Podcast Interview on Culture and the Christian Writer

I was afforded the opportunity to be interviewed by a wonderful sister in South Africa on the subject of 'Culture and Writing' for the Christian. It aired this past Sunday and I thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy!  Denise

http://laurenjacobs.co.za/podcasts/

Father's Coming

The massive white marble statue of Mary, with the lifeless body of Christ draped over her lap, came immediately to mind in response to Susan Forshey’s  Advent chart invitation to 

“Spend time with a favorite piece of art”.

Michelangelo Buonarotti’s famous sculpture, Pieta, (pee-ay-tah) intrigued me the moment I stumbled on it  in my college years. As a student of African-American Literature, I had found it useful as a metaphor for  the burden of  motherhood and the pain of fatherlessness. My reflections then, had inspired a triad of poems titled ‘Pieta in Black’ which captures  these themes.*

Revisiting Pieta this Advent, however, has me appreciating the promise ‘of the Father' coming 'through the Son', 'by the Spirit’ – Trinity. In considering the Incarnation, my focus had always only been on the second person of the Godhead, Jesus. But it was the Father whose power overshadowed the Virgin Mary, and it was the Holy Spirit who came upon her  in order for Jesus, our Hero, to arrive. Lk 1:35

 So rightly, Advent should also be a time to celebrate the Father’s initiative in our redemption story. He authored the whole thing, bringing and delivering His greatest Gift to us through the Virgin’s womb – let’s make room in the Nativity for the Father!

 The ‘coming of father’, in any language, can evoke diametrically opposed emotions : dread, guilt and fear, on one hand, and joy, exultation and expectation of blessings - gifts! - on the other. Many a child has been brought up short, from inappropriate behavior, by the threat “When your father comes …”. Yet I find myself wondering if the longing for Father-presence ( no disrespect to Joseph) in the Christmas story, is not what birthed and feeds the spirit of Santa – a longing to please father and be rewarded for it, motivated to be nice by the threat of the twice-checked list - a striving to earn grace.

Several years ago, FourSquare pastor and founder of The King’s College & Seminary, in Los Angeles,  Jack Hayford, cautioned  church leaders in a Christmas message, to not be exceedingly disparaging of the idea of Santa, as it speaks to the longing for pleasant associations with fatherhood at a time of year when fatherlessness can be most painful - a longing that just might lead many a wounded 'child' home. My meditations this season compel me to agree.

So palpable was the pain of fatherlessness, as I experienced it in the Literature of my college days, I was tempted to put it aside - to reject its pain for more romantic (idyllic) and beautifully themed material, but somehow the martyr in me won. I felt an odd responsibility, having seen the wound, to do something about it, even if only to make others aware. My conscience, shaped no doubt by memories of the persona in Christina Rossetti’s children’s poem ‘The Snare’,  dictates that if I can hear that ‘there is a rabbit in a  snare’ then  I must ‘search everywhere’ or else communicate the dreadful fact to as many as I can, who may be able to help search and rescue. In Pieta, Mary, by her  fixed gaze,  bids  everyone make eye contact with the pain born of sinfulness, if we would also behold the Innocent One sacrificed for us.

Her slightly upturned left hand was also a new focus for me this season of Advent meditation: was she intended to be gesturing accusingly to the world whose sins had slain him? Or was she offering Him, surrendering Him a substitute for our propitiation?- fulfillment of that same gesture when, as her younger self, freshly delivered of her Holy Burden, she had offered him to shepherds and Kings alike. Only, then, it was for their adoration of Him in His infancy. Or maybe, just maybe, the gesture is  intended as a re-presentation of Jesus back to the Omnipresent  Father, who, having  so prodigally  given, waited  in readiness, for the appointed time, to turn again, and raise Him back to life.

