The Daily: Tuesday December 17, 2024

Read Luke 1:46-55  (NRSV, The Message)

Contours of Mary's Dream | Lauren Wright Pittman

These daily devotionals were orginally written for Advent 2020. While the challenges four years later are slightly different, the need for those who dream remains the same.
 
These devotionals are © 2020 A Sanctified Art LLC  www.sanctifiedart.org

As I read Mary’s song this year, I felt a sting of grief I hadn’t felt in response to this text before. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, artist Titus Kaphar created an image for Time magazine devoted to Black mothers. In his image, “Analogous Colors,” he depicts a Black mother fiercely and lovingly holding her child. However, her child is cut out of the image, leaving a harsh, blank hole with shadows where the child should be. Reflecting on his piece, Kaphar wrote: “In her expression, I see the Black mothers who are unseen, and rendered helpless in this fury against their babies. As I listlessly wade through another cycle of violence against Black people, I paint a Black mother… eyes closed, furrowed brow, holding the contour of her loss.”⁸

When I read the Magnificat, Kaphar’s image came into sharp relief. How could I image Mary holding the contours of her dreams for the world, while also holding the contour of her loss? Mary’s son would be publicly murdered at the hands of the State. Mary’s song reverberates for all mothers who have had dreams for their children shattered by senseless violence.

I have this instinct to read the Magnificat alongside the first Creation narrative in Genesis. I imagine Christ taking form in Mary’s womb much like I imagine all of Creation emerging at the Creator’s voice. I collaged macro photography of patterns, textures, and colors from Creation—such as sunsets, bird’s feathers, fish scales, galaxies, leaves, planets, fur, water, etc.—and wove them into her hair. Jesus, the thread of Creation, is being knit together in her womb. God’s dream for all Creation is materializing as cells divide in her body; all the while she sings of a dream, still unrealized.

prayer

Breathe deeply as you gaze upon the image on the left. Imagine placing yourself in this scene. What do you see? How do you feel? Get quiet and still, offering a silent or spoken prayer to God.

⁸ Kaphar, Titus. “'I Cannot Sell You This Painting.' Artist Titus Kaphar on his George Floyd TIME Cover.” Time. June 4, 2020. time.com/5847487/george-floyd-time-cover-titus-kaphar/