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| Image by Rab Lawrence |
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A GREETING
As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
(Psalm 42:1)
A READING
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.
(Psalm 42:4)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
(Psalm 42:2)
A LYRIC
The dove peered in
through the lattices of the window
where, before its face,
a balm exuded
from incandescent Maximum.
The heat of the sun burned
dazzling into the gloom:
whence a jewel sprang forth
in the building of the temple
of the purest loving heart.
- vv.1-2 from Columbia Aspexit, by Hildegard of Bingen,
performed in today's recording above.
VERSE OF THE DAY
And now bless the God of all,
who everywhere works great wonders,
who exalts our days from birth
and deals with us with mercy.
May God give us gladness of heart,
and may there be peace in our days.
(Sirach 50:22-23)
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| Image by Matt Brown |
In Columbia Aspexit, today's musical entry by Hildegard, the composer is drawing attention to the place in which we worship God and tell the story of Jesus. She conjures for us a saint-like priest named Maximum, based on a real figure who lived in the 4th century, and echoing a figure named Simon that appears toward the end of the book of Sirach. In the ideal priest, she imagines a direct mirroring of God's power and light. Her way of conveying this in her song lyrics is to make comparisons to wildlife and nature. The priest has a quality of divine energy so great that it is comparable with the majestic stag and the white dove. Allusions to both Sirach 50 and Psalm 42 appear throughout the song.
The upward and falling movement of the note sequences is familiar to us by now after a number of days of listening to Hildegard's music. But in this particular song, they also reflect the nature of the Creation life referenced. The downward stretches are associated with the dove swooping and water flowing. The upward movements accompanying the lyrics about the swiftly moving 'hart.' Hildegard paints images that connect both God and the creatures of everyday life on the Rhineland, while also including the biblical images already mentioned.
Hildegard loved worship -- which is why she spent so much of her time dedicated to worship arts. Her music is as dense with biblical motifs as other forms of medieval art, such as stained glass windows and tapestries. Some of the verses talk about how the sun drenches the stone walls of the monastery, setting them in a blaze of light. For Hildegard, the sun's warmth and powerful presence are the source of all life that God has created.
How much do we integrate and think about Creation in our own worship gatherings? Even after the Season of Creation passes, how might we continue to weave the natural world into our rituals of loving and praising God, so that the created world is never far from our hearts?
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Scripture passages are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition.
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LC† Radiant Earth, Sacred Calling is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!
