I am the light that shines through the cosmos; if you walk with Me, you will thrive in the nourishing light that gives life and will not know darkness. — John 8:12
Some years ago, our family had the experience of cleaning out the contents of an old farm house. An elderly bachelor neighbor had sold us his land. Having fallen quite ill, he gave us instructions to take down the house and outbuildings converting everything into farm ground. The house was a pre-1900 structure with some additions/modifications made to it over the years. The stairwell leading to the second floor had been converted to a bathroom with a shower. As we looked around the grounds and the lower floor of the home, I wondered...
“What’s in the attic?”
I talked my husband into setting up a ladder so we could climb through a window and find out. The space was tight - you could only stand fully upright directly under the peak of the roof. There were holes in the roof itself and almost everything was covered in thick dust and dirt that had been blown in over the years. But I was right…there was a stash of boxes, trunks and crates up there.
My family and a few friends spent several evenings investigating the contents of the attic. We found letters, books and bibles, shoes and clothes, dishes and toys, furniture and magazines, even an entire box of old church bulletins.
People put things in the attic for many reasons…stuff they don’t want anymore…stuff they want to save for later…or save to give to their children…or stuff that belonged to their parents or grandparents. (Perhaps you were up in your own attic retrieving the Christmas decorations.) The remains of a very old trunk filled with old shoes and bonnets was likely something from our neighbor’s ancestors who ventured all the way from Russia to the Dakota prairie.
Going through the contents of that attic was a pretty dirty venture - it was a win if the box you were opening didn’t have a mouse nest in it. One of my friends told me she had the feeling of being covered in dirt for a full week after being in the space. This was not for the faint of heart. But it didn’t really phase me much. I used to dream about becoming an archaeologist and getting your hands dirty appeared to be a big part of that career. Going through the attic for me was all about the opportunity to explore, to learn, and to discover.
And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it. — Matthew 5:14-16
WHAT’S IN THE ATTIC?
There is one attic I’d like to turn your attention to — the “attic” of our Christian heritage. Of course, I’m talking on a metaphorical level. I do not know there to be any actual hidden space full of treasures from Christianity’s past…though an Indiana Jones or a Dan Brown might beg to differ. I did not seek a way to get into this attic like I did with that old farm house. I feel like the attic door, in this case, found me.
It happened on a trip with friends to Istanbul, Turkey. The week we spent in that city had the same sense of exploration and discovery as climbing through a second story window. I thought we were just going to see some really old stuff that I had studied in my art history classes. But I found myself completely mesmerized by the art of the Byzantine Christians who had lived and created for centuries in that ancient city. This heritage of visual art was something that for me growing up Protestant had been shut away…in the attic.
Images seem to have been a vital part of the early church. The Roman catacombs from the time when the church was literally underground in its early days are full of Christian imagery. We read from the 4th century Christian historian, Eusebius...
“I have examined images of the apostles Paul and Peter and indeed of Christ himself preserved in painting...” — Eusebius
It has been theorized that small portable images or possibly books of images were circulated with written texts and letters by early believers across the entire Roman Empire. Historians have few other ways to explain, once Christianity became the Empire’s official religion, how a unified Christian art form emerged during the third, fourth, and fifth centuries across the entire Roman world. It is quite remarkable.
This new art form was marked by a surprising consistency in “what figures and scenes to represent and how they were to be represented,” according to John Lowden in his book, Early Christian & Byzantine Art. Though we have no evidence indicating for certain, church tradition points to gospel writer Luke to have developed the first work of art for the new faith. It is said that he painted the first version of She Who shows the Way and this image circulated with his gospel and Acts of the Apostles.
The art developed by the early Christians, the kind of art which I saw in Istanbul, is known as icon art, or iconography. For those of us with Protestant or Anabaptist roots, the Protestant Reformation marked the time when all of it was hauled up to the attic for a number of reasons. I’ve also spent a lot of time studying what exactly happened particularly the relationships between Art and Protestants/Anabaptists - a story that is nothing other than a series of unfortunate events. Back in 2017 at the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, I wrote a 12-part series on how the connection between art and faith was disrupted. If you have interest, visit my blog and read those articles here >
And while things like the organ and stringed instruments were also hauled upstairs, they’ve since been brought back down, at least by many Protestant and Anabaptist groups. Yet other things, like Christian hymns, have rarely come under scrutiny and indeed our modern hymnals contain hymns from as early as the second century. The artwork, however, is still sitting up in the attic for many of us. There it quietly waits for someone to show up, pull off the dust-covers and bring it back downstairs into our worship spaces and practices.
In the years after that trip to Istanbul in 2001, I have gone up to the attic over and over again. I connect with this art on a deep level and I feel compelled to share what I am discovering.
SPHERE OF LIGHT
Scrolling through social media, I came across a post detailing how the ancient Christian cathedrals were masterfully constructed in a way that the space would most optimally be filled with light very specifically on the morning(s) following the longest night of the year, the winter solstice, in celebration of the True Light coming into the World.
The article by John Sanidopoulos details how this concept was incorporated by the two architects hired by Byzantine ruler Justinian in building the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul. Photos taken by Thomas Whittemore’s Byzantine Institute who uncovered and restored the original mosaics in Hagia Sophia in the 1930’s reveal the stunning light displays symbolizing the birth of Christ.
Son of God love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
— lyrics from Silent Night
Imagine worshiping and experiencing this burst of natural light.
How amazing!
I have tremendous new appreciation for the architects who created such a space. It saddens me though. Light and its symbolic presence in the worship space are not given much design consideration in this day and age.
Sancta (Hagia) Sophia is a sphere of light. — Thomas Whittemore
O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.
— lyric from O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
THE BOOK THAT TURNS DARKNESS INTO LIGHT
I’ve lived through many ages… I’ve seen suffering in the darkness. Yet I have seen beauty thrive in the most fragile of places. I have seen the book… the book that turned darkness into light. — Aisling, The Secret of the Kells
In a college library in Ireland sits one of the most valuable and impressive books in the world. It dates back to around the year 800, but so much is unknown about this rare jewel including who made it and where. There is no question however as to the why. The book, known as The Book of Kells, is a work of art every follower of Christ should be familiar with. Unfortunately, for many (myself included until recent years) it sits in the attic.
Christian communities in the Middle Ages, especially those in the Celtic world, had a place known as the Scriptorium. Here, books and manuscripts were both kept and copied by monks (tediously by hand, of course). The newly converted Celtic Christian scribes started to get super fancy in their copying task turning the work into worship creating elaborate page designs and illustrations. This is known as illumination. No book was more attentively and creatively rendered among the Celts like a volume of the Gospels. The Book of Kells is the finest existing example of an illuminated Gospel.
There is one page in The Book of Kells that stands out as an artistic masterpiece. It is called the Chi Rho (pronounced KEE - row) page. It is a highly decorative monogram for Christ whose name is spelled ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ in Greek. The X is Greek letter Chi and the P is letter Rho. The page is filled with unbelievable woven knotwork and spirals. All this intricacy is found on a parchment page approximately 13 by 9.5 inches in size.
It greatly interests me to create art based off of the Chi Rho page. While I have much grander visions of a very large work of art, as a beginning exercise, I am working on a small piece right now in my daily art making practice. It is helping me explore this masterpiece, but I am greatly challenged in working to simplify something so complex. It is work that allows for personal worship each day and I am thus enjoying it.
If you want a fun way to learn about The Book of Kells, I highly recommend the animated movie, The Secret of the Kells. This is such a beautiful film that brings alive the magic and mystery surrounding Celtic illumination work (there are some fantastic myths and legends out there). I am not the first person who also feels this is an appropriate Christmas time movie with its theme of light dispelling the darkness.
VISUALIZING THE GOOD NEWS
The image featured this year on my family’s annual Christmas card is a wonderful example of an image Christians of old were familiar with but modern Protestants/Anabaptists may not be. It is the image of the Four Evangelists — a visual for the Good News of the Messiah’s arrival. These symbols arise out of prophetic text in the Book of Revelation chapter 4 (you will also find an account in Ezekiel 1)…
In the midst of the throne and encircling the throne were four living creatures, covered all over with eyes, front to back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature was like an ox, the third creature had a face like the face of a human, and the fourth creature was like an eagle in full flight. These four living creatures, each of which had six wings and was covered with eyes—eyes on the outside and on the inside — did not cease chanting. All day and night they were singing. Four Living Creatures: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God who is the All Powerful, who was, and who is, and who is coming.” And when the living creatures declared glory and honor and thanksgiving to the One seated on the throne, the One who lives throughout all the ages. — Revelation 4:6-9
A human for Matthew
A lion for Mark
An ox for Luke
An eagle for John
The early Christians were quite clever in coming up with ways to depicting things. Images were important tools for teaching the faith. This was super helpful when many could not read. The creatures mentioned encircling the throne of heaven in the book of Revelation are a jumping off point for a visual metaphor of the Gospel writers providing us with all-important testimonies. They knew and encircled the living Christ just as the creatures encircle Christ on his throne in heaven.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote down their divinely inspired observations and recollections and thereby serve as messengers for the Eternal God. Each is shown with a pair of wings. This is a common visual symbol for anyone who is a messenger. It’s why angels and even some of the saints (such as John the Baptist) are given wings in Christian art.
