A reflection on St. John the Apostle inspired by the oil painting of Fr. George Leonard Shultz (1896 – 1971). This same reflection was published in the Times-Standard on January 9, 2021: “His Light Combats the Darkness”
For Episcopalians, December 25th marks the beginning of the Christmas season which concludes on January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany. On the third day of Christmastide (Dec 27), we celebrate the Feast Day of St. John the Apostle, who is traditionally considered the author of the Fourth Gospel and thus the author of its magnificent prologue: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Because of this cosmic description, John has been associated with the symbol of the Eagle as he provides a sweeping, eagle-like vision of creation.
Also, St. John has been associated with Thunder since Jesus himself gave him and his brother James the nickname “Sons of Thunder.” The thunder imagery captures the passion of St. John as well as the power of his prologue with its brilliant description of light crashing into the darkness to wake us up and slap us all into enlightenment, like a Zen master slapping a student with a keisaku stick: “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9).
The Eagle and Thunder inspired Fr. George Shultz (1896 – 1971) when he created his portrait of Saint John. Underneath the wooden eagle that adorns the frame, we see a bolt of lightning blast against the dark clouds in the backdrop. While writing my book on John’s Gospel, I learned how the symbol of Light functions as a tool of divine judgment in exposing the sin of human violence. In Shultz’s painting, we can see how the lightning in the background illuminates those who crucified Jesus, thus exposing their complicity in violence.
Today, I believe this same divine light is currently exposing the despicable violence of many people who claim to be Christian, but are, in fact, complicit in the very behavior that Christ clearly condemned. Anyone who continues to support the behavior we witnessed at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and the political leaders who incite such behavior need a divine slap in the face in order to wake up. John the Son of Thunder would passionately denounce any supposed “Christian” who wields and incites such violence.
According to Gandhi, 20% of the work of peace and justice involves nonviolently protesting against injustice, but 80% of the work involves building up a just and peaceful community. Perhaps the most effective way to combat the darkness that has been overshadowing our nation is to invest our time and energy in building up those rare communities in which people respectfully disagree and yet walk together in the way of love. Many congregations, including Christ Church Eureka, strive to embody such a community and thus offer a beacon of hope in the midst of the darkness and despair. During this season of Epiphany, which is the season of enlightenment, we are invited to invest in communities of Light because, according to St. John the Apostle, whenever and wherever the light of love shines, the darkness will ultimately disperse and fail (1:5).
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 