December 8: Awed by the Beauty
♫ Music:
Week Two Introduction
December 08–14
Title: Awed by the Beauty
The Song of Songs is bursting with beauty. The story takes place not in the bleak midwinter but in springtime when everything is in full bloom. The king’s verdant gardens, pleasant pastures, and abundant vineyards are striking backdrops for the handsome couple as they navigate their botanical wonderland. Here, the natural world is integral to human well-being. The sensual descriptions of lushness seem almost overpowering at times, but the heightened language and frequent use of metaphors invite us to make comparisons, feel emotions, and connect with the text on a much deeper level. Author Kathleen Norris writes, “When seeking to be at home...with God in solitude and silence, [we] know that metaphors, which insist on connecting disparate elements in ways that the reasoning mind resists, will be of more use than any treatise.”
We believe that Solomon’s Canticle is divinely inspired as well as a great work of art. This little book is filled with more hapaxes (words that appear in the Bible only once) than any other portion of Scripture. The Song’s unusual language and word pictures have resulted in a plethora of disparate interpretations. The Song’s most striking feature according to Hebrew translator and poet Marcia Falk is its “extraordinary musicality.” For centuries this love poem has influenced artists and artisans from a wide variety of disciplines. It is read or chanted at weddings and during Passover. First century Jewish Rabbi Akiva referred to it as the Old Testament’s “Holy of Holies.” When all is said and done, the Song of Songs functions as a grand invitation to contemplate the beauty that exists in this world and, by extension, the world to come. The beauty found in the Song is captivating because it draws us towards the truth.
Christians believe that the Triune God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is ultimate, absolute beauty. All things beautiful in heaven and on earth flow out of the Godhead. Professor Samuel Parkinson writes, “Rather than thinking of some abstract standard of beauty to which God and creation both adhere, we must think of God himself as the standard…This is preeminently the case in the single greatest revelation of divine glory: the incarnation of the Son of God, the Exegete of the True, Good, and Beautiful divine nature…The whole of Christ’s person and work is the apex of the divine revelation of beauty.” We stand in awe and amazement as we gaze on Christ’s beauty: his radiant light, the grace of his holiness, his wonderful compassion and purity. In John 10:11, Jesus describes himself as the beautiful or good Shepherd. It is with perfect love that he cares for each of us. Like a young bridegroom who longs for his wedding day to come, so too, our beautiful Bridegroom sings over his beloved with ardent desire: “You are altogether beautiful my love; there is no flaw in you” (Song of Songs 4:7, ESV).
When Russian literary great Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote the famous line “beauty will save the world,” I imagine that he might have been thinking of Jesus. The most powerful weapon we have in our battle against the deceptive beauty of the enemy is authentic beauty—the matchless beauty of Christ. The more we focus on his glory, the more beautiful we become. In 1 Peter 3, readers are exhorted to develop “the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” Experiencing transcendent beauty is relational. It occurs when the heart of God touches our hearts, when we are known by him and are conformed to his image. May you glimpse the beauty of our wonderful Lord and his creation this Advent!
Day 8 - Sunday, December 08
Title: For the Beauty of the Earth
Scripture #1: Ecclesiastes 3:11–13 (NKJV)
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
Scripture #2: Job 12:7–10 (NKJV)
“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?”
Scripture #3: James 1:17 (NKJV)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Poetry:
from “At the Fishhouses”
by Elizabeth Bishop
Down at the water’s edge, at the place
where they haul up the boats, up the long ramp
descending into the water, thin silver
tree trunks are laid horizontally
across the gray stones, down and down
at intervals of four or five feet.
Cold dark deep and absolutely clear,
element bearable to no mortal,
to fish and to seals . . . One seal particularly
I have seen here evening after evening.
He was curious about me. He was interested in music;
like me a believer in total immersion,
so I used to sing him Baptist hymns.
I also sang “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”
He stood up in the water and regarded me
steadily, moving his head a little.
Then he would disappear, then suddenly emerge
almost in the same spot, with a sort of shrug
as if it were against his better judgment.
Cold dark deep and absolutely clear,
the clear gray icy water . . . Back, behind us,
the dignified tall firs begin.
Bluish, associating with their shadows,
a million Christmas trees stand
waiting for Christmas. The water seems suspended
above the rounded gray and blue-gray stones.
I have seen it over and over, the same sea, the same,
slightly, indifferently swinging above the stones,
icily free above the stones,
above the stones and then the world.
If you should dip your hand in,
your wrist would ache immediately,
your bones would begin to ache and your hand would burn
as if the water were a transmutation of fire
that feeds on stones and burns with a dark gray flame.
