Longing to Live on the Holy Mountain

 Friendly Fourth Discussion 1pm
Sunday - February 25th, 2024

Edward Hicks (1780-1849) Bucks County Pa                          Horace Pippin Chest County PA (1888- 1946)        Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)                                     African Methodist Episcopal Church

Isaiah’s vision of the Peaceable Kingdom on the Holy Mountain

Isaiah 11:6

Since before Isaiah prophesied that “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb … young ones shall lie down together … a little child will lead them …. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain” people have longed for the restoration of harmony in a world of separation and violence. Edward Hicks and Horace Pippin lived during times of separation of communities that steadily lead down a path to violence and then outright war. These two Delaware Valley artists painted their dream of how a rightly ordered life pushes back the darkness and decreases the separation between the Divinely ordered life and the world’s separation from that order. These men were not naive. They knew by experience the darkness of the world. Yet they lived in the light and life of the holy mountain doing what they were called to be a part of the creation of the Peaceable Kingdom in the world of their immediate community.

Join a discussion after worship and a potluck luncheon to learn a bit about the artists Edward Hicks and Horace Pippin’s vision of the Holy Mountain in an imperfect world. They lived two generations apart here in the Delaware Valley. We are living another 2 generations since Horace passed and we are faced with many of the same challenges that keep the Peace of Isaiah’s prophecy from enlarging the Peaceful Kingdom.

    How do the artists paint the tension between the vision of the Holy Mountain and everyday life?
    Each artist painted the same scene several times what changes in it? How does the changes reflect the artist life     experience?
    How do you experience the darkness at the edge of your meadow of your life?
    How do you tend to that portion of the garden of the holy mountain that is yours to steward?
 
Some links to learn more about Edward and Horace
 
Horace Pippin
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Pippin
The Symbolism Behind Horace Pippin's Fantastical Biblical Vision
        https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/the-symbolism-behind-horace-pippins-fantastical-biblical-vision
 
Edward Hicks
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hicks
The Peaceable Kingdoms of Edward Hicks
                https://artandtheology.org/2016/12/06/the-peaceable-kingdoms-of-edward-hicks/