Welcome to Artful Devotions! I love the use of the arts in
all areas of ministry. This page contains multimedia devotionals. They take 5 to 15 minutes
of reflection time. Each includes some traditional and contemporary
artforms. Please bear with my technological proficiency. There will often be a musical youtube clip included - you may want to consider beginning these prior to beginning the meditation. I pray that this humble
attempt at spiritual reflection may enhance your faith journey.
January 9, 2013
Our Morning Shower - A Reminder!
Scripture: Luke 3: 21-22
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had
been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a
dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
Scripture: Galatians 3: 27
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ.
Art:
Take a moment to reflect
upon the picture. What does each picture say to you? What memories
about baptism do they stir in you? If you are reflecting on this
meditation with someone talk about memories of your baptism, the baptism of a
son or daughter , or a special baptism you have attended.
Rosetta Jowell - The Baptism of Jesus
Christopher Gaston - Baptism
Jeremy Sams - Let's Go Down to the River
Reflection
There are those moments
when I think some of the symbolism of the Roman Catholic Church is
helpful. At the entrance to many Roman Catholic churches there is a font
with Holy Water. When worshippers enter many will put water on their
foreheads. While for some it is a matter of routine, an act with little
meaning to it, for the liturgically astute congregants it is a reminder that
they are baptized and clothed (to use the word in Galatians) in Christ’s
Spirit. It is a call to live cleansed lives.
On many occasions I have
my Holy Water experience. When I awake and my mind is “set in the right”
place, I have make my morning shower my daily baptismal experience. While
cleansing my body I try to remember that in the day ahead I am to be pure and
clean in thought, word, and deed. Just as the shower refreshes my
physical body, my baptismal shower in some mysterious way refreshes the Spirit
of God within me.
In the Christian church,
the sacrament of baptism has carried many theological understandings:
·
A sign of God’s gracious gift of forgiveness –
the theological construct of “atonement”
·
A celebration of the innocence of a newborn and
God’s care for little ones
·
A dedication on the part
of parents to Christian nurture of children
·
An opportunity for the Christian community to
offer their support in nurturing the faith of children and other seekers
·
A dying (immersion under water) of our old
selves and rising (coming out of the water of God’s womb) to new life in Christ
·
A initiation into the Christian
church
·
And yes, the quickly disappearing theological
construct of cleansing from “original sin”
But, let’s keep it
simple! Baptism is about water. And water is about thirsting and
cleansing. Let us therefore thirst for righteousness and living cleansed
lives. Be blessed by your wake up shower.
For
a few minutes reflect upon how you can be a person who will bring cleansing to
the world in the day ahead. Music
Following this quiet shower time, enjoy and audio prayer – Amazing
Grace – by the Blind Boys of Alabama.
January 1, 2013
A blessed New Year to you! With the Three
Kings Day approaching - the end of Christmas and the beginning of Epiphany I
send along this Magi reflection.
Artful Devotion - The Magi
Scripture: Matthew 2: 7-12
7Then Herod
secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the
star had appeared.8Then he
sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and
when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him
homage.”
9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of
them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the
place where the child was.10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed
with joy.11On
entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt
down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him
gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.12And having been warned
in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another
road.
Art: T.S. Eliot's The Journey of the Magi
Reflection
Herod – the representative
of worldly signs of power – material, military, political, corporate
power! The child in the manger represents spiritual power – the symbol of
innocent power….the power of love, grace, humility, forgiveness. The Magi
find themselves on the horns of a dilemma. They have confronted God’s
power and struggle with their dying to their long held belief in Herod’s
power. Their troubling question was to return to Herod or to go and live
by another way? They left by another way and found themselves
uncomfortable in the midst of a world which tenaciously held to Herod’s
way. They found themselves no longer at ease in the midst of the old
dispensations. Their uneasiness but new found peace in their souls is the
dilemma we face if we really choose to leave the manger by another way and then
live in another way.
The question will linger as we
begin another year – “Will our lives reflect our not returning to Herod’s way
as we live our lives?”
Music
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