If you tasted it, it would first taste bitter,
then briny, then surely burn your tongue.
It is like what we imagine knowledge to be:
dark, salt, clear, moving, utterly free,
drawn from the cold hard mouth
of the world, derived from the rocky breasts
forever, flowing and drawn, and since
our knowledge is historical, flowing, and flown.
THE DELIGHT OF HIS PRESENCE
Long ago when I lived in Hawai‘i, I would arrive at a remote beach just when the sun was rising in hopes of finding dolphins. After swimming far out from shore, I paused to look back. Beyond the beach rose a backdrop of green hills with beams of light breaking through the clouds above them. When I dove underwater, I heard the whistles and clicks of the dolphins and saw them glide sleekly through the water. Like golden leaves fluttering from the trees in autumn, yellow tang fish glimmered through the dark blue of the deep expanse. Each of us can identify moments in our lives of unclouded happiness, completely free from any gnawing sense of trouble or unrest. Those mornings in Hawai‘i exemplify it for me. Even in a world burdened by the effects of sin, creation is full of beauty, imparting peace and joy in the sheer glory of existence.
God has spoken to us through his word, but he also writes his love to us in the world that he has made. The Scripture passages remind us that within us, God has put eternity in our hearts, and that outside of us, creation shouts the message of the spiritual and infinite reality that envelopes our physical world. The earth itself, beasts, birds, and fish, all are ready to teach us the knowledge of God. As Elizabeth Bishop writes in her poem, knowledge flows over us like water. Nature reveals God’s existence and continual care, his power and glory as the one who created it, his love as a Father who delights to bestow beautiful gifts upon his children, and his provision in giving us breath, life, and our daily needs. If the beauty of creation streamed from no source but itself, it would be a beauty that merely covers emptiness, change, and futility. Its true beauty lies in the fact that it points to another. The pleasure that we find in creation flows from its creator and reassures us of his presence and love. In speaking of the wonder and beauty of the gifts of creation—the earth, day and night, trees and flowers, and sun and stars—our hymn for today concludes that God’s greatest gift is the gift of himself bringing “peace on earth and joy in heaven.”
As we celebrate this Advent season and remember this greatest gift of the incarnate Christ, perhaps we can also take time to enjoy the full God’s gift of creation, allowing it to speak to us and calm our hearts. One of the greatest evils in this age of technology is that we are tempted away from nature, spending our waking hours fixated on a screen indoors oblivious to the joy that calls to us from without. God does not give lightly; his gifts bring blessings of peace and renewal.
Prayer:
Father, Isaiah said that the Messiah would be called Immanuel because he will be with us. Thank you for Jesus, who came to dwell with us as God incarnate in man; thank you for your Spirit, who makes his home within us; and thank you for the gift of this beautiful creation, which fills us with delight as it constantly reminds us of your presence and love.
Dr. Laurie Wilson
Assistant Professor
Torrey Honors College
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:
Resurrection Window
Designed by John Piper and made by Joseph Nuttgens
Stained glass
1987
All Saints Church
Farnborough, West Berkshire
England
Photo credit: Andrew Loutit
© The Piper Estate / DACS 2021
Artist John Piper's final stained glass commission for All Saints Church in Farnborough (West Berkshire) came in 1984, following the death of his close friend Sir John Betjeman, the poet, writer, and broadcaster, who had shared his love of the British landscape. The collaboration for the Betjeman memorial window drew upon Piper's four decades of experimentation in stained glass and his design showcases a masterful play of line, light, and color. Featuring symbols of the resurrection including fishes, the Tree of Life, and butterflies, the resulting memorial window combined Piper's love of the traditional and ancient with modernist design.
