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Monday, December 25, 2023
Christmas Day podcasts from Seal Church
In the church building today: Christmas Day
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Day Twenty-four: Jesus
Brueghel paints him naked, as was usual for these times, to
demonstrate that he really is human. He is sitting on a cloth; (anyone who has
had children will appreciate the necessity of that. Again, it is a reminder
that he is a real child, who hasn’t learned to control his bladder yet!)
His hand is raised in blessing. He looks as if he is about
to lay it on the Wise Man’s head – I wonder what that would have felt like?
After they have found Jesus, Matthew tells us that the Wise Men “go home by another road”. That’s not just a geographical note. It tells us that they have been changed forever by this encounter, given new life and new hope; nothing will ever be the same for them.
For Reflection
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. Matthew 2.12
How do you think this encounter might have changed the
Wise Men?
How have your encounters with God changed you?
What would you say to Jesus if you had the “moment” with
him that this Wise Man has here? What do you think he would say to you?
The whole picture:
Saturday, December 23, 2023
Day Twenty-three: Mary
She has a gentle smile, and looks deep in thought, clad in the blue robe she often wears in paintings. Blue pigment was made from crushed lapis lazuli, which was very expensive. Medieval painters chose to paint her in blue because it was the most valuable colour they had, so it signified her importance to Christians.
In reality, we know very little
about Mary, what her background was, or why she was chosen. The tendency has
been to make her whatever we want her to be. What she certainly was, however,
was a brave young woman who said “yes” to God despite the cost she would bear.
For Reflection
Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2.19
What do you think Mary is thinking here? What words might she be treasuring and pondering?
Are there words people have
said to you which you have “treasured and pondered”?
The whole picture:
Friday, December 22, 2023
Day Twenty-two: Joseph
It is often quite difficult to spot Joseph in paintings of the Nativity. In some he is out at the back of the stable, tending to the animals, peripheral to the action. Brueghel has put him centre stage, immediately behind Mary, and given him a halo too, so we can’t miss him. But he isn’t the focus of the story in the way Mary and the child are, and he certainly isn’t pushing himself forward.
Instead, he is listening to someone in the crowd, a woman in
a red dress, who seems to be telling him something important. What could it be
that he is hearing? Neither of them looks very happy about it, whatever it is.
In Matthew’s Gospel, where the story of the Magi appears, it
is Joseph who drives the action. Mary doesn’t speak at all. It is to him that
the angel brings the news that Mary will bear the Son of God, and Matthew who
has to struggle with what that might mean for him. Will people mock him when
Mary’s pregnancy becomes obvious, either because they think he has got Mary
pregnant before marriage, or because they think someone else has, and he is
being taken for a fool. But bravely, he sticks with Mary, and later protects
her and Jesus, when he is warned in another dream that Herod is trying to get
rid of Jesus. Maybe this woman is telling him what others are saying about him?
Whatever it is, it doesn’t alter his commitment to Mary?
For Reflection
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the
wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day
and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their
fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. Psalm 1
Have you had a “Joseph” in your life, someone you could trust absolutely, who had your back, no matter what happened?
The whole picture:
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Day Twenty-one: The third Wise Man and his servant
This rather elegant, white-clad young man brings his
offering in a container shaped like a boat (below). Incense used in church
services is still stored in what is called an “incense boat” and usually is
boat shaped, though not as elaborate as this gift.
Incense is used in prayer by many religious traditions. Its
smoke rises just as the prayers of the faithful do. The gift of frankincense
has been interpreted as a symbol of Jesus’ divinity; he is one to whom and
through whom prayers are offered.
Both the third Wise Man and his page boy look straight out
of the painting at us, the only figures that I can find here who are doing so.
They break the “fourth wall” of the painting, and draw us in, as if to invite
us to become part of the action.
For Reflection
Jesus said to his disciples “But you, who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16.15
The whole picture:
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Day Twenty: the second Wise Man: Myrrh
Jan Brueghel’s Magi are very clearly “borrowed” from his father’s depiction of the scene (detail below - also on show in the National Gallery).
