Morphing

I like closure. Ends tied up neatly. Everything in it's place.

Life rarely echos this.

My life has morphed from being a worship planner and a mom back into being a full-time researcher in medical imaging. Now, instead of worship musics and visuals, poetry and prayer,  I'm immersed in morphing physical states, programming, biology, and the science of Radiologic research.

However, I can tie up this one end, and since I was the primary blogger here, note that for the time being this blog will be on hiatus. (and if you are curious where my creative energy is going, you can get a glimpse of my non-research creativity at fibermusing.blogspot.com)

Blessings,
Jen

Wisdom

 

Our interpretation of wisdom........

In working toward a design for this installation, we the members of the Worship and Art interim class considered the passages of Proverbs 8 and Ecclesiastes 3.
There were many images that came to mind as a result of these passages. As a group, certain things stood out–one of them was the perception of Lady Wisdom who predominantly figured in our corporate minds in white flowing garb which has led to the back drop of white that you see in this piece.
We also looked at the description in Proverbs 8 of Wisdom’s presence everywhere–in the city and in nature as well as at home.
The depiction of a colorful globe represents this inclusiveness and the beauty of life with Wisdom in the times of abundance and the times of need.
Finally, the door way is the reminder that Wisdom is waiting at the door for our response and gives a sense of the security of being at home there.

Wisdom installation set up Friday evening

The final wisdom installation was set up on Friday and will be up for 3 weeks until the beginning of Lent. My prayer is that is provides a visual space for meditation, encourages thought on what it means to be wise, and makes people smile.

Photo will be forthcoming.

Sunday creating

We had a great session creating yesterday. The colorful earth/clock/seasons sphere has been fused and with a little tidying will be ready to finish sewing. The words were outlined during our session and painted last night at high school small groups as they had a chance to share life.

Saturday morning sub brainstorming...

Jenn, Marlies, and I brainstormed yesterday morning and tried hard to center a bit more on an idea we can flesh out today and begin to work on. We think we've come up with something that will be fun to carry out, with pieces that will encourage imagination and participation. Bright doorway, white and colorful "earth" with the idea of invitation, maybe project into doorway or simply light from behind?

If you have any wisdom sayings that you like, bring them along today.
Blessings, Jen

Door with 2 cloths behind (not white)

Still ruminating on ideas from week 1 & 2 - how about a door on see-through netting with two other panels behind, colorful, see-through, with maybe squares with line images, all sorts of "life" images, more saturated in the center, and lighter on the outside (the earth/our lives)?

Lots of color, brimming with life, and yet shadows acknowledged?
Could we project into the doorway? Would it show up? (might need to do an experiment!)

Cloth & door?

A quick napkin (actually lab safety class handout) sketch of the front of the church sanctuary. Door with cloths.   (What does the white cloth say with the door?  Does this dilute the celebratory/light imagery?)

What about the door on the floor in front of the lift? How could this work?

I've been thinking about how to use the door/wisdom/Proverbs 8:34 theme. Here is one idea using a door (colorful one) and placing the words to Proverbs 8:34 inside the door. My thought is to hang it at the front of the sanctuary and drape the white cloth that is in the sanctuary now from the balcony to the door.

I was browsing on the web and found some other images for doors that are interesting.

Marlies

Thoughts from January 15 (slightly belated)

Here is a quick summary of ideas from Sunday:


Wisdom is found in the city, on the mountain, and in our homes/at our doors. (proverbs 8) Many visualized a doorway with us inviting in wisdom or being open to wisdom .... ideas of faces in the doorway, maybe projecting stop-motion imagery that gives the sense of welcoming wisdom by different people, through time/seasons, in different circumstances. I'm trying to figure out how we could actually do this! (and what space we might have to work with) What might a doorway be like? How big? On the wall? Freestanding? Hanging in air? Rooted in the earth? How is wisdom depicted that we can be open to it? How could it look good whether we were projecting images or not? How does the white cloth work in? Could it integrate? Do we see the path of folly?


The other central idea that many found sticking is the image of lady wisdom and the possibility of projecting images onto some kind of figure - the concept of our times being played out against a backdrop of wisdom on offer. How is wisdom present, moving, speaking differently into different times?


FYI John & Ryan are open to ideas that might incorporate the white cloth - the intent was for it to stay up until Lent, and then be incorporated into a Lenten theme..... but they are open to ideas for integrating with us.

