February 23: “Come Out You Unclean Spirit!”
♫ Music:
Day 7 - Tuesday, February 23
Title: “COME OUT YOU UNCLEAN SPIRIT!”
Scripture: Mark 5:2-13
When Christ got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
Poetry:
Bejesus
by Meredith Kunsa
bejesus: by Jesus, an alteration of Jesus Christ;
a mild expletive of the temple of the Holy Spirit,
e.g. <scare the bejesus out of me>
Sunday morning Grandmother and I walk down the alley to the Pentecostal church. Dust puffs lift from the toes of my shoes, powdery as Grandmother’s talcum. In the children’s room, I play until it’s time to march down the center aisle (the congregation singing “Praise Him All Ye Little Children”) to where she usually sits peacefully shaping words with her lips as her finger traces across the Bible’s page. This time, when I pass Mrs. Walker, I notice her hair unpinned and find Grandmother standing, face up, mouth open, eyes rolled back. She’s jabbering in a voice I can’t understand. Certain she’s in pain, I squeeze through the row of solid bodies blocking my way. Just as I’m close enough to touch her skirt, I’m yanked back and held tight against the sweaty shirt of Deacon James. Close to my ear, Keep still and be quiet. Grandmother’s arms flail about, eyes gone wild. Her elbow goes stiff as she points right at me: Get away from me Satan. Whatever precious goodness there is in me hightails it out the front door with the devil hot on my heels. Years later I conclude, the way that ignorance can draw conclusions, there is something in me that acts alone and causes me to do bad things. Deep down inside where shame hides, perhaps I’m not who I think I am.
AHMAUD ARBERY
A year ago today he was brutally shot down while jogging in a quiet neighborhood, another gut-wrenching case of racial profiling and racism in our nation. With chilling regularity, we’ve seen girlfriends, brothers, fathers, children murdered. We've seen lives stolen by injustices in the criminal justice system. We are seeing the realities of racial inequity in our financial, educational, and health care systems. These broken lives and broken systems are a result of the sin of racism.
This racism is the work of Satan -- the one who seeks to divide. From his first encounter with humans, Satan’s tactics have been to make us question God and ourselves; to blur the edges of truth, to throw us out of focus; and to ultimately take matters into our own hands. Satan wins when we see the Other falsely, when we see ourselves falsely.
The Devil glows with pride at the lies that have brought us to this cultural moment. God’s Church is divided and has lost focus. We have taken things into our own hands. Over and over we have blurred the line of what’s mine, or rather, what’s not yours. We have grasped at land, wealth, power, prestige. Satan is delighted to stoke these lies, these half-hearted grasps at happiness. A delusion that leaves us in isolation, unable to see one another.
Seeing us in the clutches of these demons, Jesus stands ready to name them, to rebuke them, and to bring restoration. Jesus is the one qualified to take matters into his own hands, the one with clear eyes who can name the enemy and will conquer death. He can do this because Jesus knows who he is, that he is the eternal Son of the Father. He knows what has been and is being accomplished. And Jesus, with complete clarity, always sees what needs to be done. He doesn’t worry about offense or physical harm. Jesus sees a person who is oppressed, and with laser-clear focus, he brings freedom.
He does this by naming: by shining a light on the truth of things, bringing reality into focus. And when the demons are exposed, Jesus sends them packing. This healing is both an expulsion of evil and the restoration of the good. Jesus, the perfect healer, does both. He draws people back to their true selves while dispelling the haziness and confusion of division.
With the authority of Jesus, we must also name, rebuke, and restore. We need to see with laser-sharp focus our sister and brother who have been oppressed by systemic racism. With Jesus, we name and rebuke what is evil while working to restore the good. Jesus came to help the sick, the dying, the possessed, the marginalized, the written-off, the condemned, the persecuted. With Jesus, we must rebuke the demons of injustice. We must shine light on the myriad lies that have piled up in our consciences for centuries.
When we stay silent, locked in a blur of fear and second-guessing, Satan wins. When we get caught up in theological disputes in order to avoid difficult and costly conversations, Satan wins. Take a moment to sit in the swirling reality of today’s artwork, music, and poem. Each piece elicits pain, fear, and confusion. But instead of running from these feelings, imagine yourself present to them. As you face down the darkness, can you believe that you are armed with the authority of Jesus? Can you live in the truth that he never left the battle, and he’s here with us?
Prayer:
Jesus, You can heal me. Help me to name the fingerprints of Death on my own heart. Root out racism in me. Cleanse me of the thirst for power. Loosen my tight grasp on self-protection. Restore me unto yourself, clothed in your perfect righteousness.
Amen.
Rachel Glazener
Alumna of the Conservatory of Music, Biola University
CCCA 2021 Lent Project Music Curator
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:
Taddeus Langier, Zakopane
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz
Gelatin silver print
c. 1912
12.6 x 17.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gilman Collection, Denise and Andrew Saul Gift, 2005
Taken with a large format camera which was modified with a drainpipe to extend the lens, photographer Stanislaw Witkiewicz made this haunting portrait of his colleague. The image is characteristic of the photographic studies he made between 1912 and 1914, the period of his life which culminated in the tragic suicide of his fiancée. The blurred and long exposure coupled with tight cropping has increased the unsettled and urgent sense of desperation and torment in the subject’s face.
