December 7: Spiral to the Celestial Choir
♫ Music:
KING OF GLORY
Scripture: Psalm 24: 7-10
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!
The King of Glory
Anonymous
The sound of a mighty, rushing wind,
a resonate basso profundo chanting:
Awake watchmen, lift up your heads,
unlock the city gates,
pry open the sealed doors
that the King of Glory may come in.
Who is this King of Glory?
He is the only begotten of the Father,
beyond wonder,
beyond all names,
come down to us in love.
Draw near with trembling,
approach with fear;
that we may receive
the King of All,
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Awake watchmen, lift up your heads,
unlock the city gates,
pry open the sealed doors
that the King of Glory may come in.
SPIRAL TO THE CELESTIAL CHOIR
On December 9, 2009, Norwegians were surprised to see in the skies above their western coast an incredible aerial phenomenon: a vast light spiral appeared to beckon from the heavens. Catching the attention of stargazers, conspiracy theorists, believers and skeptics, the moment was captured on video, and reimagined in today's devotional painting by artist Pau Pahana.
Pahana says of his work, Gate/ Gate, that he wanted to present an earthly gate that appears to be the entrance to a factory, with evidence of contemporary human technology, such as telephone wires and dumpsters, juxtaposed with the heavenly phenomenon of the night spiral. According to Pahana, this spiral is a timeless archetypal image, crossing cultures and national boundaries. Although they initially denied it, Russia later admitted that the airborne spectacle resulted from a failed missile launch. Scientists have weighed in and the consensus seems to favor this practical explanation for this bewildering nocturnal occurrence.
Unfortunately, the feasible answer to what people observed in that cold night sky leaves out everything important about Pahana's piece. The painting manages to hold in tension the real life technologies we rely on every day, the "art" of the telephone lines and terrestrial gates (to lean on the root definition for techno), and the celestial art represented by the heavenly coil. Pahana's spiral, which despite its slightly more realistic mode can't help but make one think of Van Gogh's The Starry Night, completely overwhelms the horizon, finding a parallel luminescent orb in what appears to be a street lamp that blazes as bright as the noon day sun. The telephone cable interrupts our vision, cutting the sky in half from our worldly, human perspective. Despite the potential distraction, the divine pattern leaves us metaphorically standing at the gate of heaven.
Matthew Henry observes that the gates described in Psalm 24 are on one level the passageways into the tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant, and could also apply to Jesus's glorious ascension into heaven. From another perspective, the gates that the Lord asks to be lifted up are the doors of our hearts. Going from the macro cosmic event to the micro condition of individual believers, we should pause and ask ourselves the question: have we given the King of glory full reign at every gate and passageway of our heart? What rooms have we denied Jesus access? Do we rightly acknowledge Jesus as the rightful owner of our entire being, the divine Landlord who has keys to every room, who has paid in full for our admission through the gates into His celestial kingdom?
Handel's Messiah, with its beautiful sweeping gestures of angelic jubilation, relies on the words of Psalm 24 and asks us to aspire to that higher calling. Will we allow Jesus to demolish the puny temples of our earthly vanity, and replace them with the temple of God's Spirit? The night sky beckons, the stars cry out, the Lord waits for his children to arise toward their place in the celestial choir.
Prayer
Lord, all gates and all doors will be flung open by You. Nothing will be hidden. Prompt us to stand at the door and knock to let in Your healing, peaceful, powerful Spirit. Help us to make Your strength our sustenance and joy.
Amen.
