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Gifts Received from Two Artists during Passover/Holy Week 04/10/2023 |
I received three unsolicited gifts this week, one from
a painter friend and two from a poet friend. I think they both speak to what many of us are feeling at this time of Passover and the death of Jesus and of Eastertime. |
Being art, they speak for themselves but invite an engagement from the receiver. It is good to meditate by way of art and the poetry. I call your attention to both. Let them be your Daily Meditation today. The painting is rugged, not easy to look at. It is called “Crucifixion” and speaks to the story of the evil of Jesus’ death. It is a reminder to all of us how “all beings suffer” as the Buddhists put it; and to the archetype of suffering and “carrying one’s cross” that the Christians talk of. The artist, Ullrich Javier Garcia | “Crucifixion.” Painting by Ullrich Javier Garcia Lemus. Used with permission of artist. |
Lemus, tells us that “it is Jesus connecting to the universe for our salvation. The universe is crying and the sky is crying.” It is bloody but so was the school in Nashville ten days ago.
And so is Ukraine. |
The poem by Rafael Jesus Gonzales and its accompanying drawing also speak to the suffering of our time and of all past times. A veces
a Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson,
y Justin Pearson de Tennessee
cuando no se nos oye
la justicia exige
que bajemos a la noria
y alcemos la voz,
por
megáfono
si es debido. La culpa
no es nuestra mas de ellos
que se niegan a oír.
© Rafael Jesús González 2023 |
Christ on a cross of guns.
Image by Rafael Jesus Gonazalez | Sometimes for Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson,
& Justin Pearson of Tennessee Sometimes
when we are not heard
justice demands
that we take to the well
and speak loudly,
through a megaphone
if we must. The fault lies
not with us
but with them
who refuse to hear.
© Rafael Jesús González 2023 |
And a second poem by Rafael Jesus Gonzalez. Ritual para Jueves Santo Llegan como mariposas
de largas distancias,
otros países, otros continentes,
pies cansados, gastados,
heridos, polvorientos
de cruzar ríos, y montes,
selvas y desiertos
huyendo hambre y asesinos.
Y nosotros que
vivimos
en el imperio que los desplazó
podemos hacer no menos
que lo que hizo el Maestro:
tiernamente lavarles los pies
y decirles, “Les tenemos lugar
puesto en la mesa.” Rafael Jesus Gonzalez |
Rite for Holy Thursday They come like butterflies
from long distances,
other countries, other continents,
feet tired, worn, wounded, dusty
from crossing rivers &
mountains,
jungles &
deserts
fleeing hunger & murderers.
& we who live in the empire
that displaced them
can do no less
than what the Master did:
to tenderly wash their feet
& say, “We have a place
set for you at the table.” Rafael Jesús González | "Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles." by Meister des Hausbuches, 1475. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain |
May we learn to lessen the suffering. And the hate. And lies that make suffering happen. To put justice and compassion forward as our dominant shared values. The common good over private good. May we therefore resurrect from our necrophilia including all forms of
self-hatred and other-hatred. We thank the artists for sharing their important stories. And speaking truth in a time of lies. Love in a time of hate. |
See Matthew Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts For the Peoples of the Earth. Banner image: The creative process. Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash |
Queries for Contemplation
Are you feeling both the sting of Good Friday and the hope of Passover and Resurrection these
days?
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Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North
American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat,
Spirituality and Practice. | |
Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to
our capacity for evil, we need to teach creativity and to teach ways of steering this God-like power in directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic.
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Join Matthew Fox online as he offers a Worship Service Inspirational Message - “Otto Rank, and Pere Chenu: Two 'Real, Raw and Radiant' Guides Calling Us to Deep Freedom” for Brentwood Inspired Living Center, Sunday, April 16, 10:00 am PT.
Learn more HERE. Join Matthew Fox as he discusses “Creativity – Where the Divine and the Human Meet” in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat. Thursday, April 20, 4:00-6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox and Charles Burack in an online conversation on “The Essential Writings On Creation Spirituality” hosted by The Aquarian Minyan. Thursday, April 27, 6:00 pm PT. Register HERE. |
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