They wear the same colours, and carry almost identical gifts, for example, this second Magus, with his ermine trimmed gown, and his black cap and sceptre laid on the ground, bearing his myrrh in a cup with a cover identical to that in Pieter Bruegel’s painting.
Matthew doesn’t spell out the significance
of each gift, but Christians assigned meanings to each of them at least as
early as the second century; gold for kingship, frankincense for divinity, and
myrrh, foretelling Jesus’ death.
In John’s Gospel, it is Nicodemus, a Pharisee and important
religious leader, who provides myrrh to anoint Jesus’ body after his
crucifixion. We first meet Nicodemus in John chapter 3, when he is clearly
interested in Jesus’ message, but unwilling to commit himself. He eventually
seems to finds what he needs, but only after Jesus’ death.
Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also
came [to the tomb], bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a
hundred pounds. John 19.39
The whole picture:
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Day Nineteen: The first Wise Man: Gold
For Reflection
They saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt
down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him
gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
What is the most valuable thing you own? What does it mean to you?
What would induce you to give it away?
Who would you give it to, and under what circumstances?
The whole picture:
Monday, December 18, 2023
Day Eighteen: The Shepherds
They strike me as men who have spent their lives internalising the message that they had better keep their distance, that they don’t belong in company like this. But we know that they were first at the manger, the first to be told that the Messiah has arrived, and they will carry that knowledge, and that honour, with them all their lives. Social class still has the power to divide us from one another, but the message of the Gospels is that class, like gender, is irrelevant to God, who, in Jesus, has “put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the humble and meek” (Luke 1.52)
For Reflection
The shepherds returned [to their flocks] glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2.20
What class do you feel you are? What are the markers of
class for you – what tells you where you ‘belong’ in society? Has that changed
for you over your life? Where do you feel at ease, or not?
What effect does class have on the way we meet and
worship together in church?
The whole picture:
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Sunday Worship podcast and other news from Seal Church: Dec 17 2023
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Day Seventeen: The family and the soldiers
I could have selected many other groups, but my eye was drawn to a little scene on the left of the painting. A man and a woman, who is holding a small child, are talking to some soldiers mounting on horseback. The soldiers are probably part of the Magi’s escort, so should pose no threat to this little family, but they are armed to the teeth, and one holds a trumpet – an instrument used on the battlefield - and any soldiers, even apparently friendly ones, might seem alarming to these unarmed and vulnerable people. This little encounter reminded me that Matthew’s story of the birth of Christ ends with another band of soldiers descending on Bethlehem, sent by Herod to massacre all the children under two. Joseph, warned in a dream, takes Mary and Jesus and escapes to Egypt, but the other children of Bethlehem don’t escape. The little family Brueghel paints don’t know it, but they have a dark future ahead of them. In every generation, including our own, children are killed in wars not of their making, and families suffer because of political and military decisions made by others.
Pray for children and their parents caught up in war and civil unrest, and all who are traumatised by conflict.
The whole picture:
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Day Sixteen: the crowds behind the stable
Yesterday we thought about the crowd around the stable, pressing in to see Jesus, but there are plenty of other people in Brueghel’s picture who seem not to be so bothered about the main event, caught up in their own business.
In this little knot of people, just behind the stable, a man
in a red top and an apron is talking to a caped visitor. Perhaps the man with
the apron is a local trader or innkeeper, negotiating a price for feeding the
visiting Magi and their retinue? Has he spotted the silver lining in all this
commotion, the chance to turn a profit? Elsewhere,
people are tending their horses, playing with their dogs, strolling around or
engaging in debate. They don’t seem interested in why the Magi are there, or
what they have come to see. They are just making the most of a temporary
spectacle, which will be here today and gone tomorrow and which won’t really
touch their lives or make a lasting difference to them.
