des Morgens ist Freude

During 2008 I took an online workshop through a book by Mary Todd Beam called Celebrate Your Creative Self. While time didn't allow me to participate in every activity, I learned a tremendous amount. This is my "final exam" piece, a mixed media collage using tissue paper, construction paper, photocopied letters, magazine pages, acrylic paint, glazing medium, mica powders, and Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.

I created this for the JFBC "Glimpses of His Glory" gallery. The theme for this exhibition is "Joy." From the first moment I heard the theme, I knew that I would use Psalm 30:5 as my inspiration verse. An old song by the group Glad went through my head the whole time I created. The piece took me much longer than I anticipated, but I think the end result communicates my message.

Here is the write up that will accompany my artwork in the gallery:

Psalm 30:5b Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

No one escapes this life without sorrow. In a sinful world, there is no escape from its influence or from its consequences. The believer, however, has the hope of knowing that God is with him through the trials no matter how tragic. God's understands the deepest and cruelest sorrow, and sends the Hold Spirit to be Comforter during those difficult days, however long they may last.

Martin Luther's 1545 translation of Psalm 30:5 concludes: ...des Morgens ist Freude: ...the morning is joy. Just as the darkest night always ends with sunrise, every believer's sorrow always ends with joy. Joy from sorrow? Only because of Christ can boundless joy proceed from the darkess sorrow. Only in Christ is it possible for believers to endure the weeping of the night with the hope that joy will rise with the dawn.

This Christmas season is the ideal time to remember God's promise that HE offers hope, and no matter what the sorrow of the night may be, the morning is joy.