Arts
The Arts section of Orient Lodge
#NaPoWriMo 14: #WhatIMake #MissionalVoices The Lamb's Pot Luck
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 04/14/2016 - 08:39“Unused creativity is not benign”
I ponder these words
on my drive to work
as I wonder
what’s blocking me
from fully using
my creativity.
I remember choirs
in childhood
when I couldn’t hit
the right notes
and was ridiculed
and ashamed.
I remember looking at paintings
by classmates
that were so beautiful
and mine,
so plain.
I remember going to concerts
or reading poems
and thinking,
“I could never do that”.
As I grew,
I used less and less
of my creativity
“Unused creativity is not benign”
it metastasizes
into shame, anger, fear, hate.
This weekend
my daughter is organizing a conference
for makers.
I’m going to a different conference
on missions.
Perhaps
these conferences are related
Perhaps
the Great Maker
wants us healed
to own our own
creativity.
Perhaps
the Lamb’s High Feast
is pot luck,
with all of us invited
as restored makers.
Notes: “Unused creativity is not benign” comes from Brene Brown in an interview she did with Elizabeth Gilbert, as does the idea of it metastasizing.
#NaPoWriMo 13 Preparing for #MissionalVoices
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 04/13/2016 - 19:02When I was younger
my older brother
would hike long sections
of the Appalachian Trail.
Beforehand,
he would gather supplies
as he made sure
his equipment
was waterproofed
and broken in.
When I go to conferences
I like to prepare
by reading the schedule
the speakers biographies
and finding out anything else I can
about what I am likely to encounter.
When I go on a road trip
I like to gather food for eating
along the way.
I like to map out my route
and make sure I have enough
listening material
for the trip.
I’ve been reading
about the Camino de Santiago
and wonder how people prepare.
Now, there are websites
and travel guides,
but what about centuries ago?
Friday, I will hit the road
I have my books on tape.
I’ve read about the conference.
I need to pack clothes, meds, and food,
and hope the kidney stone
doesn’t act up.
But this is just the physical journey.
What about the spiritual journey?
I hope to discover
something I don’t yet know.
How do we prepare for this
other than getting a scallop shell?
#NaPoWriMo 12: Confession of Murder
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 04/12/2016 - 18:25This morning
at the close of Morning Prayer,
the bell tolled for Kenneth
and a little bit of me died
after a very long illness.
Kenneth was created in God’s image.
God loved Kenneth
but others did not.
He suffered abuse and neglect
at the hands of his mother’s
hard drinking
violent boyfriends.
That was forty years ago
when the scars
of Jim Crow
were fresher.
What they did to Kenneth
was horrible.
What Kenneth did to Cathy
was worse,
and what the juror said
only compounded it all.
We have not loved
our neighbors as ourselves.
We have failed to offer hope
to those that only find it in a bottle.
We have failed to protect
the children in their care.
We have failed to end
the scourge of racism,
and Cathy died
and now Kenneth dies,
and all of us
die a little bit too.
#NaPoWriMo 11: The Kidney Stone
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 04/12/2016 - 11:34After that first wave of pain
was determined to be a kidney stone
friends suggested
I write a poem about it.
Really?
As I took pain relievers
drank gallons of fluids
and the symptoms subsided
I wondered,
“Did the stone break apart
and pass secretly
or do my kidneys contain
a ticking time bomb?”
With the stone dormant
my thoughts shifted
to other concerns
family, finances, and politics,
but still the stone remained
in the back of my mind.
This morning
as I doubled over in pain
beside the toilet bowl
I was reminded
of the suffering in the world
and in my kidney.
#NaPoWriMo 10: Infirmity
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 04/10/2016 - 12:54I didn’t make it to church today
I tried,
but the pain was too great.
I love the story of Ananias
praying for Saul
in Damascus
and I wondered
whom I was supposed to pray for.
I love the story of Jesus
being reveal to the disciples
in the breaking of bread
after the resurrection
and I wondered
what will be revealed to me
today.
I love the story of Peter
saying “Yes, Lord, I love you”
and being told
to feed the sheep.
Who am I supposed to feed today?
But the pain was too great
so I laid down and rested.
When I awoke
it seemed
I could still make it
if I rushed.
But I couldn’t rush
and before I knew it
church was starting
and I wasn’t ready.
Someone else
can sit in the pew today.
Someone else
can greet the visitor.
Someone else
can taste
the body and blood.
Someone else
can pray for the infirm.
Today, I am the infirm
and others are praying for me.
Perhaps
being a person prayed for
is another way
we can serve God.
