Let Your Light Shine.
 Hochhalter, Cara B.

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Title:Let Your Light Shine
Notes:PLEASE USE THIS BRIEF CREDIT INFORMATION FOR FREE, NON-COMMERCIAL CONGREGATIONAL PRINTING: Cara B. Hochhalter, Let Your Light Shine. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59034
FOR OTHER USES: Full credit information can be found below in the Copyright Source field.

COMMENTARY BY THE ARTIST:
Let Your Light Shine
Matthew 5:14-16
"While Jesus urged his disciples to be humble, in this text he encourages them not to hide their light. If the infinite life-giving light of God is in all creation, including us, then it may seem paradoxical to let this light shine even as we seek humility. Perhaps we might let God’s light be reflected in the ways we live and act in this world, knowing that it comes from a source within but also beyond ourselves—and no matter what our religion, we do not have an exclusive right to this spiritual essence of being... In the image, I turned the block upside down to create a “shadow” print. Once again, I was surprised at what appeared. There is an echo of the flame, in reverse, in the candle itself. It is an inner light that is exactly what Jesus tells us not to hide. Perhaps finding this light inspires our own good works in the world, as we also look for it in others."

The Rev. Cara B. Hochhalter is a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister. She received her Masters of Divinity from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, where she studied the intersections of art, theology and justice. She served the Charlemont Federated Church in Massachusetts for ten years and now lives in Hyde Park, New York.

“Over the last thirty years, through my work as a Christian Educator, a seminary student and UCC minister, I have created images that interpret the powerful stories around the life of Jesus. These stories hold universal truths not limited to Christianity but relevant for all our lives and times. I find that art provides a very special means to break into these texts.”

The images in her book, A Challenging Peace in the Life and Stories of Jesus were created through the simple print-making process of carving out a block, applying ink and pulling a print. Cara says, “The interaction of light and dark is important in each image as we cannot have one without the other. The dark defines the light, and vice versa. I find this to be theological as we look to the whole—the light and the dark, the joy and the despair, the peace and the conflict—all under an umbrella of Divine Love that yearns for wholeness.”

Using her book, Cara also offers three online discussion groups: Jesus and Justice, Parables and Peace-making, and The Paradox of Humility in the Stories of Jesus.

To contact Cara B. Hochhalter for information about her art, to purchase signed prints of the images, or her book, A Challenging Peace in the Life and Stories of Jesus, please email: hochhalter.cara@gmail.com

Date:2019
Artist:Hochhalter, Cara B.
Object/Function:Print

Scripture:Matthew 5:13-20
Lectionary links:AEpip05
General Subject:Light
Candles

Permalink: https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59034
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Copyright Source:Cara B. Hochhalter
Copyright Permission:The artist has granted permission for the non-commercial use of this image with attribution. The artist must be contacted for other uses.
Attribution:Hochhalter, Cara B.. Let Your Light Shine, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59034 [retrieved March 28, 2024]. Original source: Cara B. Hochhalter.
Record Number:59034 Last Updated: 2022-06-23 16:31:10 Record Created: 2021-10-25 05:54:24
Institution:Vanderbilt University Collection: Art in the Christian Tradition