Two Roads, One Way
“All the crowd sought to touch [Jesus], for power came out from him and healed them all.”
The “two ways” are here depicted in a painting of the same title, by the contemporary Argentinian Mormon painter, Jorge Cocco Santangelo (b. 1936). Applying the “sacrocubist” style of his own invention, Santangelo shows us one path that is broad, well-marked, and well-traveled, but leading into darkness, and another path that is narrow and seems actually to be a dead end, but approaching an open and luminous horizon. In fact, however, the two ways are ways within the one way, as too we see in this week’s Gospel lesson. Though Jesus pronounces blessings upon some, and woes upon others, still all in the crowd press upon him for their hope and their healing.
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
— The Holy Apostle St Paul (1 Cor 15:20)
The Sixth Sunday of Epiphany
Texts for this Week
Prayer
Almighty God, look mercifully upon your people, that by your great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.
The Road Not Taken
Minnesota-based choral ensemble Exultate under the direction of Thomas Rossin perform Randall Thompson’s arrangement of that classic Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken” (1915). The setting is a part of Thompson’s seven song cycle, Frostiana, composed in honor of the bicentennial of Amherst, Mass., in 1959; and Amherst’s connection to the famous early 20th C poet.
A playful contemplation of journey and of choice, Frost’s poem invites many interpretations; in fact, some say it was composed as something of a rib at Frost’s especially indecisive friend and walking partner, the fellow poet Edward Thomas. Thompson’s steady meter retain the pace of the journey, while long melodic lines call to mind the natural beauty that tugs at attention of the perambulator.
