Salvation Mountain

October 4, 2012 / / One comment

View from Mount Sinai
Image released to public domain via Wikipedia

 

There’s something about God and mountains–or maybe there’s something about people and mountains. Whatever the truth, you can find a lot of high places in the Bible, raising humans above the everyday and opening them to the presence of God. Think: Noah on Ararat, Moses ascending Sinai, Jesus’ Transfiguration, and the psalmist lifting up eyes to the hills.  So perhaps it’s not surprising that there exits a place in the lower desert of Southern California called Salvation Mountain.

Salvation Mountain is an art installation, and a highly personal and expression of faith created by Leonard Knight. Knight’s goal was simple, to proclaim the message “God is Love.” The site is monumental, reflecting both the greatness of God’s love and the intensity of Knight’s passion. And it’s quirky, giving us the opportunity to stand in the shoes of some of Noah’s neighbor’s for just a bit. You can explore the mountain further through photojournalist Aaron Huey’s beautiful, compelling pictorial essay.

 

Salvation Mountain
Wikimedia Commons; photo by Joe Decruyemaere licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

 

Category: art, mountains, photo essay, popular culture / Tags: ,

Ring out! Bath Abbey bells

September 30, 2012 / / Comments Off on Ring out! Bath Abbey bells

Looking down on the River Avon from the windows of our flat, we could often see canal boats below us and hot air balloons above us, and sometimes we could hear the abbey bells calling us.  It was an altogether joyous sound.

This type of bell ringing, where tuned bells are rung in a mathematical sequence, was developed in England in the 17th century and is called change ringing.

 

 

Category: joy, music, video / Tags: , ,

Angels and archangels; tattoos and prayers

September 29, 2012 / / One comment

St. Michael, Archangel Protector
Prayer card created by IconArt

 

In the corners of Christendom that celebrate saints’ days, today is the feast day of St. Michael and all Angels.  As I was searching the web for pictures of St. Michael, I was surprised to find that, along with Guido Reni’s famous painting of St. Michael Crushing Satan, there were a great number of St. Michael tattoos–including some interesting variations in apparel and weaponry.  St. Michael, of course, is the coolest angel for tattoo purposes.  He’s a protector and champion, he carries a lance or a sword, and he gets to bruise the devil under his feet. But Michael is also the patron saint of police officers, paratroopers, fighter pilots, soldiers, fencers, and grocers–and that is why so many people are getting inked. Perhaps these days a tattoo takes the place of the more traditional saints’ medal.

There are numerous prayers addressed to St. Michael; two of them caught my attention. The first is related to a famous story of a young Marine saved by St. Michael in Korea. You could learn this verse as a child and carry it with you through a lifetime.

Michael, Michael of the morning,
Fresh corps of Heaven adorning,
Keep me safe today,
And in time of temptation
Drive the devil away.
Amen.

The second prayer is said to be a police officer’s prayer:

Saint Michael, heaven’s glorious commissioner of police, who once so neatly and successfully cleared God’s premises of all its undesirables, look with kindly and professional eyes on your earthly force.

Give us cool heads, stout hearts, and uncanny flair for investigation and wise judgement. Make us the terror of burglars, the friend of children and law-abiding citizens, kind to strangers, polite to bores, strict with law-breakers and impervious to temptations.

You know, Saint Michael, from your own experiences with the devil that the police officer’s lot on earth is not always a happy one; but your sense of duty that so pleased God, your hard knocks that so surprised the devil, and your angelic self-control give us inspiration.

And when we lay down our night sticks, enroll us in your heavenly force, where we will be as proud to guard the throne of God as we have been to guard the city of all the people.    Amen.

Sometimes an expression of faith is highly personal and not at all institutional. It can be wild and uncontrollable; without official sanction, but not without meaning. Sometimes you know the sinners by their saints.

Category: angels, art, prayer, saints / Tags: , ,

Prayer, the Church’s banquet

September 26, 2012 / / Comments Off on Prayer, the Church’s banquet

Prayer (I)
by George Herbert (1593-1633)

 

Prayer the Church’s banquet, Angels’ age,
God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth;

Engine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tower,
Reverséd thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six day’s world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;

Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted Manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well dressed,
The Milky Way, the bird of Paradise,

Church bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
The land of spices, something understood.

Category: poetry, prayer / Tags:

In the beginning…

September 26, 2012 / / One comment

Creation–Day 4

Creation – Day 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Printed on sleeve:

“Creation of the World with the Garden of Eden. A fascinating pictorial description of the Bible story, ideal for use at class and at home.”

