Art Incarnate Devotional

ADVENT 2021

ART INCARNATE PRINCETON UMC KINGSTON UMC

ABOUT THE COVER ART

"Ordinary Glory" DIGITAL PAINTING

BY LAUREN WRIGHT PITTMAN INSPIRED BY LUKE 2:1-20 © A SANCTIFIED ART LLC

From the Artist: In this familiar narrative, what stuck out for me in this reading was the juxtaposition of human and divine, the mundane and extraordinary, the humbleness of a manger and the glory of a multitude of heavenly hosts. I wanted to image this dichotomy with the everyday, intimate, tender scene of new parents and their yawning baby, enveloped by the glittering, awe-striking magnificence of God. The holy family is framed by an almond shape called a mandorla. Mandorlas have been used in Christian art to signify the glory of God, and can also represent the intersection and fullness of two things, like heaven and earth or spirit and body. Likely, the most familiar instance of this concept is the shape made between the overlapping circles in a Venn diagram. I wanted to use this shape because this is the moment when human and divine intersect in the person of Jesus, and when the glory of God is birthed into the world.

The golden field surrounding the mandorla is filled with my interpretation of the sixwinged seraphim from early Christian art, representing the heavenly hosts filling the air with tidings of peace (imaged by olive branches). A seven pointed star hangs over the heads of the family, surrounded by seven other stars, a number that represents completeness.

KINGSTON UMC & PRINCETON UMC

ADVENT 2021

ART INCARNATE Experiencing God Made Flesh Through Creative Arts

In This Advent Guide

Hope

Visual Art Woodworking

Love

Pottery Quilting

Joy Peace

Dance Drama and Play Iconography

Concert

Music

Longest

Night

Stained Glass Pastor's Note

Christ

Photography

ART INCARNATE

An Advent Invitation In December, focusing on creativity through the arts, we anticipate and remember God’s incarnation in Christ, a wholly mysterious form of creation.

When we think of “art,” painting and music come to mind. But there are so many more ways to experience the creative process – from dance to sculpture, from needlework to storytelling.

Some of us are artists, others take joy in appreciating what others create. In this Advent guide, we visit a sculptor in wood (Dana Dreibelbis), a visual artist (Donald Jones), a dancer (Sarah Betancourt), an actor (Rachel Callendar), and a quilter (Michele Tuck-Ponder). Isabella Dougan shares how appreciating works of art can help us grow deeper in our faith.

As John D. Witvleit reminds us, “Truly your song, your poetry, your dance help us to pray, to hear God, to know and love God." Please, come on this creative journey with us, friends: a journey to encounter God made flesh.

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Visual Art

Hope

"All things came into being through God, and without God, not one thing came into being. What has come into being in God was life, and the life was the light of all people."

- John 1:3-4

Remember how great it felt, growing up, to get your art put up on the refrigerator door to share with the whole family? We have created "God's Refrigerator Door" at each campus for you to share your creations this Advent! Bring your physical art to display or upload a picture to our online campus.

You are one of our featured artists! Whether you think of yourself as an artist or not, you have been created in imago dei, in the image of God. And God is most certainly an artist, a creator. YOU are part of God’s masterpiece, in fact. And you also have creativity and artistry within you.

Gather a few art supplies. Anything you have on hand will work. You can use the space above or use your own paper.

Center yourself in God’s presence by paying attention to your breath.

Read Genesis 1:1-8, 23-27 and / or John 1:1-5,10-18. If there are a few verses that particularly grab your attention, focus on those. Re-read those attention-grabbing verses one or more times.

Dwell on those verses for a bit. What images, colors, shapes, textures, words emerge for you?

As you are ready, add any of those images, colors, shapes, textures, or words to your page. Let go of any judgment and allow yourself to freely and joyfully respond to the scripture.

When you feel you are finished, reflect on this experience of creating. In what ways were you able to pray, to hear God, to know and love God through this experience?

Share your creation with others by adding it to God's Refrigerator Door at church or in our online campus (princetonumc.mn.co).

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ART INCARNATE

Wormwood, Donald Jones

The Stones Cry Out, Donald Jones

Donald Jones, Visual Artist

Even as a child, Donald Jones “saw” his art in his dreams. “God was throwing images at me,” he says. His inspiration often comes while driving to work and listening to the Bible Reading Fellowship, a favorite radio station for Don, his wife Vinette, and their daughter Kamie. “It gives me images and I see the actual movie go through my head. When I am painting, I am in a state, almost as if my hands are being guided, like something takes over. That's how I know it is spiritual. I sit back and wonder where this came from!"

