January 4: Peace on Earth
♫ Music:
Monday, January 4
Scripture: John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
PEACE ON EARTH
Well, its 2016, and it seems that peace still alludes the earth in many ways.
In 1811, when Caspar David Friedrich created the Winter Landscape, peace was also more promise than reality. Friedrich’s views of the German landscape are known for their almost otherworldly silence–a silence that belies the harsh reality that the land and people that were becoming modern Germany, were in the throws of the Napoleonic Wars.
In Winter Landscape, Friedrich depicts a crippled man who has left his crutches in the snow to lean himself against a large rock. He contemplates a cross set within a great tannenbaum. Such crosses were often placed along paths in the precincts of cathedrals or monasteries, and served as foci for meditation. Given the bellicose world surrounding this quiet painting, it is likely that the figure we see here is a wounded war veteran. Frequently, Friedrich uses a subtle distancing in his work, moving the principle figure some distance away from us. In this work the crutches mark the distance. This distance keeps us from firmly identifying the man, or from obtaining any clues about his specific physical or emotional state. It is clear that his hands gesture up in prayer, but his seems a small, weak, shivering prayer, barely disturbing the crystalline air.
The crutches, dropped in the snow, have a feeling of finality. This seems to be the end of this man’s journey, one way or another. What does this man seek, or what has he found, here at the effigy of the cross in the shadow of the cathedral?
A miracle?
Absolution?
A final resting place?
Perhaps this man petitions for peace, for the cessation of violence. The wooden crucifix, the stone, the tree, and the cathedral all seem to look on implacably, none of them moving to answer the prayer. There is no holy vision cracking open the frozen sky, and not even another soul on hand to offer warmth and comfort to this weary, broken man.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.”
The fact of the matter is that this man in Friedrich’s painting might just die out here in the cold. When Jesus left us his peace in the warmth of the upper room, he immediately went out into the cold to be betrayed, murdered. Turmoil, rather than peace, seems to shape most human life, but Christ’s peace is not merely the cessation of violence, it is wholeness, it is healing, and it is the restoration of our meaning in God’s universe, despite our smallness.
The emptiness of Friedrich’s paintings also reminds me that the world is still mostly, and mysteriously, about what you don’t see. Moments of transformation, of the peace of Christ invading our world, happen in small dark rooms, or on lonely frozen rocks. Maybe they come to us with our last gasps of old age, or amidst the fraught joys of childhood. The spirit of Christ works among us bringing his legacy of peace in the middle of a dying world.
“Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
A meditation:
As you look over this New Year,
What troubles your heart?
When you are alone,
What makes you afraid?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, as we throw ourselves down at your feet,
Drive fear from our hearts today. Let it never return.
Thank you for the miracle of your peace.
Amen.
Jonathan Puls, Associate Dean of Fine Arts and Communications, and Associate Professor of Art History and Painting
Winterlandschaft
Caspar David Friedrich
Oil on Canvas
The National Gallery, London, England
About the Artist and Art
Caspar David Friedrich (1774 - 1840) is considered the most important painter of the 19th century German Romantic movement. A painter and draughtsman, Friedrich is best known for his later allegorical landscapes, which feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees, and Gothic ruins. His primary interest as an artist was the contemplation of nature, and his often symbolic and anti-classical work seeks to convey the spiritual experiences of life. Winterlandschaft, also known by the name Winter Landscape, shows Friedrich combining landscape motifs with religious symbolism. In the foreground a crippled man has abandoned his crutches and sits against a rock with his hands raised in prayer before a crucifix. The rocks and evergreen trees are sometimes interpreted as symbols of faith, and the visionary Gothic cathedral emerging from the mist evokes the promise of eternal life.
About the Music
“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
Lyrics
I heard the bells on Christmas Day,
Their old familiar carols play.
And wild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth goodwill to all.
I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom,
Had rolled along the unbroken song,
Of peace on earth goodwill to all.
And in despair I bowed my head,
There is no peace on earth I said,
For hate is strong that mocks the song,
Of peace on earth goodwill to all.
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead nor doubt He sleeps!
The wrong shall fail the right prevail,
With peace on earth goodwill to all!
About the Composer
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) wrote “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” on December 25th, 1864. The carol was originally a poem entitled “Christmas Bells,” containing seven stanzas. Two of the original stanzas contained references to the American Civil War which was being fought at the time of writing.The poem gave birth to to the carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” and the remaining five stanzas were slightly rearranged in 1872 by John Baptiste Calkin (1827-1905), who also provided the memorable tune. When Longfellow penned the words to his poem, America was still months away from Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9th 1865. This poem reflected the despairing years of war while ending with a confident hope in triumphant peace. “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” flowed from the deep sorrows of Longfellow, including the tragic death of his wife Fanny and the crippling war injury of his son Charles. He speaks in verse two of the darkness and hopelessness he felt with loss of family and the pain and anguish of war. Yet, “the bells” remind him that there is hope even in the midst of the darkest storm.
About the Performer
Steve Bell has been called a “songwriter, storyteller, and troubadour for our time.” This Canadian musician uses artful word and song to encourage Christian faith and thoughtful living. Bell has been performing and touring since he was eight years old. Since Steve’s father was a prison chaplain, it was federal prisoners at Drumheller Penitentiary in Alberta who taught the young boy to play guitar. Mr. Bell has released 18 albums including two Christmas albums. In addition, Bell has earned numerous awards including two JUNO Awards and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Website: www. stevebell.com