Tag: Nathan Florence

Advent, Day 9: Pave Every Road

Victoria Emily JonesLeave a comment

LOOK: Shine Forth Upon These Clouded Hills by Nathan Florence

Florence, Nathan_Shine Forth Upon These Clouded Hills
Nathan Florence (American, 1972–), Shine Forth Upon These Clouded Hills. Oil on canvas, 30 × 40 in.

LISTEN: “Pave Every Road” by Caroline Cobb, on A Home and a Hunger: Songs of Kingdom Hope (2017)

Pave every road with repentance
Bring the proud heart low
Let the humble heart sing
Break down all your walls, your defenses
Swing wide your gates
For the coming of the king

Lo, he has come to rebuild the ruins
Lo, he has come, set them captives free
I know he has come to bind up the broken
It’s the year of his favor
The year of Jubilee

People livin’ in the darkness
Lift up your heads and see the sun
I see a new day dawnin’
It brings good news for everyone

I see the sun risin’
I see the sun risin’
I see the sun risin’

One day we’ll all hear a trumpet
He will return with reckoning
I’ll follow my king into glory
Who here is comin’ with me?
Who here is comin’ with me?
Who here is comin’ with me?
Yeah!

I see the sun risin’
I see the sun risin’
I see the sun risin’

Get up, get ready
Get up, get ready
Get up, get ready
For the king to come

Who here is comin’ with me?

Lent, Day 7

Victoria Emily Jones8 Comments

Today’s two featured artists draw on the mythology of the phoenix, a fantastical bird that dies in flames but then is born again out of its own ashes. (An alternate legend, not as popular, says the phoenix dies and decomposes but then rises out of its rot.) In Christianity the phoenix became a symbol of resurrection—Jesus’s, and our own. The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians from the late first century CE is the first Christian writing to make this connection. And the phoenix points to not only the reconstitution of our bodies after death but also the spiritual regeneration we undergo in this life. Out of the ashes of our sin, the death of the old self, the new self rises with Christ.

Apart from (but not opposed to) this theological framework, the phoenix can be seen as a symbol of resilience through trials, of withstanding the forces of destruction, and it seems that’s the sense that life coach and creative Yolonda Coles Jones [previously] is after in her song. The chorus is a mantra that anyone, regardless of faith tradition, can make their own: “Rise from the ashes.”

LOOK: Nathan Florence (American, 1972–), Winging Phoenix, 2010. Oil on printed cotton, 20 × 20 in.

Florence, Nathan_Winging Phoenix

LISTEN: “Phoenix Bird” by Yolonda Coles Jones, 2019

Amazed at what I’m able to do
Lookin’ back on all I’ve been through
Survived unimaginable things, yeah
Phoenix bird claps her wings

Rise from the ashes (×4)

Spread your wings and fly
Phoenix bird, rise

Note to reader: I’m not able to sustain daily posts for the duration of Lent (I’m a one-woman show here!), so there won’t be a “Lent, Day 8,” etc., but I will continue to provide regular content throughout the season. In the meantime, I hope you’re enjoying the Lent Playlist I put together.