globalworship

[globalworship]

For Breaking-the-Silence Sunday

Thi is a new poem by my friend Rev. Maren Tirabassi.

For Breaking-the-Silence Sunday ... A few words that fell off Luke's list ...

Blessed are you who say "no," and teach it as a holy word. Blessed are you who break-your-silence for the first time in a safe place. Blessed are you who break-your-silence the hundredth time, so someone new knows it is OK. Blessed are you who choose to keep-silence until you are ready. Blessed are you who accompany a friend or a stranger, to the emergency room or the police station, and then stay as long as it takes. Rejoice or weep. It is your choice. But woe to you who ask, "what were you wearing?" (see also "why were you out so late?" "why did you come home alone?') Woe to you who laugh (just to fit in) at a sexual joke, and teach someone who trusts you how a heart breaks. Woe to you who can't keep your mouth shut, when someone is telling their story. Woe to you who force an apology on someone who doesn't want to hear it (see no above), or suggest an excuse for yourself or another. Weep now. It may be a beginning.

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Break The Silence Sunday is an effort to open up a conversation within the church about rape and sexual assault. https://breakthesilencesunday.org/

See a sample 'Break The Silene Sunday' Liturgy at https://actalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Break-the-Silence-Sunday-Liturgy.pdf

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Rev. Maren C. Tirabassi is a United Church of Christ pastor who serves churches in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She is the author of 20 books and a former poet laureate of Portsmouth, NH.

She blogs at ‘Gifts in Open Hands’ https://giftsinopenhands.wordpress.com/

Follow Maren’s writings at https://www.facebook.com/maren.tirabassi

[globalworship]

Requiem for Haiti (painting)

"Requiem for Haiti" by Bahamian artist Chantal Béthel

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015856429425

"Chantal Bethel’s work represents The Bahamas as well as her birthplace in Haiti and her childhood home in Belgium." https://www.chantalbethelart.com/

She has two books of her art including this one published in 2011: "POTO MITAN: Prayer and Hope for the Healing of Haiti" https://www.chantalbethelart.com/about

[globalworship]

Icon of the Resurrection, Albania

Standing under the beautiful huge icon of the resurrection, with Jesus bringing Adam and Eve out of the tombs, at Resurrection Cathedral (Albania). I was there in 2018 as part of a song composing workshop..

[globalworship]

Crucifixion art by Quechua Bolivian artist

An image of the Crucifixion by Indigenous (Quechua) Bolivian artist Severino Blanco.

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My friend Emily VIctoria Jones wrote this in her 2020 blog post at https://artandtheology.org/2020/01/31/my-eyes-have-seen-artful-devotion/ -

Severino Blanco is a Quechuan Christian artist from Cochabamba, Bolivia. In the early 1980s he was commissioned by Father Manfred Rauh (1932–2011), a Jesuit missionary from Germany who spent most of his priestly life in Bolivia, to create a Life of Christ painting cycle for the interior of the chapel of the Casa del Catequista (CADECA), a training center for catechists. To make the gospel story really come alive for the catechists, who are mostly Quechua and Aymara, Blanco chose to set it in an Andean context, with Jesus as an indigenous South American—fully human, fully immersed in history and culture, fully for them. The images are reproduced, with commentary, in the German-language book Von Befreiung und Erlösung: Bilder in CADECA Cochabamba/Bolivien (Of Liberation and Redemption: Pictures in CADECA Cochabamba, Bolivia). A few can also be viewed online here, here, and here. The chapel was consecrated in 1984 and is still in use.

[globalworship]

Alpha & Omega Doors, Albania

Alfa dhe Omega, e verteta dhe jeta, shpetimtar i perjeteshem!

Alpha and Omega, truth and life, eternal savior!

-- art on the outside doors of the Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral in the capital city of Albania, where I was in 2018.

[globalworship]

Forever is in our Hands: Psalm 23 for Earth Day

A poem for Earth Day by my friend Rev. Maren Tirabassi (her info is below).

Forever is in our Hands: Psalm 23 for Earth Day

God makes us shepherds and gardeners, so none of God’s relations – creatures, growing things, land, water, wind, sky ¬– need be in want. God gives us lying down places of green pasture, rainforest, delta, desert, high mountain, deep canyon, and paths by arroyo, deep river, waterfall, ocean shore, and these restore our souls. Creator leads us to care, not from duty, but from love. Though we pass chemically poisoned fields, over-fished seas, the violence of fracking, mountaintop removal coal mining, the terrible tears of the valley of extinction, when we join the weeping, we no longer fear. God sets up one global table – in spite of the turned-over-ones of corporate influence, money, political power. God anoints us with community, teaches us overflowing wells. Surely we follow with committed people people of goodness and mercy, from Chico Mendes to Greta Thunberg, and so many, so many more. Where we dwell now is God’s house. Forever is in our hands.

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Maren C. Tirabassi is a United Church of Christ pastor who serves churches in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She is the author of 20 books and a former poet laureate of Portsmouth, NH.

