Advent: Dark Morning

Digital Illustration for 

Rejoice! Advent Meditations with Joseph

Video Series

by Ascension Press

“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.”

― George Iles

In this digital illustration, Joseph opens his door and gazes out into the pre-dawn darkness. Just before the birds begin to sing, all is quiet, peaceful, and still. 

Advent means "Coming." Many churches celebrate Advent as a season of hopefulness leading up to Christmas. If Christmas is the birth of the Light of the World, then Advent is the pre-dawn dark morning we find ourselves in as we awake from our sleep. 

Darkness can be a thing of fear and anxiety. In the dark, we are surrounded by unknowns and mysteries. But if you are assured that a light will soon arrive, the dark can be a place where we can live in hope and peace.

The People That Walked In Darkness Have seen A Great Light

8"x10"
Oil on Panel

with Palette Knife

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An Abstract Expression from Handel's Messiah
The People That Walked In Darkness Have seen A Great Light

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, and they that
Dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
(Isaiah 9:2)

40 Days: Day 39: Shadow

5x7

Acrylic on Paper

Abstract expression inspired by tonight's Good Friday service of Tenebrae.

A Service of Tenebrae, or "Shadows," is based on a twelfth–century late night/early morning service and is an extended meditation on the passion of Christ.

O Dawn

2.5"x3.5" Oil on Board

with Palette Knife

ACEO

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer

our spirits by thine advent here.

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
and death's dark shadows put to flight. 

"O" Antiphons series.

The Church has been singing the "O" Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative "Come!" embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah.

There are many different texts for the O Antiphons. For this series, I'm using the verses to they hymn "O Come Emmanuel" which lyrically contains all of the O Antiphons.

40 Days: Day 3: Let There Be Light

5"x7" Acrylic on Canvas

Available

Last fall, I visited our local Synagogue. During one of the prayers, there was a line about God creating light. There was a footnote on the page that explained that the line is more accurately translated as a "mixing" of light—as a painter would mix color. As an artist, I just loved that image of God mixing the cosmos like colors on a palette. It is also a beautiful way of thinking about the Incarnation—the Light of the World mixing into the lives of humanity. And what does that mean for us when Christ tells us that WE are light to the world?

For this meditation, I played with simple black and white acrylic—starting with the black and mixing in the light with a brush. 

Awake My Soul

Arise! Shine! Your Light has come!

These are some of the thoughts I wanted to convey

with this year’s Advent art.

Without God, all is darkness. Then God speaks a Word, and everything is forever changed into a new creation. During Advent, we welcome God’s coming into the dark places of our lives and awakening us from our dark slumber into renewed life. This is not a soft, passive awakening. It is cosmic alarm clock. It is the dawn of creation itself. God's loving light shatters the darkness and reforms it into a new, colorful creation. As the Gospel of John puts it, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

This Advent Season, may your life be so awakened, illumined, and reformed by the Light of God.