December 31: Sharing the Gift
♫ Music:
Day 35 - Saturday, December 31
Title: SHARING THE GIFT
Scripture #1: Luke 2:17–20
Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
Scripture #2: Mark 16:15
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Poetry & Poet:
“APPETIZER, MEAL, DESSERT”
By Raquel Hargrove
“I wish I could eat the dinner table
The one we sat around we were a family
Go back and finish the meatloaf
Crunch the plate between my teeth
Chew up my fork and knife
Swallow those moments whole
Carry them around
In my stomach.
I would carefully peel each piano key
Suck the marrow out of every measure
These things will expire soon unless consumed
I assumed you knew this.
It was you who first held a spoon to my drooling lips
You who taught me to eat what I hate
and what I love
They won’t love me back
They won’t love me back.”
I was fed my mother’s laugh.
It bubbles up out of me unexpected.
WORSHIP
My husband and I felt like our family was not quite complete. We had two beautiful children, and yet we so desired another child. Each pregnancy test that came back negative, was disappointing and another pang. I asked God, “Is this part of your plan?” And then, after deciding to not try for a little while because it was too emotionally taxing, there it was: two lines. Two lines to mean that I was pregnant!
When listening to Zach Williams’ rendition of “Go Tell it on the Mountain” I was immediately reminded of how I felt when I found out I was pregnant: excited and hopeful. I wanted to scream from the mountains: PRAISE THE LORD! I did not tell it from the mountains, but my 4-year-old daughter did; telling it to everyone, everywhere that mommy had a baby in her tummy.
The joy of having something realized that you have so desperately wanted! It is indescribable, and totally vulnerable. I wonder if this is what Mary felt, vulnerable in the immense Joy that was in her presence and in need of her care. What did worship look like for Mary in this moment? Perhaps it was a quiet opening to God, or weeping, or something totally beyond my imagination. The shepherds on the other hand seemed to worship by telling everyone–like my daughter–the Good News. Worship takes many forms even when looking upon, and being in relationship with, the same Holy and Beautiful Person.
I look upon today’s images of Charles White and see desperation, longing, and joy. In these emotions there is an invitation to worship God; to worship Him in our longing, in our desperation, in our sadness, and in our joy. Where do you find yourself today? Are you in a season of desperation or sadness? Or are you in an equally, if not more, vulnerable season of joy? What does worship look like for you? Is it loud and excitable like the song for today, or is it full of longing and wishing like the poetry reading for today? Is the season you are in inviting you to a posture like the images we are looking at? Or, is it moving you to your knees, or even a fetal position?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we are all created to worship something, and I pray that in this moment we may worship You. I pray that in whatever season we might find ourselves in: sadness, longing, desperation, joy, peace, that we may worship You and adore You.
Amen.
Dr. Berry Bishop (Psy.D.)
Director, MFT Program
Assistant Professor
Spiritual Formation
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
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 #1
Move On Up a Little Higher
Charles White
1961
Charcoal and Wolff carbon pencil on board
40 3/16 x 48 1/4 in.
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Washington, D.C.
Artist Charles White created the inspirational work Move On Up a Little Higher, a charcoal drawing named after a best-selling gospel song recorded by the legendary singer Mahalia Jackson. Here he helps us experience the moving lyric "I'm gonna ... lay down my heavy burdens [and] put on my robe in glory." A seated Black woman lifts her arms above her head, palms turned toward the sky in an act of praise. Her eyes are cast down and her brow is furrowed. Her cropped hair frames her somber, weathered face, and she wears a full gown that looks like a choir robe. Although the setting is indistinct, a bright, heavenly light surrounds her, perhaps even radiating from her. The vertical lines White drew around her reinforce a sense of uplifting movement. When Jackson released "Move On Up a Little Higher" in 1948, it launched her to international fame and also brought attention to the civil rights struggle. Living and teaching in California since 1956, White was removed from what seemed like the front lines of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. Yet White's perspective, far from the harsh realities of segregation and violence, gave him the freedom to create symbolic images, artworks that promoted civil rights differently than literal portrayals of the struggle did. As seen with Move On Up a Little Higher, White's drawings could produce an emotional experience akin to that of music, an effect one Los Angeles critic called "visual spirituals."
https://americanart.si.edu/education/oh-freedom/charles-white
About the Artwork #2
O Freedom
Charles White
1956
Charcoal with crayon, erasing, stumping, and wash on ivory illustration board
92.7 x 157.5 cm
A larger-than-life 1956 charcoal portrait by Charles White entitled O Freedom depicts a young man framed against the sky, holding his hands in an open and uplifting gesture of hope.