The Stones Cry Out, for instance, was inspired by Luke 19:40, when the Pharisees protested that the disciples were cheering Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and Jesus said, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” When listening to how the blind man was cured

by Jesus, Don responded to the newly sighted man’s testimony that he saw men, like trees, walking. “I saw an army of tree men, walking across a desert,” and painted that powerful image. To evoke the Hebrews wandering in the desert, he painted purple sand dunes and a huge cloud -- a pillar of cloud that had light coming from it, not light casting down on it.

“I wanted the cloud to be alive,” he says.

At first Don’s dreams clashed with tradition. “My teachers were telling me, ‘you are terrible.’ They criticized everything I was doing if it didn’t look like what they were doing.

I knew I had something more to say than ‘frontal realism,’ that I needed to pull the dreams from my mind and put them on a canvas.” Although he does do traditional landscapes, much of his work can be described as “fantastic imagery surrealism.”

Wormwood, for instance, refers to the star named in Revelation.

Though art was an avocation for other family members, Don earned a bachelor’s degree from New York City’s School of Visual Arts and an MFA at Kean University. He works in acrylics, oils, and watercolor and also in three dimensions, using “anything I can find – paper mâché’, cardboard, marble, or stone.” Prints and posters of his work are displayed and sold on the website Fine Art America. After working as an illustrator, he turned to education and has taught all age groups. At the time of the interview his mask-making project aimed to connect his students with their roots in Central America. While building Halloween masks with newspapers and glue, they studied the creativity of masks built by the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas.

Don Jones is passionate about making art – he aims to do 10 paintings every year – but also about helping people experience art. The most effective way to reach people, he believes, is to work along with the students, to demonstrate. “People have lost something, the physical touch. When you demonstrate, it’s like throwing your spirit out to them. The students touch what you are doing and what they are doing at the same time. When I am working, I can see the audience is trying to capture me as well as the artwork.”

ART INCARNATE

03

The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo

Religious Paintings and My Spiritual Experience Reflection by Isabella Dougan

When I was a little girl, my mother introduced me to Michelangelo. She was fond of saying, "Whatever you do, do it as Michelangelo painted pictures." She taught me to love art and be inspired by it. I encouraged my children to "sweep like Michelangelo painted or like Beethoven composed music." As a result, they have all developed a passion for art and music. They have passed on the same ethos to their children to infuse the perfection of art and music into everything that they do. Now, my grandchildren are playing the cello, piano, and recorder.

Some of my mother's most “cherished possessions” were books depicting famous painters and paintings. Together with my siblings, we would admire the pictures and read everything about the artists. Deep down, my heart yearned to see at close view these fantastic artworks. Growing up in a loving Christian home, my mother told us that many artists were inspired by God. She said that they painted scenes from the life of Jesus Christ and from the Old Testament to glorify God. Today, my sister Claudette creates abstract and landscape paintings, while my brother Edward has built an impressive art collection. My sister Claribel and I are just art lovers who spend their time visiting art galleries, museums and buying paintings.

During my student days in France, I went as a tourist to Italy. I was lucky to get a papal audience ticket to the Vatican City in Rome, where Pope Paul VI was holding his General Audience. There were people from different countries on this pilgrimage. The pope reached out to the crowd and blessed each of us, touching our jewelry and other sacred items. Inside the Apostolic Palace, I saw in real-time the famous Sistine Chapel and its iconic ceiling that Michelangelo painted from 1508 to 1512. I had read that Michelangelo did all the painting in a standing position, working non-stop until he collapsed from fatigue. But he soon went back to work. His struggle reminded me of Jesus' Passion.

Among the many famous scenes that Michelangelo painted on the Sistine ceiling is one exceptional fresco panel named "The Creation Of Adam." In this panel, we see God and Adam reaching out to each other and almost touching hands. According to the Book of Genesis, this illustrates God giving life to Adam, whom he created as the first man. We see God in creation in this fresco, which also reflects Michelangelo creating the ceiling. I stared in wonder at the painting, feeling that God himself was there, looking down at me. People were circling around me. I wanted to move away but couldn't, so I felt trapped. I stood transfixed, filled with awe at the sight of the sacred paintings on the ceiling. Michelangelo's masterpiece combines both religion and art.

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ART INCARNATE

Isabella Dougan

A famous artist once praised Christian art for its brilliance.

This I find to be true. Personally, I look out for religious paintings that draw me towards Jesus, making me want to stop and glorify God. Here are five of my favorite paintings depicting Old and New Testament scenes that have inspired me:

The Last Supper is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It depicts the story of Jesus announcing to his twelve disciples that one of them would betray him. This scene illustrates “Christ's power and calm composure” compared to human emotional behavior and chaos in similar situations.

The Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), representing the cross as a hypercube, is a 1954 oil-on-canvas painting by Salvador Dalí. It is a nontraditional, surrealist portrayal of the Crucifixion, drawing attention to "the positive message of resurrection and faith.”

