Epiphany 8/Ordinary Time 8
Preaching
Hear My Voice
Preaching The Lectionary Psalms for Cycles A, B, C
Object:
From the early sixteenth- to the mid-nineteenth centuries, one of the most popular forms of painting was the "miniature." Deriving its name from the Latin minium -- which refers to the red lead-based paint used to emphasize letters in medieval manuscripts -- the miniature was also physically tiny. A miniature painting could be held in the palm of the hand, or worn as a piece of jewelry. Many of them were portraits of the well-to-do -- for only the wealthy could afford such trinkets. It took the greatest of artistic skill to shrink the image of human face down until it could fit within that minuscule frame and still be recognizable. Miniatures flourished as an art form until the advent of photography, which made it possible to produce tiny, detailed images much more quickly and without the same level of artistic skill.
Psalm 131 is a miniature. Just three verses long, the NRSV refers to it as "a song of quiet trust."
Think "lullaby." A lullaby is a brief little song that soothes a troubled child, causing the tears to stop flowing. It is not exalted in style, nor pretentious in any way. A lullaby is a small and simple melody that accomplishes its purpose admirably.
Such is the case with Psalm 131. It is a confession of humble trust in the Lord: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother" (vv. 1b-2a).
A weaned child, by definition, is one who has stopped nursing. Yet even the weaned child sometimes yearns to crawl up into its mother's lap and take to the breast. In this humble, maternal image, the psalmist witnesses to God's tender love.
-- C. W.
Psalm 131 is a miniature. Just three verses long, the NRSV refers to it as "a song of quiet trust."
Think "lullaby." A lullaby is a brief little song that soothes a troubled child, causing the tears to stop flowing. It is not exalted in style, nor pretentious in any way. A lullaby is a small and simple melody that accomplishes its purpose admirably.
Such is the case with Psalm 131. It is a confession of humble trust in the Lord: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother" (vv. 1b-2a).
A weaned child, by definition, is one who has stopped nursing. Yet even the weaned child sometimes yearns to crawl up into its mother's lap and take to the breast. In this humble, maternal image, the psalmist witnesses to God's tender love.
-- C. W.
