About the Artwork: 
Ruin #5 from the Cornerstone Series
Guillaume Herbert
2018
Archival pigment print
50 x 66 cm
Edition of 5 + 2 AP

The cornerstone is traditionally the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. Historically a cornerstone was the principal stone, usually placed at the corner of an edifice, and all other stones would be set in reference to this stone to determine the position of the entire structure. Over time, a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone set in a prominent location on the outside of a building. The rite of laying a cornerstone is an important cultural component of eastern architecture and metaphorically in sacred architecture. A cornerstone, sometimes referred to as a "foundation stone," is symbolic of Christ, for he is the foundation on whom his church is built. He is our standard of measure—he is the one whom we build our lives upon. In Matthew 21:42–44, Jesus says, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’...?” Herbert’s photographic series of these cornerstone blocks imply both the symbolic and the imposing physical importance of these stones. 

About the Artist:
Guillaume Herbert (b. 1969) is an independent photographic artist from Normandy, France, who prefers to define himself as a passerby and an eyewitness to a “utopian world.” He graduated from the School of Fine Arts of Caen, France. After a seven-year long pilgrimage in Asia, he returned to Europe, where he remained in Berlin one year before returning to France. Since 2019, he has lived and worked in Avignon.
https://guillaumehebert.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerstone

About the Music: 
“Cornerstone” from the album Morning Rises

Lyrics:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness 
I dare not trust the sweetest flame 
But wholly trust in Jesus' name 
Christ alone, Cornerstone 
Weak made strong, in the Savior's love 
Through the storm 
He is Lord, 
Lord of All.

When darkness seems to hide His face
I rest on His unchanging grace 
In every high and stormy gale 
My anchor holds within the veil 
My anchor holds within the veil

Christ alone, Cornerstone 
Weak made strong, in the Savior's love 
Through the storm 
He is Lord, 
Lord of All.
He is Lord, Lord of all 

Then He shall come with trumpets sound 
Oh, may I then in Him be found 
Dressed in His righteousness alone 
Faultless, stand before the throne

Christ alone, Cornerstone 
Weak made strong, in the Savior's love 
Through the storm 
He is Lord, 
Lord of All

About the Performer: 
Aaron Shust is a singer/songwriter. His music reflects a deep love for the Bible, and did so well before his early success when he was named the 2007 Songwriter of the Year and New Artist of the Year and wrote the Song of the Year, “My Savior My God.” He loves the promises of God, which have carried him through diagnoses of Down Syndrome and chronic illness for two of his sons, as well as the deaths of loved ones. His faith has inspired his recording of the anthems of faith “My Hope is in You,'' which spent fourteen weeks at #1 on the music charts, and “No One Higher,” as well as declarations of worship like “Ever Be,” which debuted at #3 on the NCA chart. Shust’s commitment to the fulfillment of the beauty of the gospel has led him around the world to lead worship with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. With Graham, the artist has traveled to Canada, Romania, Hawaii, and Scotland. His travels yielded a celebration of global sounds, made by instruments such as ukuleles, bagpipes, brass, and Middle Eastern percussion, all featured in his new album entitled Nothing to Fear. He has spent considerable time in ministry and collaboration in Israel, where he declared God’s promises for his people in the song “Zion.” In 2014, Aaron recorded the Christmas album Unto Us with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and it has been hailed a “musical masterpiece.” Despite Aaron’s celebration in worship that leads him to far-flung corners of the world, his heart is at home in Nashville, Tennessee, with family.
https://www.aaronshust.com/about

About the Composers: 
Reuben Morgan, William Bradbury, Jonas Myrin, Eric Liljero, and Edward Mote

Reuben Morgan is a prolific songwriter and the worship pastor at Hillsong Church London. He has written many of the church’s best-loved songs, from “Mighty To Save” to “Cornerstone” and “Christ Is Enough.” “I Will Follow” (co-written with Chris Tomlin and Jason Ingram) spent twenty-four weeks in the top ten of the iTunes gospel chart and his songs have been covered by such artists as Michael W. Smith, Chris Tomlin, Natalie Grant, Jeremy Camp, Newsboys, Passion, and many others. He is a GMA Award winner for his song “Mighty To Save” and a multiple nominee. As a worship leader, Reuben tours extensively every year with Hillsong.
https://hillsong.com/contributors/contributor/reuben-morgan/

