Adirondacks 1 video

We saw this scene first, walking over a small bridge at the start of our hike. The source of this water is the beaver pond from the other post.

Adirondacks 2 hike video

This is the beaver pond we came to after a beautiful hike in the Adirondacks.

Green Mosque Design in UK

Cool new mosque design in Cambridge, UK. I like it. Here's a description from Green Prophet, Treehugger's source:

Stunning skylights mean that the mosque will be naturally lit throughout the year, the building is well insulated and temperature will be carefully optimized by heating or cooling using energy efficient technologies and locally generated energy from ground source heat pumps.

The overall design will enlarge the existing community garden, create a new permeable green edge around the structure with trees as well as providing bicycle racks at street level and car parking in the basement. The £13 million project building, which will accommodate up to 1,000 men and women, will also include a cafe, a teaching area and meeting rooms for use by the local Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

“The new mosque will be a real neighbourhood as well as a spiritual centre, easily accessible by public transport and on foot, with facilities for formal and informal community group meetings as well as a leisure destination,” said Winters.

AWESOME!

There's more interesting reading on Green Prophet about a community garden project in San Diego, USA.

Hindu Religious Art

I just found out about this beautiful new book, Ramayana: Divine Loophole, by Sanjay Patel on Huff Po, of all places.

Awesome godmother Lakshmi had picked up the Little Book of Hindu Deities for the girls. So this is the follow-up. I am entranced by the images.

I bet La Segunda would love this. I think she has learned some of these stories in her Bharatanatyam dance class.

If I were traveling to Southern France......

I would definitely visit this place! I found it on a visit to Terry's awesome blog. I especially like the frescoes and artifacts. Beautiful.

I really like this almost-ancient style. I think the 10th Century was a good one for Christian religious art.

Check it out!

Two Things

For one thing, the oldest images of Jesus' Apostles have apparently been found in Rome during an excavation in Santa Tecla's catacomb [don't you want to know who St Tecla was? I sure do!]

In other news, I just met with the vestry of my church (like a non-profit board of directors) who OK'd my "discernment process" to become a lay chaplain. This is GREAT news! I will meet with a committee (to be named) to work through my "calling". I am very excited to be taking this first step. You all heard it here first!

Thank you, all, for the support and encouragement. I couldn't do it without you!

P.S. I am really going to work hard to blog more, I promise. Hopefully I'll have more news shortly.

From our Brief Trip to Hickory Run State Park

So beautiful:



It's like something out of LotR. We are almost done with our second marathon viewing of the movies.

My Lenten Art Project.... Finally!

Here it is, finally. This is the final outcome of my Lenten Project that I undertook. I was thinking of it as a "study" for a collage, but I'm not sure the collage will actually get done. I basically envisioned this image a long time before I got it down on paper.

Thanks to Leili for suggesting this project.

It's been awhile...

I haven't posted in a while, sorry about that. Life is taking over at warp speed, I guess.

One piece of religious art news I have though, is that I just found out a dear friend loves "annunciation" images! I had no idea. We've talked about all sorts of things over the years, how did we miss religious art!? Anyways, my favorite among annunciations is the one by Daniel Gabriel Rosetti. I have a black & white print of it on my wall at home, which makes the image even creepier, more goth. I love the look on Mary's face.

A photo of my Lenten project will be coming soon - I just need to charge the batteries in my camera!

Religious Art in the News!

A friend of mine pointed to me to the recent "News OK" story about a controversial St Damiano Crucifix recently commissioned for a church in Oklahoma.

This led me to check out other crucifixes, and I'll post some here. While I think this issue is really about artistic style, it hints at a larger issue within religious art that I find fascinating: the humanity of Jesus. Jesus' life as a man has been pondered and argued about for millennia, and that's probably not going to change. But I want to read, The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion, by Leo Steinberg, on the subject. But think about it: if you are an artist, trying to portray the humanness of your subject, then you will want to be accurate, right? I mean, Jesus was a Jew, and he was circumcised, so....

Here's the mini-review from the Amazon site about Steinberg's book:

Originally published in 1983, Leo Steinberg's classic work has changed the viewing habits of a generation. After centuries of repression and censorship, the sexual component in thousands of revered icons of Christ is restored to visibility. Steinberg's evidence resides in the imagery of the overtly sexed Christ, in Infancy and again after death. Steinberg argues that the artists regarded the deliberate exposure of Christ's genitalia as an affirmation of kinship with the human condition. Christ's lifelong virginity, understood as potency under check, and the
first offer of blood in the circumcision, both required acknowledgment of the genital organ. More than exercises in realism, these unabashed images underscore the crucial theological import of the Incarnation. This revised and greatly expanded edition not only adduces new visual evidence, but deepens the theological argument and engages the controversy aroused by the book's first publication.

But most of the time, nowadays, when we see a crucifix, Jesus is tastefully draped in a cloth, with his privates covered. We are comfortable with that. In the "controversial" icon above, he is covered, but it is the image of his abdomen that looks suspiciously like a penis that has people upset. I think, if you look at a lot of religious art, you see this type of depiction of Jesus' body a lot, and it's not a big deal. But, I may well be in the minority on this point. What do you think?

I want to see this movie

The Secret of Kells reviewed on NPR.

Kurt Schwitters

My cousin sent me an example of his work today - Beautiful!!

