Rest on the Flight into Egypt

Epiphany commemorates the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem bringing gifts to the Christ child. According to the Gospel of Matthew, soon after the visit from the Magi, Joseph was warned that he and his family should flee their homeland and go to Egypt to seek refuge from King Herod's attempt to kill their infant son.

On this Feast of Epiphany, I am re-posting a poem inspired by the French artist Luc Olivier Merson.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt

How still the air must be this night –

A wisp of smoke

Moves straight to the sky

As the fugitive fire 

Slowly dies.

How still the night

As the light of heaven

Rests in Egypt’s ancient arms.

How still the night

As donkey grazes and

Joseph sleeps
While beyond the distant river
Some petty tyrant
Fashions weapons of war.

And a newly blessed mother

Slumbers in the protective Sabbath

Of a watchful Sphinx.

                                                 ~ CK

______________

Image: Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Artist: Luc Olivier Merson (French, 1846–1920)

Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1879

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The Plight of the Refugee

According to the Gospel of Matthew, soon after the visit from the Magi, Joseph was warned that he and his family should flee their homeland and go to Egypt to seek refuge from King Herod's attempt to kill their infant son.

As we remember the refugee, and those immigrants who have much to contribute, I am re-posting a poem inspired by the French artist Luc Olivier Merson. Egypt knew not whom she held, yet she kept the family intact.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt

How still the air must be this night –

A wisp of smoke

Moves straight to the sky

As the fugitive fire 

Slowly dies.

How still the night

As the light of heaven

Rests in Egypt’s ancient arms.

How still the night

As donkey grazes and

Joseph sleeps
While beyond the distant river
Some petty tyrant
Fashions weapons of war.

And a newly blessed mother

Slumbers in the protective Sabbath

Of a watchful Sphinx.

                                                 ~ CK

______________

Image: Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Artist: Luc Olivier Merson (French, 1846–1920)

Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1879

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Rest on the Flight into Egypt

According to the Gospel of Matthew, soon after the visit from the Magi, Joseph was warned that he and his family should flee their homeland and go to Egypt to seek refuge from King Herod's attempt to kill their infant son.

On this day after the Feast of Epiphany, I am re-posting a poem inspired by the French artist Luc Olivier Merson.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt

How still the air must be this night –

A wisp of smoke

Moves straight to the sky

As the fugitive fire 

Slowly dies.

How still the night

As the light of heaven

Rests in Egypt’s ancient arms.

How still the night

As donkey grazes and

Joseph sleeps
While beyond the distant river
Some petty tyrant
Fashions weapons of war.

And a newly blessed mother

Slumbers in the protective Sabbath

Of a watchful Sphinx.

                                                 ~ CK

______________

Image: Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Artist: Luc Olivier Merson (French, 1846–1920)

Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1879

-

Rest on the Flight into Egypt

Rest on the Flight into Egypt

How still the air must be this night –

A wisp of smoke

Moves straight to the sky

As the fugitive fire 

Slowly dies.

How still the night

As the light of heaven

Rests in Egypt’s ancient arms.

How still the night

As donkey grazes and

Joseph sleeps
While beyond the distant river
Some petty tyrant
Fashions weapons of war.

And a newly blessed mother

Slumbers in the protective Sabbath

Of a watchful Sphinx.

                                                 ~ CK

______________

Image: Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Artist: Luc Olivier Merson (French, 1846–1920)

Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1879

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Masterworks Series: Flight into Egypt

Emigres

Our Lord, allow us to welcome the stranger and treat them kindly. Allow us to see that the stranger can benefit us. Allow us to see that the stranger can benefit those from where they came.  Ameen.

                            

                                             ~ Sarah Joseph, OBE*

   

It seems we are always looking back to Egypt.

We suffer our kings;

Tentatively we give them admiration

While doing our best to stay out of their way.

Our rulers give us hope

That God will bless our land,

Yet more often they are the reason

We hope for better days.

Leaving Bethlehem by night

With my wife and son,

We cast ourselves upon

The mercy of the open road.

Fleeing one tyrant

For memories of another,

We take refuge in the land

That was abundant in wealth and oppression

For our forebears.

Rootless and homeless

We have only family for support

And the strength of our hands

For a day’s wage.

Living as refugees,

Moving from overlord to overlord,

We will make our way.

Longing for home and

Grieving for a land

Once filled with life and song

Now turned deadly.

Trees offer their fruits

As we stop to rest,

Reminding us that the earth is gracious

Even when the land is stolen and divided by kings.

Sojourning in a strange land

We will hold on to the goodness of the earth

Waiting for old kings to die;

Waiting for the time of singing.

In the meantime

We will join with the downtrodden

And dwell with the outcast

Seeking refuge together.

Perhaps we will find a place

In the shadows of the empire

To sing our songs of hope.

                                      ~ CK

*    *    *

* From Sarah Joseph's BBC Radio Prayer for the Day, 23 July 2015

________________________________
Image: "The Rest on the Flight into Egypt" at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Artist: Gerard David (Netherlandish, 1460-1523)
Medium: Oil on panel
Date: c.1510


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