About the Artist #1:
Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885–1939), commonly known as Witkacy, is a legendary figure in Polish cultural history known not only for his multifaceted talent, but also for his bohemian lifestyle and eccentric personality. A prolific painter, photographer, dramatist, and philosopher, he made hundreds of self-portraits, sketches, paintings, and studies of friends characterized by a searing self-scrutiny and existential anguish. Witkiewicz himself would take his own life on the eve of World War II, the day the Red Army invaded Eastern Poland.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/286232
About the Artwork #2:
The Miracle of the Gadarene Swine
Briton Rivière
1883
Oil on canvas
1079 × 1607 mm
Tate Museum
London, England
This panoramic painting dramatically depicts the miraculous episode in which Jesus releases the demons that had plagued a demented man, by sending them into a herd of swine. Artist Briton Rivière, highly regarded for his paintings of animals, meticulously paints each of the swine as they tumble together over the edge of the cliff into the sea, trampling one fleeing shepherd and sending another and a sheepdog scrambling for safety. The compressed sky with its touches of red and violet adds to the intensity of the event. This episode demonstrates that Jesus not only had power over sickness, as various healings had shown, and over the natural elements, as he had shown by controlling the wind and water, but he also had command over the powers of darkness.
About the Artist #2:
Briton Rivière (1840–1920) was a British artist of Huguenot descent. He exhibited a variety of paintings at the Royal Academy but devoted much of his life to animal paintings. Both Briton’s father, William Rivière, and his paternal uncle were well-known artists. Briton was educated at Cheltenham College and Oxford, but for his art training he was indebted almost entirely to his father. His first pictures appeared at the British Institution, but it was not until 1863 that he became a regular contributor to the Royal Academy of Arts exhibitions. In 1865 he began a series of paintings of animals—subjects which occupied much of the rest of his life. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1878 and received the degree of Doctor of Civil Law at Oxford in 1891. His wife, Mary Alice Rivière, was also a painter and exhibited briefly at the Royal Academy of Arts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briton_Rivi%C3%A8re
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/riviere-the-miracle-of-the-gaderene-swine-n01515
About the Music:
"There's a Man Going ’Round Taking Names" from the soundtrack of the documentary 13th
13th is a 2016 American documentary film by director Ava DuVernay. The film explores the “intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States.” It is titled after the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1865, which abolished slavery throughout the United States and ended involuntary servitude except as a punishment for conviction of a crime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_(film)
Lyrics:
Going ‘round; going ‘round
Going ‘round
There's a man going 'round taking names
There's a man going 'round taking names
He has taken my father's name
And he left my heart in pain
There's a man goin' 'round taking names
Going ‘round; Going ‘round
There's a man going 'round taking names
There's a man going 'round taking names
He has taken my mother's name
And he left my heart in pain
There's a man goin' 'round takin' names
Going ‘round; going ‘round
Oh Death is that man taking names
Oh Death is that man taking names
He takin' my brother’s name
And he left my heart in pain
Oh Death is the man taking names
Oh Death, Death, Death is that man taking names
Taking, taking, taking
Taking
Composer:
Traditional, arr. by Jason Moran
Performers:
Jason Moran and Lawrence Brownlee
Jason Moran (b. 1975) is an African American jazz pianist, composer, and educator involved in multimedia art and theatrical installations. Moran first recorded with Greg Osby and debuted as a bandleader with the 1999 album Soundtrack to Human Motion. Since then, he has released albums with his trio The Bandwagon, performed as a solo artist, as a sideman, and with other bands. He combines post-bop and avant-garde jazz, blues, classical music, stride piano, and hip-hop. Moran has been on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music since 2010, where he coaches two ensembles, teaches lessons, and gives masterclasses. At the Kennedy Center he has been the musical adviser for jazz since 2011 and artistic director for jazz since 2014, occupying the position of the late jazz great Billy Taylor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Moran_(musician)
Lawrence Brownlee (b. 1972) is an American operatic tenor particularly associated with the bel canto repertoire. Describing his voice, Speight Jenkins, general director of the Seattle Opera, said, “There are other singers that sing this repertory very well, but I don't think anyone else has quite as beautiful a sound and as rounded a tone.” Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer on the world’s top stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry. Amidst the challenges of Covid-19 pandemic, Brownlee has emerged as a pivotal voice in classical music’s shift toward digital programming and the resurgence of conversations around racial justice. In May 2020, he launched The Sitdown with LB, a weekly Facebook live series which explores the experience of being an African American opera singer. The series has featured Brownlee in conversation with renowned artists like George Shirley, Denyce Graves, Martina Arroyo, J’Nai Bridges, Angel Blue, and others. Since April 2020, he has also hosted the video series entitled Coffee and a Song, in which he invites artist friends to perform interpretations of art-songs from the intimacy of their own homes, and in August 2020 he gave a masterclass conversation-performance as part of National Sawdust’s Digital Discovery Festival. Brownlee also performed at the Metropolitan Opera’s At-Home Gala in April 2020.
https://www.lawrencebrownlee.com/bio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Brownlee
About the Poet:
Meredith Kunsa is an American poet and native Californian. She holds a Master’s in Public Administration and a Master’s in Creative Writing, both from California State University. After a career as an agent for corporate speakers and trainers in venues around the world, she now resides in San Diego. Kunsa’s work has appeared in many journals, including Connecticut Review, Crab Orchard Review, Mantis Journal, MidWest Quarterly, Poet Lore, and Wisconsin Review, among others.
https://bluelyrareview.com/meredith-kunsa/
http://www.juked.com/info/912bios/meredith-kunsa.asp
About the Devotion Author:
Rachel Glazener
Alumna of the Conservatory of Music
Biola University
CCCA 2021 Lent Project Music Curator
Originally from Arizona, Rachel Glazener transplanted to California to attend Biola in 2006 and to study flute and piano performance. From 2012 to 2016, Rachel served as Networking Coordinator for the Conservatory of Music. Rachel selected all the music for the Advent and Lent Projects this year. Rachel and her husband have been married since 2011 and currently live in Portland, Oregon, with their three beautiful children: Madeleine, Lucy, and Henri.