 In this, Pieta is the picture of Ultimate Hope! Let every faithful mother-heart, surrendered, like Mary’s, wait expectantly this Advent for the coming of the Father who alone can raise up sons, however badly wounded, to life again. 🙏🏿

* ( Pieta and other of my poems will be posted in the new year with accompanying audio - Deo Volente - as the Lord allows)

Jesus Pretty In Me (audio and translation)

Poem

Mi neva know seh Jesus coulda pretty in me

A’ talk fi mi talk

A’ spree fi mi spree

Dis Christ in me, dis hope a' Glory!

When wi firs' did come to dis Caribbee

What a speechless place

What a misery

No language between wi captors an' we

Couldn't hear Christ in him

Him nuh si Christ in me.

Well as time guh by likkle lingo plot

Else a’ Tower a’ Babel woulda be fi wi lot

Dem establish di slave society,

Likkle lingua franca `tween Backra an' we:

Him seh, "Yours di field and di great house fi me;

My children are babies, yours a pick-a -ninnies;

Yours di labour, mine di wage."

Dat deh language neva suit nuh righteous page.

Well time an' season slowly pass'

An' di lingo of slavery was done at las'

But den come Miss Queen an' ‘ar crown colony

So wi drop curtsy an' try talk like she

We try on, we put off

We put on, we show off

Twis' an tun we tongue 'til it nearly fork.

Shet up God Image like a bokkle wid a cork.

A’ so we float on down di ribba of life

Meet independence, politricks an' labour strife

How we tired an' long fi reach t’idda  side

Long fi hangle life at the brunt a di tide

Wanti-wanti rise 'til we dis fi bus'

Language come out, but a so-so cus'

'Cause di cork still in place an' di heat a-rise

We want run di race we want win di prize

"LORD, HAN' WI DI MIRROR

GI WI COURAGE Fl LOOK

PUSH PASS DI KURRO-KURRO

PRESS INTO YUH BOOK

Mek di Cool Clean Water wash wi soul

Clean out we eye mek we see wisself whole.

Design' an' plan' mek by Yuh owna Han'."

Mi only jus' now a-start fi understan'

What a t'ing a beauty Yuh mek mi fi bi

Perfec' fi reflec' di God-kind a beauty.

A Holy Aesthetic a tek over mi min'

As mi start relate to a Divine Plumbline:

Every tribe an' tongue, every nation an' race

One day goin' flow to one gathering place

To one Holy Mountain in time an' space

Perfec' to reflec' di Father's Face

An' choppin' one talk - "Amazing Grace."

- Denise Stair-Armstrong

 @ 7 Feb 1999

Translation

I never thought it possible that Jesus could be revealed in Beauty in who I am

Speaking with my voice, in my heart language,

Released, animating me in freedom, 

This Christ in me, this hope of Glory!

When we were originally brought to the Caribbean lands

No means of heart communication was allowed

Such misery

Our captors hearts and ours were as far apart as could possibly be

I discerned nothing of Christ in his speech

He saw nothing of Christ’s image worthy of addressing in me

As time passed we had to develop some sort of speech allowing functional exchange

Otherwise chaos akin to the Tower of Babel would have been the result

This allowed the development of the slave society,

The established status quo between our slave masters  (Backra) and ourselves:

He dictated, “ The plantation fields are your place and the plantation great house is mine;

My children are fully human babies, yours, not quite, so we will call them ‘pickaninnies’;

The labor of slavery, yours, the income from it, mine.”

Surely that arrangement was not the one communicated by God in His Holy Word.

Well, time & seasons passed, too slowly,

But  the slavery status quo ended at last,

But then came Mrs.Queen (Elizabeth)and her Crown Colony 

So we payed homage, ‘dropping curtsy’ and trying to assume communication that reflected submission to her rule.

We (put on,tried on) – pretended, assumed and ( put off, postured) dispensed with all sorts of societal and cultural norms not our own

Twisted & turned our tongues ‘til they almost split. (Contorting our self-expressions almost to the point of schizophrenia)

Concealing God’s unique image through us, as in a tightly corked bottle.