Jesus said, “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and
their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes: so that they
might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with
their heart and turn - and I would bless them.” Matthew 13.14-15, quoting Isaiah 6.9
Are there things which we know matter, but to which we prefer to close our eyes – climate change, or some seemingly intractable personal or family problem perhaps. Why do we find it so hard to pay attention to them? Is it because they seem too difficult, too painful, or just not important enough?
Name these things before God and ask for his wisdom to know how to respond, and the courage to act.
The whole picture:
Friday, December 15, 2023
Day Fifteen: The onlookers around the stable
We’ll start with those in the foreground, in and around the stable. Some of the people in this crowd are clearly part of the Magi’s retinue, but others seem to be locals, just intrigued to find out what these extraordinary visitors have come to see. They are crammed together so tightly, straining forward to get a better look, that it almost looks dangerous. Some of the crowd have found their way into the stable and peer out of the door and window.
This little group appears as a motif in other Medieval and Renaissance painting, and they may symbolise those who are, or consider themselves to be, “insiders”, Jewish religious and secular leaders, who assumed they would have privileged access to the Messiah. Hieronymus Bosch’s “Adorationof the Magi” now in Madrid, shows a figure in exactly the same pose as Brueghel’s, peering round the doorway, but he is half-naked, and dressed as a sort of parody of a king. Brueghel’s message is less pointed, but these figures straining to be near the action do lead us to reflect on the fickle nature of crowds, which surrounded Jesus throughout his earthly ministry, and the mixed motivation people may have for being part of them. They invite us to ask ourselves whether we might sometimes think we “own” God’s story and have a right to tell others how to interpret and understand it.
For Reflection
And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the
Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4.25
Have you ever turned out to see a celebrity or for a
special event? What was it like being part of the crowd? Look at the faces of
the people in this crowd. Why do you think each of them is there?
The whole picture:
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Day Fourteen: the shoe and the bone/pipe?
Maybe Brueghel’s single shoe is a random detail, but, as
I’ve said before, that is unlikely; the painting is too small, and carefully
constructed for random detail.
It seems more likely that it is connected with the old
tradition of concealing shoes in the walls or roof spaces of houses, which was
commonplace across Northern Europe. It is thought to have been a way of
guarding against evil spirits. The theory is that somehow the spirit of the
wearer lingered in the shoe; shoes are very personal things which shape
themselves to our feet. The spirit of the wearer, like an ethereal version of a
Ring doorbell, was supposed to watch over the house. They may also have been a
way of ritually preserving the presence of ancestors in the house. There are
prehistoric traditions of the burial of family members beneath the floors of
houses which seem to serve a similar purpose.
Maybe this another way for Brueghel to tell us that, through
the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus death and evil have been
defeated. There is no need for people to resort to concealing shoes to guard
against them!
For Reflection
St Paul says: I am convinced that neither death nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nore powers,
nor height, hore depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8. 37-39
Do you fear death? If so, why?
Are there any things you do, or avoid doing, which you
recognise have no basis in logic, but make you feel better?
The whole picture:
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Day Thirteen: the man at the back of the stable
Quite a few of the Brueghel family’s paintings feature a man
urinating in a quiet corner, including several of their nativity scenes, for
example, in the detail below, from Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Census in
Bethlehem.
It is partly simple realism. Ordinary people didn’t have bathrooms, and people were less reserved about bodily functions than we often are today; they didn’t have much choice about it. Pieter Bruegel the Elder seems to have come from a peasant family, and painted what he was familiar with. His sons simply continued his tradition of painting life as it was, which was very popular (and sold well!)
But this man probably also symbolises the “earthiness” of
the nativity. Medieval and Renaissance artists were keen to emphasize the
humanity of Jesus. He was not some ethereal spirit whose feet never touched the
ground, but a flesh and blood human being, who felt all the things that humans
feel (and yes, he went to the toilet too…)
The whole picture:
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Day Twelve: the dogs
In Western European art, dogs often
symbolise attentiveness and faithfulness, and the dogs in this picture
certainly fit that pattern. The dog on the far left of the picture is
completely focussed on Mary and the baby, despite the small child who seems to
be reaching out to touch him or hold his collar. The child is looking the other
way, but the dog knows what is most important in this scene.
