Growing up, in my family, certain things were given. Preaching was bad, art was a common, almost insignificant, part of life, and performing was OK, as long as you were good at what you were doing. Let me explain. I grew up in a liberal Quaker household, my father was an artist, though teaching was what he did for a living, and both parents were fabulous dancers, especially my Mom. Our home was filled with paintings by my father and we ate and drank from the pottery he made. Liberal, unprogrammed Quakers do not have preachers or clergy of any kind based on the experience that all people can have a direct relationship with the divine.
Recently some things have become a bit clearer, though this had led to some further confusion on my part as well. Great art is, not only beautiful, but evokes awe, peace, compassion and sometimes a sense of communion in the audience. And there is something else, it points to and allows the audience to experience that which is beyond words. (Some of us call 'that which is beyond words' God.) Now I want to say something about 'the audience'. Art is about communicating something no matter if it is music, visual art, dance etc. Without an audience does art exist? The Zen koan comes to mind. Koans are questions that don't have an answer, but are helpful in meditation. The most famous one from centuries back is,"What is the sound of one hand clapping?" But what I am more interested in is my somewhat recent understanding that audiences are never merely observers or recipeints.
In fact, one of the reasons that celebreties have such messed up lives (besides the weirdness of no privacy) is that the power and radiance they feel while performing is completely misunderstood. In some way all performers, muscians, dancers, singers, actors and, yes, even preachers, in fact perhaps especially preachers, are: 1) channeling from that which is beyond words and 2) are the recipient of the radiance and power of each audience or congregation member whose attention is focussed on him/her. All performers have a largish dose of the "Look at me! LOOK AT ME!!!" syndrome. To be honest, you need some of that in order to be a performer. But that energy can and often does, eclipse the more significant message which is always, "Look! (Its not about me!) Look at where I am pointing!"
I forgot leaders and politicians also fall into the catagory of performers, and are subject to the same forces and energy. Elected leaders are especially susceptible to the misuse as well as misunderstanding of these energies and powers because they must get themselves elected and then re-elected. (Of course the 'all-powerful MEDIA' has an influence here, but we are not going to go there, at least not now.) Because of the reasons mentioned above folks like Hitler can be so powerful, the audience is essentially handing over their power, their light, their energy to the leader/speaker and can, therefore be vulnerable to being manipulated for good or ill.
I discovered in high school that I am good at public speaking, and that I even enjoy it- but only if I am speaking about something I care about. Much more recently I have felt called to preach, but am still struggling to understand what this means. Just now as I am writing this a new understanding is evolving. Its not that I am called to preach, so much as a deep affirmation that I am a performer of the speaking/writing/preaching variety. (I also am quite a dancer. In fact, in my younger years, when I was a community organizer I used to say, when complimented on my dancing prowess, "After the revolution, I will be a dancer." Of course, being a Quaker, I was referring to the non-violent revolution that me and my friends knew was coming.) This only makes sense to me in the context of the above understandings. That always, if I am being true to my gift, I am channeling from that which is beyond words and that I am also the recipient of the light, love and radiance of my audience/congregation. In other words,'its not about me'. Yet curiously, though it is ultimately not about me, it must be communicated via my experience. Like a stained glass window, the light comes from beyond the window itself, but the beauty is enhanced by the "stains" of the glass and perhaps also, at times, the light, itself, is too bright to be looked at directly and the beauty can only be perceived when it is softened and sperated into the common colors that we humans can actually see with our eyes.
I have learned some of this from observing and hearing about the African-American church. It is much clearer there that the preacher is not preaching alone. The congregation is much more actively involved. In fact, in many churches their are decons whose job it is to pray for the preacher while s/he is preaching and to correct, cajole and encourage the preacher to preach the 'word'. In his book, The Great Awakening, Jim Wallis tells a story. He had been invited to preach at Ebenezer Baptist Church on the first annual national holiday of the birthday of MLK, the Church where both ML KIng and his father "Daddy" King had been ministers.
"I was excited but nervous. when I stepped up to the histroic pulpit, I froze. ... 'What was a young white kid from Detroit doing in this pulpit? I was a litllte tentative as I began. 'Well MLKing Jr. was for justice and. . . p-p-peace,' I stammered, 'and probably we should be too.' It was something short of powerful.
"But then, from the lower left side of the church, a voice boomed back at me, 'Oh help him Lord, help him! C.mon young man, you're supposed to preach.' So I started to- a little. 'Aw, you're not there yet!' he bellowed. Of course he was enacting the 'call and responce' tradition of the black church, which I have learned to love. ... the old man proceeded with a littany of 'well', 'yes sir' , 'mercy, mercy' and 'preach it now' and lots of 'amens' until I was proclaiming, prancing and sweating- preaching my heart out until I was thoroughly exhausted when I finally finished. Afterwards, I rushed down to my amen corner, whose name was Deacon Johnson. 'You just pulled that sermon out of me!' I exclaimed, breathless. Standing tall, he put his hand on my shoulders and smiled at me. 'Son,' he said 'I've raised up many a preacher in my time.'" (p.11-12)
What is the point of preaching or any performance, anyway? The point is to help people by pointing the way, inspiring them to get on their knees, or jump up from their seats, or quietly feel the Presence of that which is beyond words. Even in pop concerts the audience can experience a communion that goes beyond words, takes them, takes us into that spaciousness where all things are possible, all problems have solutions and we are mysteriously in and of it at once. This is made possible because the people themselves, through directing their attention, away from themselves and toward the performer/speaker/preacher, they are enabled to give their light, energy, the very radiance of themselves to the performer who in turn is enabled, empowered to channel ever more acurately from that which is beyond words.
In the words of Michael Jackson "The key to being a wonderful writer [composer] is not to write. Leave room for God to walk in the room. You just get out of the way."(Ebony 12/07)
Amen!
