I don’t usually write two blogs on the same day. Writing one weekly usually takes enough effort, But I have the time at the moment and I don’t think Easter Eggs 1 makes too much sense on its own. In “Eggs 1” I wrote about a sermon I listened to on Easter Sunday. the core message was that Kinder eggs represented Christianity better than an ordinary one because the former eggs always had a gift inside them whilst ordinary Easter eggs were empty. From there I suggested that Easter could be understood in psychological terms as well as religious ones. In this blog I want to take that idea on further and then go off at tangent to think about cave paintings and the Easter tomb- improbable though that link may seem!
When the preacher spoke about the empty Easter eggs I found myself making an association to the walls of the tomb where Jesus was buried. My association was to cave paintings. The walls of Jesus’ tomb would have made a good surface for some cave paintings.
The exact meaning of these paintings is unknown but the consensus seems to be that they wee some form of communication-although quite what was being communicated is unclear. Were the scenes depicted simply a primitive piece of graffiti? Were they linked to some kind of myth ritual? Or were they an expression of creativity? Or a combination of all these? Whatever they are, they are a moving and awesome record of the lives of our ancestors.
In my fantasy I wanted to use the walls of the Jerusalem tomb as a canvass for current wall paintings. I envisaged people painting their current concerns. Homelessness. Abuse. Violence.Depression. Along with Joy and Fun and Dancing and Celebration. I wanted it to be this particular tomb because the story has it that Jesus rose from the dead and, ultimately, ascended to Heaven where, we are told, he sits at the right hand of God the Father. From which position he will judge the living and the dead. It seems to me that these fantasised cave paintings should also be taken up to Heaven and given a place of value and exaltation.It seems to me that the woman who has to have an abortion is celebrated and her mourning validated. That the young man with a violent and abusive father should have his struggle with his anger celebrated. The woman who hears voices that often denigrate her should have a place ” on High”. Along with all those who daily live their lives trying to be as alive as they can. These are the wall paintings I want painted on the walls of Jesus’ tomb. Because these are the daily lives that surrounded him and which deserve to be celebrated.
In her novel, The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy writes “And the air was full of Thoughts and Things to Say. But at times like these, only the Small Things are ever said. Big Things lurk unsaid inside” I want these cave paintings to celebrate all those Small Things-and, of course, all the Big Things lurking unsaid.
Don't give up
