On the Move …
“Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.”
Images of Jesus healing the deaf and the mute are somewhat difficult to find, undoubtedly because such healings are difficult to depict. The visuals that go along with the healing of a leper or a paralytic, a demoniac or dead man — even the healing of the blind is much more visually dramatic. But in this image, the contemporary Bulgarian artist and iconographer Julia Stankova digs deep, and finds the drama of healing the dumb man quite profoundly. He is drawn as not only tongue-tied, but bound in body, shrunken, warped, and even demonic. Christ has crossed over to meet him; he has left the verdant land of the pious to come enter this hellish landscape, and minister to this poor and misshapen soul, while the many in the background stand in silent amazement and there assessment that he has done “all things well.” Interestingly, Jesus — for his part — looks more like the Father than the Son in this image: an insightful detail drawing attention to the fact that the creative ministry of Jesus in this pericope — healing through the physical means of both touch and spittle and the spoken word of command — echoes the creative work of the Father in the first chapters of Genesis. More, Jesus’s garment, embroidered with seedlings, and punctuated by little rays of light, speak of his life-giving and redemptive intention to minister light and life inMark 7:31–37 the land of darkness and death.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
— The Holy Apostle and Brother of the Lord James (Jas 1:17)
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Texts for This Week
Prayer
O Lord God, grant your people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
God, Make us your Family
The British folk band Aslan cover Tim Whipple’s hymn, “God, make us your Family” on their sonorous but eclectic 1977 EP, “Second Helpings.” It is a folk hymn that, in my opinion, deserves broader dissemination and preservation as a classic of this genre and era; but unfortunately, this was the only recording I could find, besides the 1979 Fisherfolk recording on the Sound of Living Waters, on which I believe Mr. Whipple also featured as a musician.
I wish I knew more about this group Aslan: they have a gentle and thoughtful message, British Jesus people, but more subtle. I surmise that they must have had a point of contact with the Celebration UK groups, as they have a couple of items I identify as Fishfolk in origin on their albums, and their overall folksy sound has kind of a “Fisherfolk meet the Beatles” vibe. It looks like, besides this album, they produced a 1976 record, Paws for Thought.
