The Valley of the 23rd Psalm
The "as I walk through valley of the shadow of death" can and is also translated as: “as I walk through the valley overshadowed by death.” This may seem a slight distinction, but to me, the overshadowing of a valley seems darker than “the shadow of death.” That overshadowing seems total. Darker. Plus, the image evoked is more real.
Apparently there is another Hebrew version of the text, which translates as: “the valley of deepest darkness.” This seems worse yet, as it would be the darkest.
The theory of UnGraven Image art is based on theology that begins with Genesis 1:3, “Let there be light.” Light is vital to our universe and without it there would be no colors, paintings or art. For Jews and Christians without the words of the Prime Creator there would be no world.
The symbolism of the dark valley of the Psalm 23, suggests Genesis Chapter one, when “darkness was on the face of the deep.”
Prior to the portion about the valley, the psalmist wrote that “He leads me in paths of righteousness from the sake of His name [or His name's sake].' Following entering the dark valley the psalm continues, “I shall fear no evil, for Thou [The Lord] art with me.”
This week I was reading about studies of famous creative by neurological scientists. One dealt with how music affects our brains. Another study is researching a finding that the creative visual place in the human brain is close or coincides with the area that also deals with insanity. For me, insanity would be the darkest place and we all -- to some degree -- deal with our own neurosis or illogical fears and concerns. Coping with the discomfort of believing lies (denial), unwanted emotions and fears leads to behavior that is out of control. A severe amount of this would be catatonia while the mild everyday –I can-cope-with-it variety leads all manner of behaviors that we resolve change repair every New Year.
It struck me as amazingly “coincidental” that the brain area that deals with area is near or coincides with the creatively visual area. To see is to discern darkness from light. That is both physically true and true when we have a sudden inspiration or understanding. Think of all the cartoons that indicate the character getting an idea through the now universally understood symbol of a bright light bulb by the cartoon character's head.
When we do not turn towards our Creator and follow in His path before us, we will inevitably go in a different direction. We stray, even for the moment we say a few “deserved” harsh words (which will make us feel better somehow) or tell a small, seemingly harmless white lie so our lives will be more convenient, or pretend that a situation that we do not like does not exist.
Today I delivered the two watercolor pencil paintings, Psalm 23 (Male Cardinal and Psalm 23 (Female Cardinal) to an exhibit. Every stroke in each comes from the psalm. (There are affordable, archival fine art prints available of these paintings at the ungravenimage.com web site under the Collect Prints tab then under that click on Current Prints if the links to the images above fail). They were the first paintings after the tsunami, when coincidentally my area was engulfed by a blizzard. The wild animals of the tsunami almost all “knew” to head for high ground just as the wild creatures in my area, where forge is generally plentiful managed to find food and shelter when the snow was a foot and a half deep. Thus began my painting series entitled, Written on the Wind.
We like the sheep, which symbolize us in Psalm 23 are domesticated animals who rely on the care of a shepherd. When we cannot see, if we can feel the rod or the staff prodding or pulling us along, we can get thorough even the darkest times. And, if we know that our Shepherd is with us (or moreover if we make ourselves aligned with the Lord), it is never totally dark.
According to the Psalmist, even in deepest darkness the Lord is with us. I paint using the Hebrew letters from original Bible texts to represent the smallest essential pre-particles (also known as strings and membranes). This is basic Judeo-Christian theology applied to fine art. If we can remember and even picture the very Words of the Lord surrounding when we are in a time of a dark valley, then we can know that we are loved and not alone.
In the darkest times we can “see” our next step if we can envision that we are surrounded by the very words and promises of the Lord. All we need to do is ask for and take one small step forward with our Creator and we will “fear no evil for thou art with me.”
January 3, 2007 |
