There is something pleasing about image and word working in concert together, isn’t there?

I was reminded of this again with a visit from my friend—and close colleague in Langham Partnership for more than 15 years—Pieter Kwant.

the son, with song

Pieter and Elria, who had popped-in for three days the week before, have a son, Tim. He is a school teacher in Scotland. He does a little music with a friend in a group called Lapwing. With its singalong tune and resonant lyrics, that Christmas song of theirs had a way of bringing hope during those dark, isolating covidian times. It still brings a glow to my heart when it pops up on my playlist…

… I don’t know what I’m getting for Christmas this year, but I’m hoping it gets you to me.

… What are you asking for Christmas this year? What is it asking of you? If it’s true in the giving that life is worth living, then I’m sending my heart out to you …

… A sparkle of light in the dark of the year, like hope taking hold of your hand. It’s the promise of laughter and love without fear, the returning of joy to the land.

But here I am digressing before I have even started…

Lapwing are on the verge of releasing an album called Thin Places. Here is how they describe it:

Our Celtic ancestors lived in an enchanted landscape, seeing evidence of the infinite throughout nature. But in certain wild localities, they felt, the veil between heaven and earth was unusually porous, and those who found their way to these sites, whether as pilgrims or unwitting travellers, could touch the world to come. They called these locations ‘thin places,’ and there they carved stones, dug wells, and built monasteries to mark them out as special.

Centuries on, in our digital world, these strange and untamed places continue to draw us, resonating with our disenchanted hearts in ways we barely understand, like a language we no longer speak. It is the struggle to make sense of this impulse that gives rise to this album.

Each of its ten songs is named after a location in Scotland, and each tells a distinct story of love and loss and hope…

Beautiful, isn’t it? And there is that word ‘porous’ again. Such an apt and striking image, bringing to mind Charles Taylor’s ‘porous:buffering’ insights which so engaged me earlier this year. Anyhow, I had been listening to the Thin Places songs, but when Pieter was with us, he introduced me to the videos and so I began seeing them as well.

Goodness, deary me. How mesmerisingly gorgeous is this little song, Luskentyre?

What did I say earlier about ‘image and word in concert’ being ‘pleasing’? Could it be done any better?

Here are two more songs from Thin Places (and I shall leave you to find, and enjoy, the rest of them)…

Not for the first time, the scenery over in Scotland reminds me of here in New Zealand—like where I took Pieter yesterday. Piha, on the west coast out from Auckland, just 30 minutes from our home (with a couple of inadvertent B&W photos, as I had changed a setting by accident … but I kinda like them!).

Speaking of Pieter…

the father, with commentary

In retirement, Pieter has gone back to a delight from his younger years—painting. He has set himself the goal of painting his way through the book of Revelation. He has reached chapter 12, having completed three volumes—on his way to seven, rather appropriately! The three individual volumes are available from Piquant Editions (that PKwant/Piquant morph still makes me smile!)—as is a three-in-one volume, released earlier this year.

And what is the feature of Pieter’s work?

Yes, you guessed it.

The pleasing way in which image and word are in concert together.

And isn’t this the way it should be? Revelation is a vision that is written down. But how often is that our experience? Pieter is putting together what interpreters readily put asunder. Notice the subtitle. “Read and See“. In a conversational way, he combines bold, evocative imagery with clear accessible explanation. And lest we forget, every two-page spread keeps them together. Characteristically, there is a portion of the text of Revelation; then there is a painting from some part of history (‘quoting visually’, as he expresses it); then there is a painting from Pieter; and, finally, there is an explanation of the painting. Here are a couple of examples:

So, as should be the case, it is image that catches the eye. But I would make a little plea not to miss the words. This is where Pieter is quick to acknowledge Elria’s contribution as a writer and editor. The outcome? Brevity. Clarity. Sanity. These are descriptors not often used to accompany excursions into Revelation—and yet she works to ensure that these characterize the pages that we open up.

Speaking of ‘excursions’, this is how Pieter describes sections that he adds in to the commentary—like By Way of Introduction (vol 1.8-9); How to Read Revelation (1.46-47); A Way of Reading (2.6-7‚ in which he revisits the ancient Quadriga method); Precious Stones (2.12-15); My Understanding of the Seven Seals (2.50-51); Understanding the Bigger Picture (3.8-9); and My Understanding of Trumpets, Scroll and Witnesses (3.52-53). In a similar vein, there are sections that provide some helpful summary, like One Church (1.40-41); A Personal Prayer (1.42-45); and The Scroll is Open at Last (2.48-49).

The bibliography is extensive and helpfully categorized—although I do note the way the ‘For Preachers and Church Leaders’ section is always greatly out-numbered by ‘For Art Lovers’ and what else can I do but smile.

another son, with film

Pieter and Elria are in New Zealand to visit another son, Dave, who is a movie director based in Nelson. My next task is to track down his Whispers of Gold, a documentary about an old gold-mining town on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South island…!

nice chatting

Paul