Hard Truths

This is a re-post from a Facebook note I wrote on April 25, 2011. I want to keep it here and plan to do a follow-up, Good Friday 2012 post soon.

I didn’t go to church on Good Friday, for a few reasons, despite my pastors saying we are not to “skip right to the party.” Instead, Friday evening I ended up at the IMA to see Thornton Dial’s work.

Good timing. It was an appropriate Good Friday experience. They are dark, those hard truths. I think on another day I would have rushed through the exhibit, or would have been a little more uncomfortable. But on Good Friday I could accept it easier. It is a day when we are supposed to feel the gravity of sin and death. And there is a lot of it represented in his art. The slave trade. September 11th. The war in Iraq. Racism. Structural inequities. And a lot more racism. One after another, each complex piece was social commentary about injustice of some kind.

I don’t know what Mr. Dial’s spiritual beliefs are, but I had to process the material in light of the resurrection.

Sunday morning the stone is rolled away and the tome is empty. It means our sins are forgiven, but what else? I believe it means the kingdom of God is at hand, that there are thin places where heaven and earth intersect, that glimpses of heaven come when we do justice.

Dial says "All truth is hard truth. We’re in the darkness now, and we got to accept the hard truth to bring on the light. You can hide the truth, but you can’t get rid of it. When truth come out in the light, we get the beauty of the world."

If we believe Jesus is risen, we have to engage with hard truth. No use sweeping in under the rug (though that is what we’re trained to do). We have to bring it into the open, engage it, listen to it, see it in art, hear it in stories, see it on the face of a friend. But then…then we get to bear witness to hope, and say “another world is possible.” We get to do His work and watch for redemption.

I'm not sure what that looks like for me right now. But I am looking forward to finding out.

nobody knows it, but i am so sad!

The Avett Brothers, taken by Heather Blair

Oh, the Avetts. I don't listen to them much anymore, but whenever I do it takes me back to a certain season about two-ish years ago. Back when I lived with one of my closest friends and other friends lived not a 5 minute walk away... those were good days. We had a tight little community for a season. And then it suddenly sort of dissipated, we scattered due to marriage and new jobs and the like.

Contrary to the lyric chosen for this post's title, I'm not too sad about it (it's just really fun to belt that one out). I do miss those days and those friends and that sense of community, but I seem to have gotten better at moving on. Embracing a season for what it is, and then letting go and moving on to the next one. Maybe that explains why I am terrible at keeping in touch with many dear friends I have shared life with over the years. Maybe I started getting good at it when I left Australia after 4 months with amazing new friends. I remember sitting at breakfast on my last day, surrounded by friends, tears falling in my hash browns but a huge grin on my face because I was thinking "how lucky i am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard".

Max Ernst "The Kiss" (1927)

When I saw this painting had been chosen for the first post of blog challenge 2.0, I was like, What the crap, Jenkins! What I am supposed to write about that? And then I figured I may just skip this one. A couple days later while scrolling through the facebook, a saw the tumbnail of the image on the link to HB's post. It was so tiny, turquoise, and tan that I did a double take thinking it was a scene from Aladdin.

Aladdin, now there's a topic I can write about. Ok not really. But it reminded me of this SNL skit, where Kristen Wiig Cinderella is like, "Jasmine and Aladdin are broke. They used up all their wishes..." Hilarious!

X? Y? Z?

Ok, that's all I've got for the alphabet challenge. It was a good effort, right? Have to save some creative energy for the first post of the next challenge.

W is for Washington

Seattle, to be specific. Visited for the first time a few weeks ago. Wouldn't mind living in one of these little floating houses, like the dude in Sleepless in Seattle.

V is for Valentines

I made some for my lovely girlfriends and my favorite boy. I love sending and receiving snail mail... really ought to make cards more often.

T is for Tradition

For someone who goes to a non-denominational church I am quite a fan of the traditional church calendar. Pictured here: advent. Love it. Now it's lent, which I am struggling through. Not struggling because of sacrifice. Perhaps struggling due to lack of sacrifice.

U is for UPS

I had a whole post planned about how I want to be a UPS driver. I told my boyfriend this, and he said he had the same desire. OMG, we must be soul-mates.

S is for Sarah Palin

She is a much better tour guide than politician. I found her endearing. Loved the scene where her mother-in-law teaches the kids how to clean salmon- the same way my pa taught me how to clean salmon a couple summer ago. Common ground, people. Would my response to her campaign have been different if I had seen the show before hand?

(Just can't start another blog challenge before finishing the first one!) :)

R is for Report Card

The question was: Do people from all racial & ethnic groups have equal access to services?

I'm facilitating a Race Relations Dialogue-to-Change Circle at work and this was our topic of discussion last week. To be honest, the session was mostly a lot of venting. But I do think we need to be realistic about where we are before we talk about how to make our city more equitable across racial lines. Looking forward to the "action" conversation this week.

Q is for Quilt (not Quitter)

Of course it is. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. Lately every spare moment is spent with rotary cutter, iron, sewing machine or needle in hand in order to get these Christmas orders finished. Yes that is right, Christmas orders! Doesn't that make me sound professional?

Also, I would like to point out that Q is not for Quitter. I am not going to complete the alphabet in the month of November, but I plan to keep trucking along all the way to Z.

Postscript: Please don't tell my customers that my cat loves nothing more than to roll around messing up my fabric. I am going through lint rollers like mad.

P is for Pad Thai

I know, I know, Whitney also blogged about Pad Thai. But I would like to provide a visual illustration to prove it that it happened. :)

Fabulous food and lovely company. I am thankful.

O is for One-Lane Bridge

Another view from my Thanksgiving travels. How quaint. It was my first time driving this highway and it was a quite enjoyable trip. I almost forgot I was in Indiana.

N is for North

I drove by my high school yesterday in route to Thanksgiving celebration #3. (I attended the North school district in my county from K-12.) This old rock has sat outside the school for decades, daring rivaling schools to sneak out and paint it opposing colors after they defeated us in a big game. Painting the rock was probably the most "rebellious" thing my friends and I ever did in high school. Lame, I know, but we did get stopped by the police on one occasion. My BFF ran for the bushes and I'm pretty sure the cop was cracking up at our scared faces as he drove away after telling us just go on home. Fond memories. :)