L’Orage (The Storm), 1874 William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1825-1905
St. Paul’s Bulletin Art Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent, December 2, 2018
Advent begins and with it our preparation for Christmas. All around us, Christmas is happening: carols on the radio, lights on houses, piles of stuff to buy. As the Church calendar urges us to slow down, our world speeds up, and with it, our anticipation and anxiety. The Storm of Christmas is here: how do we keep a holy Advent?
William-Adolphe Bouguereau was an incredibly popular French painter at the end of the 19th Century. His work focused on realistic interpretation of mythological themes and he was recognized for his artistic representation of the female body. On the cover of Sunday’s bulletin, we saw his 1874 painting L’Orage (The Storm). Two young women hold each other on a beach as an incoming storm blows their skirts and the surf.
I chose this piece for several reasons. First, I saw Marian imagery in the older girl; she might be an older sister, but she could be a young mother. Her cloak of blue and dress of red make me think of the Marian archetype. Since becoming a father, I can’t start the Advent season without thinking of Mary. Though she won’t be a figure in our readings until the Fourth Sunday of Advent (December 23rd), she weighs heavy on my mind. I think back to those last few weeks of Michael’s pregnancy, especially the anticipation. We were privileged enough to plan for a natural birth, so those last few weeks were a storm of “we can’t make any commitments because we don’t know when this will happen.” Mary and Joseph must have been in a similar situation, but, where the Funstons had the safety of a house and a regular income, they were migrants on the move, destined for an ancestral homeland they didn’t know. Each bump of the donkey’s walk, must have set Mary on edge… “Is it coming?”
Second, I’m haunted by the girls’ gaze. They look directly at us: are they asking us for something? Are they worried? In their embrace, I see trust in one another, with fear of the storm that approaches.
Third, WHERE ARE THEIR SHOES? This storm over the water must have been a surprise… moments ago, I can see them smiling and laughing in the shallow water. The wind picks up and chills off, they run to dry land as the squall intensifies. They didn’t see this coming.
In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus reminds us that Advent isn’t just a season of preparation for Christmas, but is a season of anticipation for the second Advent: Christ’s return at the end of time. With that second coming, there will be signs, confusion, foreboding: a storm.
As we celebrate this Advent, we recognize the storm around us: the world’s demand that we ramp up our anxiety. It asks us: “Do you have enough presents? Are you decorations perfect? Are you being festive enough?” But this is a false storm meant to distract us from the real storm: the ongoing pains of this world, the suffering of our neighbors, and the brokenness around us.
We might be caught without our shoes, but Jesus says, “stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” As we embrace each other, we must open our embrace to those who have been broken by the storm. The donkey moves onward, the birth pangs draw close, Christ is coming. A new storm is on the horizon, but it scares us because we forget that it isn’t the cause of our pain. Contained within is the answer to the world’s pain: a child born for us, Emmanuel.
Hold fast; his kingdom comes.
