Look slowly and deeply at the picture…sit with it.What surprises you?
what’s new?
What’s unsettling?
What insight do you gain about paradise, Jesus, yourself, your ministry?
What do you want to say to the laughing Jesus?
What do you hear from the laughing Jesus?
Draw, write, create a response…
"The First Supper"
The idea first came in to my mind when I saw a very interesting painting of El Greco where Christ was driving away the business people who occupied the Temple. In this Christ was shown with anger. I then got the idea about a happy Christ. Secondly, when I saw the Last Supper by Leonardo, I thought about the first supper and imagined how the situation would have been. I was sure that as Christ was human and divine he must have had the quality of humour and wit in him and would have shared this with his followers when he discussed certain things with them I am sure that he must have had many times meetings with ordinary people where he shared his happiness with them.
Artist: Alphonso Doss
Oil on canvas - 80 cm x60 cm
Chennai, South India
For more Laughing Jesus images, visit http://jesuschrist.uk.com/
Late one morning, as Phil the Mailman is traveling through the neighborhood on his usual route, he noticed that both cars were still in the driveway at one of the homes he knew well. His wonder was cut short by Derek, the homeowner, coming out with a load of empty beer and wine bottles for the recycling bin.
"Morning, Derek, looks like you guys had a great party last night," Phil said...
Derek replies, "Actually we had it Saturday night, but this is the first I've felt like moving since then...We had about fifteen couples from around the neighborhood ovver for some weekend fun & it got a bit wild. We all got so drunk around midnight that we started playing 'WHO AM I'..."
Phil thinks a moment and asks, "How do tou play 'WHO AM I?"
"Well, all the guys go into the bedroom and come out one at a time with a sheet covering us, with only our family jewels showing through a hole in the sheet. Then the women try to guess who it is."
Phil the Postman laughs and says, "Sounds like fun. I'm sorry I missed that."
"It's probably a good thing you did," Derek responded. "Your name came up seven times..." joke provided by "I don't remember, it was months ago" (now that's funny!)
my sudden awareness of your unconditional love brought such joy and presence that I took a deep breath, trying to capture it within, using my lungs as a butterfly net.
Below is a poem written by Donna Olivia Powell during the January 2008 Ministry and Imagination Course (Generativity). The studio mentor who guided this process was Rev. Dr. Mariah Britton. The woman who inspired this poem is Anne Spencer, Donna's maternal grandmother. She is pictured in the above images. If you look carefully, you'll see a young Donna sleeping (or feigning sleep) on the couch in the bottom image.
On That Morning
On that morning final moments mirrored her genesis, surrounded by life-giving water. Immersed deep in mother’s womb, purified in craw-footed tub. It would be her last bath.
On that morning there was no sound. No Mahalia moaning from the record player downstairs. No vacuum cleaner sucking around hard plastic covered sofas. No scream if she had indeed felt pain. I heard nothing.
On that morning liniment and lavender relieved aches last night’s whiskey did not. The smell of thick-rind bacon, near done eggs should beckon me from slumber. that moment never came.
On this morning when we weren’t learning lessons of hard work we waved and smiled and fought see who would go for her taste or nip (as she called it). Some houses down a blind man sold anointed brown waters. With each swallow she grinned. Grandma was not the sipping kind.
On this morning seven years calmed by carolina air. New York had seen her vibrant, raucous and curious. Carefree even from seventeen children and three husbands and some other men of no consequence. Her hips were magical birthing babies, brawling in bars. She did her own thang.
But, on that morning bluish-green air hung heavy in the house tasting like sweet bath water. Fleshy self lay saturated in scented seas no longer stained, soaking in newness. It was her last bath.
We will gather at an ocean front retreat center to better know (experience and critical reflection: mind, body and spirit) paradise in new and needed ways for more effective Christian leadership.This intensive course, graded only on pass/fail basis, will explore the notion of paradise as a Christian spiritual practice, with a focus on humor and ecstasy.An adage about teaching says, “You cannot teach what you do not know.”It is our contention that seminarians must have first-hand experience of and critical reflection of those practices of self-care and wellness that will serve them while pastoring.This course will assist pastors and church leaders with maintaining healthy and vibrant communities who are resilient by being personally better versed and experienced in the goodness of life and living – in the experience of paradise, joy, heaven, rapture, glory, bliss, delight.Previous experience of humor and ecstasy are required.
Teaching Team
Nancy Lynne Westfield, Lecturer
Heather Murray Elkins, Director
Charles Behm, Studio Mentor
Aiken Edwards, Studio Mentor
Ernie Rubenstein, Studio Mentor
Donna Powell, Student Artist
Learning Goals
1.To reflect holistically and theologically on the notion of humor, delight, ecstasy, and paradise.
2.To consider the role the body plays in the experience of paradise.
3.To plan to take paradise as a Christian practice into everydayness, i.e. in prayers, in preaching practices, in hospital visits, in teaching habits, etc.
Required Texts
·The Song of Solomon, Old Testament
·Honey, Hush!: An Anthology of African American Women’s Humor Edited by Daryl Cumber Dance
·The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love by Thomas Moore
·Energy Anatomy (Audiobook) (unabridged) by Caroline Myss, Ph.d.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus They say you wept must’ve laughed, too. Can’t have one with without the other...
Belly laughed with friends (Peter had to be a hoot) Snicker laughed at religious leaders (They think they're so serious. They can’t be serious.) Heart laughed with children (Maybe that's why you wanted them to come) So you could get a good laugh, Authentic laugh, Healing laugh.
You give me permission to laugh... snicker/snort/chuckle/guffaw. Because you live I can face tomorrow And because you laugh I can laugh, too… At home/in class/from pulpit Jesus, I get joy just thinking about what you’ve done for me. So you must get joy, too. Just like Sarah begat Isaac, Joy begets smiles And smiles are laughter waiting to explode.
Michelangeo and them saw you Sorrow/pain/serious/bruised/stretched/hung I’m glad to know you also Chuckled/snorted/head high/arms flailing/body shaking Let laughter overtake you ‘Til you fell from your recliner.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus They say you wept Must’ve laughed, too. Can’t have one with without the other.
Poem: Donna Olivia Powell (January 2010) Image: "Jesus at the Bethany Home" by Hanna Cheriyan Varghese
Below are a few pictures of the hair timelines (process, conversations, products) created during our time in paradise. You will also find a link (thanks June!) to a story on NPR. June writes, "There was a great interview on NPR this morning w/ an author from the Washington Post about combing and styling our daughter's hair. Made me think about our reflections on hair as our most sensuous selves."
