unrefinedthoughtsonfaithndart

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For Christmas This Year

At Christmas time we remember and focus on the birth of Jesus. We might also take the nine months prior to Christmas to remember and focus on the period of growth of Jesus within the body of Mary. For nine months the Son of God was housed within Mary’s very human body with all it’s fragility, strength, weirdness, delightfulness, uniqueness, sameness, and beauty. But that is not all.

The Spirit of God continues to be housed within very human bodies, our human body, if only we will invite God in. We can be the living, working, being vessels for God; the visible hands, ears, eyes, hearts and minds of God. If only we will invite God in.

Holy Spirit, live, rest, work and play within us. May we see with Your eyes, feel with Your heart, think with Your mind, live through Your Spirit. Amen

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Mystery & Confusion

Here is a badly shot video of a piece I've been working on over quite a little while for Lent sermon I gave last weekend. It was a great help in getting my thoughts sorted but personally it's a weird mix between a piece I really like & a piece I feel isn’t resolved- like something I haven't quite played with enough yet- as though this is only step 1 & there are a few more that need to be taken. But I put it out there anyway & it seemed to hit the spot on the day so that's good. I might keep thinking about it and working on....and I plan to put up more details about the sermon at some stage

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40 for Lent

 There are 40 envelopes made from an A4 piece of rice paper.

 On each piece of paper the Lord’s Prayer is written 3 times.

 Each piece of paper is then painted with oil mixed with charcoal – the oil makes the paper slightly translucent but also still leaves a residue on your fingers even when dry.

 Each piece is then sewn into a loose envelope shape. 

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During Lent we are encouraged to fast, give something up, or take something on, and in general prepare for the Passion week.

 Will we take something out, or put something into our lives?

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On Good Friday, all appears to be dead.

But God only appears to be dormant, appears to be lifeless,

for we know there is so much more happening beneath the surface.

 We know what is coming on Easter Sunday

but the process,

the practice of preparing for death and then life,

is our memory living within us.

It is our rehearsal of life.

In our lives we may appear to be dead

lifeless

dormant.

We will fail,

we will fall

we will be sick, we will be unsure, we will question… we will feel we cannot go on.

 But our rehearsing,

our practicing

our memory of Jesus,

may help us,

may remind us,

may offer us some consolation in those dark times.

A reminder that Jesus is not dead,

not only is Jesus not dead,

but the Holy Spirit resides within us,

and God the Father is our friend.

 The broken times can be difficult, long, uncertain,

and we cannot see the end when we are in the midst.

But we can see God’s Word,

God’s purpose,

God’s process,  

life, death,

and then life again.

[unrefinedthoughtsonfaithndart]

 A short blog post for Ethos about seeing the beauty of God within the movie Loving Vincent.

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Henry Moore’s Working Model for Mother and Child: Hood, 1982 Bronze with a light brown patina 30 in 76.2 cm Edition 1/9

Found at: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/henry-moore-working-model-for-mother-and-child-hood

On Christmas day we are invited to remember the birth of Jesus. The birth of a child who was the fulfilment of a promise and one who lived and died for us. Henry Moore did quite a number of mother and child drawings and sculptures and they all have a quiet and reflective beauty. Some appear to have more connection between the mother and child than others and I particular like this one because of the way the child appears to be both still within the mother and embraced by the mother.

I also like that this one is abstract enough that while we can recognise mother and child, we can also see in it any type of mother and child as skin colour isn’t imposed on it - we can see into it our own heritage and the people that we recognise in our day to day life. This is an image of something that we can connect our everyday lives to.

However, being stone and a little abstract it is also a little different - it is only something that points us towards this idea of mother and chid, there is a certain amount of work we have to be willing to do to be truly able to ‘see’ the image that it presents. In part of this what traditional icons have always done - they are only ever an invitation to worship God, they present an image, an idea, a thought, a prayer and then we must be willing to step into that place and actually worship God.

I also think that because of this ambiguity, we are not only able to see the embrace of a mother and child, or any parent and child, but that of the embrace of God and ourselves. God is always there and waiting to embrace us and take us into himself. This is also the embrace that Jesus extended to us in his willingness to die for us. It may be an embrace we don’t always feel is there, or one we may turn away from but this does not make it any less real or available to us. It is an embrace that we can also turn back into, always feel around us once again, if only we are willing. It is an embrace we can feel in those around us if we are willing to see and it is an embrace we are also able to extend to others, if we are only willing to do so. 

