Season of Advent: THE SACRED PAUSE: WAITING

Pilgrimage: St. Peter's 1 (2011)

Michelle Arnold Paine

When we look at the first two chapters of Luke we see the story of Jesus’ birth introducing us to people who are waiting: Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon and Anna.

In our culture, waiting is often seen as a waste of time. When we find ourselves in the experience of waiting our restlessness pushes us to want to do something, get going, or try to make something happen. We question “Why are we just sitting here waiting?”

Waiting can be for some of us an isolated desert experience. We tend to keep our attentions confused between where we want to go and where we really are. We are restless and preoccupied and often find ourselves trying to do something to get out of waiting.

What often fuels this unwillingness to wait is fear. When we are fearful we have a hard time waiting because when afraid we want to get away from where we are.

Yet, what do we see in the beginning of Luke’s gospel? We see people who hear the words “do not be afraid. I have something good to say to you.” What is established is the truth that they are waiting for something new and good to happen. These are people who trust and count on the word of God. They are able to wait and be attentive and expectant in their waiting.

What is the nature and practice of waiting?  How does God want us to understand the importance of waiting? LUKE 1:13, 31 “Zechariah…your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son.” “Mary… Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son.” There is something happening here that is a key to understanding what waiting is all about. It is that they have received a promise that within them they sense that something is at work. 

Waiting has to do with having what we are waiting for already begin in us.We do not wait in a place that moves from nothing to nothing more. Rather, we move from something toward something more. In this place of waiting we see Zechariah, Mary and Elizabeth inspired to wait because of the seed of God’s promise planted in them. They are able to let this seed grow and nurture and feed them…to be birthed in them

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Waiting is not passive, but active. We might view it as a hopeless state, but we see in scripture that waiting more about being alive and present to the moment at hand. The splendid reality remains something is happening where you are, and you are wise to be attentive to such moments. What is being birthed in you?

A waiting person is a patient person. The word patient means:  the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out in the realization that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.

An impatient person is always expecting the real thing to happen in some other place.

Mary and Elizabeth modeled what waiting is all about. They were able to pay attention, and be alert and patient in the waiting so they could hear the voice of the Lord. Even when they doubted at first, they waited to hear God’s response.

Waiting is also where we need to give up control because to wait is often open-ended. We want definite, clear-cut, concrete answers. We cannot stay in the place of waiting because we get wrapped up in wishes instead of living in a place of hope. Wishes tend to have attached to them the need to control the future. We want to do the thing that will make the desired result take place. Our wishes also can be tied to nagging fears.

The difference with Mary, Elizabeth and Zechariah is they were not filled with wishes, but with HOPE.

Henry Nouwen describes hope this way: “Hope is trusting that something will be fulfilled, but fulfilled according to the promises and not according to our wishes.

Mary was in the place of open-ended waiting. Her words “I am the handmaiden of the lord … let what you have said to me be done,” are words that speak of trusting good things will happen even when we don’t know what it all means. Our waiting, like Mary’s, should be open to all possibilities. For when we listen carefully, we can trust in letting God define our life according to His Love for us and not according to our fears. Henry Nouwen defines spiritual life as, “a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction.”                                                            

In this beautiful, effulgent season, we are reminded to wait for the one who is our hope. Not based in positive or negative thinking or as a matter of chance, Jesus is our hope and our hope in Him is based on the God who will be with us at all times, in all places, whatever happens.

When we wait where Jesus is our hope, we are in an active movement of God leading us. Mary was in a posture of actively waiting for God to fulfill what He promised her. It was letting God be God and letting the Lord speak forth life into her waiting.

GOD LIGHTS THE WAY TO FOLLOW EVEN IN OUR WAITING AND SEARCHING.

Often we are unable to wait because we don’t know how God is showing us how to wait or where it will lead us, if we do manage to wait.

Truth be told, the Christmas star is an invitation to each of us to follow, a calling forth from God to go where He is. The star is God’s finger pointing to where we can find Him. The star points to Jesus, Jesus points to who and what God is; we can find Him in the midst of our searching and our waiting.

God is asking us to live in the movement of God leading us as we follow the star put before us. We are waiting for what is to come, but engaged in God leading, guiding us. We wait; listening to Him who is there with us in the waiting. Our waiting becomes more familiar and still, and we realize that who we are waiting for is with us, here to speak to us in the middle of the waiting into the silence of our hearts.

