Sending Forth

Luke 1:78–79

By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
 to guide our feet into a way of peace.

Here we are on the cusp of Christmas, christ-mass, God-with-us, Emmanuel.

Here we are ending Advent with a beginning, a birthing. Light and dark commingle so we find ourselves in a blessed place, God's place, filled with blessed blessedness. Artist Valerie Sjodin depicts that place in her painting, and you can see more of her energetic, lively art HERE

As we end our journey of Advent Explorations so you can begin Christmas celebrations, let me leave you with a blessing written by artist and poet, Jan Richardson.

Delivered
: A Blessing

From the hundred wants


that tug at us.


From the thousand voices


that hound us.


From every fear


that haunts us.


From each confusion


that inhabits us.

From what comes


to divide, to destroy.


From what disturbs


and does not let us rest.

Deliver us,

o God,


and draw us

into
 your relentless


peace.

This ends our Advent Explorations blog. 
A Merry Christmas to one and all!

Do Not Be Afraid

Luke 1:26–38

An angel said to Mary, ‘Do not be afraid Mary, for God has been gracious to you;
 you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”

The words "Do not be afraid" are found in the bible 365 times. 

What are we afraid of? Perhaps earlier in our evolution we needed fear to keep us on our toes so a Mastadon didn't sneak up on us and crush us underfoot. Perhaps we still need fear as that tingling "spidey-sense" that all is not well as we walk through a dark alley at 3am.

However, fear can hamper us when it's a constant state of anxiety.

Fear can crush our creativity when we are too embarrassed to try new things. And yet when we rise above the fear great things can happen.

Artist Henry Ossawa Tanner knew about fear and struggled with it throughout his life. Born in 1859, in Pennsylvania, as an African American he knew first hand about racism. 

Although many artists refused to accept an African-American apprentice, in 1879 Tanner enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, becoming the only black student. Although he gained confidence as an artist and began to sell his work, he had to deal with racism in Philadelphia. It had traditionally had strong ties to the South through numerous planter families and commercial ties; in addition, planters had sent their daughters to Philadelphia academies. After the Civil War, many African Americans left the rural South and settled in Northern urban centers, at times coming into conflict with the increasing population of immigrants from Ireland, southern and eastern Europe. Although painting became a therapeutic source of release for Tanner, the lack of acceptance in society was painful. In his autobiography The Story of an Artist’s Life, Tanner describes the burden of racism:

I was extremely timid and to be made to feel that I was not wanted, although in a place where I had every right to be, even months afterwards caused me sometimes weeks of pain. Every time any one of these disagreeable incidents came into my mind, my heart sank, and I was anew tortured by the thought of what I had endured, almost as much as the incident itself.

In an attempt to gain artistic acceptance, Tanner left America for France in late 1891. Except for occasional brief returns home, he spent the rest of his life there. Perhaps his experiences of racism and his constant anxious fear made his representation of Mary receiving the angel's message so poignant:

The same message "Don't be afraid" has been set to music. There are a number of versions but I'll share two. First, listen to Norwegian singer, Sissel, offering "You'll Never Walk Alone," HERE 

Second, listen to a recording of John Bell's song "Don't Be Afraid," HERE

Our Advent Exploration questions for today are: What are you afraid of? How might you rise above your fear?