December 4: God's Glory Rests Upon His People
♫ Music:
Day 6 - Friday, December 4
Title: GOD’S GLORY RESTS UPON HIS PEOPLE
Scripture: Isaiah 60:2
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
Poetry:
A Hymn to the Evening
by Phyllis Wheatley
Soon as the sun forsook the eastern main
The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain;
Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr's wing,
Exhales the incense of the blooming spring.
Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes,
And through the air their mingled music floats.
Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dies are
spread!
But the west glories in the deepest red:
So may our breasts with ev'ry virtue glow,
The living temples of our God below!
Fill'd with the praise of him who gives the light,
And draws the sable curtains of the night,
Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind,
At morn to wake more heav'nly, more refin'd;
So shall the labours of the day begin
More pure, more guarded from the snares of sin.
Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes,
Then cease, my song, till fair Aurora rise.
LIGHT SHINING OUT OF DARKNESS
The writer behind the text for today’s devotional reading is Phyllis Wheatley, a black poet who wrote these words while she was still legally a slave. Her Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral was published in London in 1773, and the British public was so outraged to realize she was being held in slavery that their outcries led to her freedom. This is the power of the written and printed word. Wheatley literally wrote her way out of a situation of bondage justified by a racist system by celebrating the “beauteous dies [sic]” evident in the variegated and multitudinous colors of God’s created order. In her “Hymn to the Evening” she deploys her poetic gift to describe the chiaroscuro effect of dynamically mixed light and darkness in a sunset. These lines from Wheatley are highly appropriate for Advent, a time of year when we paradoxically sense physical darkness encroaching even as we watch for the approaching birth of Christ, the Light of the World.
Through the course of Advent, the darkness will increase until the Winter solstice on Dec. 21, when the trend will reverse itself, and the hours of daylight will begin to lengthen. Wheatley takes us on a similar journey: the sun seemingly forsakes the earth as it begins to sink; the sunset then creates a diversified range of colors, most notably an intensifying red; night enfolds the earth allowing weary minds to rest; and, eventually, morning breaks into new light. Wheatley adds to this visual imagery by appealing to her reader’s sense of hearing, smell, and touch. We hear the sublime clap of “pealing thunder” accompanying the sunset, and, as it progresses, we notice gentler sounds such as a burbling stream and soft birdsong. We smell “blooming” flowers as we feel the touch of the wind or “zephyr’s wing” on our skin. Wheatley’s words engage us body, mind, and soul.
How can we engage in practices which exercise our bodies, minds, and souls this Advent season? We can attend to the beauties of the natural world and choose to see “majestic grandeur” in the change of seasons. Wheatley creates an analogy between the natural world infused with the warm tones of the sunset and the infusion of human hearts, or “living temples”, with the “glow” of the Holy Spirit. We can ask the Holy Spirit to come into our own hearts and increase “virtue” in our lives this Advent. Wheatley praises Him who created the light of day and the “sable” darkness of night. She wants us to separate the symbolic references to spiritual darkness in scripture from the beautiful multiplicity of dark colors in Creation. How can we view the darkening days of Advent as a gift from God, intentionally designed, as an opportunity for rest? Finally, Wheatley moves us from night towards morning. How can we focus on spiritual renewal this Advent, so we may experience refinement and then return to our “labours” with fresh insights after the holidays?
Prayer
“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created. And thou shalt renew the face of the earth.”
----Attributed to by Rabanus Maurus, a 9th-century German monk
Dr. Natasha Duquette
Academic Dean
Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College
Barry’s Bay, Ontario, Canada
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:
Golden Light No. 11
Delro Rosco
2019
Mineral pigments, sumi ink, silver leaf, pure silver and oyster shell white on Kumohada paper
9.625 x 6.875”
Golden Light No. 11 is part of a larger body of work (approximately 170 paintings to date) called New Mornings, which began in 2018. This series is about the journey towards hope and is inspired by the following scripture: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV). In November of 2018, Delro immersed himself in the sunrises at the beach near his home in Hawaii as a way to deal with the loss of his mother. Shifting light, washes of color across the sky, oncoming waves spilling over the shore, and textures inspired by the terrain are some of the elements found in the work. These connections to nature offered comfort and healing through the brokenness. The works are not scenes, but rather recollections of light, space, and time - records of discoveries and hope.
About the Artist:
Delro Rosco (b. 1963) is an American contemporary artist and illustrator based in Hawaii, who is known for abstract paintings that are inspired by observations in nature, prayers, memories, interactions with others, and everyday life experiences. His work is meant to offer encouragement driven by the search for hope in the midst of human brokenness, imperfection, and the fragility of life. Creating highly textured, layered, cracked, and worn surfaces reflects this as Rosco incorporates materials such as sand, soil, and pulverized mineral pigments into his work. “I’m moved by what I see, I paint what I hope for," says Rosco. His deep faith takes him from being inspired by creation to focusing on the Creator. A graduate from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, he has exhibited both nationally and internationally. His work is in the collection of the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, several CIVA (Christians in the Visual Arts) traveling exhibits, and has been featured in Christianity Today and Ruminate magazines. He is represented by Artrue Gallery in Taipei, Taiwan.
