When does an image become a meme? Or an icon, an idol, or a shibboleth? I ask those questions, and then have go about defining them. We all know what an image is—a representation of something which actually exists. An icon is the Greek word for image, but to become a venerable image, it must bring the viewer into the spiritual realm, rather than leave the viewer only in this earthly world.
An idol is an inert representation of a god, but isn’t a god at all, for the god is invisible and spiritual. Praying to a golden calf or a carved wooden statue will get no response since it has no power or animation. The same can be said for shibboleth, which is a word or saying used by adherents of a party, sect, or belief and usually regarded by others as empty of real meaning. If the Ten Commandments are held up as mere words, idolized, but not kept in their hearts and lives, then they are as empty of power as golden calves. They also aren’t to be worshipped, but the God who gave them is.
Are the Ten Commandments now a meme? Memes are an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that are spread widely online especially through social media. Because this version of the Ten Commandments had its origin in the Charlton Heston movie, “The Ten Commandments,” which we see every single Easter and Passover season, it’s definitely in the public sphere. I’m of the opinion it’s fast becoming a meme—devoid of actual meaning and held up to ridicule.
DeLee: Icon of Christ, acrylic on woven canvas , 2022.
The version in the Louisiana law matches the wording on the Ten Commandments monolith that stands outside of the Texas State Capitol in Austin. It was given to the state in 1961 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a more than 125-year-old, Ohio-based service organization with thousands of members. In 2005, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled it did not violate the constitution and could stay.
The Eagles organization notes on its website that it distributed about 10,000 Ten Commandments plaques in 1954. The organization also partnered with the creators of “The Ten Commandments” to market the film, spreading public displays of the list around the country.
“It’s significant that the Louisiana law uses the same text created for ‘The Ten Commandments’ movie promotions by the Fraternal Order of Eagles and Paramount Pictures because it reminds us that this text isn’t one found in any Bible and isn’t one used by any religious faith,” Kruse said via email. “Instead, it’s a text that was crafted by secular political actors in the 1950s for their own ends.” Kevin M. Kruse is the author of “One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America” and a history professor at Princeton University.
Unknown Flemish Artist: God speaks to Moses while the people worship the golden calf, colored ink and gold leaf on parchment, 1372, National Library of the Netherlands.
The actual biblical Ten Commandments are spiritual and can bring us closer to understanding God’s relationship with God’s chosen people during their wilderness journey. We can learn about boundaries, justice and mercy. Also we learn God wants us to be imitators of God’s nature, something that’s missing in the movie version of the Ten Commandments. The movie commandments are a Reader’s Digest version of the Biblical commandments and miss the grace of God entirely.
For Benjamin Marsh, a North Carolina pastor watching the Louisiana law, his primary concern is people’s spiritual formation, so altering the Ten Commandments is worrisome to him. “The problem with changing the text of the Ten Commandments is you rob the spiritual implications of the actual biblical text. So you’re giving some vague likeness to the Ten Commandments that isn’t the real thing,” said Marsh. He leads First Alliance Church Winston-Salem, which is part of a conservative evangelical denomination.
So I offer these two versions below for you to read. I believe the placing of the Ten Commandments in the schools in these states has less to do with “religion” than with culture wars, which these politicians hope to use to their advantage. If we see these in our communities, we should ask for comparative religions to be taught, or none at all. I find the misuse of scripture abusive. This isn’t what we should be doing to vulnerable children. We should give them a God who loves, cares for, and provides for their needs. The Ten Commandments in the school houses is like having a cop in the classrooms.
FROM THE MOVIE, “The Ten Commandments:”
The Ten Commandments I AM the LORD thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven images. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.
FROM KJV: Exodus 20:2-17
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Joy, peace, and time to read your Bible,
Cornelia
Louisiana Ten Commandments law raises preferential treatment concerns | AP News
Aristotle once said, “The hand is the tool of tools.” Our hands with their opposable thumbs are an evolutionary miracle. Our opposable thumbs evolved around two million years ago, even before humans began to make tools. Our hands helped us to develop language and procure nourishment, as well as create mysterious images on cave walls which united the physical and spiritual worlds of our distant ancestors.
Hands at the Cuevas de las Manos (Cave of Hands) upon Río Pinturas, near the town of Perito Moreno in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina (2005) (image by Mariano via Wikimedia Commons)
Richard Rohr, the Catholic priest and spiritual writer, notes “only the contemplative mind can help bring forward the new consciousness needed to awaken a more loving, just, and sustainable world. We need a practice that touches our unconscious conditioning where all our wounds and defense mechanisms lie. That’s the only way we can be changed at any significant or lasting level.”
We have many spiritual practices to change our hearts and minds, such as prayer, meditation, contemplation, reading Scripture, and hearing the word preached. Attending holy communion and practicing the presence of God are other ways to be transformed. In art or faith, we don’t take anything at face value, but we seek the deeper meanings in the experiences we have with life.
Image I took while walking downtown. I paid attention to the composition when I took the photograph.
As one who slacked off my weight training over the pandemic, the gym rat saying holds true: “Use it or lose it.” We can lose muscle tone and aerobic capacity in just a few days if we’re older or recovering from injuries. Even if we’re young and healthy, we may lose capacity in a week or so. Likewise, some of us get our diplomas and never read a book again. For instance, 42% of college graduates never read another book after college and only 32% of the US population over the age of 16 reads books for pleasure.
One of the problems even in the USA is 52% of adults read at a 7th grade level or below, and 48% read at an 8th grade level and above. Yet reading has many benefits for keeping the brain healthy:
Reading for just six minutes daily can reduce stress levels by 68%.
Reading can increase empathy and emotional intelligence.
Reading can improve sleep quality.
Reading can increase vocabulary and improve writing skills.
Reading can improve mental focus and concentration.
Reading can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
When we connect the brain and the hand, this results in increased activation of the nerve cells in the sensory and motor hand representational areas. As a consequence, the hand expands its representational area in the cortical hand map because it requires more brain resources, more ‘brain space’. Thus, the hand can ‘shape’ the brain; in other words, the brain is functionally shaped based on the hand’s experiences.
If the hand, in contrast, is passive and immobile for a long time, its representation in the brain decreases and may totally disappear. Quite simply, the hand has to be active to maintain its representation in the brain: “use it or lose it.” On the other hand, we know the hand representation in the brain can be re-established by training and manual activities.
What sort of activity rebuilds the brain? The brain cortex contains more than 100 billion nerve cells and innumerable synaptic connections. The cortical body map is not fixed or hardwired, but can rapidly become reorganized as a result of a strengthening or weakening of the synaptic connections. Moreover, repetitive movements can overwhelm the hand and cause trauma, such as writer’s cramp. We need to find ways to exercise our hand, so we cause no harm, but build the brain pathways.
The hand has been called the “outer brain.”
In aging samples, for instance, there’s evidence to indicate that age‐related cognitive decline may be partly driven by a process of atrophy. Some studies have shown that adopting a less engaging lifestyle across the lifespan may accelerate loss of cognitive function11, due to lower “cognitive reserve” (the ability of the brain to withstand insult from age and/or pathology)12. Some emerging evidence indicates that disengaging from the “real world” in favor of virtual settings may similarly induce adverse neurocognitive changes.
Extensive media multi‐tasking during childhood and adolescence could also negatively impact cognitive development through indirect means, by reducing engagement with academic and social activities, as well as by interfering with sleep35, or reducing the opportunity to engage in creative thinking36, 37. I remember telling my schoolteacher mother, “Listening to the radio helps me concentrate on my homework.” She wasn’t buying that argument at all, and radio silence prevailed.
An important aspect of instant access to the internet is our ability to get information online, which has caused us to become more likely to remember where these facts could be retrieved, rather than to remember the facts themselves. This results in our becoming reliant on the Internet for information retrieval. For instance, most people no longer memorize telephone numbers anymore, but depend upon their phones to maintain their contact lists through the cloud, just as we once stored them on the internal SIM card. I personally don’t know anyone’s phone number anymore because I depend on my phone’s contact list. If it ever died on me, I’d be out of luck! The cloud better recognize me if I ever need to replace my phone.
Asklepion, Pergamum, Turkey: site of healing waters, temples, and cultural events, for pilgrims who would often stay for weeks. The ancients believed healing was a sacred art and people’s souls needed to be mended as well as their bodies.
Art and healing are intimately connected. The new Alice Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Arkansas, will integrate the arts in an intentional way. The students will be classically trained medical doctors who also will be equipped with knowledge to address all areas of wellness, whether it’s spiritual, emotional or social.
The science of neuroaesthetics is detailed in Susan Magsamen’s book, Your Brain on Art. She said the field can be described as the study of how art measurably influences the brain, body and behavior. The study of neuroaesthetics is “neuroarts.” Magsamen said the pursuit of creative expression is as important to humans as nutrition, sleep and exercise.
There are four parts of neuroaesthetics and “the aesthetic mindset:”
■ Being open to curiosity.
■ Playful exploration.
■ Sensory experiences.
■ Becoming a maker and beholder.
We discover this in art class when we want to draw or paint a picture beyond our skill level or the time limits of the work period. In seminary, we’d have three-hour final exams. Some of our fellow students would prepare six-hour answers to the advance sample questions our professors gave us to study. I always practiced the “triage method” of reducing everything we learned to the essentials. If we pick out the most important facts, we can best make our points in the time limits given. In the emergency room, doctors treat the most important issues first to save the patient’s life and tend to the details once the patient is out of the woods. No one can give a 6 hour answer in a 3 hour time limit. Ask yourself, “What’s the most important question here?”
Mike’s Mushroom
The same idea works in drawing or painting. We need to find the main forms and sketch them in before we get carried away with the tiny details. Mike showed me a great photo he took of the corvettes in Memphis. I suggested if he wanted to do this painting in a single class meeting, he needed to simplify it by enlarging it, so it had much less detail or plan on taking two classes to finish it. He chose to paint a mushroom in the wild instead. Even then he noticed his mushroom cap lacked the perspective to look realistic on a two-dimensional surface. We’ll have to pick up some perspective lessons in the fall again.
Cornelia’s Corvettes
This is a drawing from memory I made on my iPad. I stripped Mike’s photo down to the barest essentials. The vehicles may not even be recognized as sports cars, but they are convertibles. I do remember the great steel triangles of a bridge or other structure where the cars were parked. I did this in about 15 minutes, but I have over half a century of experience of seeing and drawing practice.
Internet image of corvettes on Beale Street
I sometimes forget my hand and brain have been trained to see the basic shapes “instantly.” Not because of some DNA of pure sight, but because I’ve practiced looking, dissecting, and memorizing what I see. Some of my experiences are blind drawing, which means I only look at the object, but never the drawing itself. This trains the hand to only go as far as the eye can “see.”
