Day 20: Silhouettes Against the Sky

By Oscar Wilde[ref]Oscar Wilde. Poems. Boston: Robert Brothers, 1881; Bartleby.com, 1999.[/ref]

THE sea is flecked with bars of grey
The dull dead wind is out of tune,
And like a withered leaf the moon
Is blown across the stormy bay.

Etched clear upon the pallid sand
The black boat lies: a sailor boy
Clambers aboard in careless joy
With laughing face and gleaming hand.

And overhead the curlews cry,
Where through the dusky upland grass
The young brown-throated reapers pass,
Like silhouettes against the sky.

If you haven’t already, read the poem carefully and then reflect on the painting. Take the painting in on the largest screen you can.
This painting marks a shift in Winslow’s art, away from narrative subjects and towards pure and elemental subjects.[ref]cf. Google Cultural Institute[/ref] The rocks. The waves. The animated and yet inanimate power in creation. We’ve spent considerable time reflecting on the animate parts of creation–all its creeping and crawling. But what of the rest of creation? What does it say to us, and reveal of God? Spend a moment in prayerful reflection and share your thoughts below.
To go even deeper, consider Luke 19:40, where Jesus says even rocks will speak and testify of God. Read Luke 19:28-44, then consider how creation, even non-living creation, speaks of God. Share your thoughts below.