Yes, perceptive reader… the game goes on!
The big green bookcase into the studio, ready for art supplies!
The rolling metal bookcase into our room. (It’s not really attractive but it’s handy and easy to move!)
The Noah-table beside the bed. At least for now. (It’s a long story…)
Lots of the kind of dusting that doesn’t happen except when big things get moved.
It’s not that we’re bored… just the opposite!
Instead – for me, at least – it’s a reflection of the Soul Yahtzee adventure going on inside me!
And it is, indeed, all happening in context.
When I’m doing the thing known as Filters, context gets symbolized as right angle brackets in the top left and bottom right of the drawing. (Hand signals work, too… in Zoom meetings!)
Most of Thursday and Friday turned into about a dozen pages of sketches and arrows and exclamation points, all having to do with setting the filters loose in the world. (Stay tuned…)
Then, Saturday morning, I fixed a cup of tea and flipped on the news to find myself in the midst of a flashback.
Charlottesville, Virginia. Six years ago. The tragic, deadly Unite the Right rally.
My kids are UVA grads. Charlottesville is among the homes in my heart.
One thing led, as it often does, to a whole lot of others. White supremacy. Politics. Madam Secretary. The Department of Justice. Human rights. Arranged marriages. Global warming. Fair elections. And, kind of surprisingly, poets, with the notion of the American Experiment.
Experiment!
(Time out for massive mental weaving… and many more pages of scribbling!)
Which brings us to the art you see, above… the bottom left bit of my recent painting, Revelation!
And the assumption that Walter Brueggemann will be okay with my including artists among his notion of poets!
If you squint a bit you’ll see the book, Finally Comes the Poet, there among the ones that have changed – and are changing, still – my view of the universe.
Here’s the punch line…
I want the experiment to work!
I want to live like all people were created equal. (They were!)
I want power for rather than power over.
And, while we’re at it, I’d really, really like a healing planet, too!
And, yes… I have 2 granddaughters growing up in this world, so I’m all in!
Since I have one vote and limited funds, that seems to mean proclaiming. Teaching. Sharing. Caring out loud in the best way I can.
And that means helping people just like you to do the same. Your way!
Fortunately, I’ve been filling up my medicine basket with a lifetime of good stuff and I have a new way to share the options coming just as soon as my inner poet and artist sign off. (Like, by Wednesday!)
If you’ve read this far, you have a bit of the puzzle, too. We’ll start with the questions… for YOU!
What inspires and empowers ME?
How do I most long to MATTER?
What do I need to be READY?
Wait! Go get something that makes marks and write these out with your very own hand. And leave space for the answers to come!
Then, take a deep breath. Listen to the poetry and art whispering to you. And show up again Wednesday!
ps… can’t wait??? The calendar elves will hook you up. 45 min. My gift. You bring your answers and a bit of red thread if it’s handy!
pps… the Hebrew word I added to the palm of the hand in the painting means here I am. I’m just sayin’!
ppps… if you haven’t read it already, my Grandmothers Are In Charge Of Hope is a really good intro! (It’s in the painting, too, but you need better eyes than mine!)
Thank you. Each time I read your blog I feel calmed, and energized at the same time. So, thank you for who you are and how you share.
Thank you, Christine… for reading and hearing! I’m so glad you’re here!!!