an expresion of joy

November 2, 2003

on thursday, my professor asked a question to shin matsunaga about some of his works that include human figures with outstretched arms. she asked him why he used those representations in his work and he simply said that it was a universal response for joy. when people are joyful, they raise up their arms to the heavens. that's their response. how true that is. one of the most joyful times in my life was when i found out i was accepted into the york/sheridan program. i ran upstairs, raised my arms up and spun around in a circle. it was almost instinctive. but i think shin's explanation could go one step deeper than what he offered to us. i think the reason why we naturally raise our arms up when we are joyful, is because it POINTS to the One where all joy originates from. it's pointing us back to the One who is deserving of all glory, honour and praise. in worship, sometimes we raise our hands (aka outstretched arms) to God as an expression of our hearts to God. it's the same action! we raise our arms in joyful experiences and in worship. why? because it all points back to Him, where everything begins, where life itself began.

"because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. i will praise you as long as i live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands." (psalm 63:3-4 [NIV])