In the heat and humidity of Sunday we celebrated the Transfiguration. Bishop Richard Fenwick (retired), was our preacher and celebrant. As he began the task of creating images in his sermon by which we might glimpse the uncreated light revealed on the mountain in the transfiguration of Jesus before his disciples, I forgot the heat and became transfixed.
As Bishop Fenwick—Richard—indicated, it is impossible to imagine such an event, which left a searing impression on the mind of Peter, who, as those visited by angels in Hebrew scripture, tried to offer hospitality to Moses and Elijah when they appeared next to Jesus. Peter was not wrong, but his imagination was wholly inadequate in the face of God’s Glory. As is ours.
But artists—and writing sermons is an art—must attempt to climb this mountain and say something about the indescribable Beauty that touches down. And so, impossibly leaping from Mount Tabor to the snowy peaks of Mount Hermon, Bishop Richard spoke of the icons of the Novgorod school that try to show Jesus to be who the Church has been saying for almost 1700 years in the Nicene Creed, “God from God, light from light…..”
My recent creative attempts manifested a week ago in a slide presentation I offered on Zoom, Visio Divina, Prayer, & and the Art of the Cathedral. I fleshed out my slides to offer background on our Cathedral of All Saints and its makers, with photos of its history and art. It is a course on visual prayer in the context of art that belongs to us all. My intention is to make the slides available to anyone who would like to use the notes and images to learn more about our Cathedral, or for prayer, and to share with church, family and friends. You can find my slides HERE.