[unrefinedthoughtsonfaithndart]

Children of Men

I wrote a movie review of a 10 year old movie but it is just as relevant today as then, if not even more so...http://www.ethos.org.au/online-resources/Blog/dystopia-now-the-present-reality-of-children-of-men

What does it mean for how we live if we truly believe that all of humanity is equal?

What does it mean for how we live if we truly believe that God’s image is in everyone?

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Reflection on Advent

No. 17 Scenes from the Life of Christ – 1. Nativity – Birth of Jesus 1304-06. Giotto di Bondone

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” Luke 1:46-7 

Traditional icons present to us refined images. In this image there is a still, quiet beauty with shimmering gold throughout. But in reality there were probably many more moments of fear, pain and previously unfelt joy at this particular time. In this way, icons offer us the invitation to wait on God rather than simply accepting what is presented on the surface.

They are given to us as a window into the spiritual – not as an object of worship themselves.  Icons only give us part of the picture, a reason they often appear two dimensional. Making icons two-dimensional is a theological choice, not an artistic deficiency of the maker. It is an invitation for us to add the third dimension – our willingness to participate in the spiritual, to search for God. Icons invite us to sit with them, to sit, look, listen, be open and invite God into the conversation.

So what do we see?

Mary, a normal human girl, had a son, in the humblest of circumstances, far from home. She lies beneath a simple roof structure, one that would barely shelter her from the elements. Joseph looks incredibly tired, perhaps taking the first opportunity in a while for a nap. We might think that Mary would do the same, except we see her lying there unable to take her eyes of her newborn.

While these are all relatively normal occurrences surrounding the birth of a new baby, we are reminded of the unusualness of it all. Mary, Jesus, Joseph and the angels all shimmer with gold. There are also two mountains, traditional indications of meeting with God (think of all the people who went up the mountain to meet with God). There are angels singing with joy, and peering over to see what is happening.  This situation is saturated with God’s presence! This is the most unusual and yet most natural event that has ever taken place.

As we come to this celebration of Jesus’ birth, allow God to be the third dimension in this two-dimensional painting.

 Father God, may we not loose our ability to see you in the most natural of situations. May we have open eyes to see you as we travel through life. May we be amazed by what we think is mundane. Amen

http://www.giottodibondone.org/No.-17-Scenes-From-The-Life-Of-Christ-1.-Nativity-Birth-Of-Jesus-1304-06.html

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giotto_di_Bondone_-_No._17_Scenes_from_the_Life_of_Christ_-_1._Nativity_-_Birth_of_Jesus_-_WGA09193.jpg

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What books have changed your life?

For our final gathering for the year 2017 my book club didn’t read the same book to discuss as per normal, however we were asked to bring a book that had changed our lives.

This was a hard ask and took quite a lot of thought and still I ended up with a list. So I thought I’d present my list - incomplete as I am sure it is - I’m bound to think of more - and encourage you to also think about it because it was quite an interesting process and very interesting to see what books others had chosen.

After a lot of thought, the main book I chose was Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster because it was a book that actually changed how I did things, not just how I thought. It changed actions as well as thought processes and gave me really practical ways of engaging my faith with everyday life. There were concrete changes. And it’s still a book I’m happy to go back and re-read.

I didn’t actually mention this one in our discussion, but I probably should have because it was quite literally life changing. The Brains way of Healing by Norman Doidge This was life changing because it told me about a different therapy for fibromyalgia, which I followed up and which, physically, actually, noticeably changed my health for the better. In many ways, this book gave me my life back - if before it was a half life, I’m now at about ¾ of a life- any improvement was welcome. If you have fibro, read up on low level laser therapy and see if it might help you. No guarantees - but it helped me.

The thing is though, I’d already created a list of books before I settled on these two as my top two. So the rest of the books come in no particular order but where all books that came to mind, and the sort of book that I’m prepared to read and re-read and so for that reason they seem significant.

