A Bit More on Amos

There is a rather informative Amos Window at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill, DC. It honors Verna J. Dozier, a VTS alumna, who died very recently (see my recent post).

The flames behind Amos' head symbolize his fiery prophecy. His presence in the market illustrates his overriding concern for social and economic justice. He is using props such as coins and sandals to drive home his points about the ongoing economic oppression of the poor. The baskets of summer fruit in the lower left were a key prop used by Amos in a wonderful Hebrew wordplay at Amos 8:2. Just as the Hebrew word for late-summer fruit is קיץ (qayits), God is calling it quits with the people. The time is ripe for judgment on such figures as the king and his priest, Amaziah (Amos 7:10-17), who stand back to the right in the image.

Verna Dozier and her sister Lois actually appear in the window. They are standing to the lower left of the figure of Amos. Verna made the Old testament come alive for her students. She embodied it.

She learned her love of the Hebrew Bible from her mother, Lucie, who read all the books of the Bible with her daughters (not just the New Testament!).