Detail from “I Am With You” by Lauren Wright Pittman | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org
Dear Westwood Family,
We’re to the days in Advent when plans for all of the worship services between now and the New Year are open tabs on my laptop, and printout drafts of plans and scripts cover my physical desk. This afternoon, I lost a delightful half hour paging through images of Christmas Pageants past on our church Flickr page, marveling at how much all the kids have grown, only to realize I still had a really long list of things to do today! Alongside all the worship details and party plans, I’m aware of so many things that demand my time and attention, and break my heart: more details about a recent mass shooting in Stockton, updates about the war in Ukraine, further word of danger for transgender people, immigrants, and the poor.
With all that’s swirling in my mind, I’m finding the art images that accompany our Advent devotional to be such a gift. I especially love the block-printed image that Lauren Wright Pittman made for next week’s scripture text from Isaiah 41. Here she offers a prophetically and compassionately imaginative image of the people of Israel during their exile: as vulnerable and beloved, held together in the hand of God.
In the artist’s statement (which is included in our devotional), she draws a contrasting connection between her image and current events, calling to our memory the brutality of AI-generated images and words spoken by the US President about the Palestinian people in Gaza. “Watching the powerful revel in the demise of the vulnerable is horrifying — but fitting,” she writes, soberly aware of the suffering of others.
Alternatively, this art image invites us to imagine that those who are displaced and dispossessed of power are nonetheless deeply beloved by God. Precious, they are held in the hands of the divine. Even the land itself–the plants, the water, the sunlight–bears witness to the integrity of creation. It defies us to believe its value; land that we might be tempted to perceive as desolated, desecrated, and devalued still bears defiant beauty and significance.
Just today, friends of mine who are leaders in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church shared images from a visit and prayer gathering outside of the detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz. Standing witness from outside, they described being able to sense the inhumane pain and suffering of those held captive inside. My colleague Molly McEntire offered her experience as an important reminder to stay awake and notice the suffering we’d rather ignore. “May we be people who notice, who care, and who never let indifference become normal.”
May we also be people who never fail to see the dignity and value of others, and of creation. Even in captivity or exile or displacement or defeat, may we see God’s image in every person. May we trust in God’s deep love for all creation. May we find ways to extend our own hands (metaphorically and literally) in care to one another, too. And when we are afraid, may we reach out in love.
I pray that you will perceive the value of everyone and everything around you. I pray that you will know yourself to be precious, too. And may divine love hold you tenderly through this season of Advent.
grace and peace,
Pastor Molly