When I was in my early teens I read Bury me in my boots by Sally Trench for the first time. My parents owned it and I so I must have found it on a bookshelf or Mum might have suggested it. Anyway, it is an autobiographical book about a women who, in her teens, becomes so concerned about and connected to, those who are living on the street that she becomes one of them to help them and goes about trying to find ways to connect with people who are homeless and find ways to most practically help them. It opened my eyes to my own privilege, and gave me a wonderful lesson in seeing others for who they are - human beings. Sally Trench is still doing good things for people.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor martyr, prophet, spy by Eric Metazas A wonderful book - in depth, biography that includes significant amounts of Bonhoeffer’s writing, theological and letters, and it offered such a different view of history and of the second world world and how it happened. It helped develop how I think about other people and how I understand how circumstance influences decisions. It was able to give me an insight into the nationalism in Germany at the time leading to world war two, they way things changed, how friends turned to enemies, as well as being the story of a man who was so deeply searching for God, so passionate about reaching people and so intellectually engaged in life. It was fascinating and provided a great combination of history, how theology is developed and how people wrestle with faith in difficult (impossible) circumstances. It made theology real and relevant (not that it hadn’t been before but it made it more so!).

Where the hell is God?by Richard Leonard, SJ This book follows in books of the tradition of Where is God when it Hurts by Philip Yancy and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis - both of which are excellent but this particular book came to me at the right time, and in a slightly different format to the other two, which I had previously read, and it helped in a way that I needed at the time. A great, short, easy, read on pain and suffering and still believing in God.

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden Some fiction at last! Fiction has been important to me, I’ve read a lot since I was reasonably young and there have been lots that have effected me - books are an escape, a way of meeting new people, of doing things I’d never otherwise have a chance of doing, going to different places and dealing with all sorts of questions with life. However, this book effected me because it set me on a course of being interested in dystopian type books - a genre I still read a lot today. I actually still re-read this series. In fact, I’ve probably re-read the whole series (including the last 3 followers up, once they came out) every couple of years since I was about 13. These books made me think about my own privilege of living in a safe country, of not having to go through war but of what it might mean if we did have, and made me consider what is important. It also showed me that teenagers could probably do more than we sometimes think, but also that it’s hard to be one. It showed me that its possible to have compassion for people who seem so different to you. And it showed me the first fully fledged Christian character in a ‘non christian’ book that seemed like a real, reasonable, good but flawed person - someone who was well written, who had strengths and weaknesses and was both admired for her faith and sometimes ridiculed. She seemed real. (by the way, this is not referring to the film, which in my opinion, ruined Robyn’s character - they completely missed the point - of her as a person, and of her as a character in the story. The book Robyn is much better).

This series probably led to me to be be fascinated with 1984 by George Orwell. I didn’t actually read this until after school, but I’ve since read it numerous times. It’s by no means a nice or easy book but it is powerful and makes you think about so many different aspects of society. This book also lead me to others, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley ….. (the classic trilogy of dystopian stories).

Roaring Lambs: A Gentle Plan to Radically Change your World by Robert Briner I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book now, or rather, there are others that I’d recommend first, however it changed my life because it made me believe it was worthwhile going into the arts. I’d made the decision to change focus and head towards a theatre degree, a decision I made without really knowing anyone else in the arts, or having any connection and this book helped cement for me that there was worth in being involved, that there already were Christians involved in the industry and it gave me hope that it was a worthwhile (and not frivolous) pursuit.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern The most recent fiction on this list. This book came along at a really low point in my life. I was really unwell, I was overwhelmed, I was lost, I’d had to given up things I loved doing yet again, and I had no connection to anything  or anyone much. This book gave me back the magic in life. It was beautiful at a time when i needed beauty. It was magical when I needed to be reminded that the world is not just what we can see. It was inspiring and it was quite simply, just beautiful to read. I initially borrowed it from the library but I immediately bought it and re-read it twice more. I read it 6 times in the first 12 months. I keep re-reading it. It is my beautiful, happy, inspiring, challenging, beautiful place.

And that’s all without mentioning books and articles about art, or relationships or theology, or ones the spoke of God and art, God and imagination, God and faith, feminism and equality, prayer books, books about worship, and that book about reading children fairy tales and more fairy tales (what was that book? I’m so going to look up my old essay so I can read it again….)

So that seems like a good place to finish (for now!!!)

What are the books that have changed your life? I’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy reading!

[unrefinedthoughtsonfaithndart]

Why does The Handmaid’s Tale & our witness of this perhaps-not-so-fantastical tale matter?

Ethos Blog has kindly published an improved version of my article on beauty, power, the first season of The Handmaid’s Tale and the small moments of life.

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I have spoken at church the last two Sunday evenings. I did the two sessions on spiritual disciplines / spiritual practices.

