About the Artwork:
Head of Christ
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
c. 1648–1656
35.8 x 31.2 cm.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Public domain

Throughout his career, Dutch artist Rembrandt explored the character of Jesus through a series of sensitively rendered portraits. For his model for Jesus, Rembrandt sought out a Jewish man from the streets of Amsterdam. His depiction of the Savior as a “common” man emphasizes His humility and humanity. The luminous glow of the background and warm light on Christ’s face heighten Jesus’ thoughtful expression and portray him as an approachable Savior who radiates love and compassion. Rembrandt is often praised for his understanding of and empathy for the human condition.

About the Artist:
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669) was a Dutch draftsman, painter, and printmaker. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history. Unlike most Dutch masters of the seventeenth century, Rembrandt’s works depict a wide range of style and subject matter, from portraits and self-portraits to landscapes, genre scenes, allegorical and historical scenes, and biblical and mythological themes. His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth and cultural achievement that historians call the “Dutch Golden Age.” Having achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, Rembrandt’s later years were marked by personal tragedy and financial hardships. Rembrandt’s portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits, and illustrations of scenes from the Bible are regarded as his greatest creative triumphs. His self-portraits form a unique and intimate autobiography, in which the artist surveyed himself without vanity and with the utmost sincerity. Rembrandt’s foremost contribution to the history of printmaking was his transformation of the etching process from a relatively new reproductive technique into a true art form. Because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called one of the greatest storytellers in the history of art, possessing an exceptional ability to render people in their various moods and dramatic guises. Rembrandt is also known as a painter of light and as an artist who favored an uncompromising realism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt
https://www.biography.com/artist/rembrandt

About the Music #1:
“I Stand in Awe of You” from the album Waiting for my Ride to Come

Lyrics:
You are beautiful beyond description,
Too marvelous for words,
Too wonderful for comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard.
Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of Your love?
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty enthroned above.

And I stand, I stand in awe of You.
I stand, I stand in awe of You.
Holy God to Whom all praise is due.
I stand in awe of You,
I stand in awe of You.

You are beautiful beyond description,
Too marvelous for words,
Too wonderful for comprehension,
Like nothing ever seen or heard.
Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?
Who can fathom the depth of Your love?
You are beautiful beyond description,
Majesty enthroned above.

And I stand, I stand in awe of You.
I stand, I stand in awe of You.
Holy God to Whom all praise is due,
I stand in awe of You.
And I stand, I stand in awe of You.
I stand, I stand in awe of You.
Holy God to Whom all praise is due,
I stand in awe of You. (x2)

About the Composer #1:
For over forty years, Mark Altrogge has sought to help believers lift their hearts and praise Jesus through doctrinally rich, fresh, and easy-to-sing worship songs and Scripture memory songs. Altrogge’s songs have appeared on albums by Sandi Patty, Annie Herring, Jesus Culture, Peggy Otis, the New Mercy Project, Calvary Chapel, and many more. Altrogge’s desire has always been to write songs that serve the church, particularly with fresh lyrics rooted in sound doctrine, set to creative and singable melodies. Altrogge received his undergraduate degree in art education and a masters in painting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
https://www.forevergratefulmusic.com/

About the Performer #1:
Annie (Ward) Herring (b. 1945) is one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music. She was a member of the musical trio 2nd Chapter of Acts, for which she wrote most of the songs and sang lead and harmony vocals with her brother and sister. During her musical career with 2nd Chapter of Acts, she also recorded several solo albums. Herring's music and ministry was, in no small part, forged from personal family tragedy. In 1968 her mother died of a brain tumor and two years later her father also died, leaving her youngest sister, Nelly, and brother, Matthew, orphaned. Annie and her new husband, record producer Buck Herring, took in the two younger Ward siblings. Annie was a self-taught singer and songwriter who wrote and played her songs around the family piano. Her brother and sister would often join in as she played, and eventually they developed extremely tight and intricate harmonies. During her time with 2nd Chapter, Annie released two solo albums, Through a Child's Eyes and Search Deep Inside, as well as an album for children, Kids of the Kingdom. After 2nd Chapter disbanded, Annie continued her solo career and toured the US through the 1990s and early 2000s. Though officially retired from touring, Annie continues today to make music and minister privately.
https://officialannieherring.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Herring

About the Music #2:
“Beautiful Savior” from the album Great Hymns of Faith, Vol. III

Lyrics #2:
Beautiful Savior, King of creation,
Son of God and Son of Man.
Glory and honor, Praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be Thine!
Now and forevermore be Thine!

