Artistic Theology

       This was my view this morning when I realized I had not stopped and climbed out of "the hamster wheel of life" in a very long time. It is day 4 of my covid isolation, and this time around is a breeze, so I was in my sunny studio, reading and working on a few art pieces.  I wanted to read my Bible, but was feeling too tired to climb the stairs again to get it, so I opened the beautifully illustrated St. John's Gospels I keep in the studio and began reading.  After several pages, I stopped reading and just sat there.  It had been a while since I just sat still.   I felt so aware, so deeply quiet in my spirit and excessively thankful for the beautiful sunshine falling across my face. Both yesterday and today, I gave myself some time to just sit without an agenda, without a to-do list or task; and this morning, it hit me that I have not allowed myself to truly come to a stop mentally in far too long.       I'm a thinke...

      This second Christmas hymn I illustrated was similar to the first one in that it was written by an American pastor/writer in the mid 1800's.  Edmund H Sears wrote "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" in 1849, after the end of the Mexican-American War and amidst the turmoil leading up to the Civil War.  In this hymn, Sears juxtaposes peace on earth with a world being torn apart by violence and suffering.  In the third stanza - the one most often left out of modern hymnals - he calls upon mankind to stop long enough to hear the angels message.                                          “But with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong; And man, at war with man, hears not The love-song, which they bring: O hush the noise, ye men of strife, And hear the angels sing!” ...

                                                                       The hauntingly beautiful tune that accompanies Phillips Brooks "O Little Town of Bethlehem" slowly unfolds the story of the nativity from different perspectives.  First, we are looking from a distance at the little town of Bethlehem, with its dark streets and dreamless sleepers, far beneath the silent stars.  Suddenly, there is a timeless, hope-fulfilling, everlasting light shining out from within it.  Then we are taken right into the stable, where a newborn baby is lovingly held in his mother's arms, while the angels above give praise to God and proclaim the good news of Christ's birth.  From there we are brought into the inner heart of every human, and indeed, even into the heart of a benevolent God who lovingly ...