The star is the symbol to follow the light in the places of darkness. We may not know where, or how, or which way to go in the darkness, but the finger of God is pointing the way for us to follow.

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Look at the paintings on the walls. Are you drawn toward any one of them? Spend some time gazing at a painting or more. Ask God to reveal something about who he is or who you are in him? Stay in this listening posture until you’ve sense God is finished speaking to you by what you’ve seen.

Now reflect on the questions below. Listen for his response to you:

1. Lord, how do you want to best prepare my heart in this time of waiting?

2. Father, how do you want me to follow your light that points the way you set before me?

Of Light and Dark and Reveille: Opening Reception for Artist Bella Halsted and Sculptor Ben Westbrock.

On Friday, October 11th ,  our imagine ART Gallery hosted the Opening Artist Reception for Amherst painter, Bella Halsted, and Northampton ceramic sculptor Ben Westbrock. We met both Ben and Bella when they, at different times, traipsed up the stairs into the gallery to see what there was to see. I was the first to meet Ben. He stopped by in the summer and after a conversation at one of the ARTS Night Openings, returned a few weeks later to bring me a packet of pictures showing his work. they sat around for a month or two and Tricia contacted him after she's talked to Bella and they thought it right to do a joint show with Ben. One cool thing about this show both Ben and Bella are in their 70's and they are local. Ben is the shorter gentleman with the beard on the right in the first picture. Bella is the lady with the turquoise jacket in the second picture:

As with all opening night receptions for a new show, we're never quite sure who'll be showing up. What we can say is the numbers are increasing steadily since we began! We noticed a bit of a difference with this show. The pace of guests coming to see the exhibit was steady once it began. The gallery was full until right up to the end. Even after I closed up shop, a father and his two kids knocked on the door saying they'd heard they needed to see this exhibit so he wanted to know if I'd open up. Of course, I did.

As she has done before, imagineer Jenn Swick stood out front telling folks about the exhibit. Many of them hadn't been up to the gallery before, so she single-handedly was responsible for introducing all these new folks to the space. A number of the guests were friends or family of the artists. It seemed many of them came too. Some of our friends were there as well, including Bob and Barbara Japenga who we served with in the retreat ministry with at the Center For Renewal in Simsbury. It was a lovely surprise to see them. It was also lovely to see and visit with Bruce Mills and Tamar Shadow. Tamar was a key exhibitor and instigator of the very well-attended TWINE show we did last spring. They were out and about and stopped in. It's always great to see them. Scott Jackson and Leah Gregg also stopped by as they have at more than a few of our shows. We've known them since almost the beginning of being here.

I also recognized faces of people who've been to our other shows. There were some wonderful comments about the peace and "specialness" of the space and  how calm it feels. One faithful supporter said it was her favorite gallery (a couple of others said that too) and she's been to all our shows. She had tears in her eyes and apologized for getting emotional. People all raved abut the food calling it the best gallery food in the city. That happens every time because Tricia takes such care to make it wonderful, not just snacks. All in all, I counted 200+ by the end of the evening, Ben and Bella sold some work. We pray for that.

If you came into the gallery you'd have seen a combination of Ben's and Bella's work. What you'd notice would be all the vibrant color and interesting shapes on display. Tricia has a knack for hanging pieces; she's affirmed all the time about that by the artists. Bella's paintings are abstracts with bold colors and shapes of landscapes. With some, she does watercolor studies first so you would've seen seen both. Doing it that way helps you see into how she sees. And she tied many of them to a poem; something she's written or something by famous poets such as Wendell Berry or William Blake. Having a light on her work made the colors pop with strength and vibrancy.

Ben's ceramic sculptures also popped with color, texture, and with movement. Many are whimsical. All are abstracts, but not unrecognizable as something familiar. They have substance and clear form. Some look like sea creatures or cartoon characters. Some look like tools or body parts or knights. Others are abstract designs to be hung on a wall. They are well-made, evocative and you'd want to touch them. They catch your eye right away and you'd wonder what they are:

We are now a year into this and it feels like we are just getting anchored in the town. People often say, I didn't know you were here, even though we have been showing up almost every weekend since a year ago in September. There is much we still have to learn about being more public as a church and a gallery. We'll get there. I remember, we knew nothing about how to do most of this when we came to plant imagine/Northampton. The imagine ART Gallery was not even a thought. But here we are after a years and artists are beginning to ask if they can bring their  work in. Recently, I had two folks tell me we have a great space and this is a great exhibit. They both are connected to galleries one in Holyoke and one in Watertown. Some are fascinated we are a church.

