Apparently, like Bart Simpson, I have a gift for inciting revolution. Who knew that my frustrated, crabby threat to quit if we don't get a secretary would launch what appears to be turning into a major realignment of the local corporate structure? It's been a week of lunch meetings and phone calls, what comes of it remains to be seen but it was amazing to see the enormous support for our little team. It has gone from "Oh, maybe we could borrow somebody for a few hours to help with the filing...." to interviewing a full-time person ASAP. Revolutions are being planned and empires being built. I'm very pleased.
I'm totally upfront about my ongoing ambivalence about this job. I have no qualms with telling Boss, real boss, or even big boss that I'm not happy and have other options, because it's true. I know I am earning significantly less than I would downtown and while it's nice to be loved, love don't pay the damn mortage. But if the recent plots and plans come even halfway true I may soon be in a position to throw my weight around and ask for more money, and if it doesn't work out, well, downtown ain't going anywhere. At least Boss will have gotten a secretary out of this. I'll see what happens here first.
Last night's little "event" at my neighbor's studio was fun. I didn't realize what I was getting into, though. The group consisted of women artists who all belonged to non-denominational Christian churches in the area, and though they didn't get into that part at length, apparently they are exploring religious art with the idea of introducing it into their own churches. The speaker was a very nice woman, she talked about icons and overall did a good job, though there was definitely a vocabulary gap, or something. The word Byzantine never came up, for instance. There were several times where she appeared to be grasping for words like "altar" and either didn't know the word or was simply trying to avoid using it. But the subject of the display of icons in an Orthodox home was handled pretty well and I was very impressed that she explained "veneration" correctly. That's always a big sticking point - Catholics/Orthodox "worship statues." Well, no. She explained that very well and the women in the group appeared very interested, so that was cool.
When she was done speaking everybody chatted a bit and I got the inevitable question, "What church do you go to?" (This can come up in any context in the South. "Oh, you're here to fix the dishwasher? What church do you go to?") So I told them, and actually saw a couple of Looks exchanged. Oy. One woman then began quizzing me about whether I had a deeper appreciation of icons because I'm Catholic. I was like, uuuuh.... I don't know, I grew up around religious art but I'm no student of it, so I felt a bit on the spot. My neighbor saved the day by mentioning that her little girl had just attended Vacation Bible School at my parish and she was so impressed with the program and the people. This bridged the gap that I felt was forming in the conversation, and I am forever grateful for her graceful handling of this. I had a chance to put in a few words about our very big, very active and young parish and how much I loved it there. My neighbor then mentioned that she hadn't been inside the "auditorium" which sort of puzzled me, because we do have an auditorium in the school and another of sorts in a different building where various programs are held, but wait, you mean the big building with the bell towers and stained glass? I'm pretty sure that's called a church in any denomination. It's almost like there were awkward or taboo words about Catholic and Orthodox matters in that particular group, I have no idea if this is "normal" or not. Anyway, I think maybe if the chance arises I will ask my neighbor if she'd like to go inside the, er, "auditorium" and see the art in my church, we have some beautiful statues and lots of stained glass. So it was an interesting evening that crossed some theological lines, and I really did get a lot out of it. Not so mcuh about the icons, but about communication issues between Christians. Interesting.
I agree, Marie, I was very impressed that they were able to get past what appeared to be a certain ingrained "squeamishness" with the idea of veneration of icons and appreciate the concept, and that they are trying to incorporate religious art of various types in their own worship spaces. I know that's a big stumbling block between the two branches of Christianity. I had the opposite experience, growing up Catholic I am totally at home with crucifixes and statues and stained glass, and when I am in an evangelical church it doesn't "feel like" church - it's a very different style and atmosphere. Once people understand that the art is there to help us focus our minds on higher matters, not to be "worshipped" or "prayed to" it makes sense. But I can understand why it confuses people when you see a lady standing in front of St. Terese, obviously praying, to the outside observer it would look like "praying at a statue." :-) This lady did a good job of explaining the Orthodox (and Catholic) feeling that the saints are our friends in heaven, and talking to them isn't worshipping them. Even though she didn't have the vocabulary she did a good job with the concepts. It was fun.
ReplyDelete