Dogs were a common part of everyday life – guard dogs,
hunting dogs, sheep dogs, they were not only “man’s best friend” but often
vital for people’s work, but their effectiveness depended on their loyalty and
commitment to their owners.
For Reflection
“My dwelling place shall be with them ; and I will be
their God and they shall be my people.” Ezekiel 37.27
Who or what are you committed to with the focus that this
dog seems to be directing towards the Holy Family?
Monday, December 11, 2023
Day Eleven: The cat
One old legend told of one of them, who spotted a snake – a
symbol of evil that recalled the serpent in the Garden of Eden - slithering
towards the cradle where Jesus lay and killed it, saving his life. (I told a
version of this legend in a Christmas Day story, Old Tom, which you can read on
the church
blog, or listen to on the church Youtube channel.)
Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna del Gatto – Madonna with a cat –
is one of a number of pictures capturing the scene too, though the cat doesn’t
look too pleased about it.
Brueghel’s
cat, typically feline, keeps him or herself at a distance, but nonetheless is
aware of all that is going on below. The cat reminds me of those moments in
life when we feel we need to keep ourselves at arm’s length from our faith,
when we feel wary of commitment, but know that we can’t ignore or walk away
from it. Is this cat going to creep closer, or run away?
For Reflection
Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the
Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love.
Joel 2:13
Have you ever felt cautious about your faith, wondering
whether to commit yourself or not? What kept you at a distance?
The whole picture:
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Sunday Worship podcast link and other news from Seal Church: Dec 10
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What does "comfort" mean to you? Comfort food (mine is lentil soup!)? A mug of cocoa in front of a log fire? 
CHRISTINGLE DEC 10Day Ten: The Cockerel
There is a cockerel later in the story of Jesus, which crows
when St Peter denies knowing Jesus on the eve of his crucifixion. Brueghel may
mean us to see this one as a link with the end of the story.
It’s more likely, though, that this is another reference to
those Medieval traditions of birds at the birth of Christ. They said that on
that night, the cockerel began to crow at midnight, to announce the birth of
this new dawn for the world, rather than at sunrise as people would have
expected. Shakespeare refers to the moment when “the bird of dawning singeth
all night long”in Hamlet (Act 1 Scene 1)
Some say that ever 'gainst
that season comes,
Wherein our Saviour's birth is
celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth
all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit dare
stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then
no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath
power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is
that time.
For Reflection
Pray for those who “watch or wake or weep” this night, as
one ancient prayer puts it.
The whole picture:
Saturday, December 09, 2023
Day Nine: Birds
There were many legends and carols circulating by the Middle Ages featuring birds gathering at the stable when Jesus was born, and they were very popular and widely known. Brueghel would certainly have been familiar with them. In one of them, the Catalan Carol of the Birds, the blue tits sing, “"It is neither winter nor summer/ But rather springtime/ A flower is born/ That gives a sweet smell all around/ And fills the whole world." The first sign of birds pairing up and nesting – traditionally on Feb 14, St Valentine’s Day - is a moment of hope that winter is losing its grip. The nesting birds here suggest that Jesus’ birth marks the beginning of a new age even when winter seems endless.
For Reflection
“Arise my love, my fair one, and come away, for mow the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” Song of Solomon 2.12
Spend some time outside today if you can (or just open a window!). What birds can you see and hear? What signs of spring do you look forward to?
Where in your life do you need a “springtime” now? Tell God about it.
Joan Baez' version of a couple of verses of "The Carol of the Birds" is here. It's a very well-known Catalonian carol, made famous in an instrumental arrangement by cellist Pau Casals (more often known as Pablo Casals - the Spanish version of his Catalan name) played here by Sheku Kanneh-Mason. And here's another version, sung in Catalan, by Jose Carreras.
The whole picture: