In her new book, A Challenging Peace in the Life and Stories of Jesus, Cara B. Hochhalter uses her relief print images, biblical texts and her own reflections to hold up Jesus as ultimately a peacemaker. With three interpretations of forty different stories (thirty-nine from the Gospels and one from Isaiah) we are invited to be challenged. Hochhalter believes Jesus offered us ingredients for making peace: truth-telling, love, compassion, forgiveness—and they reach beyond the limits of Christianity.  ​

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Two of the forty images from the book with the author's reflections:
  
Maundy Thursday Foot-Washing and From the Lord's Prayer
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​    "In this account from the book of John, it was the night before the Passover meal where Jesus had supper with the disciples. This is the only Gospel version that includes a foot-washing. Jesus sets an example of humility, of forgetting ourselves in serving one another. But Simon Peter is so closed-up that, in the image, his toes are curled under as he tries to refuse to let Jesus wash his feet.  He asks why Jesus doesn’t wash his hands and head as well. Jesus says that if one has bathed, only his feet need washing. (Remember the dusty roads they surely walked each day.)
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     Jesus says that he is setting an example for them of serving others in this intimate and humble way. He breaks down the divisions of servant and master by recognizing equitable relationships of care and compassion. This story of Peter’s refusal, make me wonder how often I resist opportunities to make myself vulnerable to others in ways of serving and/or receiving blessing. After all, Jesus looks pretty excited to wash our feet!"

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    "We hear the “Lord’s Prayer” a little differently in the version   from Luke 11:1-4. I focused on feeding and forgiving, these two aspects of the prayer Jesus taught. Being hungry and being in debt make people poor in our country and world. Then, so often people become victims of their own poverty.

      In my image there are two loaves of bread and the whole image is also in the shape of bread. Jesus implies that our food comes from God’s great ecology. How do we show our gratitude? What is our responsibility as consumers in a system of food production and distribution? Are the ways that we are fed helpful or hurtful for the world’s hungry?

      The hands in the image are clasped in demonstration of reconciliation and forgiveness. Perhaps God’s kingdom (kin-dom) comes on earth as we focus on feeding and forgiving, on bread and friendship, and finding equitable solutions for those who are in debt.
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​       I turned the block upside-down for a secondary printing which adds complexity and dimension to the image. Peace is not a simple process. It may seem like a tangle of issues and politics, yet Jesus affirms that feeding and forgiving play a large part in moving us towards peace.."   
 
---Cara B. Hochhalter in A Challenging Peace in the Life and Stories of Jesus

​Making Art as Biblical Interpretation

​     ​Hochhalter says, “When I started creating images through block printmaking to accompany spiritual ideas and scriptural texts, I discovered something unexpected. The process itself seems to unleash a creative spirit that brings surprising interpretations. First, I meditate on a text, noticing the visual aspects and letting the whole text unfold in my imagination. Then I make several pencil sketches the same size as the block that I will be carving. The sketches are adapted until one feels right, paying attention to the areas that will be light and those that will be dark.
     Next, I shade the dark areas with pencil and “print” the image on the rubber block by rubbing the back of it with a spoon. It will be fuzzy and backwards from my sketch, but gives me a bit of a guide. Then begins the carving. With a small cutting tool, I cut away what will be light and leave raised what will be dark. This is a wonderful dance of thinking light/dark, light/dark.
     In the image, light and dark are defined by each other; each one dependent on the other. I find this to be theological and hopeful as we see this in life as well—the light and the dark, the joy and the despair, the peace and the conflict—all under an umbrella of Divine Love that yearns for wholeness.
     In cutting the blocks, I sometimes struggle with proportions of the human figures and getting the faces and hands to look all right. One tiny slip of the blade can easily cut off a nose or finger and they are impossible to replace. I have had to start all over on a number of images. Amazingly, the figures take on personalities of their own, quite apart from my intentions.
     The printing process involves rolling ink over the block, placing paper on top, pressing it all with the back of a spoon, and then pulling back the paper to view the image. It is always a shock, as it is backwards and sometimes has glaring areas that need work. This step will be repeated many times, as I can always remove parts of the block (but never add to it) and print again.
     When I like the image, I may play with adding a second “ghost” or “shadow” image either by turning the block upside down or shifting it a bit. This happened quite by accident one time, but I liked how it added another dimension—and sometimes illuminating ideas. Look at the image on the cover of the book. When I shifted the block to print again, see what appeared on the chest of Jesus and it reminds me that God said,  ‘You are my beloved!’
     I refer to the visual image when writing the reflection. Often aspects of the image are surprising, as in the vantage point of the viewer in Zacchaeus and the Crucifixion; and what this means. I also love to hear what other people see in the images. So often they bring fresh perspectives of the story that have not occurred to me.
    In workshops, I let participants experience this same process—meditation on a text, using art materials (clay, wire, or watercolor) as tools to interpret scripture. I stress that it is not about creating beautiful art, but using the process of art-making to allow the scriptures to be revealed in new ways that are relevant to their lives. It is always surprising how Creative Spirit seems to be at work in this process!”

A signed book is $15.95 plus $5. shipping.  Please send a check to:  Cara B. Hochhalter, P.O. Box 211, Hyde Park, NY  12538   and include your address. You may contact Cara via email for information about programs and workshops. [email protected]
The book is also available through Amazon Books, Barnes and Noble, etc.
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