This is the way we floated on down the river of life,

Acquiring national independence, employing the machinations  of politics and labor laws, to our advantage and disadvantage,

Through all this striving, never really  seeming to  get anywhere (to the other side)

We yearned to handle (experience) life at the brunt of the tide of opportunity (success always seeming just out of our reach).

Frustrated, our longing intensified  to the point of rupture (riots &, social unrest)

Some sort of expression comes out but it sounds more like curses (expletives) than anything else.

We are pressed  by limitations we cannot change, pushed to our extremity, strangled by our sense of powerlessness;

All we want is to taste the fruit of our labor!

“LORD HAND US THE MIRROR

GIVE US COURAGE TO LOOK,

TO PUSH PAST ALL THIS SINFUL BUILD-UP,

DELVING INTO YOUR BOOK.

Let Its  cool, clean water wash our souls,

Purify our sight, cause us to have a vision of ourselves, whole ( in You).

We were designed and made by Your own Hand”;

I think I am beginning to understand

What a thing of beauty You have made me to be,

Being perfected to reflect the God-kind of beauty.

A holy aesthetic is taking over my mind,

I’m beginning to relate to a Divine Plumbline:

Every tribe and tongue, every nation and race

Will one day flow to one gathering place,

To one Holy Mountain in time and space

Perfected to reflect the Father’s face

And communicating like never before in a perfect unified language, that of “Amazing Grace”.

- Denise Stair-Armstrong

              @ 10 Dec 2016

Scriptures 

References that informed this piece:-

Col.1:25b-27

Acts 17:24-28

John 4:4-6

Isaiah 2:1-5

Pilgrim's Advent. - [ A SINGLE OCCASION INTERACTIVE ADVENT SERVICE ]

 

About 5 years ago, my husband Claude and I escaped to friends' river house for a rare birthday weekend respite, after the start of the new school year, but before the holiday season. However, soon after we arrived he received a call from work to return the next morning for an emergency meeting with a general or some such VIP. Consequently I found myself all alone in a quiet beautiful place, with pen, journal and a copy of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, which I was taking my son's homeschool Literature class through; it was the perfect (creative) storm. I later added the presentation elements ( wreath, candles and songs) in order to adapt it for presentation to the ladies' ministry for our church: the only place it was ever delivered. Feel free to enjoy, with proper attribution to Denise Stair Armstrong, please. Grace to every Pilgrim on the Journey this Advent. 

(An Advent wreath is prominently displayed and four  pre-selected  persons prepared to light each candle and lead the singing of each portion of music. Sheets or overhead projection of the songs/hymn portions should be available to the attendees)

Narrator reads;

Christian, the Pilgrim, one night on his way,

Again lost the Path to that City of Day.

So great was the darkness, so black was the land, 

He fumbled and stumbled for places to stand.

Shades of death overtook him; he cowered and creeped.

Then slid, falling down, struck his head, fell in sleep.

He heard ancient prophet foretelling the time,

When Messiah would come through a virgin sublime.

“The people that walked in great darkness” he said,

“Have seen a great Light in the land  of the dead.

His name is called Wonderful, Counsellor Great,

Father Eternal, Peace Prince we await.”

(Light the First Advent Candle – representative of ‘the Light of the Hope of the Prophets’)

- Song : “Oh come, O come Immanuel…”

Arousing himself our dazed Pilgrim espied,

“First Light! Yes I see! Though I thought I, had died!

I know it is leading me back to the path,

Out of this darkness, this dread land of wrath.”

But alas! Our dear Christian was soon lost again,

This time drawn by lights seen through earth-tainted lens.

“Bright lights, there! I see them! A-sparkling on trees!

Red ones, and green ones! Declare ‘X-mas’ glee?

This place  I have come to in search of the light

Is called...'X-MAS CITY?' - the 'X' is my plight.

Its lights call out to me to stop and to stare.

To quench self’s lusts, pleasures with all fleshly fare.”

“Eat drink and be merry! From nothing refrain!”

I heard its shrill call luring men to the vain.

‘Twas Vanity Fair bidding, “Indulge your flesh!”

Its center had Herod's agenda enmeshed.

