gather to encounter Jesus, the
Spirit calls us to continuous transformation, calling dead things into new life
and Holy Spirit-filled revival.
It is no wonder that Nicodemus seeks Jesus in the cover and
darkness of night. It is in the quiet of night that our deepest fears startle
us awake, that our anxieties of the day keep us from sound rest, and that the
fear of the death of our dreams and bodies looms. As rapper Nas wrote in his
debut album, Illmatic, “sleep is the cousin of death.”3
Yet Jesus challenges Nicodemus’ seeking in the night with a
call to be born again, to renacimiento. Not just improvement, but
transformation. Not simply resuscitation of what is and was, but a complete
resurrection of what could and will be.
In this image, a metaphorically disrobed, aging, and
vulnerable Nicodemus, surrounded by the milky gray swirls of water and spirit,
wonders: How can this be? Haven’t I reached past my benchmarks? How is it that
you are calling me to begin again?
We may see ourselves in Nicodemus today, holding the same
questions in the sleeplessness of our darkest nights. Yet, what if we chose to
hold fast to the faith that responds to our seeking? Jesus promises us that the
winds and waters of the Spirit will lead us toward our own new beginning. Each
of us will experience renacimiento if we dare to seek it.
3 Nas. “N.Y. State of Mind.” Track 2 on Illmatic. Columbia
Records, 1994.
*reprinted with permission from A Sanctified Art
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