Kenton J. Kutney

It was such a privilege to share this sermon after so many years on hiatus.  My heart was so full - as a result, the editing process was so painful!  (Yes, this  is  only the half of it. The full manuscript is available. What Child Is This? https://clyp.it/vfbmp2hf

PERHAPS THIS IS   how the angelic hosts sang that Holy Night, in reverent jubilation... Come, Thou long expected Jesus Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in Thee. Israel's strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart. Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a King, Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By Thine own eternal Spirit Rule in all our hearts alone; By Thine all sufficient merit, Raise us to Thy glorious throne. ...This version, featuring Christy Nockels with the choir, just gives me chills every time I listen. Honestly, it chokes me up so I can barely manage to sing along. George Frideric Handel’s ‘Messiah’ (I had to Google the lyrics) is quite the extraordinary meditative journey on the Incarnation; such inspired creativity. Hearing it live at the Vancouver Orpheum so long ago is still a vivid

Perhaps it was the cumulative years of writing Advent sermons, gradually building up such a vivid sense of anticipation, that a creative outlet of joyous expression was bound to happen despite the tremendous adversity that lay ahead in my journey... Apparently, you can count on the biased CBC to mock Christmas. But the comic rant decrying those auto-generated carol playlists does have a point. Malls + holiday songs do not equal cheer. Rather, for me, they stir a rising cynicism like the 4 progressive stages of hypertension! The antidote is a necessary exercise of deeper reflection in response to the frenetic consumerism and the tinney holiday trappings of secularist attempts to replace Christ, the very reason for my joy in celebrating this season.  I do love Christmas. This is the season for imagining what is possible, for dreaming new dreams, for hoping beyond hope. But someone observed that it is also the season when hope can be hardest to find, dreams hardest to believe. The

After I posted some reflections about a surprisingly renewing nature walk (following yet another series of medical tests), the serendipitous detour inspired me to write out my thoughts and then try creating this narrated poem. This is my first attempt at putting together poetry into a multimedia format . ... May you be inspired on your path to renewal. My second project, upon request for something to present at a special Christmas Eve service, is entitled ‘ What Child Is This? ’ Feel free to share it around for the holidays! https://youtu.be/XMmxQpX0Tdo (Also, you can visit my newly launched website to find links to recent original artwork) https://kkutney.wixsite.com/artbykenton

There’s a saying (in Norway, I think) where the winters get long:  ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.’  Kinda fits with today’s rainy day reflection... See the next blog post for the new video I posted of the resultant poem.

Original Art By Kenton J. Kutney Check out some of my recent artwork at my new website.  There you will find a slideshow video of this year's projects:  https://kkutney.wixsite.com/artbykenton