December 20: Joy is Trusting God in the Midst of Suffering
♫ Music:
Friday, December 20
Title: JOY IS TRUSTING GOD IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING
Scripture: Luke 2: 33-35, John 16:22
And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed--and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
Jesus said, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will [be able] to take away your joy.”
Poetry:
Answered Prayer
By Kathleen Norris
I came to your door
with soup and bread.
I didn’t know you
but you were a neighbor
in pain: and a little soup and bread,
I reasoned, never hurt anyone.
I shouldn’t reason.
I appeared the day
your divorce was final:
a woman, flushed with cooking
and talk, and you watched,
Fascinated,
coiled like a spring.
You seemed so brave and lonely
I wanted to comfort you like a child.
I couldn’t of course.
You wanted to ask me too far in.
It was then I knew
it had to be like prayer.
We can’t ask
for what we know we want:
we have to ask to be led
someplace we never dreamed of going,
a place we don’t want to be.
We’ll find ourselves there
one morning,
opened like leaves,
and it will be all right.
JOY IS TRUSTING GOD IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING
I remember well the unique joy of taking our first-born son to church for the first time, but my feelings must pale in the significance of Mary and Joseph approaching the temple with their son, Jesus, for the purpose of consecration, as required by the Law. How astounding it must have been to hear the godly priest, Simeon, not only know who Jesus was, but to prophesy what his sovereign purpose on earth was to be! In addition, Mary heard a prophecy that no mother would want to hear—that of sorrow piercing her very soul as her child fulfilled his purpose.
After the horrifying terror of our eldest son being murdered as a young adult, a well-meaning friend asked me, “If you had known the grief that Tim’s early death would bring to you, would it have been best if he had never been born?” I was shocked and emphatically declared, “No, the joy of having our son, for even a few years, was worth it all!” I wonder if Mary would have declared the same when this prophecy of suffering came true as she watched the rejection and ultimate death of her son. Out of Christ’s death. . . and Mary’s suffering. . . came our ultimate salvation—our source of joy. Jon Bloom writes, “At the darkest moment of Mary’s life, the sword that stabbed deepest in her soul, was the moment God brought salvation and joy to the world—and to her.” Joy. . .born in suffering. . . expressed in the midst of sorrow.
English artist Cornelia Parker illustrates the reality that even from violent circumstances, beauty and joy can arise. “Anti-Mass” is formed from the charred remains of an arson-burned Black church in Kentucky. The artist emphasizes the drastic changes that such violence creates—but celebrates the power of resurrection as the elements seem to float in space. The Mass, for Catholic-born Parker, was that which unites the heavenly liturgy with eternal life. It is the very presence of Christ on earth and embodies sacrifice. The use of the negative, “anti” in the title seems to belie the reality of positive declaration found in her installation art. Joy. . . beauty. . .resurrection can come from sorrow and loss. It is the presence of Christ in the Mass and in our lives that makes the difference.
Whether life brings us to “a place we don’t want to be” (Kathleen Norris) or into the crushing and wounds as sung by Audrey Assad, suffering is a reality in this world. On our son’s memorial stone we engraved this truth, “Life’s not fair, but God is good.” It echoes the reality that we can and will find joy, even in the midst of suffering. Why? Because Christ has come. Jesus assures us in John 16:22, that loss does produce sorrow and pain, but when he comes, no one can take away our source of joy. To restate, it is his presence makes all the difference. Whether that coming is at his birth; at the Resurrection; into our personal lives; or at his Glorious Return in the future—the presence of Christ ALWAYS restores our joy.