Black Madonna and Child by Samia Idris portrays the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus. In Christian art, there are many artistic images of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, which show that the birth of Jesus is for all people. It is said, "Christ was no more European than he was East Asian or African." In Christian theology, the Incarnation is the Christian belief that God took on human form to become Jesus and live among us to set us free from our sins. In John 1:14, we are told, "The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us." I have this painting hanging on our dining room wall where I can visualize the presence of God on earth in the person of Christ and understand this "mystery of all mysteries.” There have been many discussions surrounding the virgin birth.

When I was taking Religious Studies as a course in high school, we used to think that virgin birth was impossible. As my belief in God increased, I learned to believe in the miracle of the virgin birth through faith and not reason.

Noah's Ark by Edward Hicks depicts the story of God sparing Noah, his family, and the male and female of every living creature from the great flood as recorded in the Book of Genesis.

And He Walked On Water by Katherine Roundtree features a Black Jesus walking on water with his hands outstretched.

ART INCARNATE

Black Madonna and Child, Samia Idris

Noah's Ark, Edward Hicks

The influence of art on my faith has been significant. Christian art is beautiful. I admire the creativity of painters like Michelangelo, Picasso, Dali, Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Raphael, Katherine Roundtree, Samia Idris, and Edward Hicks.

They present us with such unique art pieces. The more I view religious paintings, the more I feel connected to God, which has helped me grow in faith.

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci

05

Ash Wood Table and Hickory Tree Clock, Dana Dreibelbis

End Table from Mimosa Tree, Dana Dreibelbis

Woodworking

Dana Dreibelbis, Woodworker

Kingston UMC's October Arts Fair introduced those attending to an impressive array of artists from the PUMC Multi- Campus family. One of those artists is Dana Dreibelbis whose artistry manifests itself in woodworking.

Creativity is in Dana`s blood. His parents and grandparents cultivated varying artistic talents, from carpentry, to leatherworking, to quilting. In particular, Dana remembers his paternal grandfather giving him a piece of wood and saying, "I think you can make something out of this."

Throughout his childhood, Dana's mother encouraged his creative interests and fortunately, he was in a school district that valued the arts. "Each year for three years, there was an art class rotation for a full marking period," he recalled. "Learning something like drawing perspective is a game changer. Plus, I just like to mess around," he added.

While an audience appreciates the final artwork, Dana finds the process more meaningful. When he chooses a piece of wood "I'm not always sure what I'll end up with and not always sure of the why," he shared. Sometimes, “say if I'm making a clock, that means I need to choose based on shape, grain color, etc. Other times the wood at hand suggests an idea such as a bowl, a bench, or a bookend,” he added. The idea for his current piece, however, came to him almost fully formed. "Right now, I'm doing a big piece (for me) related to Covid."

For Dana there exists a strong connection between scripture and his art. The creation story in Genesis, for example, interests him from both a direct faith aspect and from a scientific standpoint: God as Creator and his creation, "an environment rich with biodiversity, ecology, etc. For whatever reason, for as long as I can remember, I like drawing and making things," he said. In Isaiah 43, God joyously exclaims, "Behold, I am doing a new thing…. " Like art, "my faith has grown, been challenged and changed over time. It is like a creative process that is never finished," he explained.

Though his artistry has been a part of his life since childhood, his first public showing came at the KUMC Arts Fair. The timing and the venue felt right for Dana to share his work. More generally, "I've had very little formal training and hope for feedback and ideas on newer, better ways to do things," he said. For Dana, newer may very well mean working in other ways with wood. “I'm thinking of trying different things, such as a 4' x 8' "weaving" of wood for the ceiling of our dining area, or a treehouse, or a Japanese style tea house,” he ended.

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ART INCARNATE

Love

Pottery

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.- Isaiah 64:8

Join us at PUMC for a special Advent Crafts program for all ages, incorporating several of the art forms featured throughout this worship series.

December 5 at 11:30 am Image from Pikist

In Advent we await the incarnation, the coming of the messiah. We remember and look toward the presence of the one who loves us enough to come in the flesh and dwell with us. We anticipate the coming of the one who loves us exactly as we are and loves us enough to continue to shape us into who we were created to be.

Once more God is the master artist, and we are God’s artistry, God’s masterpiece.

Find some clay, playdough, silly putty or something like it. Keep the clay in your hands to shape it as you are led. If you don’t have any on hand, gather art or journaling supplies and respond in a different medium.

Center yourself in God’s presence by paying attention to your breath.

Read Luke 3:1-6 and /or Isaiah 64:1-9 If there are a few verses that particularly grab your attention, focus on those. Re-read those attention-grabbing verses one or more times.

Dwell on those verses for a bit, allowing your hands to shape the clay in response (and do likewise as you move through these prompts). Do not worry about making anything in particular.