May God accomplish all he desires through the gallery and the church we were inspired by him to start. I can imagine it. His being glorified by what we do here would be an exquisite joy for us.

If you haven't come out this Friday or Saturday to see Gordon College Professor of Art, Jim Zingarelli's "The 4/4 Series" of paintings and sculpture:

Artist Reception For Catherine Gibbs At The imagine Art Gallery Was A Smash!

Last night at the imagine ART Gallery we hosted an Arts Night Out Artist Reception and Opening for Impressionist painter, Catherine Gibbs.We didn't know what to expect in terms of attendance, but turnout well exceeded our expectations, both in number and enthusiasm for Catherine's bold and wonderful paintings. Her show was entitled Passing Through and had as its focus, trains. In Catherine's words:


"Through my paintings I have become attentive to the splendid drama of my everyday world; the passing of light through the day, the movement or stillness of water, or subtle shifts in seasonal color.” But, of late, she has started to focus on “urban scenes, specifically trains.” She says they are metaphoric in that they can evoke playful feelings or convey nostalgia, even loneliness. She sees as most compelling that trains evoke a “sense of hope,” in that, “whether they be moving at breakneck speed or pressing on slowly and steadily, there is promise in the journey;” they “transcend what could be considered mundane to beautiful.”

Indeed, they are powerful  because of her use of rich color, large structures which evoke movement and heft, and the feeling of power and energy. The train paintings fill the space with big shapes, bold colors and train yard majesty: big transport machines like big beasts of burden doing their work or waiting on the next leg of the task. In her exhibit, she's also included some earlier work of pastoral paintings lending of wetlands and  the diffuse light of the Impressionist's eye. Also, sprinkled in the mix are small and mid-sized paintings of New England warehouse and mill buildings of the Industrial Age. Her exhibit is both striking and subtle. It all works.

 

But before I go further, I need to thank some folks. First, thank you, Catherine, for creating the work and agreeing that the imagine ART Gallery was the next stop for it. Then, there is Tricia, who has this gallery in her heart (she's really it's curator), and lends a keen eye for atmosphere, optimal placing of the artwork, and then creating a spectacular feeling of grace-soaked hospitality through the delicious food of great variety and amazing taste she prepares. It's all a labor of love for her. Then, I must thank imagineers Jenn Swick and Kristen Hastings who faithfully show up on Arts Night Out, and other gallery evenings to do all manner of things such as setting up the hospitality, making sure the food is replenished, standing at the door down on Main Street to invite folks upstairs, and at the end of the evening helping clean up, or actually host for an evening when we can't. They also add to the bounty of the food table. Thanks also to imagineers Kevin and Janet Williams who always come by to lend support and help out, including with the making the signs on our Main Street front door. Imagine newbies Chris and Laurel Peltier and Lauren Raymond came by to support the evening. Lauren brought food as well and manned the door with Jenn for a while.

As with the TWiNE exhibition of exquisite tapestries, we were delighted by how many people came to see Catherine's work. . TWiNE was the largest Artist Reception and Arts Night Out we'd experienced by far. Catherine's night was not that far behind. There was a steady stream of people all evening. At times it was packed! They kept her busy in the front room talking about her work, and wrote comments in the Guestbook such as:

"Awesome! So beautiful..."

"Amazing!"

"Powerful; wonderful work. Wow!"

"These are wonderful - varied and with their names take on many dimensions!"

"Another beautiful exhibit. So glad we came!"

"Impressive body of work!"

"Am I hearing the image? feeling the air? the vibrations?" Yes." 

Added to our delight for her was all the folks we got to talk to: old friends, people from our past and folks that we've known by name, but never met. We also had artists come up to us and inquire how they might exhibit at the imagine ART Gallery. That's happened before, but we had more folks ask last night than any other night. It was our pleasure to meet and get to talk with them. They're still surprised we're a church. Some at first seem a bit guarded, but as we explain who we are, they ask questions or even pick up some of our literature. A few last night asked Tricia about coming to one of our worship gatherings. That'd be lovely.

