The Captive Woman's Lament in Greek Tragedy Dué, Casey

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Captive Woman's Lament in Greek Tragedy Dué, Casey The Captive Woman's Lament in Greek Tragedy Dué, Casey Published by University of Texas Press Dué, Casey. The Captive Woman's Lament in Greek Tragedy. University of Texas Press, 2006. Project MUSE.muse.jhu.edu/book/3081. https://muse.jhu.edu/. For additional information about this book https://muse.jhu.edu/book/3081 Access provided at 16 Oct 2019 21:06 GMT from University of Washington @ Seattle chapter one men’s songs and women’s songs Are the voices of women in men’s poetry representative of women’s inde- pendent song traditions? What role, if any, did women’s song traditions play in the shaping of men’s epic traditions (and, later, tragedy)? In recent years scholars have begun to suggest that women’s lament traditions may have played a crucial role in the development of epic and tragedy, which were traditionally performed by men.1 Sheila Murnaghan has noted, for example, that the majority of women’s speech in the Iliad and the Odyssey is closely related to lament in both language and theme.2 Epic poetry narrates the glory of heroes, the klea andrôn, but it also laments their untimely deaths and the suffering they cause by means of the mournful songs performed by the women left behind. Turning to the Classical period, we fi nd that Greek tragedy is similarly infused with feminine voices and indeed femininity, as the work of such scholars as Helene Foley, Nicole Loraux, and Froma Zeitlin has shown over the course of the past two decades.3 While a defi nitive and comprehensive answer to the vexed question of the prominent roles women play in drama and their relationship to “real life” is yet to be found (and may never be), it seems clear at least that Greek drama employed the feminine to confront 1. Murnaghan 1999, Nagy 1999, and Sultan 1999. In the arguments that follow, I am heavily indebted to the work of these three scholars. 2. Murnaghan 1999, 206. See also Monsacré 1984, 137–96 and Dué 2002. Richard Martin (1989) has studied the many genres of stylized speech that have been incorporated into the genre of epic poetry, and he has shown that the Iliad and the Odyssey include within the overall epic frame the conventions and allusive power of a number of other preexisting verbal art forms, including prayer, supplication, boasting, and insulting, as well as lament (on lament, see especially Martin 1989, 86–88). 3. See especially Foley 2001, Loraux 1995 and 1998, and Zeitlin 1996, with references to earlier work therein. For the feminine aspects of the heroes of Greek epic, see Monsacré 1984. DDue.indbue.indb 3300 110/6/050/6/05 112:25:112:25:11 PPMM men’s songs and women’s songs 31 questions of masculinity. In the words of Zeitlin, “the fi nal paradox may be that theater uses the feminine for the purposes of imagining a fuller model for the masculine self, and ‘playing the other’ opens that self to those often banned emotions of fear and pity.”4 Most recently in The Mourning Voice, Nicole Loraux examines the function of lamentation in Greek tragedy in order to explore the personal involvement of the audience in the emotional force of tragedy. Arguing against overly political interpretations of the function of tragedy, Loraux emphasizes the outlet that tragedy provides for grief in a city-state where lamentation and elaborate funerals for individuals had become restricted by law.5 During the Peloponnesian War, women’s rituals of mourning were supplanted by the grandeur of a state funeral for the citizens who gave their lives for the city, but in tragedy, women’s wailing takes center stage.6 In this chapter I propose to give an overview of the place of the cap- tive woman’s lament in epic and tragedy within the history of Greek song traditions in general. I argue that the captive woman’s lament in Greek tragedy draws on a number of song traditions, and in doing so becomes a song tradition in its own right. To what extent the stylized laments of the captive women on the Greek stage echo the laments of actual slave women and prisoners of war residing in Athens is itself an extremely interesting but probably unanswerable question.7 Instead, in this book I seek to trace the development of the captive woman’s lament as a powerful theme within the poetic conventions of Greek tragedy, while also paying special atten- tion to the instances where these conventions and their emotional dynamic can be shown to intersect with the documented songs and experiences of actual women. 4. Zeitlin 1996, 363. Loraux agrees with this formulation (Loraux 1995, 9). 5. Loraux 2002. On the legislation of lament in the Archaic period see, e.g., Alexiou 1974, 14–23; Loraux 1986, 45–49; Holst-Warhaft 1992, 114–19; McClure 1999, 45; Murnaghan 1999, 204–5; and further below. 