Thursday, February 18, 2010

Dancing with David Through Lent?





The season of Lent has begun. It is a time of contemplation, meditation, prayer and preparation before Easter. Traditionally, we reflect on the moments in the life of Jesus leading up to his death and resurrection. We turn our eyes towards Jerusalem and follow the journey there with Christ. For these Lenten blogs, let us add some layers to that. Let us fix our eyes to Jerusalem, but further back in time. To another King of the Jews. To King David.

David’s story is full of triumph and tragedy.  Scandal and grace. His life was filled with war, sin, and pain. Yet, he was  remembered for being “a man after God’s own heart.” He’s attributed to writing many of the psalms in our scriptures. Psalms of human honesty before God.  And he dared to dance with joy before the Ark of God when others considered it to be irreverent. 

During these weeks in Lent, I plan to post some charcoal drawings illustrating some stories from the life of David. They were designed to be bulletin covers for a Lenten sermon series called “Dancing with David.” They were made a few years after I graduated from college. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much from the sermons (Sorry John).  But it is interesting to look on these drawings again with older eyes. Some of them are artistically “just ok”. But others are rather nice. I found the charcoal adds to the moods of Ash Wednesday, fasting and Lent.  

And to add music to the dance, I plan to add a psalm that I think connects well with the story.  At first, I thought reflecting about David during lent is a bit of a stretch. But after hearing the psalm that ushered in our Lenten season at our Ash Wednesday service, I’m convinced that the story and songs of David can add much to our Lenten experience.  

Shall we dance?

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