She blogs at ‘Gifts in Open Hands’ https://giftsinopenhands.wordpress.com/

Follow Maren’s writings at https://www.facebook.com/maren.tirabassi

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Poster art by John August Swanson https://johnaugustswanson.com/catalog/2024psalm23poster/

[globalworship]

A Petri Dish of Psalms

Here is a visual diagram categorizing the Book of Psalms. It may be from Logos Bible Software. Right-clickc the image to open it larger in a new tab.

My friend Elise came up with the funny title.

[globalworship]

Irish Crucifixion Plaque (8th century)

Rinnagan Crucifixion Plaque • c.8th Century • Roscommon

As today marks Good Friday, here is one of the earliest figurative depictions of the crucifixion from Ireland, the Rinnagan Plaque, thought to be as early as the 8th century. It was found on the shores of Lough Ree in County Roscommon, and it is now housed in the National Museum of Ireland.

It depicts Christ on the cross. An angel hovers on each side of his head; with the Roman soldier who offered Jesus a sponge soaked in vinegar; and the other soldier who stabbed his side with a lance. The swirling insular art is unmistakably Irish in design.

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Text and image from https://www.facebook.com/tuathaireland/posts/pfbid024VNYXnAfCsodnMUPixgzsSDZJFWN5VhGQcg8ZNrWMiBspuVMxJSEEW91v9HUhHVul

[globalworship]

Mary, What Did You See On The Way?

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DIC NOBIS, MARIA — Tell us, Mary [Magdalene}! QUID VIDISTI IN VIA — What did you see on the way?

I saw the tomb of Christ the Living One. I saw the glory of the Risen One. I saw the angelic witnesses. I saw the shroud and cloths. Christ my hope has risen. He goes before his people into Galilee.

We know Christ has risen truly from the dead. O Victor King, have mercy on us! 

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Art source:

Mary Magdalene announces the Risen Christ, found in

The St Albans Psalter, also known as the Albani Psalter or the Psalter of Christina of Markyate, is an English illuminated manuscript, one of several psalters known to have been created at or for St Albans Abbey in the 12th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Albans_Psalter

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Source of the text:

It is an excerpt from Victimae Paschali Laudes. It dates possibly to the 11th century.

See the history, original Latin and English translation at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victimae_paschali_laudes

[globalworship]

"The Savior to All Nations" (Navajo artist)

"The Savior to All Nations" by Native American (Navajo) artist Tyrone Whitehorse. https://www.facebook.com/hastiin.biliiligai

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Commentary from the artist:

The Savior is depicted wearing the Chief's blanket robe. He wears it to symbolize His calling as our great Peacemaker, our Savior, our Leader, our Creator, our God. He was it to remind all of His supreme power and authority within our Great Father's plan to bring all their children back. Christ stands in front of the Medicine Wheel, an Indigenous symbol signifying the boundaries of the earth and represents all people on earth. Jesus is the Savior of all. He is the Great Creator of heaven and earth. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159844506316909&set=pb.553031908.-2207520000&type=3

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Check out these links for more information on how to pray for the nations. https://joshuaproject.net/pray/unreachedoftheday/today https://operationworld.org/ https://prayercast.com/topic-category/love-muslims/unreached-people-groups/

[globalworship]

The Hutsul Madonna triptych (Ukraine)

The Hutsul Madonna triptych by Kazimierz Sichulski, 1909, depicting a Madonna and Child wearing the traditional clothing of the Hutsul* people of Ukraine.

The Hutsul Madonna triptych; 1909, tempera and pastel on paper laid down on canvas, 167 × 270 cm, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.

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The Hutsuls are an ethnic group of people who live in the Hutsul region of the Carpathian Mountains in Western Ukraine and Romania. They have lived in Ruthenian Carpathia for centuries and speak a dialect of Ukrainian that is influenced by Polish. The name Hutsul may come from the word kochul, which means "nomad". The Hutsuls are said to have described people of Kievan Rus' who escaped the Mongol invasion into the Carpathian Mountains in the 13th century. There are currently more than 25,000 Hutsuls. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutsuls

For information on the well-known Polish painter and more examples of his paintings of Hutsul life, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Sichulski

[globalworship]

Two Mothers holding Dead Sons

Two Mothers holding their sons. Same place in the world, Palestine*, over 2,000 years apart 

* "Jerusalem has been under the rule of Israel since 1967. However, the international community considers East Jerusalem to be Palestinian territory that Israel occupies."

[globalworship]

Not the Gardener (Easter painting)

Hyatt Moore is an accomplished artist, and has been an acquaintance for decades. Here's one of his newest masterpieces, after his comments:

A pastor friend suggested I paint Jesus after his resurrection. “How would I do that?” I asked. He said, “Maybe in the garden.” So I did, the moment Mary encountered him. Never expecting, she thought he was the gardener . . . until he said her name. That's the moment I painted.

I call it, “Not the Gardener."