About the Composer #2:
Silesian Folk Tune arranged by F. M. Christiansen

The “Beautiful Savior” title is said to have originated with its translation into English by Joseph A. Seiss, a Lutheran pastor of Moravian descent born in 1823 in Graceham, Maryland.

Fredrik Melius Christiansen (1871–1955) was a Norwegian-born violinist and choral conductor in the Lutheran choral tradition. He is most notable for his many a cappella choral arrangements, and for founding the St. Olaf Choir in 1912. He was the conductor of the Concordia Choir at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, for forty-nine years. He built a reputation of excellence as a choral music educator and composer. He was instrumental in establishing the world renowned Concordia Christmas Concerts. Although he arranged hundreds of pieces and wrote uncounted compositions throughout his career, Christiansen remained a private person, carrying a sense of Nordic modesty along with a fierce determination to succeed. Current Concordia Choir director Rene Clausen said of Christiansen, "A man of deep conviction, he used the compositional tools of music to enhance and magnify the message of the text he is setting, and in so doing elevates the spirit of both those who sing and listen to his music."
https://web.archive.org/web/20110720133018/http://discovery.mnhs.org/MN150/index.php?title=Paul_J._Christiansen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._Melius_Christiansen

About the Performers #2: St. Olaf Choir and Anna Shevik with conductor Anton Armstrong

The St. Olaf Choir, with seventy-five mixed voices, is the premier a cappella choir in the United States. For over a century, the choir has set a standard of choral excellence and remained at the forefront of choral artistry. Conducted since 1990 by Anton Armstrong, the St. Olaf Choir continues to develop the tradition that originated with its founder, F. Melius Christiansen. Since its founding in 1912, the St. Olaf Choir has set a standard in the choral art, serving as a model for choirs of all levels. The ensemble’s annual tour brings its artistry and message to thousands of people across the nation and around the world. The St. Olaf Choir has taken fourteen international tours and performed for capacity audiences in the major concert halls of Norway, France, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, and the Twin Cities.
https://wp.stolaf.edu/choir/

Anton Armstrong is the Harry R. and Thora H. Tosdal Chair in Music, professor of music at St. Olaf College, and conductor of the St. Olaf Choir, a position he assumed in 1990. A graduate of St. Olaf College, Armstrong earned a M.A. at the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Dr. Armstrong is widely recognized for his work in the area of youth and children’s choral music. In 1998, he began his tenure as founding conductor of the Oregon Bach Festival Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy. In 2005, the St. Olaf Choir shared the stage with the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square in presenting the finale concert for the national conference of the American Choral Directors Association at the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, California. He spent 2007 in residency at Baylor University as a visiting professor. In 2014, the St. Olaf Choir and Dr. Armstrong received a regional Emmy for the PBS special entitled Christmas in Norway with the St. Olaf Choir.
https://www.stolaf.edu/profile/armstrong

Anna Shevik is a soprano vocalist from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
https://www.discogs.com/de/artist/5068716-Anna-Shevik?type=Credits&filter_anv=0

About the Poetry & Poet:
R. S. Thomas (1913–2000) was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest who was noted for his nationalism and spirituality. Almost all of Thomas' work concerns the Welsh landscape and Welsh people, and carries both political and spiritual subtext. His early works focus on the personal stories of his parishioners, the farm laborers and working men and their wives. His poetry challenged the romantic view of the traditional pastoral poem with harsh and vivid descriptions of rural existence. This direct view of "country life" came as a challenge to many English writers writing on similar subjects. Fearing that poetry was becoming a dying art, inaccessible to those who most needed it, Thomas “...attempted to make spiritually minded poems relevant…to a science-minded, post-industrial world" in order to represent that world both in form and in content even as he rejected its machinations and destruction of the traditional Welsh country lifestyle.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/r-s-thomas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._S._Thomas

About the Devotion Author:
Amie Cross, M.Div.
Alumna of Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Chaplain and Missionary

Amie Cross has lived in East Africa for twelve years where she lives and serves with her husband and five children. She completed her undergraduate studies at Biola as a part of the Torrey Honors Society cohort and her M.Div. in Community Chaplaincy from Liberty University. She currently serves as the elementary school chaplain for an international school, where she daily learns from her students, colleagues, and parents more about who God is by engaging in spiritual formation with them. The opportunity to come alongside others as God carries their burdens and transcends culture, class, race, and injustice to bring peace is one she thanks God for daily.