https://artuk.org/discover/stories/painting-in-coloured-light-the-modern-stained-glass-designs-of-john-piper
About the Artist #1A:
John Piper (1903–1992) was an English painter, printmaker, and designer of stained glass windows and both opera and theatre sets. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen prints, photography, fabrics, and ceramics. He was educated at Epsom College and trained at the Richmond School of Art followed by the Royal College of Art in London. He turned from abstraction early in his career, concentrating on a more naturalistic but distinctive approach, but often worked in several different styles throughout his career. Piper was an official war artist in World War II and his wartime depictions of bomb-damaged churches and landmarks, most notably those of Coventry Cathedral, made Piper a household name and led to his work being acquired by several public collections.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Piper_(artist)
https://artuk.org/discover/stories/painting-in-coloured-light-the-modern-stained-glass-designs-of-john-piper
About the Artist #1B:
Joseph Nuttgens (b. 1941) is an artist working in several different media including stained glass. Educated by Dominicans, he studied at the Central School of Art and the Royal College of Art, completing his studies in 1964. He then worked experimentally, first with expanded plastics and metal sheet and then made ‘light’ sculptures, incorporating steel sheets and colored glass, transmitting color from hidden light sources. During this period he also taught at schools and art colleges and for nine years taught prisoners in Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Encouraged by British stained glass artist Patrick Reyntiens, Nuttgens returned to stained glass in 1978, becoming his assistant and working mainly on John Piper’s windows. Upon the death of his father J. E. Nuttgens in 1982, he re-established a stained glass studio and, since then has designed and made stained glass windows for cathedrals, churches, and many other venues. Throughout this time he has also maintained an output of painting (complimentary and vital to his commissioned work) and in recent years has set up a relief print shop within his studio, producing woodcuts and linocuts.
http://www.josephnuttgens.co.u...
About the Music:
“For the Beauty of the Earth”
Lyrics: Traditional (Original text of 1864)
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the Love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of the earth (x2)
For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light.
Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of the earth (x2)
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the Love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
Amen
About the Composers: Folliott S. Pierpoint, William Chatterton Dix, arranged by Paul John Rudoi
"For the Beauty of the Earth" is a Christian hymn by Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835–1917). The tune most widely used for this hymn is the same tune used for William Chatterton Dix's "As with Gladness Men of Old," a Christmas carol composed five years prior but not released publicly until three years after Pierpont.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Beauty_of_the_Earth
Folliott Sandford Pierpoint (1835–1917) was a hymnodist and poet. His most famous hymn is "For the Beauty of the Earth,” which he wrote in 1864, at the age of twenty-nine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folliott_Sandford_Pierpoint
William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898) was an English writer of hymns and carols. His original hymns are found in most modern hymn books. Some of his carols, such as The Manger Throne, have been very popular. His hymns and carols also include “As with Gladness Men of Old,” “What Child Is This?,” “To You, O Lord,” “Our Hearts We Raise,” and “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Chatterton_Dix
Paul John Rudoi is an award-winning musician, entrepreneur, and advocate for the arts. Deemed “indisputably unique, confident, and innovative” by the American Prize, Paul John Rudoi’s compositions are commissioned and performed by ensembles worldwide including Orphei Dränger, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Cantus, and Seraphic Fire. Paul is also a fierce advocate for new music trends, resources, and issues. He is the co-founder of Consortio, an online platform designed to make commissioning music better for composers, conductors, and ensembles. He is now a digital strategist for the National Lutheran Choir and chorale director at Meetinghouse Church in Edina, Minnesota. https://graphitepublishing.com/composer/paul-john-rudoi/
https://pauljohnrudoi.com/
About the Performers:
The “intellectually, emotionally and musically rich” nine-member men’s vocal ensemble Cantus is known worldwide for its trademark warmth and its engaging performances of music ranging from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century. Working without a conductor, the members of Cantus rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing to the entirety of the artistic process. Cantus performs more than sixty concerts each year, both in national and international touring, as well as in its hometown of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. The group has released seventeen albums on its own self-titled label.
https://www.cantussings.org/
About the Poetry & Poet:
Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979) was an American poet and short story writer. She was consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry in 1956, the National Book Award winner in 1970, and the recipient of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1976. Bishop was greatly influenced by the poet Marianne Moore, who helped Bishop publish some of her poetry. The friendship between the two women is memorialized by an extensive correspondence and endured until Moore’s death in 1972. During her lifetime, Bishop was a respected yet somewhat obscure figure in the world of American literature. Since her death in 1979, however, her reputation has grown to the point where many critics, like Larry Rohter in The New York Times, have referred to her as “one of the most important American poets” of the twentieth century. Bishop was a perfectionist who published only 101 poems during her lifetime, preferring instead to spend long periods of time refining her work. Her verse is marked by precise descriptions of the physical world and an air of poetic serenity, but her underlying themes include the struggle to find a sense of belonging and the human experiences of grief and longing. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/elizabeth-bishop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bishop
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Laurie Wilson
Assistant Professor
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Laurie Wilson, an assistant professor in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University, received her master’s degree in Greek and Latin and her doctoral degree in classics from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where she was an H. B. Earhart Foundation fellow and a postgraduate fellow in the James Wilson Programme for Constitutional Studies. This background reflects her passion for classical studies and for her interdisciplinary research, which has focused on Augustine, Cicero, and writings from the American founders.