What Beauty Does the Tomb of Christ Reveal?

By Lindsay Fullerman

Beauty is more than just a visual experience. It is integrated one. Beauty has the power to draw us in, body, mind, and heart. Lindsey Fullerman, coach and founder of Fit from Faith, knows this power from her personal experience. In this guest post, she shares a transformative encounter with beauty at the Holy Sepulchre of Christ.

My time in the Holy Land was filled with immense beauty and transforming grace. The experience in itself personified the beautiful. Through it, the scriptures have come alive and now have deeper meaning in my life. One instance in particular captured my heart and pierced it. 

There were many astounding places that captured beauty. Yet, it was at the Holy Sepulchre that Christ revealed His particular love for me. The Holy Sepulchre is in the Christian quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Inside is a stone monument that encloses the tomb where it is believed that Jesus Christ lay buried for three days and rose from the dead. Several feet away is a narrow staircase that leads up to Calvary. Upon entering Calvary, my heart was invited into one of the most lavishly decorated parts of the Church: the crucifixion site. While there were lengthy lines waiting to enter both the crucifixion site and the tomb, my heart was drawn to the anointing slab of Christ.  

“Stay With Me”

Walking down the narrow staircase from Calvary, I encountered this anointing slab of Christ. There was a long piece of marble and underneath it was believed to be the stone where the body of Jesus laid after His crucifixion. While our group venerated it, they quickly headed to wait in line to see the tomb. Yet, the Holy Spirit kept tugging on my heart to go back to the anointing slab to be with the crucified Christ and His body.

Upon arriving, I completely wept at the sight of the reddish stone with eight white hanging candles over it. It was an outpouring of my heart entering into the crucified Christ. The pain of Christ and His wounds, both physically and emotionally. The Lord wanted me to be with Him and stay there to journey into His wounds. He wanted to show them to me – to touch them, feel them, and enter into them. What did Christ feel, what did He think? What was His physical and emotional pain like? And what did He do with it? It was here at the slab that I laid the top half of my body over it and wept in silence.  

A Moment of Grace

Through the tears, the Lord gave me an image. Jesus was kneeling on the ground and washing my feet. He looked upon me with eyes of love, mercy, and compassion. As I sat in silence with this image in my mind, I recognized that it was an invitation from the Lord. He wanted me to allow Him into those ugly, wounded parts of my “feet” so that He could continue to get the junk out and clean them. 

In this moment, I felt somewhat confused because I didn’t know what past pain Christ wanted me to dive into. After all, I am at a place of peace and freedom in my life. There don’t seem to be any big issues that need attention right now. Being attentive to Jesus in this image challenged me to be mindful of the people and the places I encountered. Yet, it also empowered me. I did not have to be afraid to visit old wounds that have now turned to scars. There was beauty in those scars that He wanted to reveal to me.

Where do I go from here?

This experience was a constant reminder that my scars and past challenges are beautiful. While they never fully disappear, Christ wants to clean out our wounds and transform them over and over again so that through them He is glorified and we become more whole.

Lindsay Fullerman was a fitness model and strength coach for nearly ten years. She struggled with her own body image, dieting, and living in extremes with food and exercise. It was only after developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and understanding her Catholic roots that she began her healing journey towards interior freedom and balanced living. Lindsay created Fit from Faith and now educates Catholics on healthy and balanced living. She is eager to give back and help others do the same.

 

 

turning an intimate moment into art…