We Came, We Saw, We ate Baklava

Tuesday late afternoon, February 3rd. It's over a week since the last service, but want to share about our beautiful service last Monday night, January 26th. It was our first evening service, and our first Monday service. I got a theatre job, and with the 8 shows a week, and the five show weekend, adjustments were made. So, we gathered at 730 on a Monday night and had a great gathering. Our theme was WORK, inspired by the new year, the new administration, the new job...and we had a great collection of WORK to look at and share.

We started with the amazing weavings of Ani Afshar (aniafshar.net). Ani is a dear friend of Bobby's in Chicago. When we drove cross country last year, I had the pleasure of spending the evening at her amazing home and studio. Her walls are covered with a lot of great art, and her weavings are extraordinary, some as big as bedspreads. When I was putting together the service, i really wanted to feature handmade work that required time and dedication, so I naturally thought of Ani's beautiful pieces, made on a loom, and full of details such as beads and mohair. She shipped seven recent small works to New York and they looked beautiful on the walls of the space.

In keeping with our theme, my dear friend from childhood, Pamela Gregory, made Baklava, also shipped to New York for the event. Pam is someone I would say excels in the domestic arts--her home, family and kitchen are her workshops. One of her great talents is baking. And i thought it would be nice to have a food offering that required a lot of craft. Her suggestion was Baklava, and it was a perfect offering. She also sent along a short essay about the significance of the Greek desert, and what it requires make it. This was read aloud as we passed around the individually wrapped, honey soaked treasures. When everyone had their piece, as is our custom, we all ate it at the same moment. Such great flavor, such satisfying payoff. All were pleased, and there was a lot of oooohing and aaaahing. When the taste is done well, and with craft and intention, it is profound.
To share flavors with others in a focused way--a great ritual.

We heard a piece of music by Duke Ellington, Work Song, from Balck Brown and Beige, introduced by Gib Frazier and beautifully so. We listened intently.

Kelly Stuart made another short film, It Was Cold and Rough and I Did Nothing, about artist Kurt Lightner and his piece inspired by his great grandfather. Kurt is carving the words from his great grandfather's farm journal, into a tree that he felled on that same farm in Ohio. Kurt's studio is across the hall from Bobby's in Long Island City, and when I was talking to Bobby about possible artists for the theme of Work, we started talking about Kurt and his amazing endeavor. The film is great.



And, it's amazing to think that Kelly has made a piece for the last five services...she's averaging one short film a month! The layers of artists making art about art to share with other artists as part of a larger piece of art...deep.

Also, I should note that we had amazing technical assistance from Carlo, who runs the space we rent. He provided his laptop and projector for the service, and it was dreamy to have that taken care of.

We read a poem of Wendell Berry's--Who Makes a Clearing Makes a Work of Art, we had the cultural calendar, the mingling ritual and the sermon. This month I wrote about getting a job, and meeting the challenges of my Life Work (The Secret City). Jeremy wrote another killer song for the service, and he and I performed our Mariachi Song. Meditation, gratitudes, The Secret City Singers and more. It was a great gathering.

We had a full house, and a lot of hang out afterward. I think the theme of WORK really resonated with people--for many of us, Work is a a complicated, beautiful and never ending subject. Felt like a timely, juicy topic to start the year.

And here's an observation about the Secret City itself...it felt like the service is moving in a deeper way toward finding it's own way in the world. That Monday night, something was even more clear to me: it is not time to re-make the old world, it is time to make the new world, to make new forms and new ways of being together and engaging with each other. And The Secret City celebrates the notion that creative people, artists, are a crucial part of this movement. It is time to create places where people may meet and gather and connect, and I believe it is one of my jobs as an artist to continue to find a way to make this place matter for people, to make it beautiful and safe, welcoming and magical. That is my work, as I see it. And Monday night, the WORK seemed to be WORKING. I sense that this thing is becoming itself, it's own best self, and it feels like a deep, joyful and powerful place. And a radical, original and singular piece of live art.

Next service is February 22nd, 2009. Back to Sunday. Our theme will be STYLE. Mmmmmmm.