No Small Potatoes!

In Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous “Last Supper” painting, the faces of the Apostles John and Judas are essentially unfinished. Da Vinci said that he could not find a man evil enough to be his model for Judas, and he could not find a man good enough to be his model for John. In one of the countless legends that have sprung up about this painting, Da Vinci uses a very handsome young man as his model for Jesus’ beloved disciple, John. And years later, still looking, still trying to finish the painting, the artist came upon the most dishsheveled, even grotesque-looking man he had ever seen. He brought him into his studio and began using him as a model for Judas. Legend has it that, suddenly, Da Vinci’s model cried out in shame, “Years ago, I was the model for John.”

It’s only a legend, of course, but it brings us face-to-face with the reality that no matter how promising our beginning, we can self-destruct…