The first week we look at breath prayers and prayer of examen and the second week we look at Lectio Divina / holy reading and did an icon reflection on Rublev’s The Trinity. 

Both weeks were recorded and can be found through the link above. Just scroll down and look for the sessions:

The Art of Worship Preached on Sunday, August 6, 2017

Worship as a Way of Living Preached on Sunday, July 30, 2017

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This is part of my ongoing series Slow Stitches that I keep returning to. Variations of it have been exhibited a couple of times so there’s always more for sale.

If you’re interested in seeing more, go to the Gallery page on my website www.karlymichelle.com @karlymichelle1

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Some of the drawings from my exhibition  Trying to Pray (when there are no words).

These pieces are just a few of quite a lot of other similar types of drawings that I’ve done. But the two centre pieces (the full pages of circles) are the most ‘detailed’ and they specifically came at the most difficult of times in my life. 

I was really unable to do anything much during this time as my life had been turned upside down, and I was quite unwell. I did what I could during the day when I could, but inevitably and often, I would need to retreat into my space. While I needed to be alone, I also didn’t really want to only be alone with my thoughts and prayers, but I also wasn’t in a place to actually to ‘do’ much about any of that. This was my compromise, it was something to do, and it allowed me to focus and concentrate on something other than what was happening in my life and going on in my head, without requiring too much of me. It really was a way of hanging on. I could do this while watching TV, while sitting in silence, while escaping from my thoughts.

I have discovered that this type of small, detailed, meditative drawing really is only possible in a certain frame of mind. At times when I am actually feeling a bit ‘better’ about things, when my energy levels are quite high and when I really want to do things, this type of detail can be a difficult to settle into. These pieces can’t be rushed, or the circles get bigger or more scattered, or less precise. It is a process that has to just be, just happen. It is about focusing, allowing the small circles to become their own small form of meditation.

‘Holding on’ is the use of a single pen.

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Inner Prayer / Inner Mantra

It is filled with the prayers, mantras, hopes, wishes, desires, cries, that have rattled around my head at various times. 

People ask how long it took and all I can say is ‘a long time’ because it’s not like I sat down and did it all at once. It developed over time. I had an idea and I played around with it and then once I had a sort of idea in my head, just kept working at it. 

I am always surprised at how taken people are by it. Maybe it’s because of its size and imposing nature. Maybe its because its full of things we might sometimes be afraid to say out loud, even if they are filling our head.

I tried to put a variety of positive and negative phrases but having said that - some of those that might be seen as positive, are there because I could only hang onto them at difficult times, I wanted them to be true, but I wasn’t always sure that they were. I tried to fill my head with them to avoid the negative ones that were trying to overwhelm me.

Once a phrase was chosen, I then had to finish a length of then paper off. The negative ones were more difficult because it puts into your head the negativity. The positive ones are definitely much easier to do.

The writing isn’t neat and I never tried to make it so. It varies immensely depending on my mood, if I wanted to be doing this, if I was really concentrating, if I was frustrated, meditative or just doing it because it had to be done.

From my latest exhibition ‘Trying to Pray (when there are no words)’ which closed 2.7.17.

You can see more images from the exhibition at www.karlymichelle.com - go to the Exhibition Gallery page

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One of the small books, a meditation on the ancient prayer ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

The books in the exhibition were all fragile. None of them will take a beating, they will simply crumble, fall apart, decay. But still, I invited people to actually pick them up and read them in the exhibition, which, while surprised, pleased the people who visited. Books more obviously live in the liminal space of having dual functions - they can be beautiful to look at and they can be beautiful to read. I made these ones to be read, but read carefully.

From my latest exhibition 'Trying to Pray (when there are no words)’ which closed 2.7.17.

You can see more images from the exhibition at www.karlymichelle.com - go to the Exhibition Gallery page.

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Why does The Handmaid’s Tale & our witness of this  perhaps-not-so-fantastical tale matter?

What society watches is important. What we watch is important.

(Some minor spoilers of The Handmaid’s Tale)

‘In a gradually heating bathtub, you’d be boiled before you knew it.’ June, episode 3

“To a generation suspicious of truth claims and unconvinced by moral assertions, beauty has a surprising allure. And everything about Jesus Christ is beautiful! His life, his miracles, his grace, his teaching—even his death and certainly his resurrection—are all inimitably beautiful. A Christianity that is deeply enchanted by Christ’s beauty and thus formed and fashioned by this beauty has the opportunity to present to a skeptical and jaded world an aspect of the gospel that has been too rare for far too long. Where truth and goodness fail to win an audience, beauty may once again captivate and draw those it enchants into the kingdom of saving grace. It is possible to tell the Christian story in terms of aesthetics, because the story of Jesus Christ is breathtakingly beautiful!”

