March 21: Grace
♫ Music:
Day 17 - Friday, March 21
Title: Grace
Scripture #1: Romans 3:20–26 (NKJV)
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Scripture #2: Ephesians 2:8–9 (NKJV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Scripture #3: Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV)
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Poetry & Poet:
“Exurbia”
by Mary Karr
In the predawn murk when the porch lights hang
on suburban porches like soft lemons
my love rides out in his black car.
His high beams stroke our bedroom wall.
Half awake, I feel watched over and doze
afloat in swirls of white linen.
Then he's at the Y in trunks I bought him
sleek as an otter, eyes open behind goggles.
He claws the length of his lane.
Oh but his flip turn makes of his body
a spear, and his good heart drubs.
We often call at odd hours from different
star points of the globe. But today
he'll stop home to deposit a hot coffee
on my bedside. For years I fought
moving to this rich gulag because I thought
it was too white or too right or too dumb, but
really, as Blake once said,
I couldn't bear the beams of love.
About the Art #1:
Grace Hour
Makoto Fujimura
1999
Mineral pigments and gold on Kumohada paper
157 x 122 cm
About the Art #2:
Grace Tree
Makoto Fujimura
1997
Mineral pigments, silver, and gold on Kumohada paper
48 x 60 in.
Makoto Fujimura is known for his use of traditional Japanese Nihonga techniques and his passion for reconnecting Christian faith with fine art. Noted artist and critic Robert Kushner has written, “The idea of forging a new kind of art, about hope, healing, redemption, refuge, while maintaining visual sophistication and intellectual integrity is a growing movement, one which finds Makoto Fujimura’s work at the vanguard.” Fujimura fuses traditional Nihonga painting with the techniques of Western Abstract Expressionism. He has a particular affinity for using stone-ground minerals such as gold, platinum, malachite, azurite, and cinnabar. Fujimura believes that the minerals—particularly gold—allow for a fuller exploration between the essential flatness of abstraction and the interior space of representation. His art, while largely abstract, is never remote or cold. Rather, it always brushes against the edge of mystery, inviting us in, asking us to trust that there is order behind chaos and grace behind pain. Contemplation and prayer are intertwined with Fujimura's work, and his art is a fundamental expression and practice of his Christian faith. He views "making" as central to what the church is called to be and do. We are invited by God to be co-creators with God in bringing about the new creation.
https://www.ecodisciple.com/blog/slowing-down/
https://imagejournal.org/artist/makoto-fujimura/
About the Artist #1 & #2:
Makoto Fujimura (b. 1960) is a leading contemporary artist whose process-driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of The New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.” Fujimura is also an arts advocate, writer, and speaker who is recognized worldwide as a cultural influencer. A presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts from 2003 to 2009, Fujimura served as an international advocate for the arts, speaking with decision makers and advising governmental policies on the arts. Fujimura's journey of faith is recounted in his book Silence and Beauty. When he was in Japan studying traditional methods in Japanese art, Fujimura was searching for deeper meaning and purpose in life. It was not until he read the poems of William Blake, where he found new meaning in Christianity, that he began his journey of faith in Christ. His books Refractions, Culture Care, and Art & Faith; A Theology of Making reflect many of his views on arts advocacy and faith. Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement (IAM) in 1992 and IAMCultureCare in 2011, which oversees the Fujimura Institute. In 2011, Fujimura launched the Four Qu4rtets project, a collaboration between painter Bruce Herman, Duke theologian/pianist Jeremy Begbie, and Yale composer Christopher Theofanidis, based on T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. He is a recipient of four Doctor of Arts honorary degrees, from Belhaven University (2011), Biola University (2012), Cairn University (2014), and Roanoke College (2015). Fujimura’s art has been featured widely in galleries and museums around the world, and is found in collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Japan; the Huntington Library in San Marino, California; as well as Tikotin Museum in Israel.
https://www.makotofujimura.com/
About the Music: “Marvelous Grace” from the album The Great Controversy
Lyrics:
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord.
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace, God’s grace.
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.
Grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss,
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the Refuge, the mighty Cross.
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
About the Composers: Julia Johnston (lyrics) and Daniel Towner (music)
Julia Harriette Johnston (1849–1919) was a Presbyterian teacher, author, and musician who wrote the lyrics to the song "Grace Greater Than All Our Sin.” Her mother and grandmother were poets, and Julia originally wrote verse under the pen name "Juniata." In addition to authoring over five hundred hymns, Johnston worked as a Sunday school superintendent and teacher for over forty years and served as president of the Presbyterian Missionary Society. Johnston wrote the lyrics to "Grace Greater Than All Our Sin" and Daniel B. Towner wrote the music. The song describes the Christian tenet of grace and justification by faith articulated in Paul's letter to the Romans in verses 5:1–2 and 14–16.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_H._Johnston
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-grace-greater-than-our-sin-johnston
Daniel B. Towner (1850–1919) was an American composer who held a doctorate of music, and used his talents to develop the music to several Christian hymns which are still popular today. Towner was the music director for several churches and Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois (1893–1919).
About the Performers: Fountainview Academy Choir and Orchestra
Fountainview Academy is a Christian high school based in southern British Columbia, Canada. Fountainview exists to empower young people with tools and skills for music ministry and share the love of Jesus with the world. Each student at Fountainview Academy is involved in the school’s music program and the school’s students have performed all over Canada, the United States, Europe, and around the world. They have also been blessed to film multiple music DVDs and had them broadcast worldwide via satellite.
https://fountainviewacademy.ca/
About the Poetry and Poet:
Mary Karr (b. 1955) is an American poet, essayist, and memoirist from Texas. She rose to fame in 1995 with the publication of her best-selling memoir The Liars’ Club. She is the Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of English Literature at Syracuse University in Lima, New York. Her memoir The Liars’ Club, which delves vividly into her deeply troubled childhood, was followed by two additional memoirs, Cherry and Lit: A Memoir, which details her “...journey from blackbelt sinner and lifelong agnostic to unlikely Catholic.” Karr won the 1989 Whiting Award for her poetry, was a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry in 2005, and has won Pushcart Prizes for both her poetry and essays. Her poems have appeared in major literary magazines such as Poetry, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic Monthly.
https://www.marykarr.com/
About the Devotion Writer:
Dr. Dianne B. Collard
Alumna of Cook School of Intercultural Studies
Biola University
Founder of ArtsCharlotte in North Carolina
Dianne B. Collard received her M.A. and D.Miss from Biola’s School of Intercultural Studies. She and her husband have been missionaries for thirty-seven years, primarily in Europe. She currently serves as the Europe Ministries Director of A.C.T. International. Living in Charlotte, North Carolina, she ministers to local artists when she is not in Europe. She is the author of I Choose to Forgive: a Personal Journey with God (Expanded Version). She is blessed with three children, five granddaughters, and now, a beautiful great-granddaughter.