Prayer:
Almighty and everlasting God, the Comfort of the sad, the Strength of sufferers, let the prayers of those that cry out of any tribulation come unto Thee, that all may rejoice to find that Thy mercy is present with them in their afflictions; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
8th Century prayer from the Gelasian Sacramentary
Dr. Dianne Collard
Alumna, Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Biola University
Founder/Director of ArtsCharlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Anti-Mass
Cornelia Parker
2005
Installation of wood charcoal, nails, and wire
396.2cm x 335.3cm x 342.9 cm
From the Collections of the de Young and Legion of Honor Museums of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
Throughout her career Cornelia Parker’s work has focused on the intersection of physicality and immateriality and the weaving together of memory and mass. Her work explores the transformation of seemingly durable materials by violent means, such as bombing, lightning or fire. Once the materials have undergone drastic changes, Parker directs the viewer to meanings conveyed by these found objects in both their altered and unaltered states. This installation is constructed from the charred remains of a Southern Baptist church with a predominantly African-American congregation that was destroyed by arsonists. In the title, Parker, who was raised Catholic, uses the word "mass" as a reference to both the elemental substance of the work and the sacramental ritual at the center of the Christian faith. In this way, the realms of science and religion are brought together to emphasize the power of creativity and hope over violence and destruction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelia_Parker
About the Artist:
Cornelia Ann Parker, OBE, RA (b. 1956) is a British visual artist, known for her sculpture and installation art. Parker received her MFA from Reading University, Berkshire, England, in 1982. Parker is currently Honorary Professor at the University of Manchester and Honorary Fellow of Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oxford. She is best known for large-scale installations such as Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991) for which she had a garden shed blown up by the British Army and suspended the fragments as if suspending the explosion process in time. This inspired an orchestral composition of the same name by the South Korean violinist, Joo Yeon Sir. In 1997 at the Turner Prize exhibition, Parker exhibited Mass (Colder Darker Matter, 1997) by suspending the charred remains of a church in Texas that had been struck by lightning.
About the Music:
“The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength” from the album Evergreen
Lyrics:
Mountains ahead of me
And valleys behind
The road may be narrow
But Your mercy is wide
Sorrow may linger and last for the night
But I am never alone
Sorrow may linger and last for the night
But I am never alone
The joy of the Lord is my strength, my strength
Oh, the joy of the Lord is my strength, my strength
I may be weak
But I will cling to the vine
I’m pressed but not crushed
For You are making new wine
My wounds may be opened and weakness revealed
But I will be healed in the fire
Wounds may be opened and weakness revealed
But I will be healed in the fire
I have a river of life flowing out of me
About the Composer/Performer:
Audrey Assad (b.1983) is the daughter of a Syrian refugee, an author, speaker, producer, and critically lauded songwriter and musician. She creates music she calls “soundtracks of prayer” on the label Fortunate Fall Records, which she co-owns with her husband. She is also one half of the pop band LEVV, whose debut EP peaked at #17 on the iTunes Alternative chart. In 2014, Assad released an EP, Death, Be Not Proud, which reflected on her recent encounters with loss and suffering--including her husband’s journey through cancer and chemotherapy. In 2018, after several years of personal pain and trials, Assad recorded her latest album entitled Evergreen, which stems from a season of renewed creativity. The album celebrates with new songs of rebirth, identity, the rebuilding of trust, and discovery of joy and love.
http://www.audreyassad.com/
About the Poet:
Kathleen Norris (b. 1947) is a best-selling poet and essayist. After graduating in 1969 from Bennington College, Vermont, Norris became arts administrator of the Academy of American Poets and she published her first book of poetry two years later. She is the author of The New York Times bestsellers The Cloister Walk, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, and The Virgin of Bennington. Exploring the spiritual life is rich in poetry and meditations while deeply grounded in both nature and spirit.
https://www.barclayagency.com/speakers/kathleen-norris/
About the Devotion Writer:
Dr. Dianne Collard
Alumna, Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Biola University
Founder/Director of ArtsCharlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Dr. Dianne Collard received her MA and DMiss from the Cook School of Intercultural Studies at Biola University. She has served as a cross-cultural missionary for over thirty years. Currently, she is the Europe Ministries Director for Artists in Christian Testimony International and the Founder/Director of ArtsCharlotte in North Carolina. Dianne’s revised edition of her book, I Choose to Forgive: An Intimate Journey with God, chronicles her and her family’s journey of forgiveness and healing in the aftermath of her son’s murder. It has been published in sixteen languages and has been made into a short film entitled Abstraction produced by Makoto Fujimura and Paul Nethercott, filmed by Windrider Productions.
For more information: www.montage international.org