Beauty Will Save the World: Rediscovering the Allure and Mystery of Christianity, Brian Zahn, Loc. 67-72

Over the past little while I have been volleying between two starkly different cultural products. I have been reading the book ‘Beauty will save the world’ by Brian Zahn, and watching the series ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ which is currently streaming on SBS, was produced by Hulu,  and is based on the book of the same name by Margaret Atwood. It was written in 1985 and is as relevant today as it was then. I started ‘Beauty will save the world’ and then a few days later I could finally start watching ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, something I’ve been waiting for ever since first discovering they were making it.

I have something of a fascination with dystopian fiction for a long while but ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is one novel that I only came across in recent years. It does seem somewhat fortuitous that Hulu and those associated with it started putting it into production when they did - the timing of it seems to have greatly resonated with particular sections of western culture in a number of countries.

I also have a fascination with beauty and art. Not beauty defined by commerce or branding, but the other sort. I make art, I search out beauty, I appreciate those things that can be both beautiful and depressing, beautiful and challenging, those things that are complex in what they deal with and that attempt to shine a light on our inner selves.

Both book and TV series were of great interest to me but I was surprised that they both had a similar focus - discussing the use of and desire for power. But they each go their own way in attempting to decipher the role and use of power in our lives and in society, and what could happen depending on the approach we take.

Zahn spends a significant amount of time exploring the Beatitudes, the contrast between what Jesus said, and how we often chose to live. And how society in general choses to take and exert power. And how easy is it for us to decide that we do want power, no matter what Jesus said.

‘Sometimes we have to do what is best for everyone, not what is fair.’ Aunt Lydia, episode 6

In the world that Atwood envisions, it is falling apart from low fertility rates and high rates of sexually transmitted diseases. Humanity is dying out and parts of the United States are now controlled by a new faction who have renamed the new society Gilead. The tale follows a woman, whose real name we discover is June, and those with whom her story intersects. June has been re-named Offred, which is quite literally ‘of Fred,’ the commander in whose house she now lives and to whom she now belongs. June is believed to be part of the small group of women left who may still be fertile. The women are re-programmed and forced to become Handmaids, based sort of on the scriptural passages found in Genesis 30 where Rachel, who desires children, tells Jacob to sleep with her servant - or handmaid. The women are then farmed out to those in power who are unable to conceive and experience monthly rape as part of a religious ceremony with the hope they will conceive. Fear and the unexplained are powerful motivators. In Gilead they try to address the problems of their world by exhorting exacting control through widespread suppression. They don’t know how to reverse the widespread infertility and so they are motivated to ‘protect’ those who do seem to still be fertile. This protection comes at the cost of all though, and as a society they seem to quickly forget their humanity in order to maintain this control.

The society we view in this tale is familiar - the supermarket is familiar, if somewhat cleaner and more streamlined (food production is also diminishing). June’s singlet beneath her identifying red dress is familiar. The city, buildings and streets are familiar, even though they are un-signed, re-painted and sparsely occupied. In this starkly homogenised world, uncertainty, fear, subversion can only be shown through the smallest flicker of an eyebrow or eye in the (thankfully very real and) visible faces of those whose stories we follow.

In a society where you would think that all human life would become even more precious because of the lack of it, we discover that in fact the opposite is true. Everything is driven by fear, not care. Everything at every level is prescribed; dress, language, households, society order, daily activities. It seems that the only freedom many have (even those in positions of power) is how they treat those who are below them in status. We see this in the outpouring of June’s (Offred’s) grief over her friends death into the participation of the fatal group beating of a man found guilty of rape - an act I’m sure that up until that very moment she would never have considered herself capable of. But given such strenuous circumstances and no other facility in which to truly express her feelings, participating in this act gave her an immediate, and a now socially acceptable outlet. We see this time and again in Serena Joy’s (the women she will hopefully be a ‘surragate’ for, who is married to the commander Fred) often fierce treatment of June. We see it in the way the girls are re-programmed by the Aunt’s and particularly Aunt Lydia (the main Aunt in charge of overseeing the handmaids). Serena Joy has lost her own power, even though, as we slowly discover, she was instrumental in bringing about these very changes in Gilead. We see this in commander Fred’s treatment of June; initially he appears to simply desire her company and seems extent to her moments of equality. And yet in every interaction, every gift, every innocuous request that is actually a command, he continually demonstrates that he holds her life in his hands. He never forgets this, Joan can never forget it.

