Walking the Red Brick Road

A photographer's journal and life in rural America

Archive for category theology

Ivy for memory

Nov 11

Posted by Roxie in art, decor, exterior, life lessons, scenery, sculpture, theology | No Comments

Roman maiden holding ivy wreath

Roman maiden holding ivy wreath

My great aunt was quite an expert on the meaning of funerary art. I’m not.

However, the wreath in this Greco-Roman maiden’s hand intrigued me. What does ivy signify in a cemetery context?

According to VintageViews.com’s Glossary of Victorian Cemetery Symbolism, ivy signifies “memory, immortality, friendship, fidelity, faithfulness, undying affection, eternal life.”

Memorials.com’s Symbols on Headstones Demystified says the ivy wreath is symbolic of “gaiety, joviality.… The wreath and festoon together symbolize memory.… Use of garlands, wreaths and festoons dates back to ancient Greek times and it was adopted into the Christian religion as a symbol of the victory of the redemption. [Ivy wreaths are an a]ncient symbol of victory, memory, passed to eternal life.”

Gaiety and joviality seem rather out of place in a cemetery. We visit a cemetery to mourn and remember the ones we’ve lost, not have a party. But maybe those concepts are not so out of place. Only my mother’s and grandparents’ bodies lie in that grave plot. Their spirits have gone before me and I will see them again. That I can celebrate.

GHTime Code(s): 8cd58 

Tags: , , , ,

O death, where is thy victory?

Nov 8

Posted by Roxie in exterior, history, life lessons, music, scenery, theology | No Comments

Winged Victory of Samothrace replica

Winged Victory of Samothrace replica

Years ago in a photography seminar, the instructor said that cemeteries are wonderful places to photograph. I’ve driven by this one numerous times and had always found it interesting because of the funerary art I could see from the street.

This statue is a replica of the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
I don’t know the donor’s rationale for erecting this statue where he did, but it certainly reminded me that the cemetery is not our final resting place. When I saw it, I immediately thought of the verse

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Cor. 15:55, King James Version)

Actually, I heard it as the music in Handel’s Messiah.

In the Bible, and in the Messiah, the answer comes a bit later:

 57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:57, King James Version)

No matter who you are, remember that your final destination is not a cemetery. That’s just where your body is headed. The real you lives forever. If you follow Christ, the eternal destination is eternal victory in Christ. If you don’t, well, you don’t want to go there.

GHTime Code(s): 4600f nc fbcb3 26dba 8e1c5 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Jars of glass

Sep 18

Posted by Roxie in life lessons, music, theology | No Comments

Mason jars

Mason jars

Last summer, I watched a video series
called A Heart Ablaze: Igniting a Passion for God by John Bevere. He talked a lot about the purpose of trials. They exist to burn off dross — impurity — in our lives. No trial is pleasant, but the results produce pure gold and silver in our lives where only raw ore existed.

The more we are refined, the more transparent we become. The more transparent we become, the better the light of Christ shows through us.

Paul describes himself as a jar of clay in II Cor. 4:7 (NIV), saying that we are not glamorous in ourselves in order to show God’s power through us. We don’t have power in ourselves.

I really think I’d rather be a Mason jar. It’s not glamorous, either, but it’s transparent.

Jesus said, “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a clay pot. A lamp is put on a lampstand, so that everyone who comes into the house can see the light. …[B]e sure that your light isn’t darkness. If you have light, and nothing is dark, then light will be everywhere, as when a lamp shines brightly on you.” (Luke 11:33, 35, 36 CEV)

I want to be a lampstand, holding the Light of the World in such a way that He is visible and not me. I want to hold the lamp kit, not be the light.

As the song goes, “Shine, Jesus, shine!”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The beauty of ordinary things

Sep 16

Posted by Roxie in baking, food, life lessons, theology | No Comments

Measuring cups

Measuring cups

I was in a wholesale bakery the other day. Bakeries are generally more of a feast for the nose than for the eyes, but the ordinary tools in the bakery have their own beauty, the beauty of function and utility.

Even the humblest item can be attractive. We are not all made like movie stars, for which I thank God. Many of us are plain. Some of us are not at all beautiful to an eye that cannot perceive anything but the surface. True beauty is far more than skin deep attractiveness. True beauty is found in the answer to the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

Roger Mugs says, “I love that our call in life is to glorify God and to fully enjoy Him. Are you enjoying God?”

According to Dr. Ron Horton, “enjoy” actually has an older meaning “to give joy to.” So the question would mean “Man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and give joy to Him forever.’”

Either way, I love the concepts here. Dip your measuring cup in the joy of the Lord today. Give joy to Him by obeying His commands.

Tags: , , , ,