Devotion for December 27
read John1:1-14
from the artist | Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman
Through Him, All Things | Lauren Wright Pi"man
Block print with oil-based ink over gouache painting
In John’s cosmic, mysterious creation narrative, the description of the “Word” that particularly sparked my imagination was in verses 3 and 4: “All things came into being through him. . . . in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” How does one image a concept so abstract and consequential to the Christian tradition? I find myself asking this question a lot. The words of the text themselves stretch to their limits while attempting to encapsulate the breadth of who Jesus is.
As I considered visual metaphors that might illuminate this text, I thought about a prism. I remember the first time I used this seemingly magical, transparent stone. I held it to the light, which I could not see, and to my surprise the light was broken down into the vibrant colors of a rainbow. It was natural for me to think the stone was creating something that wasn’t there, but this medium revealed the complex truth that light is in fact made up of all the colors in existence.
In my image, Jesus is a prism. The light that is life that comes from the Creator shines through Jesus, and it is through him that we can see the fullness and beauty of who God is. It is through him that all of Creation came into being. I decided to paint the colors of the rainbow in the order I learned as a child: ROYGBIV. It was when picking paints that I realized there are seven colors in a simplified rainbow, and there are also seven days of Creation. In this block carving, each of the days of Creation is referenced through simplified patterning in each of the colors of the rainbow. It is through Christ that all things came into being, and it is through him that we experience the abounding saturation of God, who chose to dwell among us.
pray
Breathe deeply as you gaze upon the image above. Imagine placing yourself in this scene. What do you see? How do you feel? Get quiet and still, o#ering a silent or spoken prayer to God.
6 I realized when creating this image that I was subconsciously inspired by an image by iconographer Kelly Latimore called “Christ the Light.” In Latimore’s image, Jesus is the light, and the Holy Spirit is the prism. I’m grateful for his influence and hope you will also check out his work: kelly-latimore.pixels.com.
7 An acronym for the order of hues in the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.