Quite a while ago I was telling one of my friends the story I'd tried to tell with my Elijah painting, and she got super excited and asked if I'd paint the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Months later I finally sat down with her and asked what it was that the story said to her - I wanted her to tell me the story from her perspective, and hear what it was I was going to paint.
She told me a story of someone who was relatable - as a person, but also as a woman. She told me a story about someone Jesus accepted and spoke to and revealed God to, knowing all that she'd done and said before, but accepting her regardless of it. She told me a story about a Jesus who drew people together, despite their differences in ethnicity, in customs, in opinions... So this is what you may see above, perhaps among other aspects of the story you bring to it as well. Re-read it, take a look - see what meaning expresses itself as you dialogue with the text, with the art, and with yourself. The background of this painting was actually originally part of a mini series of paintings I made exploring Communion. It had the yellow-brown of the bread, the red of the wine, and the blue of the water with which Jesus washed his disciples' feet. The preacher that morning had talked about Communion as a confrontation for change; a confession for peace; and a community for God. And part of that resonated with what I'd heard my friend telling me about this story of this woman at the well. She met Jesus, and there was confrontation, but not to wound - to change. And despite the social distinctions and differences, Jesus made a community for God through his discussion with her and her sharing of it. As I added the pearlescent blue on top of the blue of the foot-washing, the words of John 4.14 rounded my head: "The water I give becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within". And I thought how with Jesus, something so menial, something only a servant would do, becomes so life-giving. And so exciting! God changes things! God changes H E R, and God changes me!
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This last week I've been helping out at a holiday club with my church where the theme was 'Kingdom Rock: Where kids stand strong for God!' I played the part of a Queen of a vast kingdom (a cardboard castle!) as I lead the beginning and ending sections of each day. The week was SO good! Seeing the kids really enjoy taking part in how the Bible stories were brought to life by the whole team was awesome - in immersive Bible adventures, craft, video, sport, food, drama and LOTS of singing and dancing! It definitely stole at least 2 weeks worth of energy for those 5 days, but I can't wait to do it all again and see how we can build on this throughout the year too! But looking back on these photos from the church's Instagram feed, my most prominent thought is: cardboard!I've been trying to get ahead a little on thinking about ideas for my dissertation for when I go back to college (more like just reading cool stuff that I'm super interested in and giving myself a progress-related excuse, despite thinking we should be able to read and learn just for fun whenever we want!) - and anyway, I've been reading lots of stuff about Metamodernism (see this brief introduction if you wanna know what it is!). And there was this little paragraph about upcycling and recycling. It was saying how postmodernism "recycled" pop culture with parody and pastiche, whereas metamodern artists pick out things from the past that allow them to "resignify the present and reimagine the future." [1]
I have my dad to thank for my love of both of these - the numerous times of having to empty rubbish bags I'd been lazy with when tidying my room in order to sort it into what could be recycled and what couldn't, and the endless shelves and spaces filled with hoarded cardboard, and plastic containers, and so on, all waiting for their new purpose to be discovered. Whilst I have never before thought of these as overtly good memories, I am doing now! Where can you find new value in something you'd forgotten? Some old material or clothes, or stuff, sure, but also perhaps some old skill you haven't had a go at for a long time, or some part of yourself you gave up on because it failed too many times? Maybe stop trying to recycle yourself all the time - you do not get less valuable the more you have to try or the more you become less needed. God doesn't recycle! God creates newness, even out of what you think makes you weak. When those kids at my holiday club saw our castle, they didn't see old rubbish, and they didn't see the hours that had gone into creating it - they saw a castle, where they became knights. Know that you're valuable. And discover new value, new purpose, new adventure - that is life with God! [1] Robin van den Akker & Timotheus Vermeuelen, "Periodising the 2000s, or, the Emergence of Metamodernism," in Metamodernism: Historicity, Affect and Depth after Postmodernism (London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), 10.
[2] ibid, 10. |
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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