LOOK: Nativity relief sculpture from Chartres Cathedral
The Nativity, ca. 1230–40. Limestone fragment from the now destroyed rood screen of Chartres Cathedral, France, 93 × 133 cm.
LISTEN: “A Cradle in Bethlehem” by Alfred Bryan (words) and Larry Stock (music), 1952 | Performed by Gregory Porter and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, on Big Band Holidays, 2015
Sing sweet and low a lullaby till angels say, “Amen” A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem While wise men follow through the dark a star that beckons them A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem
A little child will lead them, the prophets said of old In storm and tempest heed him until the bell is tolled Sing sweet and low your lullaby till angels say, “Amen” A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem
A mother tonight is rocking a cradle in Bethlehem A mother tonight is rocking her baby in Bethlehem
This song was popularized by Nat King Cole on his 1960 album, The Magic of Christmas. In addition to the live recording above featuring singer-songwriter Gregory Porter and legendary jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, here are two other recordings I like:
Sessions are free and open to the public and will not be livestreamed (and the conversations require advance registration):
June 4, 7–9pm: Live Concert (Seattle, WA)
June 5, 9:45–11am: Worship Service (Normandy Park, WA)
June 5, 7–9:30pm: A Conversation on: Faith and the Arts (Seattle, WA)
June 6, 6:30–8:30pm: A Conversation on: Faith and Technology (Bellevue, WA)
June 7, 7–9pm: A Conversation on: Faith and Work (Seattle, WA)
Guite and Bell have been collaborating for years. Below are two snippets of them performing together. In the first video Guite comedically performs (to rhythmic accompaniment!) a villanelle he wrote in response to something a woman who worked at the venue of one of his poetry talks exasperatedly said to him when his hurried photocopying caused a paper jam. The second video showcases a sonnet by Guite on the baptism of Christ, from his collection Sounding theSeasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year, and the song that Bell adapted it into, released on Keening for the Dawn.
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ESSAY: “The Listening Heart: Corita Kent’s Reforming Vision” by Michael Wright:Corita Kent (1918–1986) [previously] was an American pop artist who was also, for over three decades, a nun. Michael Wright writes about how “she became interested not just in depicting scenes from the Bible but answering this: what might happen if a Christian imagination engaged the world around us through the arts? That art might look less like an illustration from a children’s Bible and more like exploring seeing the stuff of life—even a bread bag—as dialogue partners with mysteries of faith.” wonderbread is one of four works he discusses—“a playful meditation on sacred time, wonder, and communion.”
Corita Kent (American, 1918–1986), wonderbread, 1962. Serigraph, 25 1/2 × 30 1/2 in.
While I do think even Kent’s biblical artworks push the genre of religious art forward, I appreciate how Wright challenges Christians to give a chance to her works that are less straightforwardly religious, as these are often the most imaginative and profound. And they, too, are “deeply Christian work.” Let’s not think so narrowly about what “Christian art” must look like!
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LIVING PRAYER PERIODICAL: Pentecost 2022: One of the organizations I work for is the Daily Prayer Project [previously], which publishes seven ecumenical Christian prayer periodicals a year, structured around the liturgical calendar. I do the curation for the Gallery section, which comprises three art images with written reflections, and the editing. Our latest edition covers June 5 (the feast of Pentecost) through August 6, and it includes prayers from India, Japan, Korea, Algeria, Italy, the Choctow Nation, and more. I’m excited to feature on the cover Corita Kent’s word picture: gift of tongues! As many of her screenprints do, it integrates image and text—in this case Acts 2:1–2a, which sprawls out through the sky and onto a billowing banner, like a sail, over a crowd of people aflame with the fire of the newly descended Spirit of God.
On the website there are options for one-time purchase or group subscription, and for digital only or print and digital.
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PRAYER: “The Lord’s Prayer, Extended Dance Mix” by Nadia Bolz-Weber: In March, actor Jennifer Garner asked Lutheran pastor and author Nadia Bolz-Weber if she could offer a prayer and a benediction on her InstaLive. Bolz-Weber vamped on the traditional words of the Lord’s Prayer, the text of which you can read at the boldface link.
One of the things I appreciate about Bolz-Weber’s spiritual teaching is her avoidance of clichés. She gives fresh language to the experiences of faith and life in general and to theology, which often reawakens me to the beauty of God and of Christ’s gospel. Describing why she regularly turns to prayer, she says in the Instagram video:
When I don’t have enough—like if I don’t have enough patience, if I don’t have enough compassion for myself or other people, when I don’t have enough resources—prayer is this way in which I can remind myself that there is enough. That I have a connection to my own divine source. I have a connection to God. And in the heart of God there’s enough forgiveness when I don’t have enough. In the heart of God there’s enough compassion when I don’t have enough. And so for me, it’s about reminding myself of that connection.
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SONG: “Dry Bones” by Gregory Porter: From Gregory Porter’s 2021 album Still Rising, this song was inspired by Ezekiel 37. The official music video features dancing skeletons in yellow cowboy boots(!), animated by L’Incroyable Studio. The song’s bridge quotes the African American spiritual “Dem Bones.”
The first verse goes,
I won’t die, won’t bury, won’t sink ’Cause love is the spirit I drink I’ll be free in the morning light ’Cause your touch is the medicine of life There’s a dance to this beat, let’s shake Every move—feel my body awake There’s a sound—you and me are one And your hope is the rhythm I drum
Samuel Salcedo (Spanish, 1975–), Heavy Rain, 2011. Polyester resin and aluminum powder, 185 × 180 × 260 cm. From the solo exhibition That’s Why I’m Light, Light like a Sunday Morning, October 16–November 11, 2014, Osnova Gallery, Moscow. Photo courtesy of the gallery.
LISTEN: “Water” by Gregory Porter, on Water (2010)
This is the title track of multi-Grammy-winning jazz vocalist and songwriter Gregory Porter’s debut album. The live performance posted below took place in November 2010 at Dizzy’s Club at Lincoln Center in New York City. It features Chip Crawford on piano, Alex Han on alto saxophone, and Yosuke Sato on alto saxophone.
Water pouring down the sidewalks Cleaning widows clear to see Washing gumdrops down side gutters Rusting chains and cleansing me
Greening gardens, drowning ants Changing rhythms, bruising plants Graying vistas soulfully And again it’s saving me
Ooooo Ooooo Wash me, wash me, wash me Let me rest in you Let me flow away to glory Save me, save me, save me
Art & Theology 