Genesis 2 and 3: The Tree and The Fruit

Mark Twain (as Pudd'nhead Wilson) had a couple of things to say about the Genesis text about Adam, Eve, the tree and the fruit (Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Lent 1A)

"Adam was but human--this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake--he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent." From Congregationalist (Boston, Massachusetts, 14 June 1894)

"The true Southern watermelon is a boon apart and not to be mentioned with commoner things. It is chief of this world's luxuries. King by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it [he] knows what the angels eat. It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took. We know it, because she repented." --Mark Twain in Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar.  From Southern Planter (Richmond, Virginia, April 1894)

Anni Snyman, PC Janse van Rensburg, Andrew van der Merwe & friends. 'Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil III' installation to be set up at the Woordfees 2013 Festival. 

Twain is not the only author who borrows from these early stories of Eden. John Steinbeck's novel East of Eden considers the themes of Genesis, especially the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 3 and 4) to tell the stories of Charles and Adam and Caleb and Aron.

South African artist Anni Snyman has used the elements of the Genesis story in this work: the title, the apple (though that's really Milton's contribution rather than scripture and not Twain's preferred watermelon), a tree. But her work is far from the usual combination of those elements. We are used to seeing two figures - a male and a female - usually on opposite sides of a tree on which there  is fruit - usually an apple. Here the fruit encircles the tree, presumably hanging from branches out of the picture space. And there are many apples, enough for everyone to have a bite. 

What does this interpretation of the story say differently than the traditional composition does? Are these apples all low-hanging fruit? What does the red moat around the base of the tree mean? A circle usually symbolizes wholeness or eternity. Why a circle of apples? Why a circular moat? How do you read this installation?

For thoughts about Jesus' temptation in Matthew 4:1-11, click here or in Luke 4:1-13, click here.

Finding Eden on a map, this week on Art&Faith Matters on Facebook. 

Jeremiah 33.14-16: A Righteous Branch

The promise of the righteous branch (Jeremiah 33:14-16) offers hope - to the original hearers of Jeremiah's speech on God's behalf and to us today. It is always a delight to see the first tender green leaves on a twiggy growth. But the hope that is conveyed by the prophet is only needed because the situation in which Jeremiah and his hearers find themselves seems...hopeless. That is, after all, when hope is needed most. There is no justice and righteousness in the land. But when that day comes...there will be one who will, like David, execute justice and righteousness throughout the land.

The image is similar in Isaiah's prophecy of a shoot that will come from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). There, too, will be the spirit of the Lord to judge with righteousness and give justice to the poor. Often we see images of a small shoot of green emerging from a crack in the stump of a tree. The sun shines on or through leaves the color of Granny Smith apples, setting up those leaves as the focal point. It is, indeed, the picture of hope for what (or who) is to come.

Anselm Kiefer. Wurzel Jesse (Tree of Jesse). Left: 1987. 95 x 51 inches. Private Collection. 

Right: 2008. Albertina Contemporary, Vienna, Austria. Oil, emulsion, acrylic, shellac, branches coated with plaster, lead clothes and soil on cardboard and plywood, glazed.

Anselm Kiefer chose a different mood. His two versions of Wurzel Jesse (Tree of Jesse) offer a visual that seems to speak more to the situation of Jeremiah than do the brightly-colored, often gilded medieval illustrations of this subject. Kiefer uses (above left) palm root fibers and photography on lead to create a composition of neutrals in tones that seem to speak more to the promise of the growth of a branch than actual growth of green leaves and twigs. The version on the right, created more than a decade later, includes several garments made of lead toward the top of the composition. The images do not seem to lend themselves to thoughts of growth.

In the mood established by their color palette, Kiefer's works echo the images of the after-effects of wildfires. In photos we see charcoal stumps and scorched trunks and we wonder how a branch can come from this.

But the days are surely coming, says the Lord. And in those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David. In those days and at that time from Jesse's roots will come a branch that bears fruit. Promise.

One of the ways to mark the passing of the days of Advent is to create a Jesse Tree, whose ornaments remember the ancestors of Christ in Hebrew scripture. Another "tree" option is the Chrismon tree, found often in Christian churches. The ornaments on a Chrismon tree are symbols of and for Christ. See this week's Art&Faith Matters' Facebook post for a tree-related Chrismon.

For additional thoughts on Jeremiah 33:14-16 and Luke 21:25-36, click here.

En + Durus

To quote the Steve Miller Band and the lectionary readings for Proper 28C/Ordinary 33C: you know you got to go through hell before you get to heaven. Isaiah 65 (verses 17-25) would be the heaven and Luke 21 (verses 5-19) would be the hell. The key, and it is found in the last verse of the gospel reading, is endurance: By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Endure is a relatively simple word. In Latin the word is a prepositional phrase, actually: en (in) + durus (hard). The 12th-century French endurer meant to make hard, to harden, to bear or tolerate, to keep up or maintain. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

How to depict endurance, though. Certainly there are images of faithful people in the midst of historic and contemporary persecutions. But it is not only spectacular public hardships that we are called to endure. So perhaps instead of cataloging persecutions it would be more helpful to provide an aspirational symbol that captures the idea of endurance.

Trees in general, like ladders and pillars, represent things that have to do with both heaven and earth. The oak tree has become a Christian symbol for endurance (though the symbolism is by no means exclusively Christian). Oaks are identified in scripture as strong trees (Amos 2:9), and they are known to be long-lived. They can survive natural disasters and human disasters. They see love and conflict. They stand through flood and drought. Oaks can survive even in the face of much adversity. It is an oak tree that offers shade to the Holy Family in Tintoretto's Flight Into Egypt.

The Deerhead Oak in McClellanville, SC, has a circumference of more than 30 feet. 

For more about the Deerhead Oak see: http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/charleston-county/deerhead-oak.html

Because the oak tree begins as an acorn - surely not an object with an intimidating presence - the oak reminds us that great endurance can grow from small beginnings. Perhaps we practice enduring small things and then, when the big things come, things like Luke writes, we'll be able to endure them. And in doing so, gain our souls.

Check Art&Faith Matters Facebook page for a further word relationship that illuminates endurance. Click on the link below. 

For thoughts on 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13, click here.