Start:Stop - Disturb us, O Lord

Bible reading

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened … They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him … Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3. 6 – 13)

Meditation

I was attracted to the opportunity to show Alexander de Cadenet’s sculptures at St Stephen Walbrook because the Christian scriptures and tradition raise important questions regarding what and how much we consume. Alex’s sculptures draw on the spiritual dimension in life to explore similar questions. The Life-Burger sculptures, in particular, explore the relationship between the spiritual dimension of art and consumerism and, at their root, are an exploration of what gives life meaning. This exhibition therefore provides a space in which profound personal reflection and review can occur.

L.A. art critic Peter Frank has stated that, "We're at a moment in modern history where the excess has gotten staggeringly wretched … For the meta-rich, the world is their fast food joint, and their appetite insatiable." When I interviewed Alex for Artlyst, I asked him why he thought this situation was problematic. He said: “What’s problematic is the desire to consume and accumulate for the sake of it – often to run away from pain or discomfort – beauty and pleasure can at some point become quite warped and grotesque without limits, where even the original value gets lost or diluted within excess. I think it’s become more and more prevalent in the world today.”

His other key work for this show is ‘Creation’ – a large scale shiny bronze apple with three bites taken from it – two adult bites and baby bite in between. This clearly references the second Creation story in the Book of Genesis, where Eve is tempted by the serpent to eat the apple from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil which Adam and Eve had been forbidden to eat. Adam also eats the apple (the second adult bite) but when challenged by God passes the buck to Eve who then puts the blame on the serpent.

The Genesis Creation stories can be read as descriptions of key human tendencies such as our grasping after those things that we have been told we should not have, our willingness to cross boundaries to acquire them and our refusal to accept personal responsibility for our own actions when we are found out. You can see the link between these characteristics and the consumerist desires that are satirized in the ‘Life-Burgers’. The Biblical witness is that these desires characterise every generation. This may be why the baby bite appears in Alex’s ‘Creation’ as indication to these tendencies in future, as well as current, generations.

Yet, Alex has also stated that, “In Genesis, we were told by God not to take a bite from the apple, yet it was by taking a bite that we became ‘self-conscious’ and self-consciousness is what is necessary for making art.” This is also a part of the story as, by eating the apple, Adam and Eve gained knowledge of good and evil. This can be understood in terms of the development of consciousness in human beings which enables us to create, but which also means that our creativity can be used for good or for evil. The creation of luxury goods and of weapons of mass destruction involve considerable creativity on our part, as human beings, but may not have contributed greatly to our own well-being or that of society.

That brings us back, I think, to the possibility that this exhibition may provide a space in which profound personal reflection and review can occur as these sculptures are an exploration of what gives life meaning and purpose. I pray that that may be so and end with an extract from a prayer of Francis Drake, as adapted by Desmond Tutu: Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life when, having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim. Amen.

Prayers

O God, awaken us to the challenges of this day. Open our eyes to the subtle pervasiveness of consumerism, that we might see our culture, the church, and ourselves in your divine light. Remind us that you are the source of our hope and the giver of all that is good. You alone are worthy of our praise. Bring us to new life, that we might be your people.

Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life.

Jesus, we come before you with the sincere desire to be faithful. Yet we are often misguided and fail to reflect your image in us. We confess we are seduced by the lure of greater wealth and the accumulation of things; help us find true contentment in your presence and your grace. We confess that we are sometimes overwhelmed with the disparity between rich and poor and that we do not know how to respond. Help us to build your kingdom of peace and justice.

Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life.

(https://www.ncchurches.org/lectionary-archive/year-c/materialism-consumerism-proper-13/)

Blessing

Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life when, having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim. And the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greater Richmond Children's Choir - Prayer of Desmond Tutu.

Start:Stop - Achieving self-understanding

Bible reading

God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order … Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” (Genesis 2: 15 - 23)

Meditation

Previously we have thought about this passage in terms of work as being about naming the good and the possible and then work as being done in collaboration with God, each other and with the creation. In this final reflection on this passage we look at work as being about our own self-understanding or comprehension.

The philosopher Paul Ricoeur is helpful here as he suggests that “in determining to do something, I likewise determine myself: “In the same way that a project opens up possibilities in the world, it opens up new possibilities in myself and reveals me to myself as a possibility of acting. My power-to-be manifests itself in my power-to-do …” The “possible” is therefore an essential component in self-understanding. I achieve self-understanding when I grasp what possibilities are open to me." (Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Biblical Narrative in the Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur)

Work is intended to develop our understanding of ourselves because, as we name what is good and what is possible, we also develop our understanding of ourselves. A part of the task undertaken together by Adam and God was to identify a suitable helper for Adam. As Adam named the good and imagined possibilities for each creature that God brought to him, he was also coming to an understanding of his needs as a human being and rejecting each creature in turn as a suitable helper for him. Therefore, when God created Eve, Adam had the necessary self-understanding to recognise Eve immediately as the partner for which he had been seeking. Work is intended to be a place in which we grow in our understanding and comprehension of ourselves.

Alan Briskin tells the story of Andy in his book ‘The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace’. When a reengineering was announced in his organization, Andy welcomed the opportunity for himself and his organization, which he saw as too insular and too reluctant to change. He was one of the few administrators among his peers who had not been terminated during the reorganization but his CEO then mentioned that Andy Andy didn’t seem to be managing the transition very well. He seemed moody and not handling change in a particularly positive manner. For Andy, this meeting led to a period of deep reflection. He saw a different picture of himself emerging where even his supposed strength at coolly analyzing situations was at times also an urgent attempt to distance emotions. He described this new awareness of himself as revitalizing, as if he were a diver discovering new treasures beneath the surface of his previous awareness. What he found so revitalizing was not the discoveries themselves, but the depth of self that he had not known was waiting there for him. Andy began to express a new kind of confidence, though tentatively. A curtain had been pulled back, revealing his past and hinting at a new possibility for his future; options existed where before there had been linear direction. The CEO’s hurtful feedback triggered a personal journey that might not have happened if all had gone well.

Prayer

God of all knowledge and all care, enable us to view our work as a place in which we grow in our understanding and comprehension of ourselves. As our work tasks and projects open up new possibilities in the world, so they also open up new possibilities in ourselves. We achieve self-understanding when we grasp what possibilities are open to us.

May our work tasks prompt reflection and lead us into deeper understanding of ourselves.

Take us on personal journeys in which we discover new treasures beneath the surface of our previous awareness. Revealing our past, hint at new possibilities for our futures and thereby enable to express a new kind of confidence in the present.

May our work tasks prompt reflection and lead us into deeper understanding of ourselves.

We think of all who face hurtful feedback or difficult transitions at this time praying that these experiences can be turned to the good by using them as triggers for personal journeys that might not have happened if all had gone well.

May our work tasks prompt reflection and lead us into deeper understanding of ourselves.

Blessing

Expressing a new kind of confidence, discovering new treasures beneath the surface of our previous awareness, turning hurtful experiences to the good, achieving self-understanding. May those blessing of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon us and remain with us always. Amen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hildegard von Bingen - Ave Generosa.