Thursday, January 25, 2007

Sanctuary

Our studio has just completed a Noah’s ark stole design. This has caused me to ponder “the ark” and what it meant to Noah, his family and the animals. The ark was a sanctuary.

What is a sanctuary? Webster’s Dictionary defines it as a place of safety or refuge. In medieval law, a sanctuary was a place of religious right of asylum for felons on the run from the law. In churches the word sancutary defines an architectural space but varies in tradition from the elevated place where the altar stands in the chancel, and where the ordanined servant of the congregation leads the worship to a more general reference to the place where worship services are held.

Noah was faithful to God. May we also be faithful to God in our contemporary sanctuaries by speaking, singing, dancing, and creating the visual connections that are responses and celebrations of the Word.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Don’t Put the Celebration Away

Advent allows us to anticipate Christ’s birth. Christmas Day has arrived and we are now in the midst of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Soon this part of the liturgical calendar will climax when most Christians will celebrate Epiphany on January 6th. Epiphany looks ahead to the mission of the church to the world in light of the Nativity.

The five pointed star is symbolic of the Epiphany, or the manifested nature of God. Matthew 2:1-12 records that the wise men came from the east and asked, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” The five pointed star is the star “out of Jacob” (Num. 24:17) and Jesus Christ, “the bright morning star” (Rev. 22:16) who manifested himself to the Gentiles. The five pointed star usually accompanies scenes of the nativity.

While celebrating Epiphany you may cut out paper stars and place them in the windows of your home. Alternatively you might gather with your congregation for scripture, song, and fellowship as your Christmas trees provide light in a bonfire. Regardless of how you celebrate, Epiphany is about letting God’s light and love shine through us and recognizing that light in others. Shine on!


*artwork: Nativity-3 by Kim Jae Im, Korea