Reread Isaiah 64:8. How is God seeking to shape you into the work of God’s hands?

Reread Luke 3:4-6. How is God shaping you so that you might see the salvation of God more fully?

Share your creation with others by adding it to God's Refrigerator Door at church or in our online campus (princetonumc.mn.co).

ART INCARNATE

07

Quilting

Michele Tuck-Ponder, Quilter If Michele Tuck-Ponder were to take the spiritual gift survey, “ "Hands and Feet” would surely be her major gift. “For me, faith is about service,” she says. “My purpose is to help people, and contribute, and that is why I walk this earth. I am a servant.” Michele – who is married to artist/lawyer Rhinold Ponder and has two children -- is an attorney with an impressive resume. She has been the township mayor, is now on both Princeton’s school board and the housing authority board, and, as her day job, runs a nonprofit, Destination Imagination.

Fifteen years ago, she and a friend decided they needed a hobby, and they chose quilting. Each quilt top requires 60 to 80 hours, plus $150 for fabric and an equal amount for someone to sew the batting and the backing. “Now my friend and I are both very obsessed with quilting,” she says. “It’s an opportunity to play with fabric and be creative and make stuff for people.” Currently she has four quilting projects and just finished one for the UFAR soiree auction.

“I don’t always have time to pick up the phone, and most of the time I am super busy,” says Michele. “But I want people to know ‘I am in your corner,’ so I make quilts for people I love, for people who are struggling for illness or personal challenges. I make quilts for people who are celebrating, for people who are mourning to have comfort.”

Quilts go to those who need them. “I get a sixth sense of who needs a quilt, and so quilting has made me more generous. more insightful,” says Michele. “My son’s babysitter’s mother was sick, so I made one for her. My current project is for a hairdresser who kept taking classes and graduated from college at age 62. On that quilt is a sunburst, half day and half night, and one of the rays is shooting off into the sky. What it symbolizes about her is that she works night and day -- but never stops reaching for the stars.”

It's poignant to note that Michele’s quilting practice is twice connected to Princeton UMC’s quilting maven, the late Ruth Woodward. In 1997 Ruth organized the making of the quilt that hangs in the Sanford Davis room; it honors the sesquicentennial, the 150th birthday of the church. In the late ‘80s Ruth and her husband Guy were getting ready to move. They learned that the Ponders wanted to buy a house and were subjected to bias.

Agents showed them only houses located in the traditionally ‘black” section of Princeton, none of the higher-priced houses. Ruth Woodward solved that – she sold her house directly to Michele and Rhinold. Michele was not quilting then. When she started quilting, Ruth was one of her first mentors and invited her to the quilting group that met in Fellowship Hall. Now Michele does her sewing in the space where Ruth did hers.

“Quilting is my own little ministry,” says Michele. “I feel like the people I give quilts to, they are in need of unconditional love. What I love about the quilt is that it will always be a hug from me. a gift from my heart. People often say, ‘this is the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me.’”

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ART INCARNATE

Joy

Windsock Visitation, Brother Michael O'Neill McGrath OSFS

Dance

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Luke 1:41-42

Not only did God come in the flesh in Jesus, but God invited Mary to be part of this creative act with her own flesh. Like the bodies of Mary and Jesus, our bodies matter. Our bodies are just as spiritual (and beautiful and miraculous) as they are physical. We can bodily respond to God’s love with joy in all we do. Let’s dance with God! Center yourself in God’s presence by paying attention to your breath.

Read Luke 1:26-45. If there are a few verses that particularly stand out, focus on those. Re-read those attention-grabbing verses one or more times.

Dwell on those verses for a bit, allowing yourself to embody these verses in whatever way comes to you.

Reread Luke 1:41-45. How does your body move when filled with the Holy Spirit?

How does it feel and sound when you exclaim with a loud cry or voice?

How do you carry blessedness within your being?

Leap for joy!

How is God inviting your bodily existence to be part of fulfilling God’s promises by being a God-bearer like Mary?

Share your creation with others by adding it to God's Refrigerator Door at church or in our online campus (princetonumc.mn.co).

ART INCARNATE

09

Sarah Betancourt, Dancer

If you have been fortunate enough to attend Sunday worship when Sarah Betancourt dances, you have seen faith and grace in motion. Sarah has been dancing most of her life and sharing her gift with the PUMC family for the past several years.

Sarah can’t recall what drew her to dance when she was very young, but she became more serious about studying and performing ballet when she was 12. “I spent my middle and high school years at a very nurturing studio in my hometown of Doylestown, PA. She credits her family and teachers with shaping her view of dance “as a joyful art form. It has remained a way for me to express myself and have fun,” she said.