6. On the displacement of women’s laments by the state funeral oration see especially Loraux 1986 and further below. 7. For a recent look at women and slavery in antiquity, see the collection edited by Joshel and Murnaghan (1998), which necessarily relies on male-authored and primarily literary sources (see pp. 19–20 of the introduction to that volume). On the institution of slavery in ancient Greece in general, see Finley 1960, 1980, 1981, and 1987; Sainte Croix 1981; Wiedemann 1981 and 1987; Vidal-Naquet 1986, 159–223; Garlan 1988; and Fisher 1993. For transcripts of modern Greek laments recorded by anthropologists, see Lardas 1992 (which contains translations of modern Greek laments) and the collections cited in the bibliography of Roilos and Yatromanolakis 2002, 270. DDue.indbue.indb 3311 110/6/050/6/05 112:25:112:25:11 PPMM 32 the captive woman’s lament gender, genre, and the development of epic As I noted in the introduction to this book, the seminal work of Margaret Alexiou, The Ritual Lament in the Greek Tradition, was the fi rst to explore the continuity of the Greek lament tradition from ancient times to the present day.8 Alexiou studied the surviving laments of epic and tragedy, and traced their metaphors, themes, and diction in the laments of late antiquity, Byzantine literature, and modern Greek funerals. Since the publication of Alexiou’s work, many scholars have undertaken the study of lament, but Ritual Lament remains a basic guidebook to this incredibly rich and endur- ing tradition of women’s song.9 What Alexiou and other scholars of the Greek tradition have found is that Greek women’s laments have maintained a continuous tradition of song-making that is both independent of and parallel to the stylized ver- sions that have been preserved in epic, drama, and later Greek literature. Moreover, there is a great deal of comparative evidence from other cultures to show that the Greek tradition is by no means an isolated phenomenon, and that women all over the world have been singers of lament since ancient times and continue to be so today.10 It is very likely then, if not provable, that the laments of Greek epic, although performed by a male aoidos, would nevertheless have evoked for ancient audiences the songs their mothers and grandmothers performed at funerals upon the death of family members and extended relatives. In this way epic subsumes a distinctly feminine mode of singing within its own mode of expression, the dactylic hexameter, no doubt transforming it, but also maintaining many of its essential features. A ground-breaking book by Aida Vidan can shed light on the dynamics of the process by which women’s song-making becomes incorporated into heroic narratives. Vidan’s book, Embroidered with Gold, Strung with Pearls: The Traditional Ballads of Bosnian Women, publishes and analyzes for the fi rst time women’s songs of the South Slavic tradition that were collected by Milman Parry and Albert Lord and which are now housed in the Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature. With few exceptions, to date only the 8. For continuation and application of Alexiou’s work, see Caraveli-Chavez 1978 and Caraveli 1986, Danforth 1982, Seremetakis 1990 and 1991, Holst-Warhaft 1992, Herzfeld 1993, Sultan 1993 and 1999, Murnaghan 1999, Derderian 2001, and Dué 2002. 9. See also Alexiou 2001. 10. See Bowers 1993 for a brief survey, as well as Rosenblatt, Walsh, and Jackson 1976; Holst-Warhaft 1992, 20–27; and the bibliography in Roilos and Yatromanolakis 2002, under the heading “Ethnographic and Comparative Material.” DDue.indbue.indb 3322 110/6/050/6/05 112:25:122:25:12 PPMM men’s songs and women’s songs 33 men’s heroic songs collected by Parry and Lord have been published and discussed.11 It was the study of the South Slavic epic tradition that prompted Parry and Lord to formulate their thesis that the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed within a fl ourishing culture of oral epic song by means of centuries-old traditional techniques for composition-in-performance; this thesis revolutionized the fi eld of Homeric studies.12 Vidan’s book continues the work of Parry and Lord by introducing and publishing several of the women’s songs collected in the very same areas in the former Yugoslavia in which Parry and Lord had collected the heroic songs that they compared to Homeric poetry. Vidan shows that the women’s songs share traditional language and many themes with the men’s heroic songs, but differ from them in important ways. The women’s songs, as one might expect, offer a uniquely female point of view on the action, and are performed in vastly different contexts, such as weddings or intimate gatherings of female friends and relatives.
Recommended publications
  • Program Notes Scene I
    PROGRAM SCENE I NOTES GIOVANNI GIROLAMO KAPSBERGER (C. 1580 – 1651) CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567