Hymn Series

Hymn series

The temporal touching the eternal

As human beings we are glued to time, at least until death. The core of our being is designed for the eternal yet everything we do can seem to fall short within the temporal. What I mean is that everything we sing, everything we say, and even acts of service can be very limited or measured through time and therefore they are temporal. The measurement of their impact may be of influence on the eternal nature of someone's heart and mind but all can practically be measured as temporary. Amidst the framework of time I want to express that we're designed for the eternal in our worship. While often captivated by the temporal, our heart longs for an eternal home. Our desires find ultimate fulfillment when they are given to the One in which we are designed to enjoy forever. The metaphor of a paper airplane constructed from the page of a hymnal seems appropriate for the temporal nature of our songs here on earth. Although they're directed to heaven they are, through time, destined to end. However, another experience of the beauty of God yields another song to beckon our hearts toward the eternal once again.

I'm comparing the length of the song to the flight of a paper airplane, and comparing the direction of my heart towards God to the child-like expression of delivering, in the form of a paper airplane, the admiration God deserves. I enjoy this expression of worship through song and image.

Visually these paper airplanes will exist in varied forms of use. One paper airplane may be clean and crisp; sharp and new; but others could be well used, tossed up, and flown several times over. The history of their flight path crashing into the window, wall, chair, or floor reveals itself through bent edges and crinkled tips. They are evidence revealing the temporal quality of a song touching the eternity in our hearts. They are the evidence, through metaphor, of an attempt to connect with the eternal. In the process we discover our own identity. "He has also put eternity in their hearts..." Ecclesiastes 3:11

These old songs are rich with theology, rich with love and truth. Each drawing is presented as solemn, symmetrical and very iconic and it's presentation is framed ornately but as white as possible for the purity of what they stand for.

- Craig Hawkins

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