Gail S’s Landscape
Gail had the class over to her home and we were glad to see her in recovery mode. Since she’s still homebound, we took advantage of the good weather and her front porch to exercise our brains and hands.
Ansel Adams: Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, 1933-1942
Gail had a mountain landscape image from a screenshot she wanted to work with. The focus of our class was taking our camera photographs and using the editing software to heighten our images. Once we’d done that, we would see more clearly what was important in our image. The current theme in social media is “no filter,” but the great photographers of history always gone to the dark room to develop their photos and dodge the whites lighter or burn more black. Ansel Adams was a master at this.
Cornelia: Prang 8 color box on Arches paper, from original photograph
Notice on my short watercolor study, I didn’t bother to include the whole photograph image. I “triaged” the details I couldn’t complete in our short class time. I mixed my own blacks, rather than using the pan color available. This gave me much richer colors and more variation in my shadows. I had outlined my basic shapes in yellow, but got to talking about the others’ directions and let the paint dry too much, or I would have picked it up better. It would have been less noticeable. I see now some of my lights could have been lighter. I can go back with a clean brush full of water and pick up some of that front face of the archway.
Of course, my eye sees more than most people can see, and it’s both a curse and a blessing. I’m always graceful with my students and try to give at least half as much grace to myself. We mustn’t get discouraged, but keep pressing upward! We don’t have to be a master at something to be a maker; we just have to do it. Having no fixed expectations of an outcome is the best way to exhibit creative expression. Following the less traveled path can lead to new destinations and new discoveries.
Art has the capacity to heal, to cross-fertilize, and to challenge fixed ideas. Art can’t be confined to gallery spaces or the walls of our homes. Art can not only renew our brains, but also the practice of art can renew how we see the world because we learn to see it afresh. Sometimes for the first time, we see it as we’ve never seen it before, and then we bring our own experience and expression to what we have seen. That’s when we become artists, creators, and cocreators guided by the hand of God. As we are made in the image of the creating God, God heals us as he cares for the creation:
“I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will lead them and repay them with comfort, creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the LORD; and I will heal them.” ~~ Isaiah 57:18-19
Joy and peace,
Cornelia
The Tool of Tools and the Form of Forms – 3 Wisdoms | Scott Randall Paine
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One of my favorite hymns growing up in the church was “This Is My Father’s World,” by Maltbie D. Babcock, a Presbyterian minister. Written in 1901, to the tune Terra Beata, or Blessed Earth, the song was originally a traditional English folk tune, but composer Franklin L. Sheppard arranged a variation specifically for this text. This hymn and “The Church in the Valley in the Wildwood” were my mother’s and my grandmother’s two favorites to sing. I loved them both also because of their location in nature.
This is my Father’s world, And to my listening ears All nature sings, and round me rings The music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas– His hand the wonders wrought.
As Paul wrote in Romans 1:20—
“Ever since the creation of the world (God’s) eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things (God) has made.”
Tracing history backwards from the 1st CE, the Pythagoreans (active from the late 6th to the mid 5th century BCE) thought the music of the spheres was an ethereal harmony produced by the vibration of the celestial spheres.
Aristotle said the Pythagoreans believed things are numbers or they are made out of numbers by noticing more similarities between things and numbers than between things and the elements, such as fire and water, as adopted by earlier thinkers. The Pythagoreans thus concluded things were numbers or were made of numbers. Therefore, the principles of numbers, the odd and the even, are the principles of all things. The odd was limited and the even was unlimited.
Aristotle criticized the Pythagoreans for being so enamored of numerical order that they imposed it on the world even where it wasn’t suggested by the phenomena. Thus, appearances suggested there were nine heavenly bodies orbiting in the heavens but, since they regarded ten as the perfect number, they supposed there must be a tenth heavenly body, the counter-earth, which we cannot see.
Pythagoreans presented the principles of reality as consisting of ten pairs of opposites:
1. limited—unlimited
2. odd—even
3. unity—plurality
4. right—left
5. male—female
6. rest—motion
7. straight—crooked
8. light—darkness
9. good—bad
10. square—oblong
In art we have similar categories which we use to create dynamic images. If our painting is all of one value—all white, all black, or all middle value—it lacks visual interest. We are drawn to images which have contrasting values covering multiple values. As with everything, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing! In medicine, a small dose of Botox can make wrinkles disappear, but a large dose could poison a person. As I tell folks, some things require experts, not DIY practitioners.
The Middle Path is safest and best— Unknown Artist: The fall of Icarus., Fresco of the Third style from Pompeii, 50—75 CE. (H. 35.5, W. 34.5 cm.), London, British Museum.
I’ve probably mentioned before my encounter with the Hostess chocolate cupcakes. When I realized I could buy a whole box for slightly more money than a package of two tiny cakes, of course my starving art school student budget sprung for the box. That’s when I ate chocolate cupcakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. By the end of that box, I was cured of my chocolate cupcake desire for a very long time. This is a classic case of “too much of a good thing,” or “knowing when to stop.” The Greeks recognized the need to curb human behavior of our “all or nothing” thinking by prescribing the idea of the Golden Mean, or “nothing to excess.” I definitely went to excess on my cupcake journey.
Mies van der Rohe’s Tugendhat Armchair was designed for the Tugendhat House in Brno, the Czech Republic in 1929 and is one of several different furniture pieces designed for the home of Greta Weiss and Fritz Tugendhat. In the design of the home, Mies designed nearly every detail down to the furniture used. He also prescribed the placement of each furniture piece in the home to maintain spatial composition.
Mies van der Rohe, whose architecture and furniture design exemplified his style, “less is more,” never reduced his work to nothing. His work was faithful to the new industrial materials of steel and glass being used in skyscrapers. Our excess in art is never to nothingness, but we don’t over elaborate or over decorate, just for the sake of filling the space.
So, what do we do and how we proceed? When faced with the challenge of all we see before us, what do we select to make our images? I believe this is where the creating Spirit comes into play, for we can walk past a tree all day long, but on a certain day, the tree comes alive for us. When Moses was herding his father-in-law’s sheep out in the wilderness, his mind was on the sheep, his current family, and his past life and deeds. Scripture doesn’t tell us how long the bush burned on that mountain before Moses noticed it and said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” (Exodus 3:3)
Likewise, we walk past inspiring images daily when we’re preoccupied with our day-to-day concerns. We also have difficulty finding time to create because others want our attention first. One of my seminary professors lectured us in class about taking time to keep our spiritual lives front and center as we moved through school and our church appointments. She said our spouses and children would want to be first, plus our congregations also would want to be first. We’d most likely want to put our careers first to get a bigger steeple or to please our supervisors. However, if we put anything or anyone before God, our spiritual lives would suffer, and like dominos, everything else would fall also. “Many are called, but few are chosen,” as Jesus says in Matthew 22:14.
In art as in life, we need to be deeply rooted in the life of the Spirit. I can tell when I’m going through the motions, but I keep on painting, for I figure I’ll at least learn something from my adequate work, so I’ll be found ready when the creative Spirit strikes. Sometimes I’m more present to the cares and concerns of this world and my work suffers for it. Other times, I’m under the creating power of a Greater Power and my work is altogether more inspired because of that energy. We’d all be more vigorous and creative in our everyday lives if we spent more time in prayer, contemplation, and searching the scriptures to hear God’s voice speak in the silent corners of our hearts and minds.
Mike: Sun and Moon, quick painting
Last week, only Mike and I showed up for art class. Everyone else was either tied up with doctor appointments or at home with rehab or otherwise occupied. Mike and I explored making different colors with the 8 Color Prang Watercolor Set. We can make interesting colors by combining the complementary colors or the tertiary colors. Mike’s first landscape painting got the energies of his competing needs out of the way.
Mike’s Second start—just beginning
As in journaling, we often need to make a habit of writing our thoughts so our deepest feelings can get expressed. He began a second painting with more focus on the goal of mixing new colors.
Music of the Spheres: watercolor
I started my painting with the circles by using yellow watercolor to outline intersecting circles of the same size on my paper. Then I mixed some primary colors together, some secondary colors together and some tertiary colors together. I painted different sections of the overlapping circles. Some of the paint I thinned to a wash, and others I laid on fully. When I got home, I painted in the background, allowing some areas to be a wash and other parts to be thicker.
Music of the Spheres: Creation Energy, acrylic
I finished at home an acrylic painting, which explores some of the same themes as the watercolors we’ve worked on in class. In this I used various material with different textures for my spheres. One of the circles is more three dimensional because it’s from a handmade cloth mask left over from the pandemic. I painted parts of it, also. The background has lines of “energy” all about.
While the Pythagoreans attempted to see unity and harmony in the creation in numbers, our Judeo-Christian faith recognizes God as creator of nature and nature revealing the Creator. One of the best texts to understand this distinction is 1 Kings 19: 11-13, in which Elijah meets the LORD on the mountain at Horeb:
(God) said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
No one has ever heard the music of the spheres, and the voice of God arrives in the sound of sheer silence. Perhaps that “polar opposite” of the Pythagorean’s world view was on to something after all. If we’re very quiet and still, we may hear both the music of the spheres and the voice of God in the great silence.
After the Great American Eclipse, I’m reminded once again how great and wide is the love of our God. We say, “Our God,” as if we could own or possess the one who holds us, since God is beyond our knowing or possession. We can own a boat, a house, or a work of art. In the bad old days before the Civil War in America, people once owned other human beings. We fought a mighty conflict so our nation could be made up of free people, all of whom have equal rights. Unfortunately, not all have equal opportunity.
Patriotic Sunglasses
In America, we are so privileged, we often look at most everything through red, white, and blue lenses. We don’t take off our “American eyes” to see as God sees. To make this point, the Great American Eclipse actually began over the Pacific Ocean, so perhaps whales and sea birds would have been the first to experience it. When the eclipse reached land in Mexico, those in Mazatlán saw it before anyone in Texas did. I have lived in Texas, so I know they like to be the “first, best, and biggest” in everything, so they’ll ignore the fact this eclipse actually was seen by others first.
Eclipse Path: you are here
We don’t need to be first or best to deserve God’s love and providence. God proves God’s love for us every day the sun rises and sets. God gives us the rain in its season and grass for the herds to feed upon. We don’t have to exclude others to get God’s love, for God’s love is wide enough to include all. A God, who can call an entire universe into being with just a word, has the infinite resources to love all fully and completely. We are the finite ones, having limited resources and understanding, who find the need to limit God’s love to a few.