Marc Malandra
Associate Professor of English
Gate, Gate
Pau Pahana
Oil on canvas
About the Artist and Art:
Pau Pahana is a Berlin-based artist, designer and musician who is primarily interested in exploring the concepts of spirituality, religion, justice,the cosmos and the unknown. On December 9, 2009 a spiral appeared over the western coast of Norway. It was captured on multiple video feeds and cameras. At first it was explained as a failed Russian missile launch, for which they took responsibility. However, Pahana states, “I don’t believe that the spiral was the result of a failed Russian missile launch. Since 2009 this same spiral has appeared in the skies of different nations and in different contexts. As a form, the spiral has been illustrated since prehistoric times, and appears in multiple petroglyphs from various geographical areas. What is this? Is it a star gate? In Gate/Gate two gates are depicted: one allows cars to pass into a parking lot to a factory, and the other is this mammoth swirling light form. I deliberately chose to featured contemporary human technology markers like telephone wires, minivans and dumpsters to posit it within our historical time, though the spiral gate in the sky remains timeless.”
About the Music #1:
“Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates” (Psalm 24:9)
Lyrics:
Lift up your heads,
O ye gates;
and be ye lift up,
ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall come in.
Who is the King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads,
O ye gates;
and be ye lift up,
ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall come in.
Who is the King of Glory?
The Lord of Hosts,
He is the King of Glory.
About the Composer:
George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759) was a German Baroque composer who spent most of his career in London, where he was well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. He was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition. Musicologist Winton Dean writes that his operas show that "Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order.” Handel composed more than forty operas in thirty years. “Lift Up Your Heads” is taken from Handel’s Messiah oratorio which was composed in just 24 days during the summer of 1741. At the end of the score Handel wrote the letters SDG--Soli Deo Gloria, “To God Alone be the Glory.” Today Messiah is one of the most frequently performed and popular classical works. Dozens of orchestras around the world annually offer Messiah concerts during the Christmas season.
About the Performers:
The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world's finest symphony orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK's most adventurous and forward-looking orchestras. The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, and since then has been headed by many of the great names in the conducting world, including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. The Orchestra's current Principal Conductor is Vladimir Jurowski, who was appointed in 2007. The London Philharmonic Orchestra has been performing at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in London since it opened in 1951. Having long been embraced by the recording, broadcast and film industries, the London Philharmonic Orchestra broadcasts regularly on TV and radio. They also work with the Hollywood and UK film industries, and have been recording soundtracks for over half a century.
https://www.lpo.org.uk/
About the Performers:
The London Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1947 as the chorus for the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Working under conductors such as Boulez, Elder, Gatti, Haitink, Jurowski, Masur, Nézet-Séguin, Norrington, Rattle, Solti, Tennstedt and Welser-Möst, the Choir has always met with critical acclaim. Now widely regarded as one of the nation’s finest choirs, they perform regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and other world-class orchestras at major venues and festivals throughout the year.
https://lpc.org.uk/
About the Music #2:
“Psalm 24” (King of Glory)
Lyrics:
The King of Glory Reigns
Over all the world.
His mighty hand sustains
The heavens and the earth.
Who may come to Him
And seek His holy face?
He calls the pure in heart,
All whose hands are clean,
And those who love His name
Above all other things.
Humbly I will bow,
And Jesus’ Name confess.
He reigns, He reigns,
Jesus the Lord.
He reigns, He reigns,
Forevermore.
Swing wide you ancient gates,
Let the King come in.
His glory never fades.
Our hearts delight in Him.
Every knee will bow,
Every tongue confess.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty.
He bore the cross of shame.
Sing Hosanna!
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty.
He rose up from the grave.
Sing Hosanna!
About the Performers/Composers:
Keith (b. 1974) and Kristyn Getty (b. 1980) occupy a unique place in the world of music today as preeminent hymn writers. In re-inventing the traditional hymn form, they have created a distinguished catalog of songs teaching Christian doctrine and crossing genres by connecting the world of traditional and classical composition with contemporary and globally-accessible melodies. These modern hymns are rooted in the traditions of Celtic and English hymnody, handed down to the Northern Ireland-born couple and their long-time writing partner, Stuart Townend. Their best known hymn, “In Christ Alone” (penned by Keith and Stuart, and recorded by Keith and Kristyn) echoes this heritage and has been voted one of the best-loved hymns of all time in the UK.
www.gettymusic.com