One of her favorite aspects of dance is that “it is both a shared activity and an intimately individual method of expression. I think that has contributed to the way I value community as a key factor in both shared and personal growth,” she said. The practice of dance - taking class with others and working on exercises to hone skills, “makes me more reflective: ‘What am I doing right now and why?’; What can I do differently to have a better outcome?’

The communal aspect of class opens me up to seeing how others shape my answers to those questions.” she shared.

The art of dance connects Sarah to her faith through joy. “Experiencing art is evidence of God’s presence and design for us to experience joy. When we see dance in Scripture, it is often because a group of people are praising and celebrating God,” she explained. Dance connects Sarah to that impulse to praise and be joyful, and she believes “that sharing art is a way to tell the story of that joy. I have also explored the ways that movement and physicality can be a form of prayer,” she said, adding that “dancing is a way to communicate both with God and with other people.”

While Sarah has long thought that sharing her love of dance in a faith-based way would be interesting and meaningful, her relationship with liturgical dance is fairly recent. “In college, a friend who grew up at a Christian dance studio helped me feel more comfortable treating dance as worship in a way that others could see,” she said, adding, “I have performed a lot in my life, but to share a piece of art as an act of worship is very different.” Over time, Princeton UMC staff and clergy asked Sarah to infuse dance into worship services, “and it has been a wonderful motivation to continue reflecting on the ways my art helps to embody my faith,” she ended.

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ART INCARNATE

Check out the PUMC Children's Christmas Pageant via livestream on December 12 at 3:00 pm and the KUMC All Church Christmas Pageant on December 19 at 10:30 am in person and via Zoom

Peace

Photo Courtesy of Norman Cetuk, 2019

Drama & Play

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

Luke 2:14

The story of the incarnation of Christ might be the most performed drama in human history. In the 13th century St. Francis of Assisi popularized the enactment of the nativity in pageants and live nativity scenes, including the participation of live animals, and we’ve been bringing it to life ever since. The story itself engages our imaginations, and what better way to get the story “in our bones” than to act it out ourselves? We get to become part of the story, and the story becomes part of us.

Center yourself in God’s presence by paying attention to your breath.

Read Luke 2:1-14. If there are a few verses that particularly stand out, focus on those. Re-read those attention-grabbing verses one or more times.

Recall experiences of being in Christmas pageants or watching them. Enjoy the memories, letting them play in your mind. Write down or share with someone pageant experiences that are particularly meaningful.

Fun, laughter, and playfulness are often part of the pageant experience, as are beautiful mistakes, makeshift costumes, and a degree of imperfection. How do these elements add to the meaning of the incarnation story?

Participate in a pageant this year. You could even create your own with your beloveds or with your nativity scene at home or through another art form. Allow yourself to be playful. Allow yourself to become part of the story. Allow the story to become even more a part of you.

Write down, depict, or share ways the incarnation of Christ came to life for you this year through your experience of drama and play.

Share your creation with others by adding it to God's Refrigerator Door at church or in our online campus (princetonumc.mn.co).

ART INCARNATE

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Rachel Callendar, Actress

by Iona Harding This month we caught up with Rachel Callender, who served as half of the “Two Rachels” (the other was Rachel Davis), co-leading our children’s ministries for six months in 2017. Rachel C. also ran our children’s summer drama program on Sunday mornings in 2017 and 2018. Given the focus of our December issue on the arts and how we experience incarnation through the arts, Rachel was the perfect person to interview.

As a child, Rachel had speech problems. Because of this, as a young child, she gravitated to the silent arts, dance and painting, as a way to express herself. She was struggling in speech therapy – no wonder, as a therapist told her she would not be able to progress very far in life unless she learned to talk. This poor advice really eroded Rachel’s confidence, and her speech got worse. It was around this time that she discovered the magic of having a script so that she didn’t have to worry about what to say AND how to say it – she knew what to say. Rachel loved theater but hated school. She was fortunate to audition and be accepted into the Performing Arts Academy in Ocean County, NJ, where that love of theater went from enjoying it to wanting to make it a career.

While studying theater at Kean University and working professionally behind and on the stage, Rachel “felt that nagging itch from God,” and, following graduation, she went to seminary at PTS and stopped acting. But that training and performance experience play a key role in her ministry and in how she experiences the incarnation.

Rachel referred to the Bible story found in John 8:1-11 where the Pharisees bring forward the woman accused of adultery and Jesus turns away, kneels down and writes in the sand. Rachel explains that in theater, this is an example of changing viewpoint – a deliberate move to change the spatial awareness. Jesus doesn’t just react, he takes a break, changes eye contact, changes the viewpoint. Rachel says that “studying theater and acting is studying humans, the good and the bad of humanity.