Printed by Reproducta, Inc.The top wheel spins to reveal pictures representing the six days of Creation and the Sabbath.

Best known as a publisher of Catholic greeting cards, Reproducta, Inc. was a stationery company founded by Czech-born Rudolf Schulhof.  Schulhof and his wife Hannelore were great patrons of the arts who served on numerous museum boards and amassed a significant collection. Hannelore Schulhof is quoted as saying, “Art is almost like a religion. It is what I believe in. It is what gives my life dimension beyond the material world.”

Category: art, creation / Tags: , , ,

Son House – John the Revelator

September 24, 2012 / / One comment

When it comes to Delta blues, there is no singer who moves me like Son House. To my ears, no one can match the purity and intensity of his performance on tracks like “Death Letter,” “Grinnin’ in Your Face,” and “Empire State Express.” Like a lot of blues and gospel musicians, Son House had a complicated relationship with the church. His many occupations included time as a Baptist preacher, but ultimately he became a blues singer, playing the kind of music in the kinds of places of which the church did not approve. Still, his belief in God and his sense of a Judgement Day can be heard throughout his recordings. Here is his version of “John the Revelator,” a traditional call and response gospel song first recorded by Blind Willie Johnson.

 

Category: blues, music, Revelation, video / Tags:

An inquiring nature

September 23, 2012 / / Comments Off on An inquiring nature

…For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.   I Corinthians 2:10

As I read this, I am struck by the words “the Spirit searches everything” — and I wonder “why does the Spirit search?” The Spirit moves, actively probing, penetrating even the depths of God. Why?  Perhaps because the Spirit wants to know, because the Spirit has an inquiring nature, and because God wants to be known.

Category: Bible, Holy Spirit, Interesting phrases, theology /

Hear the groaning…

September 21, 2012 / / Comments Off on Hear the groaning…

As a door turns on its hinges,
so does a sluggard on his bed.

–Proverbs 26:14

Category: Uncategorized /

No hay nada imposible

September 19, 2012 / / Comments Off on No hay nada imposible

Luke 1:37 in danceable form by Juan Luis Guerra, singer, songwriter, producer, and winner of three Latin Grammy awards.

For You nothing is impossible…

 

“Para Ti”

Oh Señor Jesús con tu grandeza , (oh señor)
Hiciste los cielos y la tierra, (oh señor)
Los rios, los mares, las estrellas, (oh señor)
Eres verbo y tu palabra es fuerza, todo lo puedes

Coro :
Para ti no hay nada imposible, para tí
Para tí no hay mal ni tormenta, para tí
No hay problemas, ni enfermedades, para tí
Para ti no hay nada imposible, para tí

A Noé sacaste de las aguas, (oh señor)
A Daniel libraste de las fieras, (oh señor)
A Moisés abriste el mar rojo, (oh señor)
Y Sara dió a luz a los noventa, todo lo puedes

Coro :
Para ti no hay nada imposible, para tí (ay, nada imposible)
Para tí no hay mal ni tormenta, para tí (ni mal ni tormentas, no)
No hay problemas, ni enfermedades, para tí
Para ti no hay nada imposible, para tí ( oh no !)

Hiciste llover maná del cielo, (oh señor)
Pan y peces tu multiplicaste, (oh señor)
El buen Lázaro resucitaste, (oh señor)
Y un milagro para mí yo quiero, todo lo puedes

Coro :
Para ti no hay nada imposible, para tí (nada imposible)
Para tí no hay mal ni tormenta, para tí (ni mal ni tormentas, no)
No hay problemas, ni enfermedades, para tí
Para ti no hay nada imposible, para tí (ojooye !)

Nada imposible, ajá eh !

No hay problemas ni enfermedades, (para tí, para tí)
No hay divorcio ni droga en la calle, (para tí, para tí)
Ya no hay cáncer ni sida ni males, (para tí, y no, no, no, no, no, para tí)
No hay tormenta ni calamidades, (para tí), y todo lo puedes…

 

 

Category: Bible, music, praise, video / Tags:

Turn our hearts to brave music

May 14, 2012 / / Comments Off on Turn our hearts to brave music

Augustine of Hippo

 
God of our life, there are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders and weigh us down, when the road seems dreary and endless, the skies gray and threatening, when our lives have no music in them and our hearts are lonely, and our souls have lost their courage.

Flood the path with light, we beseech thee; turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise; turn our hearts to brave music; give us the sense of camaraderie with heroes and saints of every age; and so lift up our spirits that we may be able to encourage the souls of all who journey with us on the road of life. We offer you our praise and thanks. Amen.

 

Category: prayer / Tags:
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