the spear of the artist?

(Pawel Kuczynski)

The whole Brett Murray/The Spear (of-the-nation) disturbance in the media of late, whichever way one views it, clearly reveals the power of the creative arts to effect society and bring people to their feet, perhaps even their knees.

It seems to have  provoked people on all sides of the issue to start thinking, expressing those thoughts, debating, engaging and some arguing passionately, even heatedly as they wrestle with their own perspectives and our shared destiny.

As potentially volatile as this all is in light of our extremely immature and uneducated “democracy” here in South Africa I think it is a most wonderful thing and hopefully it will keep us wondering for many decades to come.

Yet still I feel compelled to ask the question:  Why are there so few “Brett Murray’s”?

Why are so many artists seemingly locked into almost exclusively doing commercial drivel; “ABBA” type pop ‘tributes’ or playing “Piano Man” for a essentially drunken society who demand nostalgic memories, or serving a placatory propaganda type role in corporate settings merely to get a monetary handout?

Where are the real “prophets”?

Awaken and live long you  “Brett Murray” types!

(regardless of what side of the fence you sit, or what we think about what you say)

__________________________

Maybe the poet is gay
But he’ll be heard anyway

Maybe the poet is drugged
But he won’t stay under the rug

Maybe the voice of the spirit
In which case you’d better hear it

Maybe he’s a woman
Who can touch you where you’re human

Male, female slave or free
Peaceful or disorderly
Maybe you and he will not agree
But you need him to show you new ways to see

Don’t let the system fool you
All it wants to do is rule you
Pay attention to the poet
You need him and you know it

Put him up against the wall
Shoot him up with pentothal

Shoot him up with lead
You won’t call back what’s been said
Put him in the ground
But one day you’ll look around

There’ll be a face you don’t know
Voicing thoughts you’ve heard before

Male, female slave or free
Peaceful or disorderly
Maybe you and he will not agree
But you need him to show you new ways to see

Don’t let the system fool you
All it wants to do is rule you
Pay attention to the poet
You need him and you know it

BRUCE COCKBURN  -  “Maybe The Poet”

______________________________________

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spear_%28painting%29

pigs in the parlor

“South Africa’s ANC party bans minister from eating treat in front of supporters”

What level of ethic is at wok here?

Are we really meant to swallow (pun intended) this and align to a view that because it is not done in public it is ok? …. and that making an external show of something deals with the root cause of it?

The ANC seems to be running the country (and our lives) according to a mocking satirical lyric line in a funk rock tune written by “The Tower of Power” :

“It’s not the crime,

and it’s not the thought,

It’s not the deed,

It’s if you get caught”

How about considering some possible tabloid Headlines to help place this kind of reasoning into a context that might perhaps encourage us to see this from another angle shall we?

############################

* “South Africa’s ANC party bans ministers from corruption in front of supporters”

(The country’s ruling party has decided its senior members should enjoy the sweet treat only in private amid fears it could appear elitist.)

############################

* “South Africa’s ANC party bans ministers from raping and/or committing acts of sexual harassment on women and minors in front of supporters”

(The country’s ruling party has decided its senior members should enjoy the sweet treat only in private amid fears it could appear elitist.)

############################

* “South Africa’s ANC party bans ministers from “tenderpreneuring” in front of supporters”

(The country’s ruling party has decided its senior members should enjoy the sweet treat only in private amid fears it could appear elitist.)

############################

* “South Africa’s ANC party bans ministers from stealing and pillaging in front of supporters”

(The country’s ruling party has decided its senior members should enjoy the sweet treat only in private amid fears it could appear elitist.)

############################

* “South Africa’s ANC party bans ministers from committing acts of sexual harassment on women and minors in front of supporters”

(The country’s ruling party has decided its senior members should enjoy the sweet treat only in private amid fears it could appear elitist.)

############################

 

* “South Africa’s ANC party bans ministers from committing acts of immorality in front of supporters”

(The country’s ruling party has decided its senior members should enjoy the sweet treat only in private amid fears it could appear elitist.)

############################

 So it’s okay to beat your wife just as long as it’s not in front of the children? … and fathers should never do this in front of the children for fear of appearing violent and disrespectful?

