Melted Wings' Wax

- Rembrandt

I love Paul. There is something about his character that I absolutely admire. This picture of him, drawn by Rembrandt who identified with and respected Paul, best represents his life for me. Here he is, towards the end of his life. Old. Wise.

In jail.

His surroundings are sparse, with a table for writing and the guards sword behind his head - likely the one which will later behead him. However, his eyes aren't on that. They're downcast, not in depression but meditation, with a pen in his hand and volumes written and left to write.

Paul never gave up. He was a servant - a slave to God. He gave his life for Him, not only in death but in every day he was alive. Spreading the message mattered most. Teaching and counseling those who had received it did as well. With those ideals in mind, he lived his life to the fullest, and left an unforgettable body of work behind.

Link to The Welcome Wagon - Sold! To the Nice Rich Man

Back to my occasional posts on music, I come with a new song from the debut album of The Welcome Wagon. The band is actually an outlet of Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife, who run the Resurrection Presbyterian Church in New York. The band plays live mostly at various Seminaries, often stopping mid-set for a pie giveaway (seriously).

The album, produced by the orchestrally renowned Sufjan Stevens' has plenty of flourish, and the Reverend even throws in a guitar solo during the main chorus. Despite the big sound, the band started in the humble setting of the couple's living room. What started as a method of worship and spending time together has expanded into something much bigger.

What I find interesting about the band is that it is so different from what I am used to hearing. The full album - which will include Presbyterian hymns - is set in a genre which we don't usually associate with Christian worship. I love it when people branch out and do new things, while keeping the message central. I find it interesting to see a practicing Reverend embark in a genre that is such a departure. God can be glorified in so many ways, and there are so many different expressions of it. It is always great to hear something new, fresh, and purely enjoyable.

[Edit - Image hosting website has been having trouble, pictures may be down]








- VA

Words cannot begin to describe and pictures will never do it justice. Going to Guatemala and spending time with the people in Panimaquin was an eye-opening and life changing experience that will not be forgotten. The villagers were amazing and hospitable, but it was their hearts that I wish I could capture and describe. The innocence, vibrancy, and love which poured out of them all - day in and day out - is an incredible and beautiful thing which I wish to be a part of for the rest of my life. I know that I will never be able to explain it in words, and the best alternative is to show the faces of those whom I now have gotten to know, love, and care for. These are a few of the many who I met, and who touched me at a level which I could never have imagined.

- Bonnell

Luke 8:49-56
49 While he was still talking, someone from the leader's house came up and told him, "Your daughter died. No need now to bother the Teacher."
50-51 Jesus overheard and said, "Don't be upset. Just trust me and everything will be all right." Going into the house, he wouldn't let anyone enter with him except Peter, John, James, and the child's parents.
52-53 Everyone was crying and carrying on over her. Jesus said, "Don't cry. She didn't die; she's sleeping." They laughed at him. They knew she was dead.
54-56 Then Jesus, gripping her hand, called, "My dear child, get up." She was up in an instant, up and breathing again! He told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were ecstatic, but Jesus warned them to keep quiet. "Don't tell a soul what happened in this room."

I love how the painting depicts light streaming through Jesus and onto the girl. There is something so remarkable about Christ, something that is often put on the back-burner. It is unnatural for someone - anyone - to perform the feats which He is able to. However, by ignoring it we are doing Him a great disservice. I very much doubt that grieving parents and loyal servants laughed at Jesus thinking His behavior was in any way funny. Instead, I imagine the laughter came out of the place inside of them, in anguish, knowing in their hearts that nothing could be done for the dead girl.

But that place inside of them, that place inside of all of us which says that things are impossible does Jesus no justice. Time and time again He proved His ultimate love, compassion, and power. Perfect and unlike anything else in the world.

I believe it is important to reflect on God's glory, and the fact that there is nothing he can't do.

Taking a two minute break from calculus, I was reminded of a wonderful poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar which really affected me months ago, and still resonates to this day. Dunbar was an excellent poet who had a huge impact on African American culture, famous for writing Sympathy - a heavily influential poem on Maya Angelou, which is where the title 'I Know Why The Cage Bird' sings comes from. Also importantly to me, he wrote a good amount of Christian poems which I find to be excellent.

