Zora Neale Hurston Revisited

"The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky."

(from Their Eyes Were Watching God)

"She jumped at the sun."

(from the narration of the excellent PBS documentary)

"Woman Looking Up," from 1984, was inspired by having read one of Zora Neale Hurston's books. I'm grateful to have read Their Eyes Were Watching God in the 1980s at a time when I needed a perspective on life that could sustain me for years to come and then to be reacquainted with Zora Neale Hurston through this documentary.

MEDITATION FOR MY NEPHEW

Happy Birthday!

Today is my only nephew's birthday. I haven't seen him since the day after my father died in 2003. My nephew was born on the day that in Christian tradition is called Epiphany. My nephew shares his birthday with Alan Watts, Carl Sandburg and Khalil Gibran. He is a musician, a singer, a baseball player and a self-described "computer geek" whose favorite color is green.

The quote from my Zen Calendar today is:

"God made the senses turn outwards, man therefore looks outwards, not into himself. But occasionally a daring soul, desiring immortality, has looked back and found himself."
-- The Upanishads

My nephew was born around noon on this day in January. When I received the news of his birth, I drove to Seattle where I stayed until late in the evening after everyone else had gone home. At that time, I was working as a medical transcriptionist on the evening shift and didn't go to sleep until the early morning hours. As my sister slept, I held my beloved sleeping newborn nephew as I sat in a chair and looked out the window at the full moon and stars shining on a snow-covered Seattle. I remember driving back to Bellingham after midnight in full moonlight and starlight that was almost like daylight because of the snow-covered landscape, feeling awe and love in the wake of my nephew's birth.

My wish for him today comes from the words of Bob Dylan. May my nephew grow up to always see the lights surrounding him:

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.


(Today's drawing, "Child with Gift," was done in 2005 on my iBookG4 using the Appleworks6 "Painting" program)

I can't find the quote by Sherman Alexie which I'm looking for and which I wanted to place alongside the photo below, but I recall reading somewhere that he said something to the effect that he was just as moved by the story of Mary and Jesus as he was moved by the stories told by his ancestors.

I did find an interview where Sherman Alexie says:

The concept of forgiveness—not just forgiving others, but forgiving oneself—seems really central to this movie. How did the concept of forgiveness shape the story?

It’s funny, I don’t get talked about much in these terms, but I’m very Catholic: grew up Catholic, Catholic father, still am vaguely Catholic (I’m not very good at it anymore). So I think Catholicism and forgiveness and that aspect of Christianity is a really strong influence on me. And then once you place Catholicism in the context of me being tribal and the ways in which the church horrendously oppressed Indians, there is a serious amount of guilt. So, I think it’s a combination of guilt and irony and contradiction and forgiveness that mix up together and become a dominant theme in everything I do… And I didn’t call it Catholic in the movie, but I think it very much is. Seymour’s conflict is very religious and very spiritual, and that’s the way I approached it. Evan [Adams] and I talked about that very much: that, in some ways, [Seymour]’s a pilgrim.
.

Woman Looking Up (1984)

When I did this drawing, I was not feeling confident or strong in any area of my life except as an artist. People frequently expressed astonishment when they saw my drawings, saying things like "you are such a quiet and reserved person, it is surprising that you come up with these bold images." Around the time I did this drawing I read Zora Neale Hurston's book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which ends in the wake of a storm of Hurricane Katrina's magnitude and devastation:

"It was the meanest moment of eternity. A minute before she was just a scared human being fighting for its life. Now she was her sacrificing self with Teacake's head in her lap. She had wanted him to live so much and he was dead. No hour is ever eternity but it has its right to weep. Janie held his head tightly to her breast and wept and thanked him for giving her the chance for loving service. She had to hug him tight, for soon he would be gone. She had to tell him for the last time. Then the grief of darkness descended."