God bless Africa, for we surely have no stomach for it.

God is caught with his hand putting far too many cookies in the cookie jar

God Caught Backing Multiple Candidates for President

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/06/god_caught_backing_multiple_go.html

Seriously speaking, – we’ve got to be less serious about ourselves…

No, hang on, … maybe we should be more serious about ourselves?

I mean, are we really serious?

I’m being serious here! … we’ve got to take ourselves less seriously!!

This is clearly just an inane play on words but doesn’t it look like this is what our theology has become? … no more than an inane play on words?

 

In the article above a cynical jab is taken at the religious nonsense of the USA political scenario.  Especially at the religious manipulation deployed to justify personal ambition as individuals get on the glory treadmill.

We can laugh in disgust and say that they are radical lunatics, idiots caught up in delusional self-promotion and superficial, unscrupulous manipulation.  We can respond by saying that that’s them and we are not like that.  They are laughable and they make God laughable.  They cause people to mock God… and us.

But are we any different?  Are we not exactly like them?

Yes, these politicians are effectively maligning the character of God.  They are manipulatively using God to further their own selfish ends.

Yes, they are a disgrace and understandably we want to immediately distance ourselves from them.  And yes, they clearly appear to be an extremely vain minority, a radical, lunatic fringe of self-seeking fools.

But are they really any different to us?

Do we have the courage to ask ourselves if we do the same thing?

If we asked this of them they’d skilfully give hundreds of justifications for their actions.  They’d feel justified after having done so too.

After all, they’re human just like us.

I too get upset when I read these things.  I am angered and want to speak out.

No, I’m being a little  false here, … actually I want to lash out and be a part of humbling them.  I want to expose them and strip them of their vanity.

However, when I am finally willing and able to reflect on my own life I see exactly the same thing.  I see exactly the same thing in me that I despise in them.

I see the way I so conveniently shape my beliefs in God to suit what is expedient for me and my career, what serves my chosen path in this world.  I see how I can so easily justify whatever I am doing, thinking, believing and saying… even justify my own “calling”.

Could the way we use the name of God as leverage in the things we say and do make us on a par with these embarrassing politicians?  Do we hide behind what we declare as God telling us to do or not to do?  Do we brandish the highest trump card we can pull from the deck to further our own ends or to conveniently enable us to participate or not to participate in something?

Maybe they can’t see what they’re doing just like we can’t see what we are doing?

Maybe we’re all caught up in the same delusion … only perhaps on slightly different levels?

But then again, maybe you’re different? … not like me or them?

That’s your call.

But just maybe we’ve got to take ourselves less seriously? … or maybe we need to take ourselves more seriously?

Maybe that’s your call too?

 

do we really think…

We live in an era saturated with branding, slogans, memes, pop iconography, subcultures, rampant pop media, fashion obsession, subcultures within subcultures within cultures, and a dominant worldview of citations, quotes, references – whether they be scientific, religious, literary, social, or even tribal.

Of late I’ve been thinking about what percentage of what we think is what WE ourselves actually think and what percentage of what we think is what others think?

I throw this out even though personally we may very strongly not think we think what others’ think influences us to think, say and do things?

… what do you think? … do we, or don’t we?

And what would it mean if we are offended at this thought or if our immediate response is that we haven’t really thought much about it?

encore!!

We go to a very reputable restaurant and order the master or head chef’s speciality.  We so enjoy the meal that we simply can not stop celebrating the culinary experience we had just had, so when the waiter comes to clear the dishes we express our delight … but just telling the waiter is clearly not adequate praise for the meal.  So we ask for the manager or even the chef himself to be summonsed that we might tell them directly.

I wonder what would happen if when the manager and/or the head chef arrived at our table we all stood to our feet and shouted,

“Bravo!” “Well done!!” “Excellent!” “Encore!”

… and then one of us started a slow hand clap whilst the whole table began to bang their hands on the table top shouting out louder and louder,

…“more!” “more!” “moRE!” “mORE!” “MORE!” “MORE!”… in a deafening crescendo and did not stop until the chef had scuttled back to the kitchen to quickly improvise a delectable extra helping for the whole table?

