Midweek Devotion for 19 June 2024

Reading

Galatians 3:23-28

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Devotion

Let My People Go (1935 – 1939) by Aaron Douglas – Artchive

This week's painting is by renowned African-American artist Aaron Douglas.  Entitled "Let My People Go" it may be found today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Douglas, born and raised in Topeka, Kansas, before moving on to Detroit, Harlem, various international trips and finally settling at Fisk University in Nashville, TN.  A pioneer and gifted teacher, his works often combined art deco and cubism to create an art experience that draws one in.

I like the geometry of this particular piece.  A minimalist color palette and stark figures in silhouette make this for me a symbolic representation of an age-old story.  The waves of the oppressor, powerful and overwhelming are in turn being overwhelmed from below by the chaos of the waters.  The light shines on the powerless while the upper right's jagged, fateful lightning reminds one of a terrible swift sword.  Themes of the Exodus and of the Magnificat ring in my imagination as I view images. 

Freedom is a pervasive theme in the Bible.  Freedom from enslavement in Egypt.  Freedom from bondage to sin and death.  The consequence of this freedom is the ability to order one's liberties to more fully participate in life in the spirit and as citizens of both God's realm and the particular places we happen to find ourselves.  Perhaps you, dear reader, are struggling with something that is separating you from your neighbor or perhaps loneliness or heart ache.  Perhaps you are struggling under some social injustice or oppression.  Perhaps you are a champion this week of someone on the margins.  Wherever you find yourself, I pray that God's love may reveal to you a path to freedom and service.
 

Prayer

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with 

compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; 

break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and 

confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may 

serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP 

page 815)