worshipful movements of humans through space, part 11: the lifting of hands and voices

Bishop T. D Jakes

Lord we lift up our, we lift up our, we lift up our hearts to you.

Lord we lift our praise.
Lord we lift our praise.
Lord we sing to you.
Lord we sing to you.
Lord we magnify.
Lord we glorify.
Lord we lift you up.
Lord we praise your name.
Lord Holy Holy Holy Lord.
Come on and glorify Him tonight.
Just sing a song out of your heart.
Sing a song out of your heart.
You’re not here to be entertained. We’re here to entertain God.
Just sing to God right now.
Let this sweet sound go up to heaven to him.
Lift up your voices all over this place
And just sing out of the abundance of your heart.
Sing out of the abundance of your heart.
Just let it lift up to God.
God we love.
God we magnify.
Lord we praise you, Lord we lift you up.
Lord we glorify your name.
Glory Glory Glory
Holy Holy Holy

god is not a burger king

\

Vintage Burger King logo
(1957-1969)

Nothing against God, and definitely nothing against Burger King, but God is not a Burger King.

worshipful movements of humans through space, part 10: the hands express emotion

Emotion, in its journey from the soul of the brain outward through the body, is expressed through the movement of muscles. In fact, it’s impossible to express an emotion without moving muscles: the muscles of the limbs, the muscles of the face, the muscles of respiration and digestion with which we speak words and wail. The human vocal apparatus – the lungs, the larynx, the mouth, etc. – gives voice to emotion, but the hands also speak the language of emotion with a vividness of their own in something akin to a voice. Rage may seize the muscles of the agitated hands, drawing the fingers into punching fists. The muscles of the hands press the palms together thoughtfully and the hands make the voice of an arrow.

worshipful movements of humans through space, part 9: scoring a point and pointing

Photo: Unknown

This morning at the gym, a plasma screen television caught my eye. In general, I try to avoid looking at them – usually it is a stupid commercial and, besides, I should be looking where I’m walking – but the image was too alluring to pass up: a field of bright green grass dotted by miniature figures in red and yellow uniforms. The screen seized my attention, dazzling me for a spell. My eyes were pulled toward it like a nail toward a magnet. A soccer player had just scored a goal. He held an arm up victoriously and, drawing the muscles of his mouth and his neck into a sort of joyful scream, pierced the sky around his head jubilantly and repeatedly with a single pointing finger.

worshipful movements of humans through space: a preface to the essay

Self portrait based on

the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph

for man in adoration

After the terrible earthquake in Iran in 2003, a photograph appeared on the front page of the paper. You have probably seen, if not this exact photograph, a photograph almost like it: a man kneels on a pile of rubble, rubble which once was his home, sitting back on his heels, half screaming, half crying, shaking his fists at the sky. A similar photograph appeared after the recent earthquake in Haiti: a woman on a pile of rubble, aiming her open mouth and her hands toward the sky. The gesture struck me as uniquely human, an instinctual response to epic devastation. It was more than emotion. There was an upward quality to the gesture suggesting a conversation with the sky or with something in the sky. It felt like God had dragged a giant rake of destruction across the garden of the Earth and in response to this calamitous scratching, humanity stretched its arms and its voices heavenward like seedlings to the sunlight. What was this universal gesture and what did it mean, if it meant anything at all?

pillow project

Illustration: W. W. Denslow

I am thinking of reproducing this illustration by W.W. Denslow, also the original Oz illustrator, in fabric, perhaps felt. The text would be machine embroidered. The brickwork and the smaller lines of Humpty could be either stitched in fine thread or else painted. The panel would then be turned into a pillow. When I was a child I used to trace characters from coloring books onto satin panels and embroider them with colored floss. Looking through the sewing basket my grandmother gave me and finding those old satin panels gave me an idea to try it again.

worshipful movements of humans through space, part 8: a rosary is a soul utensil

A rosary, on the one hand, is nothing more than a string studded with beads and baubles. On the other hand, it is a cosmic connection. This is the essence of the rosary: it is a bridge between the earthly present and a higher, more sublime realm.