Being Present

I’ve been listening to a wonderful podcast called Art and Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimura. It is about creating and painting as a discipline. Even when one is experiencing grief and trauma one can create. Fujimura’s book shows how making art can help us better understand God’s work in our lives. It may even show us how our own creativity can reflect creation itself.

I have always been a listener and an observer of the arts. My brief introduction into the world of painting was a disaster. My imagination was willing, but my mastery of the tools was weak. I was also impatient. But I have always loved museums. Where I am able to be creative is singing. I am not now in a choir, so I sing in my office with YouTube or other recorded music. Recently I have taken up “Chants” which I find calm my spirit. The chants I am listening to and singing are from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Jewish traditions.

From my love of singing and writing (my blog) I have learned to be content with where I am. I find joy in this. As Fujimori notes, we can happily lose ourselves in the “flow” of what we are doing. The photo at the top of my blog shows a piece of pottery that sits in The Protestant Cemetery in Rome. It reminds me that whether we make art or merely observe art, we ourselves are “made” as works of art.

Through modern technology and medicine my NYU cardiologist has discovered a hole in my heart. It is more common than one would expect. Over the next few months there will be more tests and I will end up with a small computer in my chest that will constantly monitor my heart. The chant, “Open My heart” is a good reminder now to continue to create, to see and to remain present. This chant adapted by Ana Hernandez is from Buddhism and means compassion.