Dominus Illuminatio Mea

The Art Blog at Episcopal Cafe

At Episcopal Cafe's Art Blog, we find words and image declaring a search for illumination. Read more here.

Seen above: "Dominus Illuminatio Mea," Photography by Jan Neal.

Bending Low

"... what God did for us in that baby in a manger, we are called to do for others. Jesus spent three years in ministry bending low to help those under the crushing snows. But it wasn’t just about those he helped. It was about showing us what a life as his disciple was supposed to look like: Healing the sick, feeding the hungry, finding the lost.

If you look around and see the beauty of Christmas and hear the joy of children in the season, look a little deeper. The very thing that causes the beauty might also be bending some to the breaking point. Bend low with them, and help them up.

'For lo! the days are hastening on, by prophet seen of old, when with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling, and the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing.' Amen." by Rev. Anne Robertson, read it all HERE.

Seen above: "There Came A Light" by C. Robin Janning

Advent III

The Art Blog at Episcopal Cafe

The art and words of Heather J. Annis are featured for Advent III at the Art Blog over at Episcopal Cafe.

Seen above: "Baby Steps II," watercolor, 2008, 18 ½" x 6 ½" by Heather J. Annis

Advent's Fruit

"Contemplative waiting, purposeful waiting is what makes Christmas an experience rather than simply an event. It is a lesson meant to color the entire year." by Sr. Joan Chittister, read more here.

Seen above: "Pear Study" by Ruth Councell.

Advent Night

"We are in a season of contradictions. Lights glitter from every structure; meanwhile, the days lengthen, and darkness begins to come earlier, stay later. A little shiver runs through our pre-electric-light primordial selves. The ancient human family viewed this time of year with trepidation. They lit fires for warmth and light, and wondered what the winter would bring. No longer concerned with a lack of food and shelter during the freezing winter months, we turn on the central heat, put on a fleece-lined parka and wait for the weather report.

Yet underneath our civilized response to the season, we may sense our human roots. We may look at the dark velvet dome of the night sky laced with stars, and wonder. It is a season that mysteriously brings together death and birth—death of the old season, the old year, the growth from last summer's garden; birth of the new light after December 21, the Winter Solstice, and birth of the community that is formed as we turn inward with the season. It is the season when Christianity celebrates the birth of Jesus, also called Immanuel or God-with-us." By The Rev. Mary C. Earle in "A Celtic Christmas: Celebrating the Sacred in All Creation."

Seen Above: Advent Starry Night #2 (2006), by Virginia Wieringa

The Advent Bishop

"Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, Divine Counselor is come among us to re-mind, re-member, and re-create. A new mind and heart is birthed in us as we turn to follow Jesus on the way. The body of God's creation is re-membered and put back together in ways intended from the beginning." The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop, The Episcopal Church, read more here.

Seen above: "The Advent Bishop" by The Rev. Wilfredo Benitez-Rivera, Rector of St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal (Anglican) Church, in Garden Grove, California.

Advent II

The Art Blog at Episcopal Cafe ...this week

Tracings of Eternal Light (Cross), by assemblage artist John Sager, opens the second week of Advent at Episcopal Cafe. "The art of assemblage is the real jointing of separate objects into a cohesive whole." Read more here.

On View: Tracings of Eternal Light (Cross) by John Sager; Assemblage (Broken auto glass, cookie cutter, glass, frame) Date/Size: 13" x 9" x 4.75" (2005)

Refracting Beauty

"Art, too, can refract beauty in its wake. Art follows nature, pointing to the same generative reality. Art, too, can serve, just as connected to the disabled realities of our lives. But art has also presumed in the 'invisible hand' that guides the process, never questioning that ego-filled landscape of art might regress, rather than progress. Perhaps we need to consider that rooted beneath all of art is a much more sane and humble premise than celebrity or success. Perhaps art is to the economy what trout are to a stream: beauty that once caught, can be, and needs to be, released back generously into the cultural waters so that those who come after us can enjoy them. Perhaps that generosity is what makes waters teeming with created gems that delight our senses and sustain our well-being." Makoto Fujimura in "Trout, the Dow and our Bottom Lines"

Seen above: Bi - The Chinese Ideogram for Beauty, Detail

Bus Shelter Nativity

The poster shown above will be displayed in about 1000 bus shelters across the United Kingdom throughout December. The painting is by Royal Academy Gold medal winner, Andrew Gadd, who says: "At first I didn't like the idea of painting a nativity scene in an urban setting. However, once it was explained that it was to be designed for bus stops, it gave me an idea... this idea. The bus stop when simplified is like a stable. It is after all a shelter; a place people go to but never want to be. So where better to stage a nativity? How unlikely! The image reflects the environment it will be shown in, and therefore includes the viewer. Which is what it is all about."

Read more here. Hat tip: Episcopal Cafe.

An Advent Journey

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Advent Blue

"I turned down a road this morning and
EVERYTHING was Advent Blue."

Image and Words: The Rev. Scott Fisher

Small Glimmers of Light

Winter comes and the days grow short. To ward off the solitude of the dark night, we light candles. Small glimmers of light break the darkness, and we are joined to one another in our search for the one great light that exists always, ready to burst out through love and the lighting of a single candle.

Image and Words by Kathrin Burleson

Seen Above: Advent (watercolor, 12 x 6 inches, October 2008)

The Way Of Advent

Diane Walker, a frequent contributor to Image & Spirit, is blogging Advent. She says: "I have decided that for the next 4 weeks I will take on the daily readings for Advent, selecting a verse for each day and pairing a photo with it."

Take time to visit her at Contemplative Photographer and enrich your journey of Advent.

Landscapes

“Our intentionality constructs the landscapes of our inner world. Maybe it is time now for a phenomenology of soul. The soul creates, shapes, and peoples our inner life. The gateway to our deepest identity is not through mechanical analysis. We need to listen to the soul and articulate its wisdom in a poetic and mystical form.” John O’Donohue in Anam Cara, A Book of Celtic Wisdom.

Image: Photography by A. R. Pinkus, composition by C. Robin Janning.