We tend to think in human terms of competition, in which one person gets a blue ribbon or a trophy and everyone else is a “loser.” That’s the Rickey Bobby of Talladega Nights school of theology. God made the entire universe, even tiny Pluto, which our astronomers demoted from planet status to a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. Just because we relegated Pluto to a minor status doesn’t mean God diminishes God’s love, care, and concern for God’s creation.
Bill Maxey: Total Eclipse at Hot Springs AR
When we have the opportunity to view an awesome event of creation, such as a total eclipse of the sun, we have to consider ourselves privileged to be alive and part of God’s care. When the moon fully covers the sun and darkness falls upon the face of the earth where you stand, the cool air touches your skin, and your heart burns within. The excitement and rush of energy is so great I had to shout! I’ve heard some people cry. I guess I’m an exuberant sort.
Nana’s Poem: typed from memory
On 20 August 1892, “The Times” published an article by Kipling, “Half-a-Dozen Pictures”: it was one of a series of travel articles called From Tideway to Tideway. The article described a visit to an art gallery and Kipling’s reflections on the failure of most painters to match the beauty and vitality of the world around them. He offered some attractive verbal sketches of his own, though it wasn’t part of his purpose to contrast the approaches to nature of writers and painters. His main concern was to urge artists of all kinds to get out and see the world for themselves: (Letters of Travel 1892-1913 p. 40):
Now, disregarding these things and others – wonders and miracles all – men are content to sit in studios and, by light that is not light, to fake subjects from pots and pans and rags and bricks that are called “pieces of color”. Their collection of rubbish costs in the end quite as much as a ticket, a first-class one, to new worlds where the “props” are given away with the sunshine. (Letters of Travel 1892-1913 p.77).
Eight days later, the same article was published in the New York Sun. This time it closed with the untitled poem ‘When Earth’s Last Picture is Painted…’ which changed the article’s emphasis from an exhortation to artists to become travelers and pioneers, to what sounds very much like a manifesto for realism in art:
“And only Rembrandt shall teach us, and only Van Dyck shall blame:
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They are!”
Four years later, Kipling changed the first line of that stanza to:
“And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame,”
Kipling, the son of an artist, knew the true joy in life comes from one’s dedication to whatever work is in hand, and the task of the Artist is to convey to others the excitement and wonder of an expanding world. By changing the last line from artists’ names to the Master, Kipling heightened the spirituality of his poem. The artist’s task isn’t merely to render a faithful image of the landscape or person before them, but to bring forth all the inner energies and personality they see and feel.
Cornelia DeLee: Memory of the Last Great Eclipse, acrylic on canvas, 12” x 24”
This is why we don’t copy nature, since it’s three dimensional and we have a two-dimensional surface on which we make our marks to represent what we see. Perspective is our visual language to fool the eye into believing our flat surface has depth. Often we paint abstract shapes and colors because these are the best means to convey our emotions about an experience. Photography captures one way of seeing, but painting can render emotions with brush strokes and colors.
Cornelia DeLee: Door to Another Reality in the Eclipse, acrylic on canvas, 18” x 24”
I subscribe to a wonderful poetry series by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, which I receive daily. This poem’s theme of universal love spoke to me as I felt the in-flooding joy of God’s creating power during the Great American Eclipse:
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. —John 10.16
We think we’re being open-minded when we include “all of us,” Protestant and Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic, as if we see the whole landscape. But the pasture and the Shepherd are far greater than that. Believer, unbeliever and other-believer alike are all shepherded, each in their own language. And still there are more, and more other, sheep. Like, well, sheep. Do not the deer and otter, whale and fungus follow the Shepherd faithfully? Is not the bird migrating its continents shepherded as well? Christ is not the partisan figurehead of a religion, Christ is the infinite embodied grace of God, the Shepherd of all Creation, who leads rivers to the sea and winter into spring and each of us into life. So there are still other, and more “other,” sheep. For Copernicus isn’t done with us yet: we admit the sun doesn’t revolve around the earth, but we still think God does. No, little one: we are in a small corner. Yet even the far galaxies, the trillion trillions of stars and their planets, and yes, their doubtless forms of life, are also under the calm eye of the Shepherd, and follow the Shepherd’s voice. All of us, Baptist and Sufi, fish, bug and bird, earthling and alien, village and nebula, all are one flock. One. And, behold, even on the remotest planet in the farthest flung galaxy—like ours— or the most desolate spot in a life like yours, under the loving gaze of the Shepherd who seeks out the one, there is no one who is not at the center.
May you each find joy in your working, each in your separate stars, and draw the Thing as you see It, for the God of Things as They are!
Not only can God watch the sparrow, but also all the many suns and planets of creation.
Joy and peace,
Cornelia
When Earth’s last picture is painted – The Kipling Society
In the Bonnie Tyler song, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” her rock and roll soul pines for a young man as she sings:
“Every now and then
I know there’s no one in the universe
As magical and wondrous as you.”
Love struck teen heart ballads tend to elevate the beloved to a high pedestal, while hymns lift the praises of God to the highest heavens. If we look at John Wesley’s Notes on the New Testament, one of the doctrinal standards of the United Methodist Church, his commentary on 2 Corinthians 4:6 (KJV) is instructive:
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
We might be more familiar with this verse in the NRSV, a more modern translation, which wasn’t available in the middle of the 18th century:
For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Bailey’s Ring, from an earlier total eclipse over the South Pacific Ocean
Wesley’s commentary in his Notes on this text is succinct:
For God hath shined in our hearts—The hearts of all those whom the God of this world no longer blinds.
God who is himself our light; not only the author of light, but also the fountain of it.
To enlighten us with the knowledge of the glory of God—Of his glorious love, and of his glorious image.
In the face of Jesus Christ—Which reflects his glory in another manner than the face of Moses did.
What do the Total Eclipse of the Heart and Paul’s words to the Corinthian community have to do with art and faith? We’ve just experienced, what was for most of us, was a once in a lifetime experience. The last time a total solar eclipse was visible across the entire continent was in June 1918, when a total solar eclipse was visible from Washington to Florida, according to the US parks service. Nearly 100 years passed until this present Great American Eclipse.
At the 1878 total eclipse, Maria Mitchell led the Vassar College eclipse party, an all-female expedition from that pioneering women’s institution, which came to Denver in an era when science was a male bastion. Even higher education was deemed risky for the “fairer sex.” In 1873, the prominent Boston physician Edward H. Clarke had warned in an incendiary book titled “Sex in Education,” that the recent push for female colleges and coeducation could undermine women’s health by taxing their brains and causing their reproductive organs to atrophy — leading to “a dropping out of maternal instincts, and an appearance of Amazonian coarseness and force.” Nearly 150 years later some men still concern themselves with outmoded and 19th century views on women’s health concerns.
Eclipse as seen through the hands
I drove over four hundred miles to Kentucky in 2017 for the prior Great American Eclipse and got to stay home to see this second Great American Eclipse in my own front yard. Some folks couldn’t have been bothered about this current grand event, while others were convinced God was informing America of her impending doom. Moreover, multiple conspiracy theories abounded, none of which came true, of course. For instance, the world didn’t come to an end and our cell phones still work. Even the electric grid held up, even though the sun didn’t shine for all of a few minutes as the shadow traveled at over 1,600 miles per hour as it raced along the path of totality. This wasn’t even Y2K, which we all remember was a nonstarter at least and a dud at best.
Eclipse over Niagara Falls, 2024
In art class Friday Tim and I talked about the experience of this celestial event. We humans often elevate our own importance when we measure ourselves against one another and the works of our hands. When we go out into nature, we’re faced with the grandeur of God’s creation, especially when we visit the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. In Psalms 19:1, we read:
“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.”
We see the beauty of nature and feel a warmth in our hearts. Our spirits soar. This intimacy with nature is one of the reasons we send our children to our United Methodist Church Camps, not just because they’ll have a great Christian experience, but because they’ll have that faith experience in nature with trusted leaders. I still remember my adventures and experiences in nature at those camps as part of my spiritual journey.
Towering Cumulus Clouds
Even in seminary, when I was having difficulty with some of my courses, I could go for a walk on the campus under the tree lined walks and search the skies for hopeful signs. Sometimes I saw the towering cumulus clouds in the Texas sky as a sign God was with me “in the cloud by day.” In those times of difficulty, even the cloistered realm of preparation seemed like a wilderness journey, but I was glad for a guide.
Bill Maxey, from Nebraska, taken at Hot Springs, AR.
When I was actively serving as a pastor, sometimes I just had to get away. I’d drive until I found some nature, a national park, national forest, or some fields outside of town. If it was a hot summer, I looked for some deep woods and cool shade to shelter me. In the cool spring, I drove until I found flowers. Maybe this is why I retired to a lake in a national park. I don’t need a big house, since I’d rather go out into nature instead.
Totality on Lake Hamilton, with sunset in the west, outside the path of totality
It was the heat of summer in 2017, so you’d think I’d remember the temperature drop right before the eclipse was halfway through. This year I was on Lake Hamilton, and the breeze off the lake combined with the cooler air was decidedly noticeable. When we entered totality, the lights on the Highway 70 bridge and at Bubba Brews automatically came on. The distant sky in the southwest, outside the path of totality, looked like a summer sunset. My neighbors and our visitors from afar were cheering.
Bill Maxey: multiple exposure of the Great American Eclipse, 2024
Not everyone can make an artwork that expresses their emotions as well as the shapes of the image. We can learn the rules of perspective and color, but then we have to learn to let our heart rule our head. This is what I call an “artistic leap of faith.” When we were young, we accepted the basic ideas of Christianity. As we got older, life happened, and we might have begun to struggle with our childhood beliefs not being equal to our adult needs. If we keep our childlike faith, we risk losing our faith. If we are able to wrestle with our faith and find a new and more mature faith, we can handle the major challenges of later life. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11-12—
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
Tim’s Partial Eclipse painting using red, blue and brown to build the sky
Tim experimented with mixing colors to get richer depth. Using the Prang watercolor palette, he mixed the red, blue, and brown to get the black sky of the eclipse event. The red orange of the sun has some brown in it too. He layered the colors with multiple strokes, with a nod to Van Gogh. He worked from a photograph I brought. I pulled many of them off the internet, and many of my friends sent me some too.
Cornelia: Total Eclipse of the Sun
I worked on an image I’d taken from my iPhone. I had placed one of my eclipse glasses over the lens and was wearing another pair. It wasn’t that easy to get the sun lined up with all that blocking! My image looked a lot like a fried egg or an eyeball. I used several jar lids to get the circles painted cleanly. My dark sky is red, blue, and violet. The shape of the corona was not distinct, due to the quality of my camera. NASA has a very high-resolution image, which breath taking. Our tax dollars at work are bringing great scientific research and development to benefit us in everyday life, such as solar panels and heart implants.