The remnants of our society exist in theirs, the way that the remnants of their society exists in ours.

‘Ordinary is just what you’re used to…This will become ordinary.’ Aunt Lydia, episode 2

So what do either of these works of art mean for us: the Christ focused book and the society focused TV series? Yes they are both American, so it does put a particular view on them that is not exactly transferable to the Australian society, but there is still enough similarity that we are able to recognise and associate with both of them. I would say that they are both significant because what we personally and as a society spend our time, energy, money on, matters. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ has been widely consumed and it appears that a significant portion of our society is interested enough to spend the time to watch the 10 episodes, despite (or maybe because of) the brutal reality. It has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it’s getting pretty good reviews and is likely to snap up awards. It is not only significant for us as members of our society, but for us as Christians within our society, because this societal interest shows us something about ourselves, our society and what we are collectively  thinking about.

Instead of trying to overwhelm a cynical world weary of argument and suspicious of truth claims with the force of logic and debate, what if they were overwhelmed with the perception and persuasion of beauty? Beauty is graceful and has a way of sneaking past our defenses. It’s hard to argue with beauty. Beauty is compelling in its own way. What I am suggesting is that we look to beauty as a primary standard for our theology, witness, and action.

Beauty Will Save the World: Rediscovering the Allure and Mystery of Christianity, Brian Zahn, Page 28 | Loc. 474-77

In the society of Gilead, where humanity and the earth are both quite literally dying out, humanity also seems to be disappearing. We see moments of growing resistance and we discover that different countries are attempting to deal with the problem in different ways. Within Gilead, with all their ‘religious rhetoric’ how would the true Christ be displayed in such a tightly controlled society? How might anyone even engage in this type of ‘rebellion’?

I certainly don’t have the answer to that, as we never know what we are truly capable of or what truly matters, until we are in such circumstances. But what about for us right now, how might we respond? How can we rebel against the moments where Gilead does appear in our society? What are our preventable actions to this type of possible future? Where do we see ourselves in this story? Our friends, family, colleagues, business, society, politics, church? What does it mean specifically for us who acknowledge Christ as Lord to watch this tale where the scriptures have been so brutalised for the purpose of control? Does our collective stomach drop when we hear the words being taken so out of context as we gradually learn that the underlying basis for Gilead’s control is a particular interpretation of scripture?

“We’re not so much tasked with running the world as with being a faithful expression of the kingdom of God through following Jesus and living the beautiful life that Jesus sets forth in the Sermon on the Mount.” Beauty Will Save the World: Rediscovering the Allure and Mystery of Christianity, 
Brian Zahn, Page 13 | Loc. 278-79

‘I just wanted to make the world a better place. Better never means better for everyone. It always means worse for some.’ Fred, episode 5

Margaret Atwood has said that she didn’t invent any of the actions of the extremely patriarchal society she portrays in the story, she only utilised those that were already happening or had happened. She simply transferred them into this version of a possible future. This is a stark reminder that for many of us watching in western societies that we have the good fortune to only fear that something like that could happen, because it means that it isn’t actually happening quite like this, right now, for us.

But similar methods of control and extortion of power do occur and are happening in many places in the world, even if it doesn’t feel so close to home for some of us. Women’s rights and freedoms are severely diminished in many places, women are both condemned and revered for their ability to reproduce, without concern with their actual humanity. And this is what I have found most confronting by watching ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ and concurrently reading ‘Beauty will Save the World.’ It wasn’t necessarily the broad over-arching fear of this becoming the near future, but the fear of the small moments within life that might actually lead to some version like it. What are the small beliefs, the small moments, the small actions that we allow, dismiss and don’t think about but that are contrary to the countercultural invitation Jesus extends in the Beatitudes? In episode 2, when the bank accounts of all females are frozen, June’s husband says, with the very best of intentions ‘I’ll look after you’ to try and reassure her that she would be ok but June’s best friend is vocally offended. It’s not that June didn’t believe her husband wouldn’t look after her, it is just that she should not have to be beholden to a male to access her own money. He was inadvertently re-enforcing that as the male, he would take up the mantel to protect her because of his privilege as male, without acknowledging what it was doing to his wife, as a female. And his well intended, but unfortunately misplaced words only re-enforced to the two women how quickly they were losing control of their own lives and there was nothing they could do. It is a small moment, but a significant one.

