John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And the whole Judean region and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed… more >>
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough… more >>
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can… more >>
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to… more >>
David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness…Saul sought him every day, but the Lord did not give him into his hand. (1 Samuel 23:14, NRSVue)
I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like a little owl of the waste places. (Psalm 102:6m NRSVue)
The Hebrew Scriptures offer…
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[The High Priest] is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. more >>
Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. (Deuteronomy 8:2, NRSVue)
The account in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Exodus of the Children of Israel from…
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[Moses] led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight… more >>
So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child [Ishmael] and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of… more >>
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents. (Hebrews 11:8-9, NRSVue)
The…
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"Therefore, I will now allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her." (Hosea 2:14m NRSVue)
Desert-dwelling is a timeless trope of Judeo-Christian spirituality, whether it be the story of Moses and the Children of Israel wandering in the wilderness or the temptation of Jesus in desert isolation. In this passage from the Hebrew…
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The Sacred Art Pilgrim is taking his annual break from
internet postings to cultivate his garden and recharge
his spirit. He will return in September and wishes you
all a creative summer season.
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The third in my trio of Marian-minded artists, new to the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, is Janet McKenzie, whose studio in rural Vermont has become the epicenter of a quiet revolution aimed at nothing less than overturning the millennia-long white patriarchal focus of Christian art. McKenzie first sent shockwaves through the convention-bound sacred art…
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Mary Jane Miller joins the Collection listings in this month devoted to Mary with a fascinating tale to tell of her sacred art pilgrimage. Born in New York, she made her way to Mexico on a whim to study art and settled in the Spanish Colonial jewel box city of San Miguel de…
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May is the month traditonally dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Over the coming weeks, I will be posting biographical sketches of three artists, new to the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, who have revitalized Marian portraiture in unconventional ways, placing the Mother of Christ in contemporary contexts and offering her to the viewer as a universal exemplar of Christian spirituality…
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[Then, Jesus said], "Which of these three do you think was a
neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy
on him." Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
(Luke 10:36-37, NRSVue)
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"...A Samaritan while traveling came upon [the wounded man],
and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went
to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and
wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an
Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem more >>
to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped
him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now
by chance a priest was going down that road, and when
he saw him he…
An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your… more >>
When Conservative Christian influencers condemn what they call "toxic empathy," it's time to get back to biblical basics and see just what Jesus had to say about compassion for neighbors and strangers in his cornerstone parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, where he holds up the Samaritan, a figure much reviled by his Jewish audience, as the…
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Easter says to us that despite everything to the contrary,
[God’s] will for us will prevail, love will prevail over hate,
justice over injustice and oppression, peace over exploitation
and bitterness.
Desmond Tutu from John Templeton Foundation sermon
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Christ is Risen!
He is Risen, Indeed!
HAPPY…
You just need to look at what the gospel asks and what war
does. The Gospel asks that we feed the hungry, give drink
to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the homeless, visit
the prisoner, and perform acts of mercy. War does all the
opposite. It makes my neighbor hungry, thirsty, homeless,
There is great pain and suffering in the world. But the more >>
pain hardest to bear is your own. Once you have taken
up that cross, you will be able to see clearly the crosses
that others have to bear, and you will be able to reveal to
them their own ways to joy, peace, and…
As holy defender of God’s rights and of his images, the church more >>
must cry out. It takes as spittle in its face, as lashes on its back,
as the cross in its passion, all that human beings suffer, even
though they be unbelievers…Whoever tortures a human being,
whoever abuses a human being, whoever…
The Lord sometimes makes you feel the weight of the cross.
Although the weight seems intolerable, you are able to carry it,
because the Lord, in His love and mercy, extends a hand to you
and gives you strength.
Padre Pio
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There is a great freedom that comes when the cross we refuse more >>
to accept becomes the cross we embrace…Being blocked by one
impasse in life, we discover whole new ways of being alive. We
find new life in the small deaths of the day. We sink into the
ultimate liberation. Now there is nothing in…
That cross is already there, ready, from the very beginning; more >>
we need only take it up. But to keep us from believing that
we must simply choose any arbitrary cross, or simply pick
out our suffering as we will, Jesus emphasizes that each of
us has his or her own cross, ready, appointed,…
"Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear. To be a Christian one must take up his cross, with all its difficulties and agonizing and tension-packed content and carry it until that very cross leaves its mark upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering".
…
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The defunding and dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) just over a year ago deeply disturbs me. I’m usually very private about such things, but since I don’t know what to do with this sadness and rage, this image is my lament. It is created with pure emotion, without proper proportions or certain design elements.
…
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"if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." (Mark 3:25. KJV) more >>
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other."
(Luke 16:13,…
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19, NIV)
“Choose you this day whom ye will serve…As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua… more >>
The Coventry Carol
Unknown Composer
Robert Croo (lyricist)
Lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
Thou little tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we do more >>
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The Three Wise Kings
Ruben Dario (Author)
Salomon de la Selva (Translator)
My name is Kaspar. I the incense bear. more >>
The glamor of the Star has made me wise.
I say that love is vaster than the skies.
And God exists. And Life is pure and fair.
My…
"I Wonder, As I Wander"
John Jacob Niles (adapter)
When Mary birthed Jesus, 'twas in a cow's stall
with wise men and farmers and shepherd and all.
but high from God's heaven a star's light did fall,
and the promise of ages it did then recall.
I wonder as I wander, out under… more >>
Bethlehem
Babatunde Olatunji (Composer)
Wendell P. Whalum (Arranger)
We are glad that we have a Father to trust. more >>
We are glad to have a Father to rely upon.
Where was Jesus born?
Where was he born?
Bethlehem the city of wonder.
That is where the Father was born for sure.
…
The Carol of the Birds
William G. James (music)
John Wheeler (lyrics)
Out on the plains, the brolgas are dancing more >>
Lifting their feet like horses prancing
Up to the sun, the woodlarks go winging
…
Here, Mid the Ass and Oxen Mild
Traditional French Carol
Charles Winfred Douglas (Translator)
Here, mid the ass and oxen mild, more >>
Sleep, sleep, sleep my little Child
Thousand seraphim, thousand…
On the Night of Christmas (Laylat-al-Milad)
Lebanese Maronite Carol
Unknown composer, lyricist, and translator
When we offer a glass of water to a thirsty person, we are in Christmas more >>
When we clothe a naked person with a gown of love, we are in Christmas
When we wipe the tears from weeping eyes, we are…
The Carol of the Bells
Mykola Leontovych (Music)
Peter Wilhousky (Lyrics)
Hark! how the bells more >>
…
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come, and behold Him, born the King of angels!
John Francis Wade (English); Translator: Frederick Oakeley (1841)
Merchandising America has pushed forward the beginning of the holidays so cash registers have more time to ring. We'll be taking advantage…
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[The Lord] will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.(Psalm 91:4, NIV)
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were… more >>