This is what ministry is. Ministry is grappling with the good and bad of humanity, even the absurdity of humanity. Theater talks about us as flawed, broken humans – which is what we talk about every Sunday.” Theater helped Rachel with public speaking and dealing with nerves. She said that when she got a script where she was playing someone evil, she realized that she couldn’t play that character without finding something to love about them. Rachel said, “I put myself in someone’s shoes on a daily basis. I have to be willing to peel back the layers and find something good, something to work with. This is vital for pastoral care, for not getting bogged down, when the world is closing in, when people are sick.”

To learn more about Rachel and what she is up to these days, visit the PUMC blog.

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ART INCARNATE

Iconography

Our Lady of the Passion, Maureen McCormick, to the Glory of God

An icon is, by its nature, incarnational. It is liturgical art, an act of worship. We don’t just look at or speak about icons. We pray with them. And as we do, we are drawn into the story, the grace, the mystery, the closeness, the real presence of God. Center yourself in God’s presence by paying attention to your breath.

Read Luke 1:46-55 and / or Isa 61:1-4, 8-11. If there are a few verses that particularly stand out, focus on those. Re-read those attention-grabbing verses one or more times.

Gaze at this image with soft eyes and an open spirit.

What do you notice? What draws your attention? What sparks your curiosity and imagination? Ask God to guide your awareness.

How does this icon speak to you about the relationships among Mary, Jesus, the angels, and you?

Icons invite us on a journey. Follow the movement and lines you see. Where are eyes looking and fingers and other things pointing? What meaning and invitation do you receive as you linger with the image?

Take your time with this. Come back to it again and again.

Share your creation with others by adding it to God's Refrigerator Door at church or in our online campus (princetonumc.mn.co).

ART INCARNATE

13

ry & Child

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." Luke 1:46-47

Danielle Riede, Handbell Bling Swing

Music

Ma

Experience the PUMC Christmas Concert "Mother and Child" December 19 at 5:00 pm Click here to order tickets to attend in person.

Music is a wholly embodied art form. It requires breath, touch, movement to create.

It is carried through vibrations to the bodies of those who experience it. Music is part of our worship, conveyor of story and belief. It is a response to and an experience of God’s love and presence. Many have imagined that God sang creation into being, and we know that earth, stars, and planets “hum”. The author of Luke gives us four songs as responses to the incarnation of Christ from the lips of Mary, Zechariah, the choir of angels, and Simeon. Add your voice to the music of incarnation!

Center yourself in God’s presence by paying attention to your breath.

Bring to mind (or ears) music or musical experience which draws you into God’s presence.

Read Luke 1:46-55, 1:67-79, 2:14, and / or 2:29-32. If there are a few verses that particularly stand out, focus on those. Re-read those attention-grabbing verses one or more times.

What is the song on your heart, in your soul, body, breath, mind as you encounter the incarnate one? Is it a melody? A beat? a poem or lyrics? a hymn? a concerto? Let go of any judgment and allow yourself to freely and joyfully respond.

Share your creation with others by adding it to God's Refrigerator Door at church or in our online campus (princetonumc.mn.co).

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ART INCARNATE

Since the 7th century, stained glass has illuminated Christian worship.

Worshipers might be surrounded by the stories and promises of scripture, spoken through the glass images. Or other patterns or symbols, local saints or images might comprise the worship space.

God’s word, light, beauty, artistry, and engineering, through the hands of often-anonymous craftspeople, are imminent in stained glass Put yourself in the presence of some stained glass - at church or a piece you have at home or by looking at this or other photos.

Center yourself in God’s presence by paying attention to your breath.

Read John 14:27-28 and / or Psalm 121. If there are a few verses that particularly stand out, focus on those. Re-read those attention-grabbing verses one or more times.

Reflect on the ways that stained glass brings you into God’s presence and brings God’s presence to you. Consider any aspects that come to mind light, color, subject matter, artistry, historicity, position and placement, etc. Ask God to guide your reflection.

Respond to your reflection in some way, perhaps writing, depicting, or sharing.

Share your creation with others by adding it to God's Refrigerator Door at church or in our online campus (princetonumc.mn.co).

ART INCARNATE

Lo

ngest Nigh

t

Stained Glass

I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come?

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

St. George and the Dragon, Tiffany Window Photo Courtesy of Rebekah Anderson

The Longest Night worship service on December 21 at 7:00 pm, at Princeton UMC, creates a space for feelings of grief and loss.

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Photography

Christ

"“Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12

Newly Emerged Painted Lady Butterfly, Photo by Jeff Sayre

Christmas Eve Worship

4:00 pm Family Service at PUMC and Livestreamed

7:00 pm Candlelight Service at PUMC and Livestreamed

8:00 pm Worship Service at KUMC and on Zoom

*Click here sign up to attend your preferred PUMC Christmas Eve service.