“The light is your own!” I, confused, heard him say.

“Remove Christ from Christ-mas. Mark 'X', It's your day!

Let's search, find your own divine spark; it is true.

And then help you worship the Christ that is you!”

Before I could gather my wits ‘round about me 

The ‘X’ passions clashed; ‘twas a self-striving spree!

Breaking stores’ doors down and trampling on workers!

Racking up debt – tribute for X-mas  altars.

I fled from that town with the twinkling lights:

Visions of death! Not the Glory of Christ!

Stumbling, de-lighted his hands on his head

Eyes downcast, dejected the young pilgrim pled,

“O Lord, I don’t see You; the path I can’t find;

What darkens my vision? What’s keeping me blind?

Then that’s when I noticed, beyond X-mas walls,

The suffering, forgotten, the weak and the small.

Like sheep lost and scattered their shepherds were few.

I stepped back o’erwhelmed; did not know what to do.

Then a bright stranger shining laid hand on my shoulder.

He put me to sit ‘mongst the sheep on a boulder.”

Song -

“Open the eyes of my heart Lord

  Open the eyes of my heart,

 I want to see You…”

“The Light that you seek is quite near where we stand.

Remember the words of the Scroll in your hand:

The Virgin-born child, God incarnate appointed, 

Laid in a creche by the Spirit anointed

To bring the Good News to lost sheep such as these,

To bind up torn hearts, give the bound liberty.

Avoid the vain gifts to consume on man’s lust

Guide men to the Savior, lift hearts from sin’s dust!”

  

(Light second Advent candle – representative of ‘The Light and warmth found by Mary & Joseph in a ‘stable’)

Then out from the clouds burst a light shining glorious!

Of angels proclaiming Messiah victorious!

I saw where He made His incarnate abiding -

Midst prisoners and orphans, despairing and dying!

Shepherds and carpenter, young maiden lowly

Knelt in a grotto that God had made Holy.

Light of His birthplace bathed all in his Glory.

I basked in His love; pledged to reflect His story.

The Light and the warmth we had found in that place

Was the Light of the Glory of God in Christ’s face!”

(Light third Advent candle – representative of ‘The light and joy which surrounded the shepherds & also sent them forth’)

Song – “O come all Ye faithful…”

I knew I should go with the shepherds to tell

The dark world, X-mas world, of Immanuel.

But first, Lord, before I continue my mission

I must offer to You, Blest Pearl of my vision,

My heart’s dearest treasure, its every aspiring,

Ignite in their place Your bright flame’s Holy firing.

The work of my hands, deeds that shape all my days-

The feeding of sheep, finding lambs gone astray,

Also can capture my heart it is true

Replacing this glorious vision of You.

Daily attract me to bask in Your light,

As I sojourn in ‘Babylon’, capture my sight.

Though I face lions, furnace or pow’r crazed rulers,

To You, keep me faithful, blest Sovereign & Savior.”

  Song – “We three Kings of orient are…” )

I step here aside, for new guests now I see, 

Star-guided, have also brought gifts – 1, 2, 3.

Kings bring gold for Kingship, incense for Your praise,

 Myrrh’s bitter taste for the day You are raised

Up high between earth and the dark sky where rays 

Now beam down from Your Light, O Ancient of Days.

Shine on!  Light Our paths! One source of Holy fire,

You’ve ravished our hearts, You, our one Great Desire!”

(Light fourth Advent candle – representing the Light of God’s Truth which guides Wisemen to Jesus and also keeps them on the path)

Song – “Shine Jesus, Shine…!”

Quiet, meditative closing and exit.

Moonsong - (My 40-day Advent Journey - 1)

     Did you catch it? The Supermoon of 2016. The moon will never be closer to earth, they say, for another 18 years. The cloudy sky over Virginia that morning totally blocked the view, but thanks to modern technology, I was able to view this astronomical wonder by TV, though also a bit distracted by the ordinariness of the setting. I was in the podiatrist's office with my mother waiting with a dozen or so disinterested patients eager to remove their shoes, but not because they perceived this was holy ground. 