NASA: High Resolution Image of the Total Eclipse
Thomas Merton, in No Man is an Island, in a chapter called “Being and Doing,” wrote—
“We cannot be happy if we expect to live all the time at the highest peak of intensity. Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony. Music is pleasing not only because of the sound but because of the silence that is in it: without the alternation of sound and silence there would be no rhythm.”
I was a bit exhausted after all the excitement of this big event. I’d met new people from three different states, visited around our patio, and been gifted crystals that had been dug from Mt. Ida and “energized by the eclipse.” I’m not a crystal person, but I understand from those that are these crystals are “special.” I was feeling every bit of my new age as the calendar flipped over for another year.
But today is another day, I had a night to sleep, and we had fun in art class. As long as we find joy in life, we know we’re alive. Our joys aren’t just collections of peak experiences, but some are the joy of the assurance of God’s enduring presence in our later lives when our youthful vigor has left us. We need to remember just as the moon eclipses the sun, once it passes, it also reveals the sun’s glory. One day this Bible verse from Philippians 3:21 will be true for each one of us, who has a heart full of love for God and neighbor:
“He will transform our humble bodies that they may be conformed to his glorious body, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.”
Joy and peace,
Cornelia
Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse Of The Heart Lyrics | AZLyrics.com
Every once in a while, I like to go on journeys. Sometimes they’re actual trips, such as my recent vacation over spring break to visit family down in Texas, but other times I like to “time travel.” The best way to time travel today, since I don’t have access to a DeLorean, is to study history. Buckle your seatbelts, we’re in for a ride through Christian and art history.
Right before spring break, our art class tried some experimental techniques with chalk, watercolor pencils, and pan watercolor with brushes. I also brought some images from the beautiful church of Hagia Sophia of the ancient capital of Constantinople, which I brought home from a pilgrimage I made several years ago.
The church was sponsored by the first Christian emperor Constantine, so it has exceptional mosaics and frescoes decorating all its surfaces. We each chose an image to use as a starting off place and went from there. Inspiration comes not only from what we see, but from the materials we use. Combining new images with new materials can bring new directions.
Desis Icon, Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, Turkey
Our primary images were the archangel Michael, the enthroned Christ, the decorative jewel designs, and the cross. All of these designs figure in prominence in Hagia Sophia or the Basilica of Holy Wisdom, the primary seat of Christianity in the Eastern Church during the Byzantine era.
Unknown Artist: Moschophoros, The Calf Bearer, 165 cm high, Limestone, 570-560 BCE, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece.
Early Christian art took its themes from contemporary Greco-Roman subject matter, but repurposed it for its own religious significance.
The Good Shepherd, the Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome, Italy, 250–300 CE, adopts the standard form of Apollo statues.
The archangel Michael was connected in the 4th CE with Constantine as a divine messenger and intermediary between heaven and earth. Michael was not only the guardian angel of the nation of Israel, but other nations have adopted his protection also. In this same century one of the doctors of the early church, St. Basil of Caesarea, known as “the Great,” said:
“Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life.”
Constantine felt the presence of the mediating angelic hand in his vision of the cross in the sky at the Milvian Bridge, at his baptism, and in his role as Emperor of the Eastern Christian Empire. Constantine was actually baptized twice: once to cure him from leprosy and again on his death bed. In the early days of Christianity, various sects prevailed and the doctrine of one baptism as sufficient for all times hadn’t yet taken hold. After all, it’s not the water, the place, the church, the location, or the priest that makes a baptism effective, but the work of God through the Holy Spirit. As Ephesians 4:4-6 says,
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
Constantine’s Vision of the Cross: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Illustrated painted parchment Greek manuscript (879-883 AD) of the homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. (BnF MS grec 510) folio 440r. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84522082/f891
Constantine’s first cross apparition took place at the beginning of his military campaign in Italy. The young emperor realized that the tyrant Maxentius, who controlled Rome at that time, had set a trap at the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber. Fearing his rival’s machinations, Constantine had sought the aid of the God worshiped by his father, Constantius Chlorus (r. 305–6). While he marched on to a field together with his troops, he saw the sign of the cross revealed in the afternoon sky, shinning brighter that the sun, alongside an exhortation inscribed “by means of a starry form: By this you shall conquer, Constantine!”
Mike’s Cross Painting
Note the use of common materials in Mike’s work. The circle is the same size as a foam plate, the cross from the table decorations fits just inside it, and he embellished the outer and inner spaces with a bilateral and balanced design. He’s getting more skilled to “eyeball those proportions” from across the room. Plus, he enjoys making these designs.
The ancient writers Eusebius and Euthymios both mention the emperor’s troops also witnessed this miracle. The significance of the vision was subsequently clarified by Christ, who appeared to Constantine in a dream advising him to carry a cross-shaped banner before his armies in order to defeat Maxentius.
Byzantine hagiographical works, or the writings about the lives of saints, name this apparition of the cross as a decisive step toward Constantine’s conversion to Christianity. This first episode is part of a faith narrative, which runs through the tale of Constantine’s leprosy and his miraculous healing through his first baptism, which was officiated by Pope Silvester.
The depiction of Pope Sylvester in the church decoration, a leading figure in the iconography of Roman popes in Byzantine art, deserves special comment. Sylvester was born in Rome and was pope between 314 and 335, succeeding pope Miltiades. Both the Latin and Orthodox rites honor Silvester as a saint and the patriarchate of Constantinople commemorates him on 2 January. The fictional account of his life, Actus Silvestri, written in the 4th-5th century, records the story of his curing Constantine of leprosy and then baptizing him.
Baptism of Constantine
It was during this first baptism Constantine had another vision which converted him to Christ. Constantine’s baptism is narrated in the Greek Life of Silvester in a verbatim translation of the story by Zonaras. Having recovered his health by means of the sacramental bath, the now Christian basileus (king) donned a bright garment and “said to the bystanders that he had felt a hand: It had stretched out from above and touched me while I was descending into the font.”
Baptism of Constantine
The visualization of St. Michael’s involvement in Constantine’s baptism has no direct precedent in Byzantine and Balkan iconography. Similar descriptions appear in the shorter ninth-century vita of the hierarch and in the lives of Constantine. In the “Guidi” legend, the emperor’s confession is specifically addressed to the pope: “Servant of God, as I was standing in [the water] of the holy baptism, I felt a hand touching me and cleaning the sickness of the flesh.”
Unlike the hagiographical account by Zonaras, this fragment from the “Guidi” vita is not attested in the manuscript culture of the East-Carpathian environment. Even if it doesn’t include this passage in the section on Constantine’s baptism, the encomium (eulogy) by Patriarch Euthymios contains an allusion to the motif of God’s hand:
Upon waking up from the dream in which SS Peter and Paul offered him the cure of baptism, the emperor dismissed the pagan healer ( ) who attended him and said that: “(…) from now on, I need no human help, for the hand of God Almighty ( ) helped me.” Although it anticipates the king’s baptism, this statement is merely a symbolic reference to the divine power which came to Constantine’s aid, not a description of a miracle occurring during the ceremony.
The Slavonic translation of the Life of Silvester by Zonaras remains the only account that constitutes a plausible narrative background for St. Michael’s involvement in the scenes at the Romanian churches of Rădăuți and Bălinești. We don’t know if these fresco designers used a specific copy somehow related to the manuscript at the Neamț monastery. Yet once it had been integrated into the liturgy, the legend of Pope Silvester might have developed an independent circulation through storytelling. Perhaps the local audience interpreted Constantine’s confession about the divine hand that touched him in the water as a sign of the ethereal presence of the Archangel as pictured in the compositions of Constantine’s baptism.
Creation: The Nuremberg Chronicles (1493), written by Hartmann Schedel and illustrated with woodcuts by Michael Wolgemut
Perhaps these tales seem strange to our modern scientific minds, colored as we are by notions of “pictures, or it didn’t happen!” We want proof, repeatable and documented evidence, not just some such nonsensical woo-woo about visions and dreams. After all, we are more likely to think these voices could be drug induced or anxiety provoked, but we aren’t so familiar with God speaking to mortals, as it was back in the days when the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli:
“The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” (1 Samuel 3:1)
We aren’t big on either voices or angels, but God does still work in supernatural ways. While some may see prayer as supernatural healing, others may see God’s healing hand at work in guiding doctors, nurses, and caregivers to bring people to get the medical attention that brings them to better health. God gives us the heart for healing and compassion for the suffering, which then sets us out to discover new medicines and treatments for dread diseases. These wonderful advances would appear as magic to those from a century ago, or even a few decades before.
Take the miracle of cystic fibrosis advances. In the 1980’s, the life expectancy for a CF patient in the United States was only 12 years and 20 years in Canada. By 2017, with new medications and therapies, the median life expectancy for CF patients was 47. Because new medications and improved treatment of respiratory infections and other complications have extended the predicted life expectancy of CF patients to almost 50 years, some are now living well into their sixth and seventh decades. I call this a miracle, even if others call it mere “science.” It means I have a grand nephew who likely will have a full lifetime and even enjoy his own children.
Humanists will give all the glory to the human creature. They are self-made men and women in love with their own creation. People of faith will give all the glory to God for the gifts of their hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits. We have been given much, so we give much to others.
Nike of Samothrace
Just as the earliest Christian art works repurposed secular and mythological Roman themes, so later Christian art used Greco-Roman mythological imagery. The angels are based on the female winged victories, such as the famous Nike of Samothrace. In the early fourth century, angels suddenly appeared as figures in Christian iconography, usually without feet and dressed in garments of a white pallium over a tunic. This was a large rectangular cloak worn over a tunic, as worn by Greek philosophers and religious teachers. In the earliest Christian art works, angels were depicted as wingless, but wings became normative by the fifth century. By the High Middle Ages, angels were more elegantly garbed (depending on their station in the hierarchies) and appeared to be androgynous.
The first known Christian depiction of winged angels does not appear until this splendid 4th century marble ‘Prince’s Sarcophagus’. It was discovered after a fire in Sariguzel, near Istanbul in the 1930s
The word for Angel, mal’akh in Hebrew and angelos in Greek, simply means messenger, which is the job description of the Angel, who acts as an intermediary between humans and God. The Bible never says angels have wings, but we all imagine angels with wings. Perhaps we assign them wings because angels can travel from the “heavens above to the earth below.”
Egypt’s Red Monastery, The church of Anba Bishay and Anba Bigol
The church of Anba Bishai and Anba Bigol, known as the Red Monastery, is the most important extant early Christian monument in Egypt’s Nile Valley. It’s one of the most significant historical sites of the period in the Mediterranean region. Created in the 4th and 5th CE, this fine painted Coptic Christian image of Christ surrounded by angels has survived multiple restorations of the church building.