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Christmas is the Feast of the Incarnation. God loves us enough to become flesh and live among us. Not because we have earned that gift, but simply because we are God’s beloved.

God comes among us in the person of Jesus to bring us to life, to love, to light.

And yet we struggle - to trust, to comprehend, to accept this gift. We need help to see, especially in this time when Jesus is not walking this earth as he did 2000 years ago.

Photography can enhance our sight and the way we see and dwell with God and God’s creation. Many of us carry cameras, and photographs, with us constantly. We are photographers!

Get out your camera. Any type will do.

Center yourself in God’s presence by paying attention to your breath.

Read Isaiah 9:2-7 and / or Luke 2:120. If there are a few verses that particularly stand out, focus on those. Re-read those attentiongrabbing verses one or more times.

Dwell with the mystery and wonder of the incarnation of Christ for a bit.

Allow yourself to just be and to receive the gift of God’s own self.

Go on a photographic prayer adventure. Any location can work, even your own home. Invite God’s guidance to bring your attention and camera lens to images, symbols, reminders, invitations of the incarnation. Take photos!

Reflect on your photos - the ones you just took or any from your photographic history. How do these images speak to you of incarnation, light, love, life, God with us?

How will you share your photographic art with others? How will you let it continue to speak to you?

Share your creation with others by adding it to God's Refrigerator Door at church or in our online campus (princetonumc.mn.co).

ART INCARNATE

EXTRA NOTES ON THE FEATURED ART VISUAL ART Jones, Donald. The Stones Cry Out and Wormwood. Prints available at fineartamerica.com.

Michelangelo. The Creation of Adam. Sistine Chapel.

DaVinci, Leonardo. The Lord’s Supper. Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy.

Hicks, Edward. Noah’s Ark. Oil Painting on Canvas. Philadelphia Museum of Art. WOODWORKING Dreibelbis, Dana. End Table from Mimosa Tree. This end table was made out of a Mimosa tree (grown from Mt. Vernon, G. Washington estate) seeds, planted by Dreibelbis’ father).

Dreibelbis, Dana. Table from Ash Wood. This table was made of Ash wood from a tree out of the Dreibelbis’ front yard.

Dreibelbis, Dana. Hickory Clock. This clock was made from an abstract shape from a stump of hickory tree (at the artist’s old family farm near Kutztown, PA), with inset-polished nautilus fossil.

DANCE McGrath, Brother Michael O'Neill. Windsock Visitation. Brother O'Neill is based out of nearby Camden, NJ. MUSIC Riede, Danielle. Handbell Bling Swing, 30" x 40", oil and plaster on canvas, 2020 - Courtesy of Garvey|Simon Gallery, New York. Danielle Riede has shifted her practice of mapping her own movement through space, to mapping the movement of soundwaves through space. Radials, almost like pebbles dropped in a pond, spill out over the surface of her canvases. At once self-contained, yet flirtatious, their echoes intermingle with one another, building melodious symphonies of color. Riede’s incorporation of plaster into her oil paint lends her canvases their vibratory texture and glimmer. This painting is currently for sale in New York. Inquiries may be made to gallerist Liz Garvey at: liz@garveysimon.com.

ICONOGRAPHY McCormick, Maureen. Our Lady of the Passion.

Maureen McCormick is the Iconographer in Residence at Trinity Episcopal Church, Princeton.

STAINED GLASS To learn more about the art of stained glass and it's significance at Princeton UMC, visit the PUMC website to view a brief video: princetonumc.org/windows.

PHOTOGRAPHY Sayre, Jeff. Newly Emerged Painted Lady Butterfly. Jeff's photos are currently on display at the South Brunswick Senior Center, Monday-Friday 8:30 am-4:30 pm.

Jeff Sayre describes his photo, "This fall we raised some Painted Lady butterflies. This frontal macro shot, to me, speaks to (embodies) the beauty, complexity, and intricacy of God's creations. A week before, this creature was a caterpillar crawling around a jar! It was one of the most amazing things we had ever seen. And one of the most sacred things too.

Butterflies are symbols of transformation and hope."

SPECIAL THANKS TO...

Our writing contributors: Barbara Fox Iona Harding Isabella Dougan Jae Hong Jenny Smith Walz Kate Lasko Evangeline Burgers, Editor

Our artistic contributors: Dana Dreibelbis Donald Jones Jeff Sayre Maureen McCormick Michele Tuck-Ponder Sarah Betancourt

Join Us for a Creative Journey Through Advent God created us all to be artists! We may not all feel like artists, but we ARE artists because God the Creator made us in God's own image. So, tap into your creative spark to experience God within this Advent season. The enclosed Advent devotional book is a tool to equip and inspire, full of spiritual practices and stories of beloved creators of Princeton UMC. It takes the place of our usual December Newsletter and is the first publication that is being shared across both our Princeton and Kingston campuses. May it be a tool that brings you closer to God and to others in our church family.