     The massive orb hung, a surreal pinkish-grey, against the diminutive skyline of some more fortunate American city, on the morning of November 14, unsettling in its size.

     Like a banner at the closing of our ordinary days, it seemed to announce that the coming of the King is near. We were a week past the most contentiously fought general election of our nation’s history, and a week before  the Sunday on the Church’s liturgical calendar designated, the Feast of Christ The King.

     My leading to observe a 40-day Advent could not have been more appropriately placed. I needed to be caught up again in His-Story. The world was way too much with me. As all over college campuses and the dis-appointed media fear was ‘mongered’, others, who looked to man for deliverance, rejoiced, giddy with baseless glee. Basking in the residual moonlight as my first contemplative act of the 40 days, I pressed my soul to consider the real King.

     The nearness of a ruling monarch is often cast as a prospect to be feared. Heads could roll ( think Esther), irrevocable words could be uttered to your detriment (think Daniel), for choosing to appeal in person to Caesar (think Paul). History books record tales of streets being cleared of all the sick, lame and poor in preparation for the visit of French and Russian monarchs – nothing to disturb the monarch’s fragile sensibilities or present less than a picture of prosperity and successful reign.

     I recall, from the days of my own childhood,  the visit of a representative of the British Crown to my own island home of Jamaica. Oh the fixing of roads! the whitewashing of sidewalks and tree trunks! the relocating of sidewalk vendors and ‘sprucing ups’ of the things of our ordinary, everyday lives, to make them appear pleasing, presentable to the Crown.

     How different is the coming of The King of Kings whose nearness is our good. Kimberlee Conway Ireton, in her wonderful book on devotionally observing the Church’s liturgical year, The Circle of Seasons, describes the final Sunday before Advent, the Feast of Christ the King, as...

“…a time to celebrate the day when Christ’s great love will be fully realized on earth, the day when our King will return. He will right all wrongs. He will judge the living and the dead. He will bind up the brokenhearted…give sight to the blind…heal the lame…set the prisoners free…establish justice once and for all, justice tempered with mercy so that all life might flourish under His reign.”

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

     As I peered up from my bedroom window, 4:00 am the following morning, at the diminished but no less beautiful supermoon, another thought that gained entry was a hymn frequently sung in the church of my childhood, “I am Thine, O Lord’, which refrains, ‘Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord…’. 

     Written by Fanny Crosby & William Doane (1820-1915/1832-1915), after the two had spent the evening observing a glorious sunset and discussing the nearness of God in their lives, (keeping in mind Crosby’s complete blindness!!), I was intrigued by her words in the stanza which reads, 

“There are depths of love that I cannot know

Till I cross that narrow sea

There are heights of joy that I may not reach 

Till I rest in peace with Thee”

    Yet there is so much of His love and joy that is already accessible, in both Creation’s testimony and its groans of longing for the revelation of the sons and daughters of God – (Romans 1:20/8:19). By these - glorious sunsets or full moons, from the days of our first separation in Eden, and now, through His Son, Jesus - God invites, 

“Draw near to (Him) and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8a)

     The tune of supermoon’s song, against the din of mankind’s strivings, soothed my soul. Other than testifying that Earth is still “cramm’d with heaven”, its quiet yet awe-inspiring rising, terrible in its beauty and nearness, invoked the King’s own promise:

     “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32, NKJV). 

     Hear the tune; hear the words and even if you don’t whitewash your tree trunks this Advent, at least take off your shoes and let's, 

     “... draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)

This King’s nearness is our good.

Fast-Forward to Advent

I was surprised, on Monday, to see a large decorated Christmas tree and wreaths decorating the medical facility where I took my mother last week to have her eyes checked. 

"It's not even Thanksgiving yet!" I complained. It felt somewhat like someone  had opened a gift too soon and was spoiling the surprise.

Yet I must admit that something in me wants to start preparing early this year too. I don't know if it's just that the events of this year, both nationally and internationally, have left me feeling violated somehow, shaken up and hungry for the beauty and peace of 'His Coming'. 