I've received some feedback on my blog post about my planned Lenten Practice for this Lent. "Are you familiar with the work of Kurt Schwitters?" Well, I was not. Wikipedia has a fascinating entry all about him, and his political stance (against Hitler) during WWII. He is quoted as saying:

"In the war [at the machine factory at Wülfen] I discovered my love for the wheel and recognized that machines are abstractions of the human spirit."^[4]

"In the war, things were in terrible turmoil. What I had learned at the academy was of no use to me and the useful new ideas were still unready.... Everything had broken down and new things had to be made out of the fragments; and this is Merz. It was like a revolution within me, not as it was, but as it should have been."^[5]

^{He is best known for his collage work. I've posted an example below. Keep journeying Soul-Searchers.}

Spring! Where are you?

"Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul." ~The Koran

This post is a round up of sorts. I am getting tired of Winter, as are many of my East Coast friends. We've had a lot of snow, and it's all frozen and yucky now. I can't get my car in and out of my parking space without getting stuck, which bugs me, seeing as how I'm a New Englander and all. Yesterday as I was walking around, I felt that Spring was in the air - I could FEEL it. But today, it's blustery and cold out. I've been thinking of all those Daffodils under the snow and ice, and how GLAD I will be to see them bloom.

I'm also dreaming about our recent trip to the UK and how beautiful and green it was in Cornwall in December! Part of that trip included an amazing tour of Westminster Abbey, where we saw the tomb of Eleanor of Castile [image]. She sounds like an awesome lady, impressive that her husband (Edward I of England) had crosses erected for each place her body stopped on the journey back to London after her death. There was a beautiful stained glass window of Eleanor and Lady Margaret up in the rafters of the Abbey.

And of special note, I had a stunning conversation w/La Segunda recently which I will recount here:

me: I love you.
La S.: Why did you say that?
me: Well, we were quiet, and I wanted to tell you how I felt.
La S.: Well, I think you should say, "we're alive, we're happy, and we love each other."

WOW



[image from: Idle Speculations]

Lent 2010

It's almost Lent, and I just started to think about what my practice will be for Lent this year. As you know, Lent is my favorite time in the church calendar. I like the reflective nature of it, and the drama of Palm Sunday just can't be beat - so moving. Anyway, the customs around Lent are described at wikipedia:

There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigour during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbour). Today, some people give up a vice of theirs, add something that will bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations.^[8]

I wasn't coming up with anything inspiring, until I took a look at a friend's post on SoulPancake. You should check it out too. It's kind of more of a meme than a Lenten practice, but this is what I'll do:

Now, the opportunity: Draw on your innate creativity and make a collage that represents your soul over the past year.

No one else can tell your story like you can. Here are some guidelines to help you get started:

1. Make a list of your highlights, low points, and learning experiences of 2009.
2. Find some old magazines, bits of paper, small objects or photos and cut out the images/words that resonate with the experiences on your list.
3. Layer the images and words and attach them to a surface (using glue, wire, tape—whatever).
4. Upload your collage here and tell us how it felt to tell your story using art.

Can you muster the courage to share the life of your mind, soul, and emotions?

So, I'm going to do that project. And, I'm going to continue to work on prayer, because I'm starting to feel like it's really effective! I'm not sure yet on the fasting.... I don't think I can handle a Facebook fast, but I will probably focus on eating better. For the "almsgiving" mentioned above, I am still working on raising money for Haiti.


On a similar note, I just got a link from another friend about facing "mid-life" and how to cope with change. That the lived life means facing change, and the fear involved.... it's a thought provoking article, especially coming ahead of my BIG birthday coming up.


Image from religious imagery in culture

My Big Birthday Idea

Hey All,

So, I'm turning the big 4-Oh next month. Yes, that's right, 40 years old. And in honor of my big day, I've set up a fund-raising site for Partners in Health, an organization that does amazing health work around the world, but also has been on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years.

My birthday wish is to raise some money for them so they can continue their health programs. Please go check out my page!

Thank you!
Love,
Sally

"God gives us humans everything we need to flourish, but he’s not the one who’s supposed to divvy up the loot. . . You want to see where Christ crucified abides today? Go to where the poor are suffering and fighting back, and that’s where He is. " - Paul Farmer, Partners in Health Co-Founder, quoted in Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder

Winter in CT

Here are some scenes from our time in CT over the Xmas holiday:



The Connecticut River in Winter.





The fields on the way to the River.




The Thicket.

Enjoy

Imaginary Friends

Apparently La Segunda's imaginary friend, Chacky, died yesterday. He was on a boat and fell overboard, and then was eaten by a shark. Curly appears to be unharmed. I asked La Segunda if this death was permanent, and she said yes. When I checked today, Chacky was still dead.

I remember when my imaginary friends left my life. I was about 6 or so, and they left for an extended trip to Alaska and never came back.

Curly is still around, and I hope to get updates about her. I heard about both Chacky and Curly on the walk to school last week, and everyone was in excellent health. I am saddened to hear of Chacky's demise, as I'm sure you are too.

Jesus in India?

Hi All! It's been a while. I still have some more images/video to post from December. But my friend, Hiphopopotamus and Rhymenocerous just got back from another trip to India and posted this and I had to share!

She is on an amazing journey. I hope to be able to post more about her trip, but will whet your appetite with this gem.

It may well be a fable, but I love the idea that Jesus' "lost years" were spent learning in the East. It makes a great story, whether it's true or not.

Video from UK Trip: The Underground

I took this video when I first went down the stairs to get to the "Central Line" at Tottenham Court Road. It was quite a journey to get to the Tube platform. Sort of reminds me of this year. Enjoy!

See you in 2010!

Video from UK Trip: Sloane Square Schoolkids

Sorry for the poor quality of this video. I was trying to be all subtle while filming these kids in their school uniforms. Judging from their uniforms, they must be from the Hill House International School, which is right near Sloan Square. However, I was totally surprised when I saw them walking by in these uniforms - it was like something out of Hogwarts for me!

Enjoy!