I pray online using sacredspace.ie   The thought for the week, while not about wisdom, is about being open and welcoming to God, rather like the imagery we shared yesterday. I'll post a summary of our thoughts later today. Blessings, Jen

Tourists in Barcelona like to visit the unfinished cathedral, La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family), now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Antoni Gaudi began work on it in 1883, but at his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Gaudi took this matter philosophically when he remarked shortly before his death: ‘My Client is not in a hurry.’ Other architects have played their part since then. Their efforts of course have sometimes been criticised by their colleagues. Mid-point in construction of this extraordinary work was reached in 2010, and completion is planned perhaps for the centenary of the architect’s death.
This remarkable undertaking has much to teach us. Firstly, Gaudi is right about God’s leisurely style! God seems not to be in a hurry about a completion date for the epic that is world history. But like the cathedral, enough of the divine design is available to enable us to have some image of the final masterpiece. Secondly, whereas only approved architects are allowed to leave their mark on the cathedral in Barcelona, each of us - every inhabitant of this planet, every member of the Sacred Space community – is invited to contribute to the shaping of God’s project for humankind. Strangely God trusts us not to make a total mess of it!
Thirdly, to an outsider – and to many insiders also - Christian belief can seem an enormous jumble of disconnected facts, rather like the rocks on the building site in Barcelona. It helps to know that the keyword to Christian faith is relationships! God wants to be in an intimate relationship with us, And works hard at it.The concept of relationships offers a dynamic viewpoint which illuminates every aspect of Christian life. As the poet Hopkins says: ‘I greet him the days I meet him, and bless when I understand.’

Brainstorming

Brainstorming wisdom theme on January 8

Here are thoughts & themes from our brainstorming session around proverbs 8 and Ecclesiastes 3:1-12

(Kyle, Brandt, Laurel, Jen, Martha, Bill, Colleen, Lindsie, Taylor, John, Sophia, Christine, Rachel, Ryan, Gabby, Jenn, Krista, Titia...)

Clock, representing times with lady wisdom as hands behind clock. Could represent different kinds of times around the clock, maybe hard times on the fringes, joyful times in the center, or the reverse with shading between.

2 overlapping worlds (imagine a Venn diagram) maybe overlapping images of positive times and hard times, with gray space (idea of a moving installation) (after the session the idea of projecting figures walking on top of this emerged) maybe a third layer of wisdom somehow encompassing with hands or a figure? This group was thinking BIG - a large installation, possibly hanging, definitely moving at least part of the time.

Yellow brick road and poppies (beautiful but distracting) - how this is like the path of wisdom

Wisdom (and folly) as being present in the city, in creation/the mountain, and in our home. Almost like a gauzy overlay across these places, or maybe a thread thru. (proverbs 8)

Creation, water, season imagery. How wisdom is present throughout, but may be different in different times. Use seasons of the year imagery to illustrate this. Photos of our own through the seasons? (maybe to project with 4 squares?)

I will continue to add to this, and please add your own comments.

2012 wisdom series scripture

January 8  genesis 3:6; proverbs 2:1-11
January 15 proverbs 8
January 22 proverbs 21-22,26; 2 kings 6:8-23
January 29 proverbs 9*
February 5 ecclesiastes 3:1-12*
February 12 proverbs 30:15-23; James 3:13-18
February 19 job 38-41

*focus passages for the Sunday School class

NOTE UPDATE ON Feb 12 of passage to proverbs, not job!

Summer worship series - you are invited to the conversation

An invitation from your pastors. 

"What if Jesus meant what he said?” asks Shane Claiborne. Yes indeed, what if? Do you think Jesus meant everything he said?

Does the challenge to follow Jesus frighten you? It should. Here’s why. You have only one life. Jesus wants it. He wants it all. He wants it completely. How much room is there for Jesus in your life?

Your pastors are inviting you to read the book ‘One. Life: Jesus Calls We Follow” by Scott McKnight. We believe that McKnight challenges us to allow the Gospel to hit us head on, overpower us, own us, and then direct our lives each day.

Are you/we up to the challenge?

Want another reason to read this book? We’re going to use each of the fourteen chapters as a springboard for our sermons beginning May 29 and through the end of August. In addition we are inviting you to attend either a Wednesday brown bag lunch time (12-1 p.m.) or Wednesday evening (7-8:30 p.m.) to study with us. We hope to move through two chapters per session with the evening being a repeat of the noon study. We’ll begin these sessions on May 18th and following Wednesday noons and evenings.

Another reason for reading this book? Scot McKnight has a heart for young people. He teaches college level theology, has taught at a seminary and is considered an exceptional teacher. One reviewer remarked, “In chapters with names like Kingdom.Life, Love.Life, Peace.Life, Sex.Life, Vocation.Life, and Eternity.Life, his (McKnight’s) approach both stylistically and narratively seems geared toward a youthful audience. He tells stories about his students and then proceeds to answer the questions these stories pose or advocate the big living they demonstrate.”

