{"id":1075,"date":"2010-12-10T18:59:48","date_gmt":"2010-12-10T18:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richardlittledale.wordpress.com\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2010-12-10T18:59:48","modified_gmt":"2010-12-10T18:59:48","slug":"a-mosaic-of-the-natwivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/2010\/12\/10\/a-mosaic-of-the-natwivity\/","title":{"rendered":"A mosaic of the natwivity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Small fragments, big picture<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past ten days a picture of the nativity has been emerging online unlike any I have ever seen. \u00a0As the natwivity<\/em> story has unfolded a new picture of the key players has emerged. \u00a0Like the mosaic on the ceiling in the cathedral of St Sava, Belgrade, below – it is made up of lots of tiny fragments. As in the mosaic, they are all different colours too. \u00a0Some carry the deep colours of theological authenticity. \u00a0Others have the vibrant, zany colours of twenty-first century humour. Some are profound, whilst others are just witty. Between them, however, they are creating a picture of extraordinary brightness and vitality. \u00a0As a previous poll<\/a> is revealing -reactions \u00a0to the story have been as varied as the participants themselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Image: hubpages.com<\/p><\/div>\n

As I was reflecting on all this, I came across Jane Kenyon’s telling poem ‘Mosaic of the nativity’ written in Serbia in the Winter of 1993. \u00a0I reproduce it below.<\/p>\n

On the domed ceiling God<\/span>
\nis thinking:<\/span>
\nI made them my joy,<\/span>
\nand everything else I created<\/span>
\nI made to bless them.<\/span>
\nBut see what they do!<\/span>
\nI know their hearts<\/span>
\nand arguments:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re descended from<\/span>
\nCain. Evil is nothing new,<\/span>
\nso what does it matter now<\/span>
\nif we shell the infirmary,<\/span>
\nand the well where the fearful<\/span>
\nand rash alike must<\/span>
\ncome for water?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

God thinks Mary into being.<\/span>
\nSuspended at the apogee<\/span>
\nof the golden dome,<\/span>
\nshe curls in a brown pod,<\/span>
\nand inside her mind<\/span>
\nof Christ, cloaked in blood,<\/span>
\nlodges and begins to grow.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Small fragments, big picture Over the past ten days a picture of the nativity has been emerging online unlike any I have ever seen. \u00a0As the natwivity story has unfolded a new picture of the key players has emerged. \u00a0Like … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[69],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/176.32.230.12\/richardlittledale.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}