For me, I’m not sure how to prevent a fate such as this on a grand scale because I feel very limited by and in my current circumstances - I don’t have an influential position within society, I’m not in politics, I’m not a social justice warrior, I’m not a very involved activist, I’m not in a position of leadership. But after reading ‘Beauty Will Save the World’ I am  reminded and encouraged that it truly is the small moments focused on the love and care of Jesus that actually can make the difference. 

It is by these small acts that a beautiful life is created. 

To care for the whole person is beautiful. 

To love the whole person simply because they are a person is beautiful. Not because they are a wife, mother, father, child, son, uncle, aunt, grandparent … but because they are human. 

What if the greatest act of subversion was to care for others? 

Is that enough to transform a society?

[unrefinedthoughtsonfaithndart]

Meeting the Father

Untitled 2009/10 Inkjet print 102.4 x 152.0cm (image) ed. 2/5

Bill Henson is a controversial artist and although he clearly does some very impressive work, I’m not always a huge fan. I guess, though, I haven’t seen a huge amount of his work. However, the other day I was at the NGV where he currently has an exhibition in one room. It is a large room, as most of them are, but this one is black, in stark contrast to the normal gallery white. It is dimly lit, with the only light being that which is focused directly on each individual photograph. You follow the light around the room as you move from artwork to artwork. They are quite large photographic prints. A number of them are landscapes and they are beautiful. In the Henson style, dark, dramatic, stunning; highlighting moments of bright light, the movements of mountains, cavernous spaces, and dark shapes.

But it was the most unexpected piece that really struck me. It is a photo of people standing in front of Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal. The father embracing a kneeling son, just to the left of the composition is in focus, the people who take up the majority of the rest of the photo, standing in front, are not.  

I’ve never seen The Return of the Prodigal in real life and its never easy to keep in mind how large a painting really is so this was a reminder that this one is quite large (2050x2620mm). And the photo is reasonably large (102.4 x 152.0cm (image))  so the figures feel almost life size. The painting is hung at eye level so it is kind of like the people standing in front of you (in the photo) are standing on a small incline going down to the son and father.

After the surprise of seeing this in the collection and standing there for a short while, taking it in, I began to feel like I was part of the crowd portrayed in this photo. This was emphasised as I was standing in the dark, out of the small amount of light splashed out by the light over the image. Even though the father and son only take up a portion of the photo and the crowd takes up the majority, they were not my focus - we were all there to see The Return of the Prodigal. 

I began to feel like I was standing in line with the rest of the crowd to meet with the father.

I felt like I was standing there, with the rest of the people whose fuzzy heads were in front of me, waiting for my turn.

After a time I did begin to take more notice of those in the crowd. The father and kneeling son are just to the left of centre. The centre is partly taken up by the blurred head of woman who appears to have momentarily turned her head to look behind her, so that she seems to be looking directly at you as you look at the photo. She’s probably turned to look at someone else, or because of a noise, or anything like that, but because she isn’t in focus you can’t really tell what her expression is, except that her hand is in front of her mouth.

I stood there, looking into this photo, beginning to feel that maybe I was standing there, waiting for my turn to be blessed by the father. As though all of us, lined up there, could be next in line after the prodigal son. But the more I looked, the more I thought that the woman who has turned around actually isn’t sure about being part of this line, this crowd. Like maybe she isn’t sure she wants to be blessed by the father. Maybe she is nervous, uncertain, scared even. Maybe she feels more like the elder son, than the younger.

That actually made me a bit nervous - maybe I was more like the elder son too. Maybe my behaviour is more like the elder son and I’ve refused to join the party, to forgive another, recognise the fathers blessing and closeness. Does that mean I shouldn’t be in line, waiting for the father? But if I want to be in that line, in the line with the returning son, doesn’t that mean that I can be?

I’m not sure Henson meant for this pivoting back and forth in the minds of his viewer. And I guess honestly, I didn’t pivot that long.

What I did was stand in front of that photo for quite some time. What I wanted was to meet with the father.

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/bill-henson/

[unrefinedthoughtsonfaithndart]

I’ve put together a brief overview video of my latest exhibition…..