TASK 5:

They are in magazines, televisions, Shopping malls and theatres, computers and cell phones;
Images are plastered on our buses and billboards; On packaging and merchandise—Painted, printed, and digitalized,Often, in larger-than-life proportions.
Technology has ensured that these images can be spun instantly around the globe via internet and web, criss-crossing geographical boundaries and invading cultures of vast variety.
These images carry messages—messages about who we are, why we are here, and what is important.
They tell us that Image is everything!The right image Will get you what wantWhen and where you want it And with whom.
Although created by us,Images have become cultural dictators.They tell us that success comes to those who are cool or beautiful.Then they tells us how to look coolOr beautifulby telling us What to wear,How to do our hair,What colours Are “in”,And what’s “passé”.
They tell us thatBy using certain scents, Buying by the labelHaving the right stuffWe’ll be alluring,Get the attention we want,Create an aura of desirability—Be a success!
Yes!Images are everywhere!Images carry messages.And, these messages are powerful.
These images have layers of meaning.On the one hand, They hold out an appealing ideal.On the other hand,They create impossibilitiesTelling us our reality is not good enough.We need to be sexiersmarterskinnieror more curvacious.So we have to purchase a pound of fleshEnlisting the help of a surgeons’ cosmetic skillsOr feverishly purge some pounds with strength of will.
But, where do these messages come from?Who or what is behind them?What’s the motivation?Is it good?Who is it good for?Who gains?Who loses?
In the end, it’s the image makers that gain,While we follow their whims,Ever changing our style to accommodate new trends.Meanwhile, our landfill sites become gorged with yesterday’s faded glories.Our days are filled with anxiety and frenzied labourAnd God has been nudged to the margins.
But there’s another way of thinking,And it’s this—
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.He gave it shape and colourAnd filled it withThingsPlantsAnd animals.
And then, God made man—male and female—in His own image.He made them perfect in every wayPerfect for their environmentPerfect for each other And perfect for Laughing andWalking And talkingWith God.
But very soon,They heardThe alluring lies of Satan as he held out a different image an image of man as God.They listenedAnd they wanted it—The freedom!The power!And the adventure!
So they listenedThey imagined;They took and They tastedThe forbidden fruit.
But the seed of promise in the fruit leaked a poisonous venom.Instead of freedom,They were trapped.Instead of power, They knew fear.Instead of adventure,They hid behind some treesAnd lost their sense of joy. But even on that darkest day in history,When all that was good on earth seemed poised to be snuffed out,God made an amazing promise—There would be consequencesBUT—He would not abandon his creation!In the fullness of time The Great Reversal of sin and deathWould begin!
And, in the fullness of time,God kept His promise—He sent His son. Christ,Born of a woman,Born to re-ignite the human imagination BornTo demonstrate the image of God.Born to buy back His broken—but well-loved CreationAnd with his own terrifying death,To halt the toxic consequences of the Fall.
Though He’d done no wrong,We ravaged His body—Publicly.No forest covers his shame—No clothing covers his nakedness…Instead, impaled upon a hacked and splintered,Rootless tree, He is hoisted in the air for all to see.A public symbol of disgrace.
As the blood dripsfrom His thorn-crowned head,Some ancient words begin to echo: “Thorns will cause pain and frustration in your labour.”And in the Heavens, word begins to spread, “The Great Reversal has begun…”
‘Midst sounds of ripping flesh And laboured breath,Callous laughterAnd clashing metal. . . We look back, And see thatNo labour Is like this labour—This re-birthing of creation. As realization ebbs and flows upon the shores of our minds,Once again, we hear the solemn echo of the ancient words—“Multiple pains in child birthing. . .”And in the Heavens, word continues to spread, “The Great Reversal has begun…”
And so it is—With Christ’s final,“Finished” breath Our ancient debt was paid in full.And in the Heavens, the noiseOf shouts and celebrations could be heard--The Great Reversal has begun!
As restored human beings We can be set free From the demands of cultural imaging We can be set free To bear the image of this Christ,This God,In our world.
We can regain our sense of joyAnd harmony with ourselvesOur environmentAnd our God
Image is a noun, We were made in God’s image.But image is also a verb!We were “made to image” Him.In this we see our place and purpose.Our mission in life is to image God.

Marnie Goheen



What do you find powerful in this poem?t
he thing that i fined powerful is the turth that images are evrywhere
What do you feel challenged by?
i dont feel chllenged by it