Advent 3

Continuing with the narrative in the first chapter of St Luke, we move from the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem and an elderly priestly couple longing for a child, to almost the direct opposite... this time the same Angel visits a young woman, presumably at her parental home in Nazareth.

The Annunciation : Henry Tanner

At first I found this painting moving in its simplicity...so different from the painting of Zechariah in
 the Temple, and yet the more I look at it the more I begin to see ...
Mary, looking & listening intently, described by Luke as "deeply disturbed..." but not, like Zechariah, "overcome by fear", but instead Mary "asked herself what this greeting could mean"
 ... puzzled... but more accepting than afraid...

"....Who, me?"

for further reflection....poem by Edwin Muir : The Annunciation   http://www.journeywithjesus.net/poemsandprayers/649-edwin-muir-the-annunciation

• * my painting "Who me?" was originally part of a series based on John 20 v 1-18 :  the account of Mary of Magdala finding the empty tomb...and eventually recognizing the Risen Christ...
• if you wish to see why it is here as an Annunciation painting...please read my blog from December 2014: "How can this be ?"

however you wish to interpret the painting, maybe it can speak of anyone's sense of calling today...  "Who ...me? " can often be an initial response... a pause, before saying "Yes" !

• ... you might like to read this unusual story of Amy Peake, a Yoga Teacher who was so shocked by a photo of crowds of people queuing up for aid in a bombed out street in Damascus, she suddenly realised.....                 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34925238

 [dont be put off by the title...read on further, she is clearly being called to answer a vital problem whilst asking now & then "who me?"  ! 

Climate Change

Climate Change Window

designed & made by Janet Driver in the 1990s

It must be nearly seventeen years since I was designing & making this stained glass window commissioned by the School of Life Sciences at Whitelands College, now part of Roehampton University, London.

In the 1990s Climate Change was already firmly on the agenda of the Environmental Studies Courses, and so my design includes visual predictions of increased volcanic activity, displacement of large numbers of people, tsunamis & rising sea-levels, to name just a few of the abstract images.

Even as far back as 1970s I remember discussing possibilities of alternative energy with university students; concerned young people, who realised it wasn't only a matter of curbing lead in fuel emissions, but how vital it is for the future that we move right away from fossil fuels...

... something the Guardian is now re-emphasizing with its 

 "KEEP IT IN THE GROUND" 

CAMPAIGN 

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/series/keep-it-in-the-ground

We were actively aware of the need for action on climate change at least thirty or forty years ago... how slow we humans are to adapt and take the necessary steps so vitally needed to prevent catastrophe.

Even just in the 15+ years since I made this climate change window, many of these predictions have become alarmingly true:

 first the tsunami that shocked us ten years ago,

& since then earthquakes have devastated Haiti, Japan & now Nepal...
rising sea levels still threaten the Maldives... & floods have become much more frequent worldwide...
...& then last week I heard on the TV News that the current conflict in Syria was sparked off through climate change causing fighting among farming families which escalated...

... a wake up call we dare not ignore!

and if you are still unsure, I came across an excellent book, written by an eminent Climate Scientist,
& highly readable...I mean if you are a non-scientist, like me...
 

In the Eye of the Storm: Sir John Houghton

                            ....we have just a short window of opportunity ...