December 10: Christ Speaks Peace to Unbelievers
♫ Music:
Day 12 - Thursday, December 10
Title: CHRIST SPEAKS PEACE TO UNBELIEVERS
Scripture: Zechariah 9:10
And He shall speak peace unto the heathen.
Poetry:
So Be It
by Ruth Stone
Look, this string of words
is coming out of my mouth,
or was. Now it’s coming
out of this pen whose ink
came from Chattanooga.
Something tells me
Chattanooga was a chief.
He came out of his mother’s
body. He pushed down
the long tube that got
tighter and tighter until
he split it open and stuck
his head out into a cold
hollow. Holding his belly
by a bloody string he
screamed, “I am me,”
and became a cursive
mark on a notepad that
was a former tree taken
with other trees in the
midst of life and mutilated
beyond all remembrance
of the struggle from seed
to cambium; the slow
dying roots feeling for some
meaning in the eroded
soil; the stench of decay
sucked into the chitin
of scavengers, becoming
alien to xylem and phloem,
the vast vertical system
of reaching up. For there
is nothing that is nothing,
but always becoming
something; flinging itself;
leaping from level to level.
CHRIST SPEAKS PEACE TO UNBELIEVERS
I have a confession. A guilty pleasure of mine during the pandemic has been the app Tik-Tok. Brief, bite-size videos featuring comedians, cute animals, and gorgeous outdoor vistas are my viewing preference, but I recently came across a clip that presented a perspective shifting “What If” scenario. Creator Melissa Stewart asks what it would be like if horror movies portrayed Christianity using tropes commonly used to depict religions of indigenous cultures. She does so by presenting an atmospheric rendition of the story of Christ, told in a manner that is haunting, and dare I say, unsettling.
Presumably played for laughs, the video is thought-provoking nonetheless. To what extent do some of our festive traditions reduce the mystery, power, and even shocking nature of Christ? The creator of the universe came to Earth as a babe, to suffer alongside us and then die in a brutally violent manner for our sake. An invader to our world, He upset the expectations of those who had their own ideas of what the Messiah would do, ultimately paying the price for our sin because this is how great His love is for us. It should be a challenging story for our senses to fully comprehend.
One of the many topics of discussion my theatre students encounter in our integrative discussions regarding art and faith is whether or not God gives artistic talents and the ability to represent His glory and truth to artists who do not believe in Him. The answer most students arrive at is, “Of course.” Enter stage left, our verse for the day, Zechariah 9:10, prophesying what the rule of the Messiah will look like in His second coming. We are told that it will extend to the ends of the earth and the machinations of war will be removed from all. Peace will be bestowed to the nations. There is no mention of it being reserved for certain groups. He came and died for humanity and He will come again and similarly offer peace to all. After a quick glance at our world today, the idea of such a peace should rightly be … unfathomable.
But, that message of peace will also require a response from all who hear it. Installation artist Michael Pendry’s Les Colombes utilizes a symbol of peace, the dove, to similarly elicit a response from audiences. As art often does, it asks more questions than it would ever presume to answer. In an era when it seems as though people are divided and tribalistic, I too wonder, what do our man-made symbols of peace represent? How do we even begin to convey our limited perception of the power of the Holy Spirit?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you that you are our hope and our peace. Nothing throughout the course of this year has been a surprise to you. Father, I ask that you continue to use this season to turn our attention to you. Restore us again, Father. Help us to rejoice in you, regardless of our circumstances. I ask your blessings be poured out on those who are in pain and are suffering, not only in this season, but at all times. Thank you for your unending grace and pursuit of your beloved. Thank you for inviting us into spaces where we may lay at your feet all aspects of our falleness and be given your peace and hope in return.
Amen.
Zachary Bortot
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Artistic Director of Biola University’s Theatre Program
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:
Les Colombes (The Doves)
Michael Pendry
2007
2,000 white origami doves
15 meters long
Original soundscape and light installation
Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Installation
Trafalgar Square, London, England
Image copyright: Marc Gascoigne
About Artwork:
Les Colombes is a 15-metre long multimedia sculptural installation in the nave of the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, an Anglican church in Trafalgar Square, London. Thousands of white origami doves, folded by people of all ages, races, and faiths, soar over the nave and are accompanied by a contemplative light and soundscape intended to carry a message of peace, resilience, and hope. The installation has three major components: the sculpture of a floating flock of more than 2,000 origami paper doves, light which moves around the space and over the sculpture simulating birds in flight, and a mystical musical score composed specifically for the installation that features sound, cooing of doves, and even a slight fluttering of bird wings. All these elements are integrated to create an exquisite sense of tranquility and strength that opens up a sacred space by offering a place of quiet reflection and peace. Les Colombes has been installed in Munich, Jerusalem, London, Salisbury, San Francisco, and Berlin. Pendry believes that Les Colombes “is easy to understand, has a simple and, most of all, a very emotional message which is so relevant in our times…..”