Jenn mentioned folks are beginning to know who we are. She said she heard people talking about the space and how great was the experience they had. They tell others on the street to pay us a visit because of the art and the great food. She said someone walked by and pointed "that's where imagine is." So we're getting known in town - a reality longed for and very exciting to us because we want to be of service in Northampton.  

Everyone also talked of imagine's gallery being a great space for art. We've heard that from the beginning. More than one person said there was something about the space which made it inviting and serene. People notice the hospitality and the grace extended to them and it moves them. There are "wow, the food!" comments. We've wanted to do just that. One person said she'd been to the TWiNE exhibit which made her day, even her week, and she very much looked forward to coming back to see our next exhibit which last night had the same effect on her. We know it has mostly to do with Jesus being the center of and reason for all we do, and he is in our midst including the gallery exhibits. Plus, we sincerely want to bless people with beauty and grace and welcome. Art can be a such refreshing breeze to the soul, an unforeseen delight to the heart, and an unexpected liberator to the mind. So it's a lovely feeling to see people recognizing we want their experience with us to be special because the art is very well done, the food and hospitality are more than they've expected, and the space is curiously inviting.

So we're 6 months in and have no idea where God will take us in the days ahead, but there feels a momentum not of our making in this gallery work I'm very careful to assume too much because I've done so here before and way prematurely as it turned out. Doing so can be quite disappointing. Reality remains God will bless as he will bless to suit what he desires for imagine's work. Anything else we try is mostly chasing after the wind. We just need to show up each day ready to work, full of faith and hope and love. Our part is really for us to follow him when he calls from one day to the next. I think he's been calling us consistently through the gallery, but we'll see how it unfolds. 

I never will relish being a windchaser!

 

TWiNE Artists' Reception and Opening Night, May 10, 2013. WOW!!!

THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL TAPESTRY YIZKOR (REMEMBER)

Yehudit Shadur - Cartoon Design

Tamar Shadur  - Tapestry Adaptation

For the past few weeks Tricia and I have been mentioning to folks we are very excited by the opportunity to host the weavers of TWiNE (TAPESTRY WEAVERS in NEW ENGLAND) in a group exhibit they entitled "a piece of TWiNE". Tricia had been in contact with Tamar Shadur who created the tapestry above. She and her husband, Bruce, had come to our gallery exhibits a few months before. She and Tricia struck up a conversation about the possibility of the imagine ART Gallery hosting an exhibit in Northampton, their first here. Many of the women of the guild reside in New England, but not all. There were 8 of the 13 showing in the exhibit with us last night.

So with great anticipation on everybody's part, it became a reality. To be honest, we had no idea how many folks would attend. The weavers had sent out invitations as did we. Additionally, we put flyers around town, sent emails from out email list, put the exhibit on our Facebook page, and put in a call into the Arts person at the Hampshire Gazette. We've done 6 exhibits so far, and each has been different in terms of attendance. Some of that had to do with people not knowing we were here; some of it had to do with preference as to the type of art people like. Some of it had to do with being somewhat invisible. We have a shoe-string budget for advertising, and we've never done a gallery before.

Well...I have to say all of our expectations were exceeded last night, and then some. By all accounting, we had over 150 in attendance.One person estimated almost 200. If you've been to the space, you know that means we were packed in like sardines at times- indeed, we were! In fact, it didn't really slow down until after 8:30, and then we got a second small influx of people for a bit. The entire experience was amazing! And exhilarating. People, young and old came up the stairs to see the exhibit, and they lingered to talk with the artists, some were friends and family;  some just wanted to meet the artist and inquire about what it took to weave such wonderful work.Our gallery was alive with people engaging one another over what they saw on the walls, and I know the weavers were delighted. I hope they made many connections which will result in sales of their remarkable work.

                             

FOUR GIRLS AND AN APPLE, NEPAL

 

Eve Pearce

Another lovely reality was we recognized return folks, a number of them. They.reminded us of an earlier exhibit they'd seen here. Some who came, talked of imagine's being the best gallery in town. And they all raved over the food again! No one's offering refreshments at the level of quality we've offered since we began. If you know Tricia, that's a prerequisite, a core of her creative sensibility. Another delight was the fact there were also a number of artists in attendance, and if I'm right about someone I recognized, this person is world class.

