The Peaceable Kingdom

When I was a little kid, if I wasn't shipped off to spend the summer on my aunt and uncle's farm, I was shipped off to Nutrition Camp.  I don't remember much except my expertise at playing Jacks, and this huge wall size painting of animals and a little kid that hung in the dining room.  I was fascinated with the painting.  The longer I looked, the more animals I found.  

But later, rather than being comforted by this serene painting, I was perplexed and uncomfortable.  I was a realist early on.  "What is that kid doing with those wild animals?  If the lion doesn't eat the lamb, what will he have to eat?" 

Years later I was introduced to Edward Hicks' famous painting, The Peaceable Kingdom.  I knew it wasn't by the same artist as the one at Nutriton Camp but it shared the same premise:  

Isaiah 11:6  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 

And I felt the same range of feelings, from comfort, to total disbelief, and back again.

 Edward Hicks (1780-1849,) was a conflicted Quaker preacher whose Quaker beliefs espoused plain customs, while he also felt called to his art.  But, did you know he painted 62 versions of The Peaceable Kingdom?  One of the early ones is shown above.  One of his later ones, below, shows a more sophisticated version.  Over on the left is William Penn issuing a document to the Native Americans in Bucks County.  

While I'm still skeptical at times, I've come to embrace the concept of The Peaceable Kingdom, a state of harmony among all creatures.  My husband, Ken, was always full of big ideas and big goals.  The biggest  was the concept of Universal Reconciliation.  It's kind of what I see in Hicks' paintings. 

During Edward Hicks life he was seen primarily as a Quaker Preacher.  Today every one of his 62 The Peaceable Kingdom paintings is valued at over a million dollars.

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How Important Are People at the Top?

The overall health and functioning of any organization depend primarily on one or two people at the top...       Ed Friedman

The comic stripe Dilbert and the phenomenal TV series The Office, suggest that the people at the top are irrelevant.

So what's the real scoop?

In Bishop Ken Carter's book, God Will Make a Way, he quotes Ed Friedman, a family therapist, and a person the Bishop had studied with over an extended period of time. The entire quote is this:

The overall health and functioning of any organization depend primarily on one or two people at the top...this is true whether the relationship system is a personal family, a sports team, an orchestra,  a congregation, a religious hierarchy, or an entire nation.

Wow!  This is one powerful (and empowering) statement.  It's stuck with me for several days.   

Do you buy into this concept? If so,  it makes sense that the leader needs to be about continuous self examination and personal growth.  

What does all of this have to do with 82 year old me?  On one hand, I know I'm not "at the top" of anything.  On the other hand, surprisingly, I get reminded often that I'm still a significant influencer.  For one thing, I'm the matriarch of a large, multi-dimensional, somewhat powerful, hugely influential, some times dysfunctional, always complicated, family.  And I take that roll seriously.  

My denomination, The United Methodist Church, is currently going through some painful change.  While I'm not at the top of anything in the church these days, I know I am an influencer.  And I take that seriously as well.  

Sports teams, orchestras, and nation building are not in my wheelhouse, but for other systems, I'm still in the game - and I take that very seriously.

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Storytelling

 

My friend, minister and exceptional human being, Jon Tschanz, made this statement twice, publicly, in the last few days:

Storytellers are the most powerful people in the world.

Wow!

I  believe this.  And I believe that every one of us has a story to tell.  It's just that, most times, all we want to talk about are mundane things like laundry, or other chores, or endless health updates, or endless bragging about children and grandchildren, or complaining about all of the above.  So much so that our own stories get lost.  

The Bible for me, is, primarily a big book of stories.  And especially the Old Testament stories about flawed human beings (like me.) 

My friend Trish and I have a unique relationship.  We're both storytellers and we are able to go deep in our conversations. We're both aware that being fully authentic is a matter of trust and safety.  

Several days ago Trish told about a movie she'd seen that affected her in a deeply powerful ways.  She asked if I'd seen it but it took me a while because I had it confused with a movie with a similar name.  However, I felt these films had nothing in common.

But both of them tell powerful stories which conjured up our own personal stories that we ultimately shared with each other.  Again, we made ourselves vulnerable in ways that are almost impossible and not safe without mutual trust. 

And somewhere in the midst of all this sharing, we discovered an interesting twist. 

Trish's film was Far From Heaven.   It came out in 2002, was critically acclaimed, and won all kinds of awards.  It portrays a "perfect" wealthy, suburban family in the 1950s.  It uncovers racism, homophobia, and other huge social taboos in the 50s.  The woman experiences a glimpse of salvation through the relationship she has with the gardener.  I saw this film in 2002.  I did not care for it.  It was entirely too painful for me.  And the colors, which were chosen to depict the 1950s, disturbed me.

My film was All That Heaven Allows.  It was made in 1955.  It was about an affluent widow who falls in love with her much younger gardener.  Her grown children, as well as all of her friends are aghast  She's forced to give up the relationship but the children fill in the void by buying her at television set. 

The twist we discovered was that, instead of having nothing in common,  the film Far From Heaven was inspired, in part by the film, All That Heaven Allows.  It was Trish who pointed out the connection between the significance of the gardeners.  

So, again, if you want stories  about "perfect people" don't go to the Bible stories or other important works in literature.  They too, are all about messy, sometimes painful lives.  Like ours. 

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