Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Art Class

Sunday's Art Show

For one day over 50 pieces of art came together in one space and time.

The day…
honoring, remembering, celebrating, connecting, contemplating, being…

It was personally important for me to throw a party I was deliquent in giving. It was a way of marking a year. It was a way for the grinerGUYS to let people know it is okay to come to our house. The house was always meant to be a welcoming, gathering place. But, art was really only a cradle to hold a different kind of legacy. The real magic of the day was the relational linking of people, especially among women. Randi’s greatest art was the deep spiritual bond that she formed between her and so many women. There was a giving and receiving that seemed mystical, joyful, hopeful, and very soulful. I have to say my greatest joy was watching some of these women meet, often knowing of each other but never meeting in person. The chairs on the deck surrounded by the gardens in the midst of a perfect summer day were filled with conversation. I don’t know that the conversation was about Randi, as much as a simple numinous relational life giving spirit shared by mutaual soul mates. Randi’s spiritual bequest is what continues in each of us as new understandings that we all --- ALL --- belong. Randi’s art class continues!


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was a great day and a fitting tribute to Randi. I took pictures of some of her art and will hang them up on my art bench. Thanks for bringing everyone together for such a special day.


- Ed

Anonymous said...

I agree that the day was wonderful.

It's crazy to describe how her art and her friends have started shaping my life, helping with others to guide this spiritual quest of mine.

I'll share something from my musical-in-progress. The main character gets thrown around by life, and ends up at the feet of a pastor working in a soup kitchen. It's there that he sings a song of faith, guidance, and reassurance to her:

I don't blame you
for not going to church
after all you've been through.
Homelessness and rape
don't seem like the things
that Jesus would do.

But God can't control
everything that happens
to us down here.
He'll help you up
but can't take you out
of a life of fear.

So forget what's come and gone.
What's passed is past,
you're here right now.
What matters most
is that you live for today
and find a way to love somehow.

Don't believe what I say?
Read the text for yourself
and you'll see.
Inside the pages
lies a hidden power that's
bigger than both you and me.

These Jesus freaks
and bible beaters
seem intense, but it's
not their fault.
Words written by men
2,000 years ago
need to be taken
with a grain of salt.

(and that's all I've got so far. But thank you for sharing the art--and so much more--with us.)