https://civa.org/2019-featured-artists/delro-rosco/
http://www.delroroscoart.com/
Music #1:
“Drive Out the Darkness” from the album Lament Songs
Lyrics
Come, O Come
Be our light
Drive out the darkness
Come, Jesus, Come
Every year under the thorn
Every wrong that we have known
Every valley will be raised
Ancient ruins will be remains
Every weapon made for war
Every gun and every sword
Will be melted in the flame
To be used of gardening
In the emptiness of grief
Through the night of suffering
In the loss and in the tears
God of comfort, O be near…
Come, and end all the violence
Come, do not be silent
Come, cling to your promise
Come, break all injustice
Come, Jesus, Come
Performers:
The Porter’s Gate was founded to help worship leaders respond theologically to the pressing questions of our times through the writing of new worship songs and the creation of new liturgical resources. “We wanted to release as many songs as we were able to record for use by churches in a time where worship leaders are looking for songs and liturgical resources that give expression to the unusual and troubling circumstances of 2020 that our congregants and neighbors are experiencing,” explains co-founder Megan Wardell. Their latest two albums, Justice Songs and Lament Songs, were released in September of 2020. “We have been writing these songs for almost a year, at first as in-person songwriting retreats, and then remotely through email and zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic,” says co-founder Isaac Wardell, who also produced the albums. “Listeners will notice if you look at the songwriting credits that some of these songs have 5 or 6 authors. It was our intention to get a variety of people in the room, people from different backgrounds, at churches that worship very differently, interacting on these themes and scriptures of justice and lament.” This past July, a small group of musicians merged quarantine bubbles on a farm in Central Virginia to record the fruit of those songwriting sessions. Some collaborators are familiar from past projects: Liz Vice, Sandra McCracken, Latifah Alattas, Paul Zach, Jessica Fox, IAMSON, and John Swinton. There are also a few new faces including Matt Maher, Jon Guerra, Brian Nhira, and Taylor Leonhardt.
https://www.theportersgate.com/
Lyricists/Composers:
Paul Zach, John Swinton, Isaac Wardell and Dan Marotta
Paul Zach (b. 1986) is the Director of Worship at Portico Church, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. “I used to describe myself as having a pretty big allergy to a lot of church music. By that I mean I felt like a lot of songs were making me say things to God that I didn’t want to say, or didn’t believe, so I think early on I perhaps spent time writing songs and picking songs for the church with a real chip on my shoulder. But I’ve gotten over a lot of that now, and actually since working for a church I feel much more creatively fulfilled than I ever did touring with a rock band, I think there’s something fun about writing songs that are meant to be sung together and if people aren’t singing with you then you aren’t doing your job right. It’s grounded me in a different way that’s really helpful for me. I’ve found that through seasons of doubt and facing those fears, songwriting for me has actually been one of my main ways to commune with God.”
https://www.paulzachmusic.com/
John Swinton (b. 1957) is a Scottish theologian. He is the Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies and Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. For 16 years he worked as a registered mental health nurse and as a community mental health chaplain. He has published widely within the area of disability theology, spirituality and health, qualitative research and mental health. His book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God won the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ramsey Prize for excellence in theological writing in 2016.
https://www.regent-college.edu/faculty/part-time-and-visiting/john-swinton
Isaac Wardell is a record producer and composer who primarily writes sacred music. He is the director of Bifrost Arts, an ecumenical organization closely linked to the Presbyterian Church in America that produces written and recorded religious music and frequently performs at Christian universities and conferences. Wardell founded Bifrost Arts in 2008, "to enrich the Church and engage the world with beauty and truth through music beautiful enough that non-Christians are attracted to it." He is also currently the Director for Worship Arts at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.
https://www.trinitycville.org/Isaac-Wardell
Dan Marotta serves as the Rector of the Redeemer Anglican Church in Richmond, Virginia. He was raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and graduated from The College of William & Mary, with a B.A. in Family Therapy Psychology, and Denver Seminary, with a Master of Divinity. He lives in Richmond with his wife Rachel, their four children, and one hound dog.
https://redeemerrva.org/staff-pictures
Music #2:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 1: 10. For Behold, Darkness Shall Cover the Earth
Lyrics:
For, behold,
darkness shall cover the earth,
and gross darkness the people:
but the Lord shall arise upon thee,
and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
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:
Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784) was the first African-American author of a book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven and brought to North America. She was bought by the Wheatley Family of Boston, who taught her to read and write, and upon seeing her talent, encouraged her poetry. In 1773, with financial support from the English Countess of Huntingdon, Phillis traveled to London to publish her first collection of poems, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral—the first book written by a Black woman in America. It included a forward, signed by John Hancock and other Boston notables, as well as a portrait of Wheatley, all designed to prove that the work was indeed written by a Black woman. The publication of her book in London brought her fame both in England and the American colonies and she was emancipated by the Wheatleys shortly after the publication of her book. However, the Wheatleys died shortly thereafter and, despite her earlier fame, she died in poverty and obscurity at the age of 31. Wheatley’s poems reflected several influences on her life, among them the well-known poets she studied, pride in her African heritage, and her faith.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/phillis-wheatley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillis_Wheatley
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Natasha Duquette
Academic Dean
Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College
Barry’s Bay, Ontario, Canada
Dr. Natasha Duquette is Academic Dean and Professor of Literature at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College, Canada. She is author of 30-Day Journey with Jane Austen (Fortress Press, 2020) and Veiled Intent: Dissenting Women's Aesthetic Approach to Biblical Interpretation (Pickwick, 2016), which contains a chapter devoted to Phillis Wheatley.