Spiritual Practices: Visio DivinaVisio Divina, or sacred seeing, is a type of prayer in which we allow our hearts and imaginations to enter into an image or a scene in silence to see what God might have to say to us. You can find out more about Visio Divina here. Spend some time prayerfully reflecting on the images below and listen to what God might say to you through them.
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Christ Carried Down to the Tomb
Delacroix, Eugène, 1798-1863. Christ Carried Down to the Tomb, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57354 [retrieved April 15, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Christ_Carried_Down_to_the_Tomb_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg.
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Resurrection
Paul T. Granlund, Imaging the Word An arts and Lectionary resource, Volume 1
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Christ Appears to Mary
JESUS MAFA. Easter - Christ appears to Mary, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48389 [retrieved April 7, 2023]. Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr (contact page: https://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr/contact).
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Mysteries of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ
Campi, Antonio, 1522 or 1523-1587. Mysteries of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ (detail), from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56523 [retrieved April 7, 2023]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mhbishop/7061390583/.
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Arise, My Love - Newsong
Was it a Morning Like This - Sandy Patty
Easter According to Kids
The walls of death are not strong enough to prevail against the power of God. Almost birdlike, this figure is breaking free of earth’s gravity, no longer under the sway of ordinary time and space. This is the power of resurrection. The somber, contemplative emphasis of Lent culminated in the deepening gloom after the crucifixion and entombment of Jesus. Then so silently it came, Easter morn bathed in the soft light of dawn. Death could not contain him. Love incarnate is the victory, and history is forever changed because of God’s gift through the Savior.
Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing Jesus to be the gardener, she answered, “Sir if you have carried Jesus away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and responded in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”(which means Teacher).
The liturgical color for the Easter season is celebratory white, and this mood permeates not only Easter Day but is part of the fifty days of Easter, culminating in the triumph of Pentecost. A quiet dawn issues into the great jubilation of Easter morning worship. The lectionary readings marking the continuing weeks of Easter initially possess a quieter pace of dawning. The followers of Jesus at first do not recognize him, or they require proof of this incredible event. They begin with a more gradual realization. The scripture readings of the season challenge Christians to live in a new and changed reality. This reality finally becomes the startling realization of the presence of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing Jesus to be the gardener, she answered, “Sir if you have carried Jesus away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and responded in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!”(which means Teacher).
The liturgical color for the Easter season is celebratory white, and this mood permeates not only Easter Day but is part of the fifty days of Easter, culminating in the triumph of Pentecost. A quiet dawn issues into the great jubilation of Easter morning worship. The lectionary readings marking the continuing weeks of Easter initially possess a quieter pace of dawning. The followers of Jesus at first do not recognize him, or they require proof of this incredible event. They begin with a more gradual realization. The scripture readings of the season challenge Christians to live in a new and changed reality. This reality finally becomes the startling realization of the presence of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Imaging the Word An arts and Lectionary resource, Volume 1
Go and Tell
In a setting that often made women subordinate to men, it is striking that women were the first to tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection. In Matthew’s story Jesus commissioned them to “Go and tell” (v 10). The risen Jesus met these joyous women on their way and greeted them. They took hold of him and worshiped him, the one in whom God was so powerfully at work and who had entrusted them with such a message.
Paul Hammer
In a setting that often made women subordinate to men, it is striking that women were the first to tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection. In Matthew’s story Jesus commissioned them to “Go and tell” (v 10). The risen Jesus met these joyous women on their way and greeted them. They took hold of him and worshiped him, the one in whom God was so powerfully at work and who had entrusted them with such a message.
Paul Hammer
Imaging the Word An Arts and Lectionary Resource, Volume 2
Now God be praised that a door should creak,
And that a rusty hinge should shriek.
Of all sweet sounds that I may hear
Of lute or lyre or dulcimer,
None shall ever assail my ear
Sweet as the sound of a grating door
I had thought closed forevermore.
Out of my deep-plowed agony,
I turned to see a door swing free;
The very door that he came through
To death, now framed for us anew
His vital self, his and no other’s
Live body of the dead, my brother’s.
Like one who dreams within a dream,
Hand at my throat, lest I should scream,
I moved with hopeful doubting pace
To meet the dead man face to face.
Countee Cullen
And that a rusty hinge should shriek.
Of all sweet sounds that I may hear
Of lute or lyre or dulcimer,
None shall ever assail my ear
Sweet as the sound of a grating door
I had thought closed forevermore.
Out of my deep-plowed agony,
I turned to see a door swing free;
The very door that he came through
To death, now framed for us anew
His vital self, his and no other’s
Live body of the dead, my brother’s.
Like one who dreams within a dream,
Hand at my throat, lest I should scream,
I moved with hopeful doubting pace
To meet the dead man face to face.
Countee Cullen
Imaging the Word An Arts and Lectionary Resource, Volume 2
Spiritual Practices: Imagining the Text
Sometimes passages in the Bible need to be observed and absorbed with awe and wonder instead of analyzed, dissected, and categorized. Read the passage over in its entirety a few times. As you do, imagine that you are a participant in the scene. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
David Dalton
Sometimes passages in the Bible need to be observed and absorbed with awe and wonder instead of analyzed, dissected, and categorized. Read the passage over in its entirety a few times. As you do, imagine that you are a participant in the scene. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Imagine that you are the disciples. You have lost the one you have followed for the last three years of your life; the one that you loved, trusted, believed in, the one that you thought was the promised Messiah, the Son of God. You have seen him crucified by the Romans. The vessel of your hopes crushed by the oppressive, unstoppable Roman machine.
- Imagine that you are Mary going to the tomb to mourn the one that you loved above all others. What would you feel when you got to the empty tomb? What should your first thought be?
- Imagine that you are with Peter and John hearing Mary's first report of the stone being rolled away. You run to the tomb to look for yourself. What would you be thinking? What would you be feeling? Would you dare to hope beyond all reason? Would you be afraid the other shoe was about to fall?
- Imagine you enter the tomb with Peter and John. The grace clothes are there and the napkin that used to cover his face is carefully folded and set aside. What do you make of it? Is your mind spinning wondering what is going on? As you leave the tomb and walk back to Jerusalem, what are you, Peter, and John discussing.
- Imagine you are back with Mary at the empty tomb. You walk in with her and see two people sitting there, even through you didn't see them go in. You and Mary turn and walk back out and encounter someone. You don't know who it is, but you think it is the gardener. You listen as Mary pleads with him for the body of Jesus. Then he calls Mary's name. He turns to you and calls your name. All of a sudden you realize that it is Jesus himself standing before you, risen from the dead. What would you be thinking, what would you be feeling?
- Imagine listening with Mary and Jesus tells you to go back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples that you have seen Jesus and that he is alive. You are carrying Jesus' message! you start out walking, but before long you are running to share the news with the disciples. How do you feel? Are you excited to share the message that Jesus gave you to share? Are you still excited to tell others about Jesus today?
David Dalton