Holy Week, Monday : Anointing at Bethany: John 12

 
“

...the fragrance of the perfume filled the whole house...”

Surprised by Almond Blossom

Wind ripping across the garden;
Rain pouring down...

 Studio dismal & uninviting,    raw, damp & cold.

Even the cat hesitated on back doorstep
loath to let me out...

Waiting....

 I suddenly saw white almond blossom
sparkling in the rain
against the dark hedge

 thank you for making me pause and look...

The artist Stanley Spencer
set out to paint a series of 40 paintings for Lent...
 with the idea that a new painting could be put up each day in his church at Cookham
 so that people could drop in and meditate everyday.

 Its not surprising the series remained unfinished,
 but I love the unusual way he envisaged Christ in the wilderness...http://www.artgallery.wa.gov.au/collections/documents/spencer_conv.pdf

 The Taize App ...page for today quotes from Br Rogers writings:

"...like the Almond tree that begins to blossom in the light of springtime, God makes even the deserts of our soul burst into flower."

"Come and see..."

 A meditative series on St John's Gospel

 April 2016

 We shall be looking at Jesus' encounters with various different people though the eyes of the author of Johns Gospel, and the eyes of artists who have sometimes spent months or even years in meditation before communicating their insight with us...

Two Disciples a the Empty Tomb: Henry Ossawa Tanner   

Like Henry Tanner, who painted this defining moment for the author of John’s Gospel, 

"He saw & he believed”    John 20 v 1-8

When I first saw this painting it made me stop and think more deeply about Peter & the "other disciple"... Peter, as yet unsure what to make of the empty tomb, and his companion bathed in resurrection light.

At the end of his Gospel, this enigmatic "unknown disciple" tells us:

 “there were many other things Jesus did; if all were written down, the world itself, I suppose, would not hold all the books that would have to be written !”  [ John 21 v 25 ]

 I have only chosen a few out of hundreds of paintings for these meditations... 

...paintings that follow his meditative style of writing... 

...contemporary paintings from artists around the world, as well as more classical paintings...

...so that we might stop, look, and take time

 to meditate upon

 some of the events recorded in this Gospel

Interested ?

then please email for details :  janet@janetdriver.co.uk


we shall be a small housegroup, so early booking is essential !

"Come and see..."

 

Glimpses of Jesus in St John’s Gospel

With paintings by artists around the world

to give new insight and lead us into silence

by Jyoti Sahi...cp John 1 v 14

the more you look at some paintings, the more you see...

....and the same could be said of St John's Gospel...

especially if you look for hints of the portrait the author paints of Jesus

We shall spend time looking especially at Jesus' encounters with people like Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well and several others, as recounted in John's Gospel and highlighted through the eyes of artists who communicate fresh insight from their own cultural background. 

This will not be an academic theological or art history discourse !

I will merely be like a prompter... giving you plenty of silence to look at each painting, with just a little background, quoting from the Gospel, and allowing time for meditation.

Five Thursday Evenings : April 7^th, 14^th, 21^st, 28^th & May 12^th.

a small group at our home in Wivenhoe

please email: janet@janetdriver.co.uk  

if you are interested in booking a place: the number we can comfortably fit into our room is naturally limited...

 advance booking is essential.

added Jan 21st 2016:

something else you might be interested in...click here to read a BBC article about the Lampedusa Cross...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35360682

Short Christmas Meditation

Madonna & Child,  no 5.

 from:   http://www.taize.fr/en_article75.html

      

26 DECEMBER

Not knowing how to make himself understood, God came to earth himself, poor and humble. If Christ Jesus had not lived among us, God would remain far off, inaccessible. Jesus allows us to see God shining through his life. (5)  

5. John 14:9

Lent Meditations: 1. Glimpses of Jesus in St John's Gospel

This year we have a wonderful gift, 

with all the Sunday Readings during Lent from St John’s Gospel.

Reading St John’s Gospel again, right the way through in a few days was a real eye-opener.

 I had difficulty at first as I kept wanting to look something up / delve into a commentary, but resisting the temptation and just allowing the writer to tell his story made me notice all sorts of things I had forgotten or just missed out on before.

...Ah...no... I think you need to find out by reading it through for yourself !

WEEK 1:  A few Glimpses of Jesus in St John’s Gospel

John 20 v 1-8     The defining moment for the author : v 8 “He saw & he believed “

Now & then you discover a painting where the artist really speaks to you. With this one, by Henry Tanner,

 it slowly dawned on me how well the artist encapsulated Peter’s character revealed in John’s Gospel...of his running straight into the tomb & then feeling stunned & unsure of himself, while the brilliant light on the other disciple reveals how deeply he begins to see ...

 I am also reminded of how sensitive this other disciple is in writing his last two chapters...and the picture he gives us of the Risen Christ who respects each individual’s needs, revealing himself in different ways to each one. Surely an Easter meditation on these would be very moving


Two paintings people really enjoyed were by the Indian artist, Jyoti Sahi, who began an art ashram where artists may meditate and paint.

Both paintings are very meditative, and the more you look at them, the more you see,

rather like St John's Gospel

The glimpse of Jesus bending down & writing in the dust, defusing the antagonism of the angry mob with the adulterous woman was painted by a French artist in collaboration with the Mafa people in the Cameroon who acted out the scenes that were to be painted.
 Over the past few years a great variety of New Testament scenes have been painted in an African setting, and are available to be purchased as prints & cards. 
click on this link:  www.jesusmafa.com


If you would like some very readable background on St John's Gospel, try this slim paperback:

Another look at St John’s Gospel : Ivan Clutterbuck

[ Publ: 2007  Gracewing  ISBN 978-0-85244-496-2 ]

“This is a small book for a large subject. However, I hope to tempt those who do not have very much time for reading to take another look at St John’s Gospel.” (from the Introduction )

 This paperback is just what it says; and gives a quick overview of theories on date & authorship together with other interesting background eg on fishing / fish merchants on the Sea of Galilee.

Next Wednesday : 7 pm  Nicodemus  John ch 3

Quiet Day

The begonias loved the rain (so much more refreshing than my watering can !)

and I was caught sketching when it poured...giving added texture, I suppose...?

.and in fact I found the rain refreshing too... We visited Clare Priory for a Quiet Day, and were given a a warm welcome, along with other groups there that day...I found a quiet spot on a wooden seat with centuries old ruins on one side, and  prolific young pear tree on the other...but another nearby tree slowly caught my eye as I rested and relaxed into the deep silence all around...

the tree was old, gnarled, aged...and lots of dead leafless branches hung down in a tangle towards the ground...the white haired lady that looks back at me from the mirror, and who Im only just beginning to recognize as me, seemed mirrored in these branches gathering lichen...mmm... but then I began to realise there were leaves higher up...this tree, like me, was still very much alive !  But it was only as it began to rain that I noticed the fruit...

Rain suddenly pelted down, and I ran for shelter under another tree with much denser leaves and branches hanging down; a really natural umbrella... but only as I was standing underneath it, getting used to the dim light...only then did I begin to notice that under the leaves, on the inside, hidden away, this tree was bowed down with hundreds of deep blue plums...

www.clarepriory.org.uk