About the Artist for #1 and #2:
Charles White (1918–1979) was an African American painter, printmaker, and teacher who created powerful images of African American life from the 1930s through the 1970s. White himself described his work as “images of dignity”—a theme that was unwavering over the course of his four-decade career. White believed that art had a role to play in changing the world: “Art must be an integral part of the struggle. It can’t simply mirror what’s taking place. It must adapt itself to human needs. It must ally itself with the forces of liberation. The fact is, artists have always been propagandists. I have no use for artists who try to divorce themselves from the struggle.” After high school White received a scholarship to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1938 he joined the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as an easel painter and went on to create a mural of five notable African Americans for the Chicago Public Library. Between 1942 and 1943 he received a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship to study at the Art Students League in New York City, which culminated in his painting a mural about African American history at Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia. After serving in World War II in 1944 as a camouflage artist, he settled in New York City. He settled in Southern California in 1957, where he taught at the Otis Art Institute from 1965 until his death in 1979.
https://americanart.si.edu/education/oh-freedom/charles-white
https://www.moma.org/artists/6339
About the Music:
“Go Tell It on the Mountain” from the album “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
Lyrics:
While shepherds kept their watching
Over silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!
The shepherds feared and trembled
When low above the Earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Savior's birth
Down in a lowly manger
Our humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation
On that blessed Christmas morn
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!
I was a lonely seeker
I sought both night and day
When I asked the Lord to help me
He showed me the way
He made me a watchman
Upon a city wall
And if I am a Christian
I am the least of all
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!
Go tell it, Go tell it, Go tell it, Go on and tell it
About the Performer/Composer:
Zachary Williams is an American Christian rock musician. From 2007 through 2012 he was a member and lead vocalist of Zach Williams and The Reformation. Williams’ powerful and poignant journey shows how a boy with a storybook childhood filled with wonderfully nurturing parents, and a strong and supportive grounding in the church and community, was seduced away by the illusion of rock-and-roll stardom and the drug/alcohol excesses that often accompany that lifestyle. After Zach Williams and the Reformation disbanded, Williams and guitarist Robby Rigsbee dedicated their lives to Christ and began playing music in their church. The church band, the Brothers of Grace, became Zach Williams and the Brothers of Grace. In 2016 he went solo, becoming one of CCM’s leading artists and songwriters by carving a niche with his singular blend of Southern rock, country, and faith-filled songwriting, which quickly earned him a Grammy Award with his debut album, 2017’s Chain Breaker. Williams released his second album, Rescue Story, which includes the single "There Was Jesus," with Dolly Parton.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Williams_(musician)
https://www.zachwilliamsmusic.com/
About the Composer: Traditional
"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African American spiritual song compiled by John Wesley Work Jr. (1887–1925), who was the first African American collector of folk songs and spirituals, as well as a choral director, an educationalist, and a songwriter. The song, dating back to at least 1865, has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers. It is considered a Christmas carol as its original lyrics celebrate the nativity of Jesus. An alternate final line omits the reference to the birth of Christ, instead declaring that "Jesus Christ is Lord.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Tell_It_on_the_Mountain_(song)
About the Poetry & Poet:
Raquel Hargrove is a sometimes-poet, high school teacher, and author. Hargrove’s poetry collection, Something Good, was published by Squeezed Publishing in 2017.
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Berry Bishop
Director, MFT Program
Assistant Professor
Spiritual Formation
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
Berry Bishop is the director of the MFT Program at Talbot. Bishop graduated from Talbot with a Master of Arts in spiritual formation and soul care, and then obtained her doctorate in psychology from Azusa Pacific University. Her primary research interest is in the area of trauma and spiritual direction. In addition to teaching, she continues to practice as a clinical psychologist.