So Yes, I confess I went searching early for Advent, before Thanksgiving! Remembering that my dear friend, Kimberlee Conway Ireton, author of my favorite guide to the Christian church's Liturgical year, The Circle of Seasons, once had mentioned a fellow blogger who promoted a 40-day Advent observance, I googled and found the two sites linked below.

One is the site of the Northumbria Community, a monastic-like community seeking to live by a 'rule of life' similar to the Benedictine order (if I am not mistaken). They observe this Celtic 40-day Advent, and the page gives a beautiful introduction & justification for the practice. 

The other link is a chart for a 40-day Advent observance, designed by the blogger at the site, 'contemplative cottage'. Though not a scripture based activity, this chart provides meaningful & thoughtful activities to engage in as preparation for celebrating the Incarnation.

I will endeavor to post my reflections on my Blogsite (linked at jamaicadawnwings.blogspot.com) as I go through, in a very grace-filled way, 🙏🏿  this my first 40-day Advent.

 I anticipate a refreshing, refocusing of my heart, soul & mind as I worship the Lord and seek to bless my world by these activities. Join me, and share your own thoughts at 'Dawnwings' as well, as we 'Fast-Forward to Advent!'

Dancing in anticipation on that Bridge - the Cross - that spans the Great Divide between our hearts and His,

Denise

http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/saints/celtic-advent-november-16th/ 

http://contemplativecottage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Advent-Calendar-2015-without-color-large.pdf

Sent from my iPad

Not Safe

     At the top of a week which saw observations as varied as All-Saints Day, Reformation Day, The Day of the Dead, and Halloween, I was thankful to hear a retelling of a seminal moment in Church history, specifically of the Protestant Reformation — excerpts of the speeches and prayers of Reformer Martin Luther. His famous, oft-quoted, closing words, that "...to act against one's conscience is neither right nor safe..." struck me with even greater force than it previously had, as I was compelled to examine the profundity of Luther's grasp of what constitutes SAFETY.

     There he stood, at the mercy of  a Council and authorities determined to incinerate not only his writings but his very person, yet he directed them to consider the danger he would be in should he violate the truths he had become convinced of, by the Scriptures, regarding God, Mankind and Christian faith.

     My local fellowship's current focus on the book of Daniel was without doubt informing my own reflections here, and I cannot help but believe that that prophetic book's great testimony had also informed Luther's as he answered at the Diet of Worms. He, like the young Hebrew exiles, held firmly in his grasp the reality that burning to death while tied to a stake, being thrown into a den of hungry lions or cast into a fiery furnace was rather to be chosen than the eternally self-destructive action of denying the integrity and basis of the regenerating, transformative experiences of the soul that has tasted fellowship with the true and living God.

     And though there is a literal hell to shun, with its attendant physical tortures, heeding Luke's counsel in chapter 12:4-5,
"And I say to you My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say, to you, fear Him!",

their faithfulness (unto death!) was fueled by this even greater compelling motive:

     These, like Moses, of the throng chronicled in Hebrew's Hall of Faith, were fortified by, "..esteeming the reproach of Christ as greater...for (they) looked to the reward...not fearing the wrath of the king(s); for (they) endured as seeing Him who is invisible". ( chapter 11:26-27). A simple search in Strong's concordance revealed that word ''looked" to be rooted in the Greek word 'apoblepo' - to look away from everything else in order to look intently on one object. The glimpse, which once engaged, grips you (like a 'tractor beam' of sci-fi films!) and locks you forever in the Gaze of the Terribly Beautiful One.

     It makes me feel the urgency, in these threatening times of our day, to check to see what has my conscience "held captive" - does the Invisible One have my gaze? And as we remember our suffering fellow believers this Sunday, marking the International day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, may our repentance, praise, petitions and supplications, indeed our very lives, be grounded in the SAFETY known only by captives of His Love as revealed in Jesus Christ of the Scriptures.