Leonardo da Vinci: Annunciation, 1472, oil on canvas, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.
Although the principle of angels being sexless continued, later renaissance artists presented them as male figures with fashionably delicate facial features and long hair, dressed in contemporary garments (making them more approachable to the common era). As the lines between the angelic spheres became blurred, along with the renaissance adaptation of classical Greco-Roman art, plump little children with wings began showing up in Christian art. We know these as cherubs.
Cornelia’s Watercolor Angel from Hagia Sophia
I used a mix of pastels and watercolor on this painting, working from a 1.5-inch square image of the Archangel Michael. The contrast of light and dark shows up in the naturalist wings and hair, with the glowing and reflective gold mosaic pieces.
Angel from Hagia Sophia
Regarding his rank in the celestial hierarchy, opinions vary. St. Basil in his homily Angels, as well as other fathers, place St. Michael over all the angels. They say he is called “Archangel” because he is the prince of the other angels. Christian tradition gives St. Michael four offices:
To fight against Satan.
To rescue the souls of the faithful, from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death.
To be the champion of God’s people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament.
Therefore, he was the patron Saint of the Church; he is considered to be the protector of Christians against the devil.
Christ between St. Peter and St. Paul, Catacomb of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter on the Via Labicana, Rome, 4th CE.
This image of Christ on the Throne, dating to the 4th century, shows Michael between St. Peter and St. Paul. It was painted in the Catacomb of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter on the Via Labicana in Rome, located near a villa that used to belong to Emperor Constantine. Below the main figures of the painting—Jesus, Peter and Paul—we find Gorgonius, Peter, Marcellinus, and Tiburtius, four martyrs who had been buried in that catacomb, and are depicted as they point to the Lamb of God on his heavenly altar.
Zeus: Archaeological Park of Campi Flegrei at the Castle of Baiae on the Gulf of Naples, Italy
The enthroned Christ follows the thematic form of Zeus, king of the gods, seated on his throne. A good example is statue from the Archaeological Park of Campi Flegrei at the Castle of Baiae on the Gulf of Naples. This statue of Zeus Enthroned is a 29-inch-high marble statue dating to the 1st century B.C. and is likely of Greek manufacture.
It was inspired by the colossal gold and ivory statue of the god at the temple of Zeus at Olympia made by sculptor Pheidias in 430 B.C. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Just as the angels were repurposed from the Nike victory statues, so the Christ Enthroned statues were re-envisioned from the ruler of the gods and humans statues. Art and artists can be put to work for whoever is in power at the moment. We need to eat and pay bills in every age.
Zeus: fresco, 62-79 CE, Casa dei Dioscuri, Pompeii (VI, 9, 6-7, atrio corinzio 37), Museo Archeologico Nationial, Italy.
A lovely fresco from Pompeii, found in the House of the twins, has a glowing red background and shows Jupiter or Zeus, the king of the gods, seated on his throne. A sphere lies beside him, an eagle at his feet, and a rectangular base is at his feet. In the same manner, the icon of the enthroned Christ places his feet on a rectangular base, representing his lordship over the four corners of the world.Gail W used the pastels in the clothing and background.
Gail W’s Enthroned Christ watercolor
From one of the royal figures, Gail S chose one of the jeweled embellishments for her focus. Gail enjoys ordered designs, so finding an image with a regular pattern was right up her alley. The outer circle with an inner square is divided along the diagonals by red lines, as if the cross were tilted on its side. The circle and square give unity to the design, as does the monochrome cross. The triangles are balanced by colors. The outer blue rim holds it all together. Gail tried the watercolor pencils out along with the pan watercolor washes.
Gail S inspiration and creation
While nothing is ever new in art, we artists keep reimagining the old patterns in new ways. After all, the basic elements of design never change, but we see the world with fresh eyes in every generation. Using our hands to create restores us and recreates us by reducing our anxieties and giving us a sense of accomplishment. We each serve the God of beauty and joy as God reveals God’s self to each of us. Doing any creative work with our hands is good for the mind, spirit and soul.
As our hand grows in competency with the media and our eye is better able to discern shape and patterns, we come under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of creating power and we make art! We may start from the ancient wisdom, but then we go onto find the wisdom for today. After all, God is always in a rebuilding mode, for that which God created, God will preserve:
“When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” ~~ Psalms 104:30
Saint Mamas at Exeles: An Unusual Case of Ritual Piety on Karpathos Katsioti, Angeliki; Mastrochristos, Nikolaos. Arts; Basel Vol. 12, Iss. 4, (2023): 176. DOI:10.3390/arts12040176 Saint Mamas at Exeles: An Unusual Case of Ritual – ProQuest https://www.proquest.com/docview/2856776246?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals
I don’t don’t know about you, but I don’t willingly sign up for pain or suffering. Pollen season isn’t my friend. I could do without all this yellow and green stuff clogging my brain cells and my lungs. As I cough and die, swill decongestant tonics, and huff my asthma inhaler, I wonder if this particular cross bearing has to be on my things to do list every Lenten season.
Mid 10th CE ivory Deesis Icon, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
As Jesus turned his face towards Jerusalem, he knew his fate was certain. His message began to change, as he told his followers in Luke 14:27, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Of course, not all were ready to hear or to follow, for some had obligations at home, and others weren’t yet ready to live the itinerant life. Many today don’t answer the call to ministry because they can’t see the long unknown road ahead. Only those willing to walk by faith and not by sight will journey off, trusting in God’s providence, mercy and grace.
Earliest sculpture panel of the Crucifixion, Maskell Passion Ivories, 420-430 CE, one of four carved panels of a sarcophagus, British Museum, London.
I used to say, “Give me a few months and I can whittle any group down to size. I can prune with the best of gardeners—all I have to do is read actual scripture!” I figure if folks want to get mad, they should take it out on the original writers. Blaming the messenger is useless. As the apostle Paul says:
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)
The oldest icon of the Crucifixion of Christ, Greek Orthodox Holy Monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, 8th CE
The ancient crucifixion icons glorify the triumph of the Incarnate God and his victory over death, which is the consequence of our fall; that fatal moment in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to desire to be like God, even though they had only the image, but not the ability to be gods themselves. Icons of the crucifixion represent Christ who, fully human and fully divine, takes on death so humanity no longer has to die. Christ conquers death by being a suffering servant, he becomes a victorious king.
Mary from the Hagia Sophia Deesis mosaic
Most of us would rather jump to the Bible’s Victory story and skip its Victim sections because we live in an age which validates the strong and successful, while denying the worth of the weak and wounded. Easter and Palm Sunday are more triumphant celebrations than the sonorous and somber Foot-washing Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Vigils. Yet without suffering, would we have cause for rejoicing? Would we even know the meaning of joy without some pain in our lives? Everyone has some pain in their life, whether it’s the pain of an unrequited love, the loss of a child stillborn, a divorce, a war wound, a frenemy wound, or some other brokenness.
Stage one
Mary knew early on her child of destiny would bring her both joy and pain, as all mothers discover soon enough. Luke records in 2:34-35,
“Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Deesis. Top center front panel of the Harbaville Triptych. Ivory. Ca. 940-960 CE. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Many today only want to show the happy times in their hyper-curated lives on social media. As a result, “Keeping up with the Joneses” gets harder all the time. With Facebook’s constant encouragement of “you may know algorithms,” we’re encouraged to add more friends to our circle. We’re exposed to too many families of that surname, when once we only knew a few who lived in our own neighborhoods. If all these Jones folks are always smiling widely for the camera, we might be tempted to ask, “Why don’t I feel like smiling also?”
I know people who don’t read newspapers, watch the news on television, or even listen to the snippets on the radio. “Too much bad news!” They too don’t want to hear of the suffering, the plight of the weak, or face their seeming impotence to do anything about it. We are weak people. We are not strong, no matter how often we quote passages like Philippians 4:13—
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Richard Rohr, in The Enneagram, A Christian Perspective, says, “It is the things that you cannot do anything about and the things that you cannot do anything with that do something with you.” Suffering and prayer are what truly transform us, if only we don’t waste time looking for someone to blame.
13th CE Hagia Sophia Mosaic, Istanbul, Turkey
So far, no one person has been able to stop the Russian invasion of the democratic nation of Ukraine, but plenty of people are holding up an aid package that would help this small country fight this battle at great cost to life and limb. The Ukrainians suffer and America dithers. We seem to think our leaders have infinite powers, as if they were gods, but we forget all people are only human and have only the image of god, but no huma has either the power or the glory of the true God.
Unknown Ukrainian Artist: The Deesis, Icon, Tempera, silvering on gesso-grounded two-piece fir-wood panel, engraving, carving; 1735, h 114, w 84, d 9, National Art Museum of Ukraine.
So far, no one person has been able to keep either Hamas or Israel from wreaking havoc on each other. My daddy used to say, “you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” After years of teaching and pastoring, I’d throw my two cents in: “we can lead a horse to water, but we can’t make it drink.” As long as people are invested in retribution, they will return suffering for suffering. The sad truth is people who have never processed their own suffering will cause suffering for others as well as for themselves. The children will cry. And the women will cry. But now the men are crying too.
Late Roman Magical gem; intaglio; green-brown jasper; oval; bevelled edge on side B, 2nd-3rd CE, British Museum, London.
No one has a magic wand to eliminate suffering or harm. In ancient times, the image of the crucified Christ was used as a magic charm to keep the wearer from harm. Some people today wear a cross for the same reason; it’s a fashion statement, a good luck charm, and a symbol of their faith. Instead of a charm, we offer acts of prayer and mercy.
Hagia Sophia Deesis Mary icon 2024, finished
We don’t just cry for the fact of the sufferings we endure, or for the sufferings of others, but we cry out in our suffering to the only one who can hear us, heal us and make whole our broken hearts and homes. We cry out to the God, who created all of us in God’s own image out of the dust of an obliterated and bombed out land. We cry out to the God who brings rains in their seasons to a land parched by climate change and ruined by reckless use of natural resources. We cry out to the God who raised God’s son from the dead, even as people everywhere bury their own dead sons and daughters from the wars fought by nations and non-state actors who wrestle for power in tiny slivers of contested territories.
Christ and the Apostles in the Heavenly Jerusalem, apse mosaic, early fifth century, Rome, Santa Pudenziana.
We can see in this image a dramatic transformation in the conception of Christ from the pre-Constantinian period. In the Santa Pudenziana mosaic, Christ is shown in the center seated on a jewel encrusted throne. He is surrounded by apostles, biblical women, and symbolic images of the four gospel writers. The ideal landscape is the New Jerusalem, or the Heavenly Kingdom. This image was created after Constantine’s victory and conversion to Christianity. Prior to this, Christian art repurposed Greco-Roman themes of the Good Shepherd and the Apollo Sun god.