Advent Opportunities

Sitting in front of a lazy salad and three computer screens (it’s good to be friends with the IT guy), I completed my Open Enrollment for next year’s benefits during a rainy lunch hour. After going through the tedious process of comparing plans and wondering just how much spinach the next year’s premiums ate to grow so big and strong, my eyes darted down to those uncomfortable words: Supplemental Life Insurance.

Pastor Jae Hong

But as Christians, death has an upside-down meaning. It cannot be understated that the genesis of our faith is from the revelation that we must first die unto ourselves. Christ’s crucifixion and our daily decision to put on that resurrected Christ is the foundation of confessing Jesus as Savior and Lord.

The essence of our hope is not found in security, relationships, healthcare, or positive outcomes. Our hope is found in the person and work of Jesus incarnate. The divine God, in lovesick pursuit, sends Jesus upside-down in human form to break through to our reality that we may better hear the heartbeat that spoke us into life. Secure in this truth, we do not just hopefully wish for the best, but we hope fully knowing we are already held. The race we are asked to run has already been finished by Christ, and we have the unique advantage of starting our race from the finish line. Benjamin Button got nothing on us!

You are already alive. You are already seen and found. You are already forgiven and loved. You are not marching to death but running toward a more child-like heart, growing in confidence that your raised arms are not an expression of futility but of full expectancy that God will pick you up in warm embrace. Come what may, you are loved until the day of your return Home.

Friends, let us keep this in mind as we enter the Advent season. Advent is the prologue to the Easter story; it is the smell of the freshly baked apple pie left outside the window sill before that annual holiday meal is served. We already know each dish that will be placed on the special table cloth, the borderline inappropriate joke that Uncle John will slur too loudly, and the huge slice of pie a la mode that will give you the best sleep of your life. Yet, something happens when that smell of baked apple, butter, sugar, and cinnamon entertains your nostrils. Our mouths salivate as our hearts become intoxicated with expectancy; all the past treasured memories funnel into a countdown of when it can finally start, for the first time, just like all those times before. Christ, through his birth, death, and resurrection has invited you home to PUMC. It is my full expectant hope that in this Advent season, you will experience a homecoming, for the first time, just like all those times before.

“It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realize what’s changed, is you.” Benjamin Button (2008)

Pastor's Note

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20 NIV

Sunday, December 5 8:45 Contemporary Issues 10:00 Worship 11:30 Advent Crafts 11:30 Virtual Coffee Hour 11:30 Love Lives On 11:45 Handbell Choir 3:15 Youth Choir 4:00 Middle and HS Youth Group Monday December 6 10:00 Monday Morning Bible Study 7:00 Church Council Tuesday December 7 7:45 College Ministry 8:00 Godfulness Meditation Group Wednesday December 8 9:00 Love Lives On 4:30 Children's Choir 5:00 Cornerstone Community Meal 6:30 Chancel Choir Saturday December 11 2:00 Pageant Dress Rehearsal Sunday December 12 8:45 Contemporary Issues 10:00 Worship 11:30 Outreach Ministry Team 11:45 Handbell Choir 12:00 Youth Choir 3:00 Love Lives On 3:00 Children's Christmas Pageant 4:00 Divorce Support Group 4:30 Youth Group Monday December 13 10:00 Monday Morning Bible Study 7:00 Children & Youth Formation 7:15 Membership & Growth Team Tuesday December 14 8:00 Godfulness Meditation Group 8:00 Worship Ministry Team 8:00 Trustees Ministry Team Wednesday December 15 9:00 Love Lives On 4:30 Children's Choir 5:00 Cornerstone Community Meal 6:00 Communications Team 6:30 Chancel Choir

Sunday December 19 8:45 Contemporary Issues 10:00 Worship 11:30 Outreach Ministry Team 11:30 Love Lives On 11:45 Handbell Choir 4:00 Divorce Support Group 5:00 Christmas Concert Monday December 20 10:00 Monday Morning Bible Study 7:00 Stewardship & Finance Team 7:00 Circle of Care Team Tuesday December 21 7:00 Longest Night Service Wednesday December 22 9:00 Love Lives On 5:00 Cornerstone Community Meal 6:30 Chancel Choir

This Month at PUMC

December 2021

Friday December 24 4:00 Family Christmas Eve Service 7:00 Candlelight Christmas Eve Service Sunday December 26 10:00 Worship 1 1:45 Handbell Choir 3:00 Love Lives On 4:00 Divorce Support Group Monday December 27 CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED 10:00 Monday Morning Bible Study Wednesday December 29 5:00 Cornerstone Community Meal 6:30 Chancel Choir Friday December 31 CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED