Towards the Heavenly Harvest
“We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
Seattle-based artist Lynne Alexander’s Birds in Tree is typical of her style: she is fascinated by the simple representation of physical spaces, then gives minute attention to her birds. Her motivation seems primarily a certain design aesthetic, and not any kind of explicit faith: yet in this image, her interests converge strikingly with the theme of one of this week’s parables of the Kingdom, the parable of the mustard seed. The tree we see here has grown “larger than all the garden plants” and indeed, its intricate branches fill our view; and flocking to it is a rich variety of birds, each bringing its unique shape, color, texture.
All the birds of the air make their nest in its shade.
— Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 4:32)
Third Sunday after Pentecost
Texts for This Week
Prayer
O Lord, from whom all good proceeds: Grant us the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may always think those things that are good, and by your merciful guidance may accomplish the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
For the Beauty of the Earth
These words that now ring throughout the world as a well loved hymn of praise have a particular and parochial origin, being penned in 1863 by the Oxford Movement poet Folliott Pierpoint as he sat on a hilltop outside of his native village of Bath, England over looking the Avon River.
John Rutter’s arrangement has risen to a place of preeminence since its publication in the late 80s, but the hymn previously circulated widely with the tune Dix (as here, in procession at the Sacred Heart Basilica in Notre Dame, IN) or (per the more popular in the UK) England’s Lane.
In this featured video, Rutter’s arrangement is simply and beautifully performed by the BBC’s 2015 “Young Choristers of the Year” for the ever-delightful program, Songs of Praise.
