ON THE GRAPEVINE
IN THEIR WORDS
Deep Faith 2013: Loving God with Heart and Mind
“The species that were really great finds for us included Razorbills at Plum Island; two Peregrine Falcons in Gloucester; Pine Grosbeaks in Newbury; six different gull species, and a Merlin zipping around Appleton Farms.” —Dr. Greg Keller (biology) January 26, at “Superbowl of Birding” competition
striking. Herman’s contributions, a series of portraits, address “an old painterly tradition: the Four Seasons and Four Stages of life (implicit in Four Quartets),” says the artist. Gridded with gold and silver foil, the paintings are suffused with light. “The reflective surface of the gold and silver shifts,” the artist explains, “bending the light and invoking that liquid, spiritual light in which we live and move and have our being—the quintessence or presence of God.” Fujimura’s paintings, on the other hand are stark, minimalist, dark. “Bruce’s works clearly define space; mine would erase the boundaries. Bruce’s works introduce human characters and figures of various ages; mine are completely void of figuration,” Fujimura writes in the exhibition catalog. The resulting dialog between the two artists’ approaches mirrors the dualities expressed in Eliot’s poem: presence and absence, time and timelessness, darkness and renewal. Theofanidis’ score works at “reconciling” these dualities through variations in timing and tone, serving as a bridge between the visual aspects of the exhibition, tying the show together as a unified whole. QU4RTETS has been on tour across the U.S. since November 2012, at Baylor University, Duke, and Yale. Following the exhibition at the Gallery at Barrington Center for the Arts, QU4RTETS will continue to tour throughout 2013 and into 2014, visiting additional galleries in the U.S. and venues in Japan, China and the United Kingdom.
Photo Christine Labbe ’14
“The plasticity of the human soul,” writes Dean of Chapel Greg Carmer, “presents us with a most wonderful and terrible aspect of life: that with every moment we give ourselves to forces that slowly transform us either into the beauty of persons made new in the image of the invisible God, or into grotesque distortions of creatures in whom God’s image is defaced.” Gordon’s second annual Deep Faith week, held February 11 to 13, gave students, faculty and staff the opportunity to critically assess what absorbs their time and attention, and to invite the Holy Spirit to inspect their ways. Over these days, the Gordon community prayed specifically that we would “know the hope to which God has called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:18–19). Dr. Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California, and Rev. Dr. Clive Calver, pastor of Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel, Connecticut, were among us, opening the Scriptures, leading us in prayer, and directing us towards a renewal of loving God with all of our hearts, souls, strength and minds. Dr. Mouw, who noted that “some of my most serious struggles with faith took place in precisely this kind of context,” led four sessions spanning themes as far-ranging as divine authority, the problem of over-intellectualizing faith, and the need to contribute to the fullness of God’s creation. During his last session, Mouw addressed students’ questions, which included “How can we deal with the exclusivity of Christianity?” and “How does one properly integrate reason with faith?” Dr. Calver shared his experience as one of the first civilians on the scene of the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy. He addressed the inevitable question, posed by members of his church: Why does God allow such catastrophes to occur? Calver counseled that believers must face the realities of this world and through them, God gives us an opportunity to grow closer to Him.
SPRING 2013 | STILLPOINT 7