March 22: Praising God
♫ Music:
Day 37 - Thursday, March 22
Title: Praising God
Scripture: Luke 2:15-20
When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
Poetry: A Child in Starlight
By Elmer Diktonius
[Translated by Martin S. Allwood]
There is a child,
A new-born child—
A rosy, new-born child.
The child whimpers—
All children do.
And the mother takes the child to her breast.
Then it is quiet.
So is every child.
The roof is not over tight—
Not all roofs are.
And the star puts
It’s silver muzzle through the chink,
And steals up to the little one’s head.
Stars like children.
And the mother looks up at the star
And understands—
All mothers understand.
And presses her frightened baby
To her breast—
But the child sucks quietly in starlight:
All children suck in starlight.
It knows nothing yet about the cross:
No child does.
A PONDERING HEART
In this season of repentance and spiritual preparation called Lent, it is disconcerting to read today’s Scripture passage. It seems that Advent and Christmas has encroached upon our preparation for Easter. And yet, how appropriate. How powerful. Christmas and Easter are not merely isolated events or holidays on our calendar. They are inexorably connected in the plan of God.
Throughout what we call the Christmas story, Mary is informed she is giving birth to the Messiah—the Savior and Lord. And what was Mary’s response? Personal surrender while hiding this phenomenal news in her heart, content to simply ponder it. She hears Simeon’s prophecy of a sword that would pierce her soul. She listens to the young child, Jesus, as he rebukes her about expecting him not to be about God’s work. She witnesses the crowds of followers and of those who call for his death. Mary rejoices over the miracles and grieves the cruel attacks. With all this, she ponders what it all means.
To ponder is to remember or contemplate, while weighing the information before reaching a conclusion. How does Mary process all she has hidden in her heart as she watches as her son, God’s promised Messiah, being cruelly murdered on the cross? What is she thinking as she holds her beloved son, as depicted in this Pieta painting by Spanish artist Luis de Morales? Was she confused that this should be her son’s end? Did she also have hidden in her heart Christ’s declaration that he should live again? By faith she has lived her life pondering both the humanity and the divinity of her son. But, as a mother, did grief and pain overwhelm her? How did Mary’s faith in God sustain her, even in this most horrible experience?
The second verse of our song for today brings together the beginning and the end—the birth and the death. It begins with the question, “Why lies he here in such mean estate, where ox and donkey are feeding?” but continues with “Nails, spears shall pierce him through.” Our poet reminds us that at Christ’s birth, “It know nothing yet about the cross: No child does.” Yet, Mary saw and pondered it all. With her, we celebrate the birth yet weep at his death. And yet, as Mary knew in her pondering heart, all was God’s plan.
After my son’s murder, depictions of the Pieta became so precious to me. I identified with Mary’s pain as a mother. But, I confess it was difficult to identify with all that must have flooded her mind—these hidden memories of her son’s birth, life and purpose. Yet, the promises of God must have sustained her, as they did me. Treasured proclamations of angels, of prophecies, and from the teachings of her son—all would be life-giving and bring comfort and peace.
I must ask myself, what am I pondering in my heart during this Lenten season? Is my heart treasuring the truths of God’s Word and of his evidence of His love towards me? Or, is my heart filled with worries, ambition, resentment, and even hatred? Today, let us allow God to search the depths of our heart, seeking His forgiveness, and celebrating that Christ not only came to earth, but also died and lives again that we may know eternal life. It is a truth worth pondering.
Prayer
O Lord, who has mercy upon all, take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me the fire of Your Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore You,
a heart to delight in You,
to follow and to enjoy You,
for Christ’s sake.
Amen
----St Ambrose of Milan, 337–397 AD
Dr. Dianne Collard
Alumna, Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Founder/Director of ArtsCharlotte, North Carolina
About the Artwork:
Pieta
Luis de Morales
c. 1560
Oil on panel
42 x 30 cm
Museo de Prado, Madrid, Spain
Artist Luis de Morales was influenced by the works of the fifteenth-century Flemish artists like Rogier van der Weyden and Hans Memling, and Italians of the same period. Morales did several versions of the Pieta with subtle variations in the appearances of the mother and the son, and in the expressions of grief and death. The artist has contrasted the geometric precision in the drapery and the wood of the cross with the softness in the faces and hands of the figures. In this way, he achieved a balance between grief and serenity, and between the realism of materiality and the emotional and spiritual content.
About the Artist:
Luis de Morales (1512–1586) was a Spanish artist. He is celebrated for his devotional images that earned him the epithet of "El Divino” or "The Divine Morales", because of the skill and realism of his paintings, and because of the spirituality transmitted by all his work. He was the favorite painter of the religious reformer, Juan de Ribera. As one prominent scholar has noted: "No Spanish painter was ever to surpass Morales in expressing the passionate, personal faith of the mystical writers." His work has been divided by critics into two periods, an early stage under the influence of Florentine artists such as Michelangelo, and a more intense, more representational later period similar to German Renaissance painters.
About the Music:
“What Child Is This” from the album Christmas Lights
Lyrics:
What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary.
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spears shall pierce him through,
The cross he bore for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king, to own him.
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The babe, the Son of Mary.
About the Composer:
William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898) was an English writer of hymns and carols. A manager of a maritime insurance company, he spent most of his life in Glasgow, Scotland. Few modern writers have been so adept as Dix in his ability to write hymns. His original hymns are found in most modern hymnbooks. His hymns and carols include “As with Gladness Men of Old,” “To You, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise,” and “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus.” At the age of 29 he was struck with a near fatal illness and consequently suffered many months confined to bed. It is from this period that he wrote many of his hymns.
About the Performer:
Originally from Alabama, Rebecca Roubion is a Tennessee-based artist whose Creole roots and sultry folk style has been likened to singer-songwriters Carole King and Regina Spektor. While not marketed as a Christian artist, Roubion alludes to her strong Catholic faith with the religious themes and spiritual lyrics found in her music. An exceptional pianist, Roubion accompanies herself effortlessly, and fuses her love of jazz and folk genres into her own unique style of music.
About the Poet:
Elmer Diktonius (1896-1961) was a Finnish poet and composer who wrote in both Swedish and in Finnish. He was a revolutionary poet, prose-writer and critic who also tried his hand at composing. Born to a Swedish-speaking, working-class family, Diktonius dropped out of high school to devote himself to reading and music. He embarked on a period of travel on behalf of Leftist causes in the 1920s, living in near-destitution but eventually finding company among Scandinavia’s emerging Modernists. In 1922, he and some friends began the Nordic countries’ first modernist review, the bilingual Finnish/Swedish Ultra. Working both in Swedish and Finnish, his influence was decisive in turning Scandinavian literature away from its traditional past and giving literary voice to the newly industrialized and autonomous Finns.
About the Devotional Writer:
Dr. Dianne Collard received her MA and DMiss from the Cook School of Intercultural Studies at Biola University. She has served as a cross-cultural missionary for over thirty years. Currently, she is the Europe Ministries Director for Artists in Christian Testimony International and the Founder/Director of ArtsCharlotte in North Carolina. Dianne’s book, I Choose to Forgive: An Intimate Journey with God, which is about the healing freedom of forgiveness in the aftermath of her son’s murder, has been published in sixteen languages and has been made into a short film called Abstraction.