And last night we had chances once again to introduce people to imagine/Northampton, the church with the funny name we planted here almost 5 years ago. It always tickles us when folks find out who we are. They get a surprised look on their faces, because outwardly we don't really look like a church in terms of a building or liturgical accoutrements, etc. That's by design. So when we get to talk about who we are and why we're in Northampton it's always a great pleasure. I don't mind gently poking people's categories about Christians and churches.

So while last night's exhibition and large attendance was a smash, I need to also say I've been around the block enough times not to assume because we had such a magnificent turnout last night that some sort of real momentum was created for the gallery. When you've lived a substantial part of your life in the arts you're familiar with having your hopes dashed, or setting unrealistic expectations because of a particular positive experience. Then again, I also don't want to appear faithless, because I'm not, far from it. So such a turnout might signal a certain new identity in the community, or a little traction toward what we view the purpose of the imagine ART Gallery. Then again, last night will turn out to be a highpoint on a long climb toward establishing a credible identity as a gallery of note. The latter is more realistic. No matter, we were thrilled with last night, want many more, and will work toward seeing them happen.

ROMAN WALL WEAVING I, II, III

 Julia Mitchell

I won't soon forget last night. But the long and the short of it is we at imagine/Northampton want the gallery to connect with the artistic community and the entire community of Northampton. Seeing so many in our space just felt right. We want people to know we are Jesus-followers who seek to love and serve folks in all sorts of ways, one of them being the imagine ART Gallery where we can beautify our little corner of the town, and help folks know we are a missional community by the way we show grace, joy and intelligence. Our gallery is not the only way we do it,but if last night was a harbinger of things to come, it'll be one of the key ways.

Remember this phrase: missional hub. I'll be writing more about the concept in the days and weeks to come as we get a better read on what such it might look like for us.

 

The Gallery's Abuzz Right Now With The Hanging Of Tapestries!

I'm sitting here waiting for a client, but for the last 2 hours the imagine ART Gallery has been abuzz with tapestry hanging. Three of the TWiNE (Tapestry Weavers in New England) weavers, Tricia, and a very able helper have been measuring, a-fixing, eyeballing, questioning, conferencing, then scrambling up and down ladders to hang 36 tapestries. The entire process is just wonderful to observe. I know nothing of weaving tapestries, but the minute the possibility of hosting an exhibition named "a piece of TWiNE" became a reality I've been excited.

For the last week, tapestries have been showing up in boxes, rolled cardboard. or wrapped in linen like a hotdog casing. Tricia took down Richard Hawley's Dreamscapes photography exhibit earlier in the week, and our gallery looked a little like a warehouse with drums, cymbals, a bass amp, a ladder, and tapestry containers all over the place. The space had a feel like a theater backstage with props and equipment waiting for the next show to materialize.

I have to say it was fun listening to Tricia collaborate with the artists as to what would be the very best placement for each piece of work. They had to be hung just right to showcase the shapes and colors meticulously woven into being. Light had to bring out each work just so. The folks doing the hanging were making important decisions for the weavers who weren't present - that's trust ... and serious responsibility.

As a musician who's been a contributing member to all manner of rehearsals, and has played hundreds of performances from stadiums to living rooms, I just love the anticipation of putting a performance together. So much potential lies waiting to be tapped. People feel a hope for what might materialize and how the audience will receive it. These artists are no different. They've spent hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of hours producing their work, and it's to be shown, so they want the presentation to do high justice to their creations. Set up is not throw together. Set up is more orchestration, visual choreography. It's never merely "hangin' a picher" in the den.

I'm also enjoying the congeniality evidenced in the collaborating. Everyone was in good spirits. They seem to freely offer ideas of what should go where. Later they sat and took a minute to eat dark chocolate together - a weaver's pre-show tradition? I don't know. All of them added something valuable to the setting up. It felt they liked being together. If there were egos colliding it was very subtle.

The long and the short of it, you just have to come and see the exhibit! Our walls are ablaze with fabricized color. The tapestries range from being from smaller to larger. Each weaver's style, color palate, textural sensibility, and subject matter is different as you might expect, but the variety holds one's interest on every wall. You can see evidence of substantial skill and care from each piece. It's a pleasure to see.

The exhibit will be up until June 1st. But I need to say it's fun to come to Northampton, get a bite,  then visit all the exhibits around town. There is often much to see. Many people come in town so there'll be street energy galore. We're anticipating the largest opening night Artist's Reception we've had to date. So join the party!!!