I am using a common arrangement of the four evangelists, but with my own adaptation. Arranging the wings in a new way creates a diamond shape. The Celtic Christians prized this shape as a symbol for Christ. The background is covered in lively gold and silver dot work also inspired by the Celtic Christian illumination tradition.
I chose the text from Psalm 148 to compliment my painting of the Four Evangelists. It is a beautiful call to all of creation in heaven and earth to praise to God as we celebrate the birth of Christ.
Praise the Eternal!
All you in the heavens, praise the Eternal;
praise God from the highest places!
All you, messengers and armies in heaven: praise God!
Sun, moon, and all you brilliant stars above: praise God!
Highest heavens and all you waters above the heavens: praise God!
Let all things join together in a concert of praise to the name of the Eternal,
sea monsters and creatures of the deep,
Lightning and hail, snow and foggy mists,
violent winds all respond to God’s command.
Mountains and hills,
fruit trees and cedar forests,
wild animals and all cattle,
reptiles and birds who take flight: praise the Lord!
All people, young men and women,
old men and children alike,
praise the Lord!
Let them all praise the name of the Eternal!
For God’s name stands alone above all others.
The Eternal’s glory shines greater than anything above or below.
Psalm 148:1-4,7-10,13
In the beginning before time itself was measured, the Voice was speaking. The Voice was and is God.
This celestial Word remained ever present with the Creator; His speech shaped the entire cosmos. Immersed in the practice of creating, all things that exist were birthed in Him.
His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light — A light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms. It cannot and will not be quenched.
— John 1:1-5
VISIO DIVINA
As long as I continue to explore spiritual and biblical themes in my artwork, I will no doubt continue to minister with my artistic gifts within the faith community. My own community right now is a small house church belonging to a larger regional conference and Anabaptist denomination. We are a small group of individuals who gather weekly around the lectionary texts for discussion and discernment. This supportive circle of friends has listened to my laments over the ways in which the wider church (particularly Protestant and Anabaptist groups) often does the minimum to engage/involve visual art/artists in consistent and holistic ways. And so they said to me, “We need you…would you bring us some art every week?”
This responsibility has given myself and my small spiritual community much life. I call this practice visio divina (Latin for divine seeing) — I present an image with information, reflections and questions to help us engage the scriptures in a visual way. As I reflected on this new worship feature I figured…if my house church enjoys and appreciates it, maybe others might too. This has led me to create a Facebook group where I share the same weekly visuals. You can join here >
I am also creating a website where you can see the weekly posts or subscribe to have them sent to your inbox.
The visio divina practice is a way to strengthen our mental and spiritual muscles. In learning to ask questions while engaging something unfamiliar (and visual art is something unfamiliar to many people), we are increasing our capacity for curiosity and wonder. In listening to the story of the art or artist, we are expanding our compassion and understandings of how others experience life, faith and the world. In exploring the meaning or intention in color choices, technique or composition, we begin to go deeper. We are awakening new spiritual insights. We are learning to see through the eyes of the heart.
FINAL THOUGHTS
When I first climbed through the window into the attic of our neighbor’s farmhouse, it felt weird. There I was going through all this stuff from a family I didn’t really know and wasn’t related to. But as we kept going, I began to feel I was getting to know this family. I could see what their values were from what they chose to save and put up in this attic.
It was clear they were a family faith, and I began to see all the box-opening as a way of receiving the testimony of their lives. Those of us who entered that attic were revisiting their story. Though they were not there to tell us themselves, we listened to the attic and what its collection of objects was saying. In the end, I felt somewhat humbled to have taken the time to honor this home and the generations who once lived there.
I feel much the same about the time I’ve spent up in the attic of our Christian heritage. It is with great honor that I continue my work of presenting the long lost artistic heritage of the Christian Church to you — the wonderful work, creativity and faithful practices of many generations who celebrated as we do now the birth of Jesus Christ.
May the Holy One who dispels all darkness
illuminate your hearts and lives
with the pure Light of love and peace.
For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. — Ephesians 5:8