The Gospels claim, and Christians believe, that divinity is entangled with humanity. The evangelists go even further. When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, he is saying that creation itself is shot through with divinity. Divinity is all around us, and it always has been. Poets and mystics alike attempt to see through the … Continue reading Luke 2:1-21 Divinity Entangled with Humanity
When Elizabeth gives birth to John, her neighbors and relatives gather around in joy. This is the second gang of people we’ve seen in Luke’s Gospel, the first being the crowd at the temple who gathered around Zechariah after he emerged from his encounter with an angel. I think it’s fair to say that they … Continue reading Luke 1:57-80 Joy, Community, and Wilderness
The Holy Spirit pours into the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, embodied by angels and the singing, leaping responses that human beings make to them. When the angels arrive its with a wildness and strangeness that has mutating effects on the people who encounter them. An old man falls silent, an old woman becomes pregnant, a … Continue reading Luke 1:1-56 Suddenly the Spirit is Talking to Everybody
I used to make illuminated text workbooks for kids, and I decided to revive the practice in my work with the kids of St. John's, Worthington. Since this is the year of the Diocese of Southern Ohio's Luke/Acts Big Read, I decided to make one for the beginning of Luke. Hopefully I'll keep up the … Continue reading Illuminated Text Workbook for Luke 1:5-25
Oil on canvas, 11" x 14". God of the weed spikes and white flowers, and half-dusk from the shadows of trees, help us to shatter carefully arranged light, the idea that everything must have its place, the insistence on more symmetry than you require.
KPB Stevens 