Artwork and Artist #1:
Christ Creation From The Sea
Cliff McReynolds
1997
Oil on canvas
36 x 36 in.
Used with permission from the artist

Artwork and Artist #2:
Star In A Parallel Place
Cliff McReynolds
2007
Oil on canvas
28.5 x 28.5 in.
Used with permission from the artist

Artwork and Artist #3:
1 Corinthians 2:9 (overall and detail images)
Cliff McReynolds
2015
Oil on canvas
4 x 5 ft.
Used with permission from the artist

About the Artist #1, #2, & #3:
Cliff McReynolds (b. 1933) is an American visionary painter from California. Active since the 1950s and popularly known from the 1970s on, his work has been seen in one-man shows and group exhibits in New York City; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis; Milwaukee; San Jose; San Francisco; Los Angeles; San Diego; Oslo, Norway; New Delhi, India; and Tokyo, Japan. Cliff gained worldwide notoriety when renowned curator Walter Hopps published his works in the groundbreaking art book entitled VISIONS. This book would eventually be given credit as the spark that helped to ignite the school of art we now call “The California Visionary Arts Movement.” Cliff’s visionary images have been the subject of books, film, album covers, posters, magazines, and many other forms of print media. McReynolds’ paintings have been the focus of some of the most prominent exhibits, galleries, and art institutes throughout the world. Inspiring, astonishing, disturbing, perplexing, exhilarating—Cliff’s exquisitely detailed art allows the viewer to stand in the present with one foot in the past, one foot in the future, and mind somewhere else entirely.
www.cliffmcreynolds.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_McReynolds

About the Music #1: “Creator of the Stars of Night”

Lyrics #1:
Creator of the stars of night,
Your people's everlasting light,
O Christ, Redeemer, save us all,
We pray you hear us when we call.

In sorrow at the ancient curse,
Should doom to death a universe.
You came, Oh Savior, to set free
Your own in glorious liberty.

When this old world drew on toward night,
You came; but not in splendor bright,
Not as a monarch, but as the Child.
Of Mary, blameless mother mild.

At Your great name, Jesus.
Now all knees must bend,
All hearts must bow.

All things on earth with one accord.
Like those in heaven,
Shall call You Lord.

Come in your holy might, we pray,
Redeem us for holy day;
Defend us while we dwell below,
From all assaults of our dread foe.

To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Praise, honor, might, and glory be,
From age to age eternally

About the Composer #1: Hymn tune is "Conditor Alme Siderum"

“Conditor Alme Siderum” is a seventh-century Latin hymn used during the Christian liturgical season of Advent. It is also known in English as “Creator of the Stars of Night” from a translation by hymn writer J. M. Neale. It was formerly ascribed to Saint Ambrose, but there appears to be no contemporaneous evidence to support the attribution. "This hymn spans all of salvation history, from creation to the end of time when the entire created order will be redeemed and caught up in the life of the Trinity."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conditor_alme_siderum

John Mason Neale (1818–1866) was an English Anglican priest, scholar, and hymn writer. He notably worked and wrote on a wide range of holy Christian texts, including obscure medieval and Greek hymns, both Western and Eastern. At the age of twenty-two, Neale became the chaplain of Downing College, Cambridge, and in 1842 was ordained. In 1854 Neale co-founded the Society of Saint Margaret, an order of women in the Church of England dedicated to nursing the sick. Neale translated many of the Eastern liturgies into English, and wrote a mystical and devotional commentary on the Psalms. The 1875 edition of the Hymns Ancient and Modern contains fifty-six of his translated hymns and The English Hymnal (1906) contains sixty-three of his translated hymns and six original hymns. His translations include "All Glory, Laud and Honour," "A Great and Mighty Wonder," "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," "Of the Father's Heart Begotten," "To Thee Before the Close of Day," and "Ye Sons and Daughters of the King."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mason_Neale

About the Performers #1: St. John’s Episcopal Church Compline Choir in Boulder, Colorado, with Thomas Edward Morgan, conductor

St. John’s Episcopal Church Compline Choir in Boulder, Colorado, presents the ancient service of choral compline monthly on Sunday evenings. Compline is a contemplative service performed at the end of the day, often used as a way to end the day with prayer and reflection before sleep.
https://www.stjohnsboulder.org/about-us/#History

Thomas Edward Morgan is recognized as a leading interpreter of new choral music. Morgan has led the evolution of Ars Nova Singers from a local choral group to an intrepid professional choir with national acclaim. In addition to his work with Ars Nova Singers, Morgan has served as music director of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado, for more than thirty-two years. He studied choral and orchestral conducting with Dale Warland, Helmut Rilling, and Giora Bernstein, and has taken master classes with Robert Shaw, Eric Ericson, and Herbert Blomstedt. In 2016 he received the Dairy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts and the University of Colorado-Boulder College of Music selected him as the Distinguished Alumnus of the college in 2019.
https://arsnovasingers.org/person/artistic-director-thomas-edward-morgan/

About the Music #2: “Down from His Glory”

Lyrics #2:
Down from His glory,
Ever-living story,
My God and Savior came,
And Jesus was His name.

Born in a manger,
To His own a stranger.
A man of sorrows, tears,
And agony.

Oh, how I love Him!
How I adore Him!
My breath, my sunshine,
My all in all.

The great Creator,
Became my Savior,
And all God's fullness,
Dwelleth in Him.

[Singing in Italian]

Oh, how I love Him!
Oh, how I love Him!
How I adore Him!
My breath, my sunshine
My all in all.

The great Creator
Became my Savior
And all God's fullness
Dwelleth in Him.

So go adore and love in peace my breath
My sunshine and all God’s fullness
Dwelleth in Him.

About the Composers #2: Lyrics by William E. Booth-Clibborn, music “O Sole Mio” by Alfredo Mazzucchi and Eduardo di Capua

William E. Booth-Clibborn (b. 1893) was born in Switzerland, the son of Arthur and Catherine Booth-Clibborn, and became the best known of the Booth-Clibborn children, having a worldwide ministry of evangelism and writing. Meetings he conducted in Australia during the early 1930s helped found several Pentecostal churches there. He later founded Immanuel Temple in Portland, Oregon.
https://hymnary.org/person/BoothClibborn_WE1

“O Sole Mio” by Alfredo Mazzucchi and Eduardo di Capua

Emanuele Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972) was an Italian composer and musician, known for being the co-author of some famous pieces of the Canzone Napoletana (Neapolitan songs), such as "'O sole mio," "Maria Marì", and "I' te vurria vasà.” Mazzucchi was a composer and mandolinist who, on behalf of the musical publishers, made some adjustments to the original melodies before the publication of the songs. In this capacity he was therefore the co-author, together with Eduardo di Capua, of some well-known pieces of the Neapolitan songs, including "'O sole mio.” Mazzucchi was a talented young composer who worked with the already-famous Di Capua. Mazzucchi played his compositions, Di Capua listened to them and made some changes, and then published them only in his name. In 1999, a great-grandson of Eduardo Di Capua claimed his ancestor's sole authorship of "'O sole mio,” but at the subsequent recourse of Mazzucchi's heirs, the heir admitted the collaboration between the two composers, so that the verdict issued by the Court of Turin in 2002 recognized Alfredo Mazzucchi as co-author of the melody of a total of twenty-three songs, which will therefore remain under copyright until 2042.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Mazzucchi

About the Performers #2: Amira Willighagen and David Cerna

Amira Willighagen (b. 2004) is a Dutch soprano who won the sixth season of Holland's Got Talent in 2013, at the age of nine. Willighagen began her career as a singer by learning classical arias from watching YouTube videos. In 2013, the nine-year-old auditioned for the TV competition Holland's Got Talent. In 2014, Willighagen recorded her debut album for Sony Masterworks, Amira, which consisted of ten selections, including the arias she had sung in the TV competition. She gave her first international concert performances in 2014, appearing in South Africa and the United States. Using some of the proceeds from her performances, Willighagen contributes to a charity for building playgrounds for underprivileged children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amira_Willighagen
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/amira-willighagen-mn0003239505#biography

David Cerna is a young pianist who is very passionate about classical and sacred music. He has been studying piano since age seven and is studying formal piano instruction at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in the city of Los Angeles, where he has earned the prestigious Herbert Zipper Scholarship for his outstanding musicianship. He is also part of the Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute at Colburn, where he performs alongside other talented musicians. In his spare time, David loves to arrange, orchestrate, and transcribe classical, sacred, and choral music. His passion for choral music has led him to create and conduct multiple adult, children’s, and virtual choirs. Above all, his primary purpose in music is to utilize his talents, as Johann Sebastian Bach said, “For the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”
https://www.lamiradasymphony.com/david-cerna-will-be-featured-pianist-at-may-22-concert/

About the Poetry & Poet:
Kei Miller (b. 1978) is a Jamaican poet, fiction writer, essayist, and blogger. He is also a professor of creative writing. In 2004, he left for England to study for an M.A. in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Miller later completed a Ph.D. in English Literature at the University of Glasgow. Miller is the author of eleven books that range across genres—fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In 2014 he won the Forward Prize for Poetry for The Cartographer Tries to Map A Way To Zion. He has also written several essays of literary scholarship in the field of Caribbean literature. Kei joined the English faculty at University of Miami in 2021.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_Miller
https://people.miami.edu/profile/0d3820d1106c5937f1332c566887b4e4

About the Devotion Author:
Octavio Javier Esqueda
Professor of Christian Higher Education
Director, Ph.D. and Ed.D. Programs in Educational Studies
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University

Dr. Octavio Javier Esqueda is a professor of Christian higher education in the doctoral programs at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He was born and raised in Guadalajara, México, where he graduated with honors with a Licenciatura in Latin American Literature from the University of Guadalajara, as well as two additional diplomas, one in religion and society and the second in journalism. He graduated with honors from Dallas Theological Seminary with an M.A. in Christian Education and completed his Ph.D. in Higher Education at the University of North Texas. Before coming to Biola University, he taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He and his wife, Angélica, have two children, Darío and Salma. Dr. Esqueda has several publications on theological education, Christian higher education, and literature. Teaching is his passion and he has had the opportunity to teach in several countries on different academic levels. He is an avid soccer fan.