Pitchers 16: Revelations

Partial whiteboard from April 17, the second of three classes on the Mass:

Bits I read (not all at once!) while I draw and we discuss the continuity between the worship in Heaven and on Earth:

“At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! 3 And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God;  and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:  the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle.  And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” I don’t have time to draw everything; the goal is to draw enough.

 “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints…” 

This was about 1/3 of the whole board, so figure 20 minutes of classtime on this developing image while talking about Mass, the Heavenly Worship, incense, harps, singing, elders-presbyters-priests, the Paschal Lamb, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Holy Holy Holy, the 4 Evangelists and their attributes (Angel, Lion, Bull and Eagle); reading relevant bits of Eucharistic Prayer #1 from the Missalette; and of course, the Holy Tornado.  I draw something like this every year, but the content and execution varies with my interaction with the kids. I’m posting this to emphasize how drawing can organize information in a way that’s easy to refer to as the discussion proceeds, and much more effectively than just writing words on the board. When it’s done, it’s an ensemble of concepts; not merely a list of them.