Available in print:  https://hyattmoore.com/painting/Not_the_Gardener

Follow Hyatt's marvelous art at https://www.facebook.com/hyatt.moore.9

[globalworship]

Light in the Darkness (Filipina-American artist)

"Light in the Darkness" by Filipina-American artist Rose Datoc Dall

[globalworship]

Basic Principles in EthnoArts courses (online or in-person)

My colleagues are teaching two courses later this year. One is via Zoom (August) and the other is in-person at a university in Thailand (September).

I've known 3 of the teachers for a very long time, and their ministries. I highly recommend these certificate-level courses.

[globalworship]

Annunciation: Ukriane icon + meditation

Icon by Lyuba Yatskiv, Ukraine Acrylic on Wood 23.6 W x 23.6 H x 1 D in https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Annunciation/1722365/8163246/view

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Meditation by Fr. Kenneth Tanner, copied from https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10227343268704825&set=a.1072017398034

The wingéd archangel Gabriel brings a message to a teenaged-woman, an invitation from the triune life—that personal thrice-holy Love that refuses to let death destroy forever any of the humans of any place or time for they are made in the image of eternity.

The angelic word is a request to bear in herself the divine Word by whom in the beginning the Father speaks the cosmos into existence by the Spirit. And Mary is willing.

Her consent is inscribed on her robes in Ukranian: “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be to me according to your word.”

She who was a seamstress in the Temple—one of those who made and mended the veil that will tear from top to bottom on the day the Son of God and her son dies in order by his death to cause death to vanish from human nature forever like straw in flame—holds a spool of red yarn in one hand.

From the sky window the Spirit descends and hovers, and a new creation begins. In the womb of the virgin and by her powers also the body of Jesus Christ is knit together, the Son having, as Hippolytus wrote, “woven it for himself in the sufferings of the cross.”

Here “he who cannot be contained is contained.” The sign of his crucifixion is visible in his halo, his hand poised to bless, heal, comfort, and set free.

But what about the well and the amphora (pitcher?)

So many things but first this: to become human is to become as an infant nearly 80 percent water, to begin life as a body suspended in water.

There is a nod to the water Christ would later turn to wine at the wedding of Cana, after Jesus consents to his mother’s request.

There is a bow to all the ancient stories of God meeting his people at wells, including where Christ, himself weary and thirsty because he truly is human in every way as we are, tells the Syrophoenician woman he has living water to give her that when she drinks it, she will thirst no more.

The waters of the flood. The waters of the Red Sea. The waters of the Jordan in which Christ is baptized, and finally the River of Life.

Today, March 25, is the Feast of the Annunciation. It’s nine months to Christmas.

[globalworship]

Old Statue of Child Jesus, India

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This fascinating small statue is mentioned briefly in a 2018 book by Dr. Istvan Perczel:

Here's the full page from the book (title not given):

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The other commentary in this post is summarized from a Reddit post (numerous writers) found at https://www.reddit.com/r/Kerala/comments/18nf0eh/native_statue_of_jesus_kerala_late_16thearly_17th/?rdt=54167

Recently saw this in a work published by Dr. Istvan Perczel, a leading scholar on the Kerala Syrian Christian community. This is an extremely rare find, as much of native Kerala Christian art was either altered/destroyed or later highly influenced by the arrival of the Portuguese. This work seems to date to a unique transitional period: The Portuguese had only been in Kerala for a few decades, so elements of Native Kerala Syrian Christian culture is still present.

Dr. Perczel noted that the work shows heavy influence from Buddhism and Hinduism, as Christ is modeled off of Buddha and is standing on a lotus flower similar to Hindu Gods and Goddesses. At the same time, he uniquely stated that the statue shows elements of Egyptian culture as well, as the belt of Jesus is tied like the hieroglyphic Ankh sign. According to Dr. Perczel, several local statues around this era or before show similar Egyptian influence, suggesting a relic from Kerala’s ancient trade with the Red Sea.

This Jesus is "child jesus" and hence no beard. Popularly known in malayalam as "unni eesho". The globe in hand denotes infant Jesus. A flaming nimbus is behind his head.

This was made during the late 16th/early 17th century. The Portuguese had began to Latinize the Nasrani Community but not fully so. For the first time the community began making statues (a Latin Catholic custom) as before this era, they did not believe in the creation of idols (due to being East Syriac Christians).

The artist who made this, is very clearly trying to recreate Infant Jesus (a historic and extremely common European statue of Jesus in his youth). The Syrian Christian artist or patrons, had no idea how to depict a Christian statue, because they had never done so up to this point. For that reason they mimicked the statues of Hindu Gods and traditional Kerala artistry while incorporating a very clear reference the famous “Infant Jesus” statue.

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Dr. Istvan Perczel is a renowned scholar from Hungary. Read about part of his research on Indian Syrian Christians at https://people.ceu.edu/istvan_perczel and https://www.mgu.ac.in/istvan-perczel-appointed-as-mar-chrysostom-chair-at-m-g-university/