Christ & Creativity
New Poems by "Pink Shoes"
This month we feature two new poems by a pseudonymous blogger who writes at "Pink Shoes in the Pulpit."
Check out her poems below the jump...
Spring in Bloom: Photos
Today Fidelia's Sisters celebrates spring with some flower photography by Katherine Willis Pershey. Katherine writes:
I am a beginning photographer; after inheriting a good camera from my sister a few years ago, I now have, in my infant daughter, a pressing inspiration to learn how to use it. In addition to taking hundreds of photos of Juliette, I'm practicing learning the alchemy of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO at the South Coast Botanic Gardens. Having grown up in the Midwest, the cactus gardens and butterfly amaryllis of Southern California have yet to lose their exotic, unfamiliar beauty.
Photography
This month we feature the photography of Elizabeth Marie Melchionna. Her work appears below the fold.
Submit your own creative work for inclusion in Fidelia's Sisters!
New Art and Poetry
This month we are pleased to offer visual art and poetry together from two different artists, Mary Allison Cates (who created a series we featured in Advent) and Heidi Koschzec. Both works appear below the fold.
Do you sculpt? sew? shoot photos? string words together? We want to hear from you.
Long Road Home: Music by Stacey Midge
We young clergy women are a multi-talented bunch. (Do you sculpt? sew? shoot photos? string words together? We want to hear from you.)
You've read Stacey Midge's witty articles for Single Rev's Guide to Life. Did you know she is also a musician? Click below to hear her play "Long Road Home":
Note: Since the Christ and Creativity column is less discussion oriented, we will be closing comments each month. However, if you'd like to offer feedback to the artists we feature, please contact the Christ and Creativity editor, MaryAnn McKibben Dana, at creativity(dot)ycw(at)gmail(dot)com.
Storytime; We Crucified: Poems
Before we get to today's offering...
Are you a writer, poet or visual artist? Do you play around with photography or paint? We want to hear from you!
Each month this column features new work by and/or for young clergy women. For more information about what we're looking for, click here.
And now, on to this month's feature...
Merry Christmas
Today we feature two poems. MaryAnn writes: “Last December I decided to write a series of poems inspired by beloved Advent and Christmas hymns. It was a great spiritual discipline for me in the midst of the busyness of the season. I remember sitting with a cup of cocoa and the Presbyterian Hymnal, reading carefully the hymns that we (ok, I) often sing without absorbing the words. The images are a rich treasure for the spiritual and poetic imagination.”
May Christ be born anew in you this Christmastide!
Reflections on Advent: A Way of Peace
As we move toward the already-and-not-yet of Advent, we celebrate Christ's birth so long ago even as we know that Christ must be born in us again and again. Countless artists over the centuries have portrayed Advent themes and scenes; these block prints by Mary Allison Cates weave together the personal and the political with scenes of destruction and turmoil, juxtaposed with the image of a pregnant woman looking on as her child grows within her.
The quote from James Agee ties the images together: "In every child who is born, the potentiality of the human race is born again, and of each of us, our terrific responsibility toward life, and the utmost idea of God."
According to the artist, "New life happens, even in the face of global warming, war, poverty, and interpersonal conflict. May our saving Lord Jesus Christ be born in us again this Advent season, so that we may respond to our broken world by creating a way of peace."
Visual Reflections on the Lectionary
How do you immerse yourself in the biblical text? For one young clergy woman, visual art is key to the process. She writes, "I believe through images and the act of creating, the Spirit engages us and gives us new eyes to see the unseen God alive in our lives and in the lives of our communities. ... In letting the Word reside in our imaginations and wrestle with us in new ways, I believe we become more faithful and creative preachers."
To enlarge each piece--and you'll definitely want to do that with this lovely work--click on the thumbnail.
Letting Go. 15th Sunday After Pentecost. Luke 14: 25-33.
The power and mercy of God's hold gives us courage to let go of that
which holds us captive.
This Month: Visual Art and Poetry
For this, our inaugural feature, we bring you two very different pieces, "On Women and Children and Poverty," a visual piece by Suzanne Stovall Vinson, and "&," a poem by MaryAnn McKibben Dana.
While the medium and focus of the two pieces differ from one another, each piece speaks to the particularity of women's experience while touching on broader themes that unite many of us.
Are you a poet, fiction writer or visual artist? We want to hear from you! Please see our submission guidelines for more information.
And now, on to Christ & Creativity...