Perhaps the most appropriate way to celebrate the decades of culinary skill and expertise as well as the intricate planning and preparation for the evenings delightful entertainment might be to tip the artiste generously – at least in keeping with our great pleasure, to appropriately express our appreciation and indeed honour for the excellence of the occasion.  Thereafter perhaps we could even tell as many as we see fit of our wonderful experience and encourage them to also go and experience it for themselves first hand.  Perhaps we could even go repeatedly ourselves to relive the amazing cultural experience…

The meal cost the chef a specified amount, in terms of the practical costs of the foodstuffs and all other supplies needed but also in terms of years training and personal preparation and skill.

I wonder what the encore would cost him?

I am a professional musician and…

something like a son of man

If the son of man was physically alive today would he be on facebook?

Would he have a twitter account?

Would he have a blog?

Would he host a television program?

 

Would he be monetarily very rich?

Would he start a theological school?

Would he be an international author on the best sellers list?

Would he be an international key note speaker or pop celebrity?

 

Would he have a church building with a parking lot, a ‘worship’ team, an official associate staff contingent?

Would he settle in any specific place?

Would he call himself the ‘senior pastor’? …

.. or ‘prophet’ … or ‘evangelist’ … or  ‘apostle’… ‘bishop’?

 

… or would he still insist on being  “the son of man”?

holy day

It is Nelson Mandela’s birthday today and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, the local press and virtually all other forms of media are voicing themselves in accolade and tribute to the greatness of the man.  We verbalize our honour of him, also of his achievements, his moral, ethical, humanitarian, reconciliatory stand.

Even government officials in our country are taking the time and effort to give tribute and thanks.  Many are jubilantly celebrating the high ground on and from which he took his stand.

We all bask in the glory … once a year.

 

But a year has 364 more days…

 

… and we all go back tomorrow and re-occupy the ground we usually stand on … not so high at all really.

 

I woke up to these public accolades this morning and penned my own little contribution.  I published my “status” update and it went like this:

 

“what about this as a real birthday present for Madiba: – instead of doing the doting ‘fan’ accolades why not honour him fully by simply following his example of love, respect and inclusive reconciliation by extending dignity to all?
(does anyone know how to get politicians presently in domination to read this?)”

 

A bit closer to home perhaps we Christians love to quote scriptures.  In so doing we reference what we value.  We honour the scriptures because we believe in the righteousness contained therein, the ethics, the morality, the humanitarian values, the grace and the reconciliatory stand it takes, the goodness, peace – yes the peace, acceptance and all the other benefits it proclaims.  We jubilantly celebrate the high ground on and from which Christ took his stand.

 

On Facebook I have a whole bunch of ‘friends’ who quote scripture as their status multiple times a day.  Many do not leave any personal point of view, just the quote and its topographical grid reference.  Nothing about them personally at all.

 

Great truth, profound wisdom, powerful transformational potential.  However, a theory remains a theory until proven.

 

For me obsession with quoting scripture is like a heavy hammer beating on a thin, tin roof.

 

The Word became flesh and desires those who receive to flesh out the Spirit like he did – like he fully represented, lived, died for.

He never wrote anything down himself that we know of.  His written ‘letter’ was intended to be evidence on the hands and feet of his followers, felt in the actions of the faithful, experience through the birth pangs of personal transformation.  He intended for the life he offered to be lived out and expressed individually, personally, intimately, demonstratively, articulately.  Not in multitudes of repetitious, parrot-fashioned memes or regurgitated declarations of intent, but rather in the impact of actions offered, lives surrendered.

 

The politicians love to celebrate Madiba, as do the world, us – you and me.

The politicians quote their version of scripture.  They quote from some historical act of virtue and significance.  An act performed on their behalf.  They don’t seem to honour it, but they love the memory and the stories about it.

They quote Madiba – and then go about business as usual, mostly violating everything about him, his actions, his values, his example.  But they remain committed members of “his” party.  Committed to his memory and the legend of his life.

 

If there was a “Christian” social network (and I truly pray to God there will never be), I would enter the same status I did today only with this one alteration, I’d insert Jesus’ name for Madiba’s