Another chapter centers on “Eternity.Life” and engages a discussion of hell. Anyone who has read Time Magazine knows how current that discussion is.

Rev. Tim Keller in a recent interview stated that the Gospel will question every culture at its root. We take this to mean that Jesus questions us at the root of who we are. Jesus wants to lead us into the life we were created to live, the life Jesus died for us to have. The life the Holy Spirit empowers us to live.

So, will you read the book, join us for discussion and then come on Sunday ready to hear how we engage the Scriptures and discuss the subjects McKnight raises?

Good! We’re looking forward to it.

Pastors Ryan and John

p.s. if you would like to order the book let us know. It retails for $14.99, we can put it in your hands for $10:25.

Happy Easter!

Jesus is risen. Christ is risen indeed!

Spend an Evening with People You Love

Spend this Holy Saturday with people you love. Share stories, share a meal, share life. And, get ready for Sunday.

Good Friday: Meditate for 10 minutes in silence thinking about Jesus' gift.

I don't often enough take significant time to simply quiet my heart. I invited you to take time today whether in the car, or on a walk, or as you fold clothes to remember how much God loves you. Maybe this poem by George MacLeod could remind us how immense God's love and sacrifice is.

Thanks to JR Woodward for sharing this poem at jrwoodward.net  


From the introduction to a book of prayers by George published by Iona: "George Fielden MacLeod is perhaps best known as a prophetic figure. His passionate calls for political and social justice, his tireless campaigning for nuclear disarmament and his action for the rebuilding of community – sym- bolised by the prophetic sign of the rebuilding of Iona Abbey – deservedly made him one of the most noted churchmen of the twentieth century."

Maundy Thursday: Putting others first will help our world a lot. Try it.

I remain grateful for the gift of grace given me by one of my professors in seminary who gave me his valuable time.  In his busy schedule he had time to talk, show an interest in my work and who I was. 

I admire the mentors who take the time to put others first.  I think of the big brothers and big sisters who put a young boy or girl on their calendars and in their hearts every week.  I think of the teachers who stay late to put a few minutes into the life of student.  I remember an older man who employed a young man, showed him how to cut stone, lay brick, seed a lawn, and build a retaining wall.  The young man now has his own business.  There are untold numbers of wives, mothers, husbands, fathers, siblings, who put others first.  The good in this world, for a large part, owes its genesis to such people. 

I think of a man in his thirties who told his friends that the greatest gift a person can give another is to give one’s life for his friends.  And he did.  Jesus put us first. 

Who can you put first today, not in a trade off of time or for any good you receive, but for the good of the other?  It is a gift.  Great than you know or can calculate.  It’s what makes the world work.  It’s God’s way.  Yes, you will receive.  In ways you probably can’t conceive.  The joy of seeing someone else thrive because of the life you gave them is immense.  Yes, mentoring, putting others first, is a way God works through you to bless his world.  Your savior knows that joy.  You were one of those he put first.  You have received the gift he died to create for you. 

Plant something to replant outside when it get's warmer

This is the last week in Lent. In a few more days we will celebrate Resurrection. But today it is still Lent. A time of reflection, anticipation and sobriety. A time when, in our climate, there begins to be a re-birth. Spring begins to awaken from the slumber of winter. White and brown and gray give way to blue and green. The color of many flowers begin to appear.

So in this last week of Lent, maybe it would be good to plant something to celebrate. Flowers, vegetables, herbs.
These plants can help us mark what we confess on Easter. That there is new life! There is new Creation. God is still working in this world!
What can we plant to celebrate?

Walk somewhere instead of driving.

I suppose this could say "take the bus..." or "carpool..." or "take your bike..." Have you heard of people choosing to fast from carbon during Lent? A bit out of the ordinary, but reminds me of Ann Arbor singer/songwriter Dick Siegel's lyrics from Mother's Plaint (Mother Planet Rap):

WELL YOU BETTER WALK SOFTER …

SO THE EARTH DOESN’T HATE YA .. . .

AND REMEMBER, MIND YOUR MANNERS

AND BE KIND TO MOTHER NATURE

YOU BETTER WALK A LITTLE SOFTER

JUST A LITTLE BIT SOFTER

JUST A LITTLE BIT SOFTER

Copyright 1994, Dick Siegel, Brother Al Music.

God gave us a marvelously complex world to inhabit, sent his son Jesus to redeem the world, and sent the Spirit to remain with us. What amazing love!

How are we reflecting God's gifts back as we "walk" our path here? We have been gifted with so much. Do we need to "walk a little softer"?