https://www.artlyst.com/features/michael-pendry-new-installation-lights-st-martin-fields/http://www.michaelpendry.de/work-avenue#/new-page-1/
About the Artist:
Constantly traveling between Munich and London, Michael Pendry (b. 1974) is a German artist who shaped his understanding of space, light, and shadow at the Rosenheim Academy in Prague by studying interior design and stage design. Pendry explains that, “I am a mixed media artist, mostly working in public spaces, doing large scale installations. It is very important for me to reach people with my projects, my work. Especially those people who do not usually visit the galleries, museums and theaters of our cultural world – to experience things of our everyday life in a new dimension and maybe also giving them a new magical twist, a magical moment which has almost disappeared in our world. That is my interest and always an important part in my works and in my life.”
http://www.michaelpendry.de/about
Music #1:
“He Shall Speak Peace“ from the album Where Shall I Go?
Lyrics Translated
You forgave the iniquity of Your people
You covered all their sins
Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
And put away your anger towards us
Will you not revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You
Show us Your grace O Lord
And grant us Your salvation
Truth springs up from the ground
And righteousness looks down from the sky
Yes, the Lord will give what is good
And our land will yield its increase
Lord, you wanted Your land,
And You have restored the captives of Yaakov
Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him
That His glory may dwell in our land
For He will speak peace to His people, and to His saints
Performer/Composer/Lyricist:
Birgitta Johanna Veksler was born in Sweden and raised in Estonia. Veksler moved to Israel with her family at the age of twelve. At the age of seventeen she participated in the Israeli TV show Kochav Nolad, the Israeli version of American Idol, where she finished eighth. As a part of the compulsory army service in Israel, she served in the Israel Defense Forces (Tzahal) for two years as a lead singer in the army band. At the end of her service, she was bitten by a poisonous snake and almost lost her life. Birgitta's brush with death brought her into a more intimate relationship with God, finding a deeper meaning in her life and her singing.
https://www.birgittaveksler.com/
Music #2:
Excerpt from Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1: 19. Rejoice Greatly
Lyrics:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee;
He is the righteous Saviour,
And He shall speak peace unto the heathen.
Messiah Performers/Musicians/Lyricists/Composer:
Unless otherwise noted, all Messiah performances are by Margaret Marshall, Catherine Robbin, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Robert Hale, Charles Brett, Saul Quirke, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Biographical information for the performers and musicians can be found by clicking here.
About the Poet:
Ruth Stone (1915–2011) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Stone’s compact lyrics are known for their accuracy, strangeness, and ability to speak to domestic concerns and metaphysical problems at once. Her books of poetry include What Love Comes To: New and Selected Poems (2008), a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize; In the Next Galaxy (2002), which received the 2002 National Book Award; and Ordinary Words (1999), which received the National Book Critics Circle Award. The poet Galway Kinnell writes: “Her poems startle us over and over with their shapeliness, their humor, their youthfulness, their wild aptness, their strangeness, their sudden familiarity, the authority of their insights, the moral gulps they prompt, their fierce exactness of language and memory.” Among her many awards are two Guggenheim Fellowships and the Bess Hokin Award from Poetry Magazine. She taught creative writing at several universities, including the State University of New York in Binghamton.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ruth-stone
https://poets.org/poet/ruth-stone
About the Devotion Author:
Zachary Bortot
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Artistic Director of the Theatre Program
Biola University
Professor Zachary Bortot is the Artistic Director of Biola University’s Theatre Program. He last appeared as Horatio in CBU’s The Courtyard Shakespeare Festival’s production of Hamlet. Last season for Biola he directed Lauren Gunderson’s Silent Sky and served as a producer for The Last Five Years and The Music Man. His professional interests include immersive theatre, Theatre of Cruelty, and the use of augmented and virtual reality in theatrical performance. He has a passion for enabling other performance artists to explore the creative vocational endeavors to which the Master Artist has called them.