COVER ART INTERPRETATION
Ruth and Naomi
Artist: Nalini Marcia Jayasuriya (Indonesia) Interpreter: Kathryn A. Kimball, Curator, The Upper Room Chapel/ Christian Art Museum
Nalini Jayasuriya was a Christian artist born in Sri Lanka. Believing that people “need protection from fear and a hope for blessing,”* she painted
biblical life stories in ways that focus on the wonderful moments within each story that create hope.
In the book of Ruth, we read the story of the death of Naomi’s husband and sons. With no male heirs, the future looked bleak for Naomi and her daughters-in-law, so Naomi encouraged the young women to return to their homeland where they could remarry. Jayasuriya’s painting focuses on Ruth 4:13-17, where Ruth gives her son to Naomi — a gift of hope for their future and for ours.
In the center, Naomi and Ruth gently cradle a white dove. Swirls of red and blue surround the dove in a protective womb- like shield. Golden reddish-browns spread out from the dove, breaking through the edges of the painting. Feet extending from her dress, Naomi looks up and beyond Ruth’s face, perhaps envisioning the promise of her new future. Ruth kneels before Naomi, gazing at the beautiful white dove cradled in their hands. In art a bird often symbolizes hope. In this story, it rep- resents the gift of Obed — an ancestor of Jesus.
Ruth and Naomi each offer a gift to the other with their open hands. Naomi offers Ruth freedom. Ruth cradles the dove and presents it to Naomi as a gift of hope. The dove sits freely within their embrace. This act of love and promise between Ruth and Naomi secures their future and the gift of hope for all Christians through the birth of Jesus.
*A Time for My Singing: Witness of a Life, OMSC Publications, 2004
Cover image courtesy of OMSC. © Nalini Marcia Jayasuriya and OMSC,
Artist: Nalini Marcia Jayasuriya (Indonesia) Interpreter: Kathryn A. Kimball, Curator, The Upper Room Chapel/ Christian Art Museum
Nalini Jayasuriya was a Christian artist born in Sri Lanka. Believing that people “need protection from fear and a hope for blessing,”* she painted
biblical life stories in ways that focus on the wonderful moments within each story that create hope.
In the book of Ruth, we read the story of the death of Naomi’s husband and sons. With no male heirs, the future looked bleak for Naomi and her daughters-in-law, so Naomi encouraged the young women to return to their homeland where they could remarry. Jayasuriya’s painting focuses on Ruth 4:13-17, where Ruth gives her son to Naomi — a gift of hope for their future and for ours.
In the center, Naomi and Ruth gently cradle a white dove. Swirls of red and blue surround the dove in a protective womb- like shield. Golden reddish-browns spread out from the dove, breaking through the edges of the painting. Feet extending from her dress, Naomi looks up and beyond Ruth’s face, perhaps envisioning the promise of her new future. Ruth kneels before Naomi, gazing at the beautiful white dove cradled in their hands. In art a bird often symbolizes hope. In this story, it rep- resents the gift of Obed — an ancestor of Jesus.
Ruth and Naomi each offer a gift to the other with their open hands. Naomi offers Ruth freedom. Ruth cradles the dove and presents it to Naomi as a gift of hope. The dove sits freely within their embrace. This act of love and promise between Ruth and Naomi secures their future and the gift of hope for all Christians through the birth of Jesus.
*A Time for My Singing: Witness of a Life, OMSC Publications, 2004
Cover image courtesy of OMSC. © Nalini Marcia Jayasuriya and OMSC,
Dear Upper Room Family,
Greetings in the name of our risen Savior! The resurrection is the centerpiece of our hope, and if we ever needed hope, now is the time. We pray for health – physical, emotional, and spiritual health – for our Upper Room family and the world. We hope you will pray for us, too, as we all work remotely to keep the ministry of The Upper Room present and vital.
It is our understanding that there are postal disruptions to various countries around the world. To circumvent that, we are sending you PDFs of the May-June issue in English and Spanish. If you are a church and have access to emails of your readers, please share these PDFs with them. PDFs are also free to download from https://www.upperroom.org/covid-19 The downloads are available in both English and Spanish.
Suggestions for how to get the most out of your copies of The Upper Room daily devotional guide
during this unique time.
- Through June 30, 2020, you have permission to post the daily meditation on your website. You can also simply put a link on your site.https://www.upperroom.org/devotionals for English or https://es.upperroom.org/devotionals for Spanish.
- Through June 30, 2020, you have permission to record the reading of the daily meditation to be presented as a story on Facebook, or on a private YouTube channel. Please note – do not record the meditation and make it available as a post or using Facebook Live. Make it available only as a story. Stories are up for a limited time and then disappear. This is an important copyright consideration. We appreciate your cooperation.
- Consider doing a study group via Zoom, WebEx or other video-conferencing tool using the study questions included in every issue of The Upper Room.
The following list can be viewed at upperroom.org/covid-19
- Go to https://www.upperroom.org/covid-19 for a list of all of our resources specific to the pandemic along with the following articles:
- Seven Suggestions for Healing and Renewal in the Midst of Stress and Anxiety by Flora S. Wuellner
- A Blessing for Those Who Wait by Beth A. Richardson
- The Work of Hope by Luther E. Smith, Jr.
- Getting Started with Your Private Online Classroom
- Morning Prayer on Facebook Live – Each day at 11AM CT. Please join here - https://www.facebook.com/UpperRoomCenter/ Each session of this brief daily communal prayer time is led by an Upper Room staff member or friend.
- “New Every Morning” with daily video. This e-newsletter offers a daily reflection featuring an excerpt from an Upper Room Books title, a reflection question, space to comment and/or to add a prayer request. A video clip featuring a staff member or author responding to the question: “What does creating a life with God look like for you today?” View the videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/UpperRoomMin/featured Sign up here: https://upperroombooks.com/neweverymorning-subscribe/
- Our Freedom From Worry eCourse, will be offered free to all for a limited time. This eCourse featuring Upper Room Books author Patricia Wilson is designed to help participants reduce their anxiety level and develop practices of prayer and trust. To register, go to UReLearning.upperroom.org/courses and use the promo code FREEDOM when registering.
- Other individual eCourses are being offered for half price. To view available eCourses, go here UReLearning.upperroom.org/courses and use promo code URHALF when registering.
- The Upper Room Prayer Wall is available for posting prayers and praying in response to the prayers of others. http://prayer-center.upperroom.org/prayer-wall
- Beth Richardson has created a helpful video for all those who want submit requests or pray for others. A link can be found here: https://www.upperroom.org/covid-19
- The Upper Room Editions team has created a new space on the daily devotional blog for the purpose of sharing personal and theological reflections on the current global pandemic. A link to this section can be found at https://www.upperroom.org/covid-19
- Our “Prayers for…” series is available for free download at https://www.upperroom.org/special-editions “Prayers For Hope, Prayers for Courage, Prayers for Illness and Prayers for Comfort”.
We may be a community in crisis, but we are also a community in Christ, and that makes all the difference. Please know that we are in this together.
Yours in faith,
The Upper Room Editorial Team
Upper Room Editions
