Looking in Hope

Post Author: Sarah Smoot

Acrylic and dried ginkgo leaves and hosta petals. Text in artwork: “Song for ascent / My eyes scan the hills / from where will come my help / comes from the Lord / heaven & earth Maker / neither naps nor sleeps the keeper of Israel / the Lord keeps you / the Lord will not let your foot slip / the Lord is your shade very near / by day the sun will not harm you / nor the moon at night / the Lord will keep you from all harm / will keep your very life / will keep your going out & coming in / from now until forever”

I created the piece “Looking in Hope” for a friend who asked for a prayer painting to hang on her child’s bedroom wall. I have often thought of Psalm 91 as having two voices: one that is unsure and overwhelmed and one that answers from deep experience in walking hardship with the Lord’s help. Throughout Holy Week, I think of those two voices conversing in Jesus as he struggled with his calling, his disciples’ (mis)understanding, and his faithfulness to place himself in God’s hands. This is the Lord who is with us when we are weary, whether from the liturgical demands of Holy Week or from the more deep and lasting struggles of our lives.

The shapes in the paint and leaves give an outline of mountains. I noticed upon completing the work that the two large mountains also resemble traditional renderings of the Ten Commandments. The reference reminds me that sometimes the structures of our faith feel like mountains that are difficult to climb, but those same structures are also one of the ways God offers us a hand up the mountains. The commandments, Psalms, familiar liturgy, and patterns of the liturgical year are like stepping stones that carry us through the uncertainties of life.

May you look in hope this holy season, knowing that the Lord is very near indeed.