Dancing with the Holy Spirit: Arts & Faith

The drawings in the photo are by Osamu Nakamura, an artist who lives a simple heremetic life in the mountains of Japan.  The contemplative traditions course I taught a couple of years ago spent two days visiting with Nakamura-san, getting a sense for how this sort of life looked on a daily basis — and enjoying a chance to do some art ourselves in a place that was steeped in solitude and silence.

I had visited Nakamura-san's aerie a few months earlier, and shared the photos with a friend who is a stained glass artist, who then created a beautiful piece of stained glass that we gave to Nakamura when we returned.

Wayne designed the piece while on retreat at Wernersville's Jesuit Center, which had more than one connection to the class.  Much of Wayne's work embeds shards of the prayerful silence, as he reflects in a post earlier this week.

When I made the Exercises at Eastern Point, at the start of the retreat a box showed up, containing a note from Wayne (who had recently completed the Exercises) and a jewel-toned star.  It hung in my window throughout the 30-day retreat, a potent reminder of the beauty that comes from letting the Light shine through you, rather than bounce back.  And a reminder that many others had walked these paths before us, and were praying for all of us there.

Loyola Press is launching Arts and Faith this week, celebrating the myriads of ways artists wordlessly dance with God, collaborating in acts of beauty.  Like Wayne's stained glass, through which God and light both stream through, we are each works of art, collaborations between ourselves and God.  Go take a look, and see if you can find God streaming through the people and the beautiful things they create at Arts & Faith.

Looking out

I just finished another piece for Nature Chemistry - Urban Legends of Chemistry. In case there is any doubt that I am a geek, I quote both Carl Jung and Locutus, the Borg (the assimilated Jean Luc Picard, for those of you not up on your Trek lore).

The editor asked for a graphic to accompany each piece, and I'm still looking around and about for just the right image for this piece from Nativity Episcopal Church in Michigan. I talk about stained glass and the play of light and color (maybe it's the piece by Stratoz that hangs over my desk?), which is why this graphic appealed. Or perhaps some riff on Jung? or Locutus? It's due Thursday....anyone who wants to read a draft and offer suggestions is welcome! Send me an email...

Color Blind - Not!

Gannet Girl - prompted by Portia's beautiful post, has been musing about color. And I've been reading (and writing) about spaces, spaces for teaching, spacse for liturgy. For me, color matters a great deal. I used to despair when Math Man dressed Barnacle Boy or Crash in colors that clashed, and my guys still enjoy teasing me by putting out very mismatched placemats on the table (orange stripes on top of a green flower jacquard tablecloth anyone?). Color in a space makes a big difference to me. When a favorite chapel - small and filled with light, with white floor and walls -- was redone in heavy rusts and browns, it ceased to be a favorite place to pray. Fastest way to keep me out? Orange! Followed by rusty brown and beige.

I love deep cobalt blues, or blacks with splashes of brilliant jewel tones. But what matters more to me than the color, is the light. I love watching the interplay of light on surface and on colors. So it's probably not surprising that stained glass, with the sun streaming through it, is color come to life in my eyes. This window is one I wish I could sit in front of.

A few years back, I painted my study, tucked under the eaves, deep, dark blue, with white ceilings, and white shades. A few colorful pieces are on the walls (and one - from Stratoz - suspended in the window). (When Barnacle Boy first saw it, he looked quizzical and asked, "Why did you paint it black?" I realized with a start that it did look black to him, he's color blind. Good thing this was not his bedroom!). But what I like best about it is how it warms in sunlight and lamp light both....

I am quantum mechanic - I'm all about light!

---

The stained glass window is by Dennis McNally, SJ, depicting three of the principal meditations in the Spiritual Exercises.