Strange Photo in My Possession

[abajan]

Today a friend lent me a copy of a black and white photo that was taken by the photographer upon exiting a church in Canada many years ago. It shows a very snowy scene in Winter. So far, so good. Nothing unusual about that at all. However, when the photo is inverted, it clearly shows a man who looks very much like how Jesus is depicted in many paintings: long hair, robe, a somewhat sad expression. My friend, an elderly woman, is convinced the man is Jesus. She said to me that as soon as she showed it to two of her grandchildren who were very young and just beginning to form words at the time, they exclaimed without hesitation “That’s Jesus!”

As for me, let’s just say I’m keeping an open mind on the matter but it’s all quite intriguing. I wish my scanner was still working so I could post the photo here and get opinions.

[HURAKAN]

can't you take a picture of the picture and post it?

[abajan]

can't you take a picture of the picture and post it?

That may be possible. Knowing how important the photo was to the woman, I returned it this morning but when I get hold of a digital camera, I’ll ask her if I could get a shot of it.

[Frank2]

Huh - as a Christian person, I'd have to say just to ignore that, since for one thing it sounds bizarre, and for another sometimes the "guy downstairs" tends to muddy the water -- especially when it comes to those who are attended a church...

One terrible example is the current breaking news of out California - apparently this is a story of a legitimate Christian church prayer group gone astray, and now have fallen to the voice of evil which is telling them to committ mass suicide:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/09/19/sh ... -families/

however, per what you mentioned, is God sad at the state of the world - you bet He is - but to appear in a way that a person has to hold a picture inverted sounds similar to (and this is not the best analogy but similar) a certain 1960's rock group's record album, where you had to spin it backwards to hear something unusual...

That is one reason (as a Catholic) the Catholic Church's advice to people who claim to see Jesus or Mary in sometimes very ordinary or unique ways is to "keep it to yourself", as Jesus did tell the everyday people that He healed, since, first, the apparition might have only been meant as a personal greeting or message to one person only (that happens more than we realize), and, second, because our human nature being what it is, on hearing something like this most people will scoff or ridicule over what was witnessed, and only causes them to say things against God, which is definitely not good for their soul, so entirely understandable why the Church gives individuals that advice, and why they (the Vatican) take great pains to very carefully investigate apparitions they are made aware of, as a way to verify or discount what was witnessed...

As I've heard many Christians say over the years, one way to determine whether something witnessed is from God is to see if it's based on Scripture, since Jesus did say that is the way to determine if something is from Him or not, though as in the California case, and as Jesus knew, the "guy downstairs" is also knowlegable of scripture and that is why it takes a great deal of prayer to determine what is from God and what is not, though as we are also told, if a solution to a problem causes someone to have to do something sinful to themselves or someone else, then it definitely is NOT from God...

Another example of this, per what you mentioned, is having to do something unnatural to "see" what God has provided - God will not tell an unemployed person to become a dishonest car salesman in order to earn an income for themselves or their family...

Instead, based on Scripture and the life Jesus lead as a carpenter, He would provide a means for a person to earn an honest income - and excepts them to be responsible with the job and the income He provides to them - so you see the difference there between bizarre and practical, since God's solutions to our problems and desires are always very practical as we can often see through nature - weather included (lol)...

Hope this helps,

Frank

[Stephanie]

For me, I like to believe that it is of Jesus. There have been so many strange images of Jesus and Mary in windows, pictures, food, etc. Maybe it is all a coincidence, but it's still a beautiful, hopeful vision and belief.

I hope that you can take a picture of it sometime abajan and post it.