Unknown Artist: Plaque with Christ flanked by the Virgin and Saint John, late 19th–early 20th century (Byzantine style), Cloisonné enamel, gold; 6 9/16 x 5 9/16 x 1/16 in. (16.6 x 14.1 x 0.1 cm); Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, Gift of the Estate of Mrs. Otto H. Kahn, 1952, Accession Number: 52.54.1
The Byzantine Empire was fond of the Deesis Icon, which has Christ in the center bounded by the Virgin Mary and the Precursor, John the Baptist, on either side. They both entreat the Lord in prayer. This was one of the most widespread middle Byzantine icon types. The name comes from the Greek δέησις or “supplication,” which in Byzantine art, describes a representation of Christ enthroned and flanked by supplicants, such as the Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist, or other saints and/or angels. Images of the deesis often appear on an iconostasis, or the screen separating the altar from the people. The subject matter traditionally represents the first witnesses to Christ’s divinity, the Virgin and Saint John, who came to be seen as holy figures who would act as intercessors with him on behalf of humanity.
The Deesis. End of the 17th century. Northern Russia. Wood, gesso, tempera. Found from the village Nizhnyaya (Dolgovitsi), Tarnoga Raion, Vologda Oblast. Collection of Nikolai Kormashov.
Nikolai Kormashov, an Estonian artist and collector, who collected and restored a great collection of 15th-20th century Russian icons during his lifetime said, “That which is not destined to perish, announces itself again and again, to attest to elusive spiritual beauty and the light of truth.”
The truth is all people of every country and culture in every age will suffer, but God isn’t removed and distant from our pain. God, through the incarnation of the Son, has experienced our human suffering from the birth pangs of Christ’s birth to the hunger, thirst, and weariness of his itinerant earthly preaching. Not only this, but God through God’s Son knows the heartbreak of betrayal and insult, the sting of the whip, and the pain of death on a cross.
The light of truth for the Easter season is this: in the midst of darkness and death, God raised his Son to light and life, so we too might lose the chains of sin and death and live to light and love. As the people of prayer, we ask for the gift of hope to give light to those in darkness and a helping hand to those in need.
Joy and peace,
Cornelia
Relief plaque icon, depicting the Deesis Crucifixion with full-length figures of the Virgin on the left and St John on the right, Late Byzantine (13 thc). Materials: Steatite – Gold
Greek déēsis entreaty, equivalent to deē-, variant stem of déesthai to beg + -sis-sis
Leonid Ouspensky: The Meaning of Icons, revised edition, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY, 1999, p. 180.
Image— The oldest icon of the Crucifixion of Christ at the Greek Orthodox Holy Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai is an extraordinary testament to the intricate relationship between the Greco-Roman art heritage and early Christian iconography. This invaluable artifact offers a unique glimpse into the artistic and cultural milieu of the time, highlighting the exchange of ideas and the shared history that shaped the development of Christian art in 8th CE. See following link for comparison of early Roman and Christian art.
All things will renew themselves in good season, yet we have only the present moment before us. We can’t live in the past, nor can we control the future. We have to recognize even our present moments aren’t always in our control, as we witnessed in the big Super Bowl game last Sunday.
Random Actions Often Determine the Outcomes of Sporting Events
Who would ever believe a punt would hit a receiving teammate’s foot, and suddenly become a live ball? Then get recovered by the Chiefs for a quick touchdown? If you think you can control your circumstances or the actions of others, just watch the NASCAR races at Daytona this weekend. The wonder is they don’t wreck in every turn, but only occasionally during the 500 mile race on Sunday.
Watercolor is more difficult medium to manage than acrylic paints because it’s wetter and refuses to dry as quickly as we want to paint in that same area. It’s not being obnoxious; it’s just being its own true self. Cezanne used watercolors to think out his ideas beforehand, and then worked in oils. Often, he tossed aside the watercolor work, sometimes even leaving it out in the landscape which he’d just painted. He’d learned all he could from it and now was ready to paint his new image, but not a copy of the original painting. This mountain shows up in sixty of Cezanne’s artworks.
Paul Cézanne: La Montagne Sainte-Victoire, 1888, oil, The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
The stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote a series of meditations on life. In one he speaks of all life experiences as being the same. This attitude keeps him from getting too high or too low about what happens in his life. He takes it as it comes. Even death, which some fear as a loss, doesn’t bother him, for if he isn’t bothered about the present, he can’t be bothered about losing that too. Marcus Aurelius wasn’t a Christian, but his quest for equanimity is admirable. Take life as it comes and worry not:
“First, that all things in the world from all eternity, by a perpetual revolution of the same times and things ever continued and renewed, are of one kind and nature; so that whether for a hundred or two hundred years only, or for an infinite space of time, a man see those things which are still the same, it can be no matter of great moment. And secondly, that that life which any the longest liver, or the shortest liver parts with, is for length and duration the very same, for that only which is present, is that, which either of them can lose, as being that only which they have; for that which he hath not, no man can truly be said to lose.”
The Still Life in Our Classroom
When we work in watercolor, we have to take what the watercolor gives us. While we can plan, design, and control the outcomes to a certain extent, watercolor often goes its own way. If we work over the whole surface, rather than noodling around in one little space like a puppy sniffing a single spot while out on its morning constitutional walk, we get more done, just as the puppy is more likely to get its “business” done.
One of the reasons we work in a new medium is for the challenge. In school, when I was bored, I’d take notes in class by writing upside down. When that got too easy, I began using my left hand to write upside down. This was a true challenge! I didn’t have any ingrained pathways in my brain for left-handedness, much less the upside-down images. I was truly bored, however, so I struggled on until I got serviceable images. This was the year in which I went to art school as a midyear junior and was taking a freshman level history course.
Tim’s Painting
Tim has voluntarily switched to his left hand because he will have surgery on his right side, which will knock out his ability to use that arm for several months as he recovers. This is a good effort for his non dominant hand. You can tell he focused on the scoop, for it has the most detail. Training our alternate hand to do the work of our dominant hand requires resetting the brain to prefer the new hand. If you try brushing your teeth with your other hand, you’ll see exactly how strange it feels to use a different hand. This is because you have no well-worn pathways in your brain circuitry that makes this routine effort possible.
The fancy pants word for this is neuroplasticicy. We meet this concept with stroke survivors who do physical therapy to rewire their brain connections to make new pathways so they can speak, write, or walk. Everyone who tries a new game, learns a new language, or tries a new hobby also builds new pathways in their brains. Be learners for life, if you want to keep your mind healthy.
Gail’s Painting
Our still life was challenging today. It had solid shapes, a clear bottle, and a metal scoop. Not only were there multiple colors, but textures and transparency also. Gail has had several years of drawing under her belt, so she was able to render the perspective of the still life well. Note the clear blue bottle, which has a wonderful oval bottom. The lemons and limes are distinct also. The grey shape is an antique scoop, sans the handle.
In 2008, J.K. Rowling spoke at the Harvard commencement exercises, telling the graduates, “Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates.” Because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, taking care for today is the best preparation for the future. Rowling studied the Classics at Harvard, a subject most people would consider useless for this modern era. Yet after a divorce, as a single parent working for Amnesty International, she began writing her wizard novels. Harry Potter is now part of our cultural heritage.
As Jesus said in Luke 12:25-26–
“And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?”
Worry is stressful, for sure, and it’s an example of “bad stress,” along with traumatic events, such as adverse childhood experiences (ACE), disease, divorce, and death of a loved one. We also endure “good stress,” as when we challenge ourselves to lift heavier weights, cook a new recipe, or learn a new language. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his 1841 essay Heroics, paragraph 14:
“The characteristic of a genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have chosen your part, abide by it, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common the heroic. Yet we have the weakness to expect the sympathy of people in those actions whose excellence is that they outrun sympathy, and appeal to a tardy justice. If you would serve your brother, because it is fit for you to serve him, do not take back your words when you find that prudent people do not commend you.
“Adhere to your own act and congratulate yourself if you have done something strange and extravagant, and broken the monotony of a decorous age. It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, —”Always do what you are afraid to do.”
When I was in high school, the ancient Latin teacher, who had taught my daddy when he went to school, tossed out the challenge, “No one has ever made 100% on my final Latin exam.”
I bit on that challenge like a starving dog bites on a bone, even if it has no scrap of flesh remaining on it. I made flash cards and studied for an hour every night before bed, I was so determined to be the exception to the rule. On the test, I got all the Latin correct, but lost ½ point for misspelling an English word. I never followed up on her retirement, but I fully expect her record remained unblemished. Also, I’m still spelling challenged. I’m thankful for SpellCheck in our writing apps.
Gail W.’s Painting
Gail W. paid attention to the still life and took care to lay down a close image in a pale wash before she began to add darker washes of color. Her left lime is most successful, with at least six shades of green and yellow in the shape. I also like the highlight on the central lemon. These two images capture the essence of the watercolor medium. Her perspective on the bottle bottom indicates it sits well on the cloth.
Failure teaches us what we don’t know, so we can improve the next time. This is what we call resilience. When I taught art, my students had to find three things they did well in their work before they named anything they needed help on. This was to build up their confidence. For some of them, just making a mark on the page was a start. If we fear making a mistake, we can sketch in a pale-yellow wash. This is very forgiving, like a whisper in the wind. If it’s not quite right, the next few marks may be nearer our desired outcome.
This Is Fine—Leave Me Alone, I’m Having a Crisis
Our mindset is what controls how we react to events in our lives. As one of my friends would remind me, “Not everything is a hair on fire moment.” Of course, when I was a young teen, the least slight or distress caused me to fling myself over my bed in a paroxysm of sobs, wailing loudly, “I’m going to die!” My parents would look at each other and shrug, “What boy is it now?” Fifteen minutes later I’d be in the kitchen looking for a snack, having cried my eyes out, and now I was on to the next thing. As I had more experiences, I learned to roll with the moment. Sometimes you need to wait for the next wave to rise before you take your ride. God’s timing is always right, for our experiences, both the failures and successes, prepare us for what comes next in our lives.
Cornelia’s Watercolor
I had some of the same perspective problems as everyone else, especially with the base of the bottle. Actually, it’s a challenge to get a “transparent three-dimensional object on a flat surface” to appear as if it’s actually sitting on a flat surface in two dimensions. Learning some shading techniques and remembering a round bottle bottom becomes an ellipse helps to bring off this sleight of hand. I got my paint too dark on the front of the bottle base and had to let it dry so I could come back in with some clear water and an almost dry brush to pick up the color. This gave me the highlight I needed.
