i was startled and saddened for anne rice when i read the dedication in blood canticle to her husband stan who had passed away. this book was great, as most of her others, but this time it was hard for me to get into past this awesome introduction by the vampire Lestat:
the image of God incarnate, become man out of the fascination with his own creation, will triumph the third millenium as the supreme emblem of divine sacrifice and unfathomable lov. it takes thousands of years to understand the crucified Christ, i say. why, for example, did he come down to live thirty-three years? why not twenty? why not twenty-five? you could ponder this stuff forever....and why choose that particular time in history? and such a place? ...did it have anything to do with the sheer simplicity of the clothes and hair, Christ coming in that era? i think it did. page through a book on world costume..and you can't find any simpler clothes and hair than in galilee first century.
i am serious, i tell the holy father. Christ considered this, he had to. how could he not? surely he knew that images of him would proliferate exponentially.
furthermore, i think Christ chose the crucifixion because henceforth in every depiction he would be seen extending his arms in a loving embrace. once you see the crucifix in that manner, everything changes. you see him reaching out to all the world.