This one in particular I have always enjoyed, and I love it's main line: Strength for the fight. So often I believe we find ourselves in such a weakened state - weary from the world, or from personal problems, or from ourselves. However, we are not called here to be alone on our own two feet! Surely, if that was so, we would find ourselves falling countless times. Instead, if we call upon God to give us strength, we will receive it. Only then can we truly stand against anything. It is important to gain the independence from the world through the dependence on God.


Long since, in sore distress, I heard one pray,

"Lord, who prevailest with resistless might,

Ever from war and strife keep me away,

My battles fight!"



I know not if I play the Pharisee,

And if my brother after all be right;

But mine shall be the warrior's plea to thee--

Strength for the fight.



I do not ask that thou shalt front the fray,

And drive the warring foeman from my sight;

I only ask, O Lord, by night, by day,

Strength for the fight!



When foes upon me press, let me not quail

Nor think to turn me into coward flight.

I only ask, to make mine arms prevail,

Strength for the fight!



Still let mine eyes look ever on the foe,

Still let mine armor case me strong and bright;

And grant me, as I deal each righteous blow,

Strength for the fight!



And when, at eventide, the fray is done,

My soul to Death's bedchamber do thou light,

And give me, be the field or lost or won,

Rest from the fight!

It was either Grunewald or Altdorfer, but I think I'll save the latter for some other time.



- Grunewald

To see a larger version of the painting click here

Part of his Isenheim Altarpiece, this scene of the Resurrection is probably my favorite of all. The altarpiece is definitely thought of as Grunewald's greatest work, so it's a sentiment I can agree with. I also really enjoy the scene at the cross, but that one is certainly a bit less cheerful. Altarpieces are made to typically display two different forms, shaped almost like a cupboard. A scene will be painted on the front (In this case the Crucifixion of Christ), and this scene will swing open to reveal another inside. This altarpiece is a little different, since the scene inside is not just one scene. It is a tribute to Jesus' life, from the annunciation which Mary received up to his Resurrection. On top of that, this scene then opens up again, to show Him sitting on His throne.

I only solely at the Resurrection scene today because it is by far my favorite. There is something certainly so other about this rendition of Jesus that I think it is a fantastic depiction. Every other human figure in the image is on the ground in a lump, having fallen in awkward positions. These people have almost a messy quality to them, as does the ground around them, as well as the blurred background. In this painting your eyes are continually drawn to only Him, as He is the only one that matters in the painting.

The highlight. The focus. The victor.

~ Rembrandt

To see a truly humongous version of the painting click here

I really love Rembrandt's paintings, although many of my favorites are his lesser works and sketches. He constantly does a fantastic job at putting layers upon layers of imagery inside of his paintings. I thought it was appropriate, after the great teaching on forgiveness, to look at one of my favorite paintings - The Return of the Prodigal Son. It has always done a fantastic job of bringing the message home for me. With the newly returned son at his father's feet and family looking on - weary but reverent, the scene has a sting to it . . . but the mercy that is present simply blows me away.

The father in the painting does a great job of metaphorically representing God. He is old and wise with his age, and it is evident that he has a passion and love for his son. His son would have rather had his father dead, yet here is that father showing him a great deal of love and compassion. The son is back because he is at the end of his rope. His head is shaved in slave fashion, his clothes tattered and dirty, and his sandals worn and spent, with one having fallen off of his foot and the other almost completely broken. He does not look up at his father, but instead, gaze is not up into the father’s eyes but instead to the side, in shame and sadness.

One of the smaller details which is easy to miss is the father's hands. The father's left hand grasps his son's shoulder with a definite strength, with fingers spread. Rembrandt manages to show him not only touching his son in embrace, but holding him as well. The right hand is much more tenderly posed, with an elegance lost to the firmness in its counterpart. It instead rests on the shoulder as if mid-stroke, ready to offer the comfort only a parent can provide. He is both firmly holding and gently caressing at the same time.

I also like the fact that it does not really seem like this story has come to a close in the painting. I do not think that the son has had some wonderful awakening and changed all of his ways. Yet one look at the father shows that his mercy and love for his children is unending, and that forgiveness is always there. There is a mercy that will always restore.