Cornelia’s Drawing over the Watercolor
When I got home, I noticed my eyesight seems to be going amiss with my increased age. Lately I’ve not been careful to paint my verticals straight. Either I’m being lazy, or I’m tilting my head as I look at the subject. Maybe my neck injury has something to do with it. I duplicated the photo and used the Apple Pencil to straighten up the bottle and even up its symmetry. I also touched up a few of the lemons and limes. Maybe I’m still the puppy that likes to noodle around and sniff about until I can wrest all I can get from a work. This way I learn all I can from it. Like a kindergartner, if my work ends up a huge grey blob, I can say, “That was a great learning experience!”
My grandmother, who painted portraits and still lifes, kept a saying written on the back of an envelope, near her easel: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again.” She passed in 1970. Years later, Samuel Beckett, in his 1983 story, Worstword, Ho wrote:
We need to be like great artists and athletes, or the Michelin chefs who just keep trying, falling short, until they get close enough to qualify for their stars. Persistence makes all things possible, and if we “fail,” we’re only getting closer to perfection.
Every Christmas, my family would put up a beautiful tree and decorate it to the nines. My dad would always tie this living sculpture to the nearest window frame so the tree wouldn’t topple over. He was well aware at least one of his three curious and rambunctious children would no doubt be crawling under the lowest branches to reach the brightly wrapped presents hidden far back in the corner under the tree.
We kids most desired and sought after these hidden gifts, while those near the front always got a cursory glance and shake. If it were hidden, it had to be desired! Package shaking in the hidden, tight quarters could cause a tree to collapse and that would be more drama than our frazzled mother wanted at this time of year. My dad was wise enough, or trained by experience, to know messing with “Mother Nature” wasn’t a great idea.
Mother’s Nativity with other additions from family and friends
Under this tinsel draped tree, with its 1950’s glowing bubble lights, we always had a nativity scene. In our early childhood, it was solid and childproof, but as we aged, and got too large to crawl under the tree, a better quality nativity came to live under the tree. By my college years, my brothers were also grown enough for mom to exercise her creative genius. She hand-painted her own ceramic nativity group. This masterpiece also got its own special display site. Up until this time, we children had no idea our mother had any artistic talent, for she’d spent her days transporting us to our multiple after school activities. Between my brothers’ sports teams and my hobbies, it’s a wonder she found time to do anything else in the afternoon hours.
Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, 3rd century. Fresco, Rome: catacombs of Priscilla, 3rd Century CE
The 3rd century fresco shows the scene of Adoration of the Magi on the the arch dividing the room in the Greek Chapel in the Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome. In depictions of ancient Greek and Roman gift-giving practices, the act and choice of gift were important. They furnish information about both giver and recipient. The wise men adopt the same postures used in Roman imperial ceremony for the worship of an Emperor or other ruler. Roman art has always provided a pictorial model for the representation of the Magi. By identifying with or recognizing such an outward act of homage, the viewer could enter into the Nativity story through the wise visitors, worshipping the God manifest on earth in the Child.
This is why the earliest Christian art is found in the catacombs of Rome, in the hidden places, since worshipping Jesus wasn’t an approved religious practice in the Empire. Only the Divine Emperor alone was worthy of reverence and worship, not some dying and rising god of a far-off province. Today in America we sometimes forget we’re a nation founded on the principle of freedom to practice our religion as we see fit, or not to practice a religion at all, as the case may be. No government can compel the privilege of one religion above another or set one as the official religion.
Tympanum of the right side of the cast of so-called Sarcophagus of Stilicho, sculpted around 385 AD (the original piece of art is in Sant’Ambrogio basilica in Milan, Italy), Detail Nativity scene, Museo della civiltà romana a Roma (Eur), Room 15 (Christianity).
Another early depiction of the nativity isn’t in a Christmas context, but is found on a late 4th C Roman sarcophagus for a high ranking military official and his wife. The unknown artisan rendered the Christ child, wrapped in binding clothes, and lying in a manger, between the ox and the ass, to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 1:3—
“The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
As accustomed as we are today to manger scenes with all kinds of animals present, the scriptures don’t name them. These are left up to our imaginations. Even the elements derived directly from the gospel narratives of Matthew and Luke were slow to appear in visual renderings. Between those early scriptural accounts and the formation of even a basic manger scene lie some centuries during which Christian devotion and depiction developed. Likewise, the celebration of Christmas was slow to develop, but by the 4th century it was well along.
Nativity Fresco in Santa Maria Foris Portas, Castelseprio, Italy, 9th CE
In the ninth century, after the iconoclastic period, when the images of holy persons were forbidden and destroyed, a fresh wave of religious activity began in the arts. In Italy. In the church dedicated to Mary Outside the Gates in Castelprio, Italy, an entire series of paintings covered the interior walls. The church was located on an important trade route and the site was once a Roman fort. The theme honored Mary as the Bride of Christ, thus making her the spiritual equivalent of the Church, which is the Bride of Christ in scripture. In every tableau, Mary is the largest or most significant figure. Over the centuries, the area lost its importance, these paintings were whitewashed over, but after many years and much restoration, they’re now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Today Protestant believers have a Christo-centric faith, often ignoring the other persons of the Holy Trinity. When we focus on the nativity, we forget God’s plan was to use humanity to save the fallen creation. This includes Mary and Joseph both, as well as God’s own Son, as Paul so well reminds us in Philippians 2:5-8—
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
Giotto di Bodone, Nativity of Jesus, 1303-1305. Fresco, 200 x 185 cm. Padua: Scrovegni Chapel
Giotto’s frescos in the Padua Chapel are some of the most important works of art because he brought the Holy Family into ordinary human life. The blue skies replace the gold of the traditional icons, which stood for the infinite and eternal spiritual world. In Giotto’s painting, people hunger and thirst, while in the world of the icons, all suffering is transformed and any passion is disciplined.
Duccio di Buoninsegna, Nativity between the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, 1308-1311. Tempera on panel, 43.8 × 111 cm. Washington: National Gallery of Art
Duccio painted in his studio all the individual sections of the great altarpiece of the church in Sienna, Italy. On completion in 1311, the townspeople held a grand parade as they carried the paintings to the cathedral. They were installed in a magnificent framework with some of the works facing the congregation and the rest facing the church officials. The altarpiece remained intact until until 1506 when it was partially dismantled, relegated to side chapels and replaced by a 15th-century bronze tabernacle.
In 1771, the church fathers hired a carpenter to saw up the old wooden altarpiece into seven vertical pieces, and then saw each of those pieces in half laterally to separate the front scenes from the back. He then reassembled the different pieces to form new scenes. Most of the individual paintings stayed together, but others were sold to private collectors or museums. This Nativity between the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel was purchased by the Museum Kaiser Wilhelm Friedrich in Berlin and remained on display there until 1938. At that time, a Nazi-appointed Museum director purged most non-Teutonic art from the collection. Through a trade, this Nativity came to our National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C.
Duccio: Maesta Reconstructed Altarpiece. Front (L) and Back (R)
When we think about hidden meanings in art works, sometimes the journey a work takes to its exhibition home is part of its meaning. The Nazi purge of non-Teutonic art from the collection was based on their idea of a pure race for their homeland, with which they shared a special mystical bond. It meant they would purge or purify all who didn’t meet this white supremacist ideal. I personally am glad America is an open society, which welcomes all kinds of art and artists. When we think of the journey of the Holy Family, they made an arduous trip to Bethlehem while Mary was about to give birth and then had to head out on the lam because king Herod was out to kill all the boy babies. When we look at beautiful nativity scenes, we forget Jesus was born into a troubled world. Indeed, these beautiful works make us forget our own troubles.
Sandro Botticelli, Mystical Nativity, 1501. Tempera on canvas, 108.5 × 75 cm. London: National Gallery.
One of the most unusual nativity paintings is the Mystical Nativity by Botticelli. Painted with egg tempera on canvas, the artist writes in the upper section how he painted this “at the end of the year 1500, in the troubles of Italy…in the half after the time, during the fulfillment of the eleventh chapter of St. John in the second woe of the apocalypse…”
The monk Savonarola was actively preaching at this time, and scholars believe he influenced Botticelli. During the time of the Medici rule, Florence prospered with trade and the city’s alliance with France made for a time of peace. Lorenzo d’Medici died in 1492, relations with France broke off, and the French army ran amuck in the Italian countryside. Florence lost her former glory, trade dried up, and a political vacuum allowed for new voices to rise. Savonarola preached repentance and austerity, even going so far to burn luxurious items and artworks. He burned all kinds of vanities: cosmetics, mirrors, veils, and books.
People followed him because he was charismatic, and his words seemed to match their circumstances. Florence under his rule was an example of theocracy, the government of a state by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided. Under this system, the people prosper if they care for one another and live godly lives, but they fail to thrive if they cheat the poor so the rich can live in luxury.
Prosperity religion teaches the good thrive and the sinners suffer. It’s not a new idea: retribution and reward appeal to people, but sometimes the good suffer and the evil prosper. The book of Job is a counter argument to this worldview. The life of Christ also shows the best of us will be sacrificed on a cross by those who don’t know what they’re doing. From birth to death, Jesus and his family were under duress from the powers of state and religion. He was a new voice of love and acceptance, of grace and forgiveness, of a righteousness by faith, not works. This new voice would upend the world as people knew it then.
Douce Apocalypse – Bodleian Ms180 – p.042 Woman Clothed in the Sun, Oxford University, London, c. 1265-70
The Mystic Nativity is a combination of the Nativity and the Last Judgment. On top, the angels hold hands in a circle, the center is the birth of Christ on earth, and the lower third is the vanquishing devils due to the Christian’s reunification with God. The number twelve represents the twelve gates of the new Jerusalem, the City of God. Twelve are also the number of stars in the crown of the woman in the apocalypse linked to the Virgin Mary. Other symbols also occur, but the overall meaning is Botticelli painted to deal with his fears about the end of the world.
Sometimes we make a cursory glance or reading of a painting, only to see its surface meaning. If we were to take this path with Botticelli’s Mystical Nativity, we might only see pretty angels and lovely ribbons. It looks like a homecoming at a sorority weekend with all the hugging and kissing. But Botticelli was painting during a time when the theological ideas of the monk Savonarola were in ascendance. He believed, “The more creatures approach and participate in the beauty of God, the more are they themselves beautiful, just as the beauty of the body is in proportion to the beauty of the soul.”
Virtuvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, 1490, pen, brown ink, and watercolor on paper, Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy.
As an interesting aside, about contemporary with Botticelli’s work in Florence, while Leonardo da Vinci was in Milan in 1490, he drew his Virtuvian Man, considered one of the greatest scientific and humanist works of the early Renaissance. Da Vinci used Vitruvius’ classical treatise on architecture as the source for his drawing. Notes from his translation are written in his famed mirror script below the image. This artwork is now so fragile, it never travels and only copies are shown.
While his outer world may be falling apart, and prosperity has left his vicinity, Botticelli still had hope for a better world. His faith was grounded in the birth of the savior, the son of God, who came in flesh to make all flesh divine. We forget this crucial message of the nativity, which is to make holy all flesh. More often we focus on the magi’s gifts brought to the child: riches fit for a king, or the gifts of presence, from the poor shepherds. The true gift is the one in the manger, for Christ is God’s gift to us. He came to make us all At-One with God, the very best atonement possible. At the Last Judgment, all who are at one with God’s purposes will be separated from the rest.
Banksy, “The Scar of Bethlehem” (2019) (courtesy Bisher Qassis), located in The Walled in Hotel in Bethlehem, closed since 12/12/23, due to fighting against Hamas
How can we practice seeing past the surface of everyday life? Sometimes we have to be shocked. Modern nativities bring us again and again to confront the same world of challenges and discord into which the young Christ child was born. If we wrap ourselves in warm swaddling clothes so we too won’t cry over the lack of a Christmas in Bethlehem this year, we lose sight of the common humanity of all God’s people. The extremists will take retribution on everyone, but those who take the middle path punish only those who did wrongs. Is there hope for those who take the “my way or the highway?” Or do we need to join the Holy Family and become refugees to avoid King Herod’s slaughter of the innocents?
Vatican City public nativity
This 2020 nativity was created as a public art project by ceramics students in Castelli, Abruzzo, Italy, a region known for its ceramics. It had nineteen figures including an astronaut and a Darth Vader figure, whose creation predated the Star-Wars series and represented a generic “sinner” figure. In modern nativity scenes, artists often integrate characters not mentioned in the gospel accounts, in order to bring the interests of contemporary audiences into the biblical story. As you can imagine, it created quite a buzz. Some said it lacked “beauty,” while others thought it was a joke. Some thought it disrespectful to the honor of the Holy See, the Church, and to the good Lord himself. It’s a truism “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Also, “we’ve never done it that way” still has a strong hold on people’s hearts and minds.
Sinner and Astronaut: Large Ceramic Nativity at the Vatican, 2020
Seeing deeper meanings in art or scripture is no more complicated than seeing a deeper understanding of a literary experience, such as a book or poem. In art, we do have the hurdle of acquiring some visual background and “visual language.” Just as we can’t understand a foreign language without learning some phrases, we need to know some art history and styles. We can only understand in part at first, but later we’ll understand as if we were old friends. No one is a savant right away. If we pause as we read a scripture, let the words sink into our deeper minds, and let the Holy Spirit open up new insights into God’s word, we can do the same with art works.
Bread Nativity
After all, bread is just bread: ordinary flour, yeast, oil, and water. Once we bless the bread and invite the Holy Spirit to transform it, we understand these same ordinary materials to be signs of the extraordinary presence of the Body of Christ, as recorded in Luke 22:19 at the Last Supper—
Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Baby Jesus Bread Rolls
We’re always surrounded by the mysteries of hidden meanings, if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear. May you know God more deeply in the days and years to come.
The Christ Child in the Rubble, Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine, West Bank, 2023
Joy and peace,
Cornelia.
Featured image—Nativity, 3rd century. Stucco, Rome: catacombs of Priscilla.
Leveto, Paula D. “The Marian Theme of the Frescoes in S. Maria at Castelseprio.” The Art Bulletin, vol. 72, no. 3, 1990, pp. 393–413. JSTOR. Free account to access. https://doi.org/10.2307/3045748. Accessed 24 Dec. 2023.
What is the purpose of an art class? Why does anyone learn to speak a foreign language or take up a craft or sport they’ve never attempted before? We must want to explore some unknown universe or get out of our comfort zone, or as my old favorite television series would announce weekly, “to boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Light of the World Icon: Stencil effect
There are art classes and then there are Art Classes. Just as we shouldn’t make up our minds about a subject or a food until we experience it directly, we can have an open mind about a novel event, rather than rejecting it out of hand. Many of us have lived our lives under judgmental circumstances, dealing with rejection and disappointment at not being the best. “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” the NASCAR themed film of redemption and finding one’s purpose in life, stars Will Ferrell, whose father crippled him with this tragic life message:
“If you ain’t first, you’re last. You know, you know what I’m talking about?”
Near the end of the movie, Ricky Bobby learns this all was just crazy talk:
Ricky Bobby: Wait, Dad. Don’t you remember the time you told me “If you ain’t first, you’re last”? Reese Bobby: Huh? What are you talking about, Son? Ricky Bobby: That day at school. Reese Bobby: Oh hell, Son, I was high that day. That doesn’t make any sense at all, you can be second, third, fourth… hell you can even be fifth. Ricky Bobby: What? I’ve lived my whole life by that!
According to Baseball Reference, Ruth’s 183.1 career WAR — combining his value as a hitter and pitcher — is the highest all time, well ahead of Walter Johnson’s 164.8. For reference, the highest mark among active players is Albert Pujols’ 99.6 WAR.
We call this living out a “bad script” our ancestors have written for us. We see it all the time in the movies and on television. We read about it in novels and in comic books. For the most part, people don’t change their wicked ways, but get the consequences they’re due. The bad suffer and the good prosper. Or we read fairy tales in which the good little children get rewarded, or the unjustly treated ones are raised up, like Cinderella. These are the popular stories, but not the biblical tales. The book of Job calls this “retribution theology” into question, as does Jesus in the New Testament.
Annie French (1872 – 1965) Scottish: Cinderella and the Ugly Sisters, About 1900 – 1910, Pen and ink, watercolour and gold paint on vellum paper, 23.50 x 21.50 cm, Scottish National Gallery of Art.
In the Bible, God sends prophets, not only to call the people to account (critique their actions or behavior), but to offer the hope of a better future if they return to God and God’s ways (positive changes in behavior). In this way, a good art teacher is like a biblical prophet, who offers both positive and negative critique on the artwork. The teacher also offers “hope” or suggestions on how to improve the work. Teachers aren’t telling the person they don’t measure up, only that they need more time invested in making art to be able to bring their own artistic vision into reality.
Mike on Being the Light in the World
If we expected babies to chew steak from the moment of birth, the world would be a lonely place. If we expected these same babies to get up right away and “bring home the bacon” to buy their own steak and potatoes, they’d starve. Babies aren’t meant to walk before they crawl, nor or they chewing meat before they drink milk or pablum for a year or two.
Bacon Cake: Oh, Baby! I hope that’s REAL BACON!!
Someone who comes to art class should always come to learn something more, no matter how much they already know. I’m always learning new ideas and techniques. The act of making art is always an act of exploring new territories. We also grow by sharpening one another. Folks in the class are always excited to see how each other approaches the subject each week.
Mike’s May 2022 class work shows he’s been learning some things.
Only the apocalyptic writers in Scripture had a fixed view of the future. For them, God had given up on humanity. We humans were too far gone, too broken, and had destroyed God’s world beyond our weak means to repair it. Their only hope was for God to create “a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1)
Gail went the extra mile with Cri-Cut lettering
Of course, this isn’t a prediction of a certain time, but it’s a future hope for all times. It’s the hope all we creative people have every time we face a blank canvas, a pile of found objects, or a bag of scrap cloths. We also do this when we pull together a dinner before we go to the grocery store, and we take some of this and that which we have in our cupboards and refrigerators. We’re going to make something new! We do hope the Spirit of God descends to make this an inspired concoction! And if it doesn’t work out, we always know our salvation isn’t at stake over a single random supper creation. If I’m hungry enough, I’ll eat anything. Or there’s always peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Leftover Doughnuts and Sausage Bread Pudding Bunt Cakes
I was reading Richard Rohr’s Enneagram commentary on the American people. He says America is a nation of Threes: competitive, striving, always looking for success and improvement. When we hit a down cycle, and economics tells us we always have ups and downs in our economy, Americans act like we’ve been insulted. This doesn’t happen to us—to others maybe—but not to us! We’ll look both for a scapegoat and a savior, but never realize these conditions are a natural part of life.
Always be the best YOU. There’s never going to be another one just like YOU.
Likewise in groups, we’re always judging who got more, who has the most status, who’s preferred, and who’s on the out. We’re even liable to self-select to be on the outer group if we believe we won’t measure up, just to spare ourselves the shame of being found wanting. Joyce Rupp has a great poem about this very topic:
WE CAN LOVE THE IMPERFECT SELF If I wait to be perfect before I love myself I will always be unsatisfied and ungrateful.
if I wait until all the flaws, chips, and cracks disappear I will be the cup that stands on the shelf and is never used.
Magic Teacup Cake from Alice in Wonderland
If we’re faithful scripture readers, we know God never chooses the best persons to do God’s work. When we were children, we saw these characters as heroic figures, just as we saw our parents as great and invincible. The Old Testament records how Moses was a murderer, Joshua was afraid, Amos was a lowly shepherd, and David was an adulterer. Not exactly Perfect Role Models, but transformed people can do God’s mighty deeds if they let God work God’s purpose through their lives.
This word doesn’t mean what the headline writer thinks it does.
In Art Class, we don’t reject “poor work.” We aren’t a factory producing widgets. We have other goals: art appreciation, learning about colors, learning to see more clearly, developing a creative mind, and developing drawing skills. Art is a unique visual language, so learning how to render a three-dimensional form onto a two-dimensional surface takes some time and practice. Developing our own voice is the step beyond mastering the basics of artistic vocabulary. As I used to tell my parents at back-to-school night, just enjoy whatever your child brings to you! If you leave your “critical parent” at home, and bring your “inner child” to Art Class, life is way more fun!
Mike’s Christmas Card Collage
We’re currently on holiday sabbatical at Oaklawn UMC, but classes will return in the new year. We meet in the old Fellowship Hall at 10 am to noon. We always have coffee, and on occasional days, a tasty treat. Our class will begin working in watercolor beginning on January 5, 2024. I don’t charge for the class instruction, but each person should bring their own supplies. Supplies needed are:
Prang Oval 8 watercolor paint set with brush
Prang Oval 8 watercolor paint set (containing brush)—on line at Walmart and Amazon. This has best color and pigments. I found a prime deal on Amazon for $3 each if you buy 3, free shipping.
Watercolor paper pad 9” x 12” or larger (90 lb or heavier)
Tall plastic container for water (iced tea glass size plus)
Babe Ruth’s Top 10 career statistics— Shohei Ohtani produced 9.1 total WAR during his spectacular two-way campaign in 2021. Even he maintained that level of performance for 20 consecutive seasons, he would still be 1.1 WAR short of matching Ruth. https://www.mlb.com/news/babe-ruth-s-top-10-career-statistics-c163792958
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