William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868) was a musician who composed the tune to "Jesus Loves Me" and many other popular hymns. In 1840 he began teaching in Brooklyn, New York, and 1847 he went to Germany, where he studied harmony, composition, and vocal and instrumental music. In 1854, he started the Bradbury Piano Company with his brother Edward in New York City. Bradbury is best known as a composer and publisher of a series of musical collections for choirs and schools. He was the author and compiler of fifty-nine books of music, starting in 1841.  Upon finding the poem "Jesus Loves Me” in 1862, Bradbury wrote the music and added a chorus to the poem to include "Yes, Jesus loves me; Yes, Jesus loves me..." as part of the song.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Batchelder_Bradbury
https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bbradbury.html

Jonas Myrin is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and producer based in Los Angeles, California. Myrin won two Grammy Awards for his song "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)," which he wrote for Christian artist Matt Redman. He also has won both Billboard and multiple Dove awards, as well as many nominations for those awards. He has written songs for artists such as Barbra Streisand, Idina Menzel, Andrea Bocelli, Lauren Daigle, Nicole Scherzinger, and others; often producing the songs as well. Some of Myrin’s recent highlights include writing and co-producing four songs for Barbra Streisand’s critically acclaimed 2018 album entitled Walls; co-writing “Gloria The Gift of Life'' recorded by Andrea Bocelli on his collection entitled Si; producing “At This Table” from Idina Menzel’s holiday album A Season of Love, which became one of the most streamed original Christmas songs of 2019; and writing “Beautiful Life,” an international hit single for Simon Fuller’s new global music band NowUnited.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Myrin
https://jonasmyrin.squarespace.com/

Eric Liljero is a Hillsong Church Stockholm creative pastor. He has been with the Stockholm Church since its start in 2006, and he is passionate about seeing the local church grow strong in Europe. Liljero is also one of the co-writers of the song “Cornerstone,” which is sung each week by millions of people worldwide. He lives in downtown Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife, Beatrice, and sons, Adrian and Matheo. He loves to spend time outdoors and is always looking for a great coffee experience.
https://hillsong.com/ja/contributor/eric-liljero/

Edward Mote (1797–1874) was a British pastor and hymn writer. He was trained as a cabinet maker and worked in London for thirty-seven years. Only in his fifties did he enter the ministry and became a pastor at Rehoboth Baptist Church in Horsham, West Sussex, for twenty-six years. He was well-liked by the congregation in Horsham and they offered him the church building as a gift. Mote replied, "I do not want the chapel, I only want the pulpit; and when I cease to preach Christ, then turn me out of that." Perhaps his best-known hymn is "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less," which refers to the parable of the wise and the foolish builders, with its refrain “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Mote

About the Poet: 
William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) was an American poet closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician, practicing both pediatrics and general medicine. He was affiliated with what was then known as Passaic General Hospital in Passaic, New Jersey, where he served as the hospital's chief of pediatrics from 1924 until his death in 1963.  Williams has always been known as an experimenter, an innovator, and a revolutionary figure in American poetry. Yet in comparison to artists of his own time who sought a new environment for creativity as expatriates in Europe, Williams lived a remarkably conventional life. A doctor for more than forty years, he relied on his patients, the America around him, and his own ebullient imagination to create a distinctively American verse. Often domestic in focus and "remarkable for its empathy, sympathy, its muscular and emotional identification with its subjects," Williams' poetry is characterized by honesty and candor.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-carlos-williams
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carlos_Williams

About the Devotion Author:  
Stacie Schmidt
Librarian

Stacie Schmidt has a B.A. in History from Cedarville University and a M.L.I.S. from UCLA. Outside of the Library, she loves to read Dorothy L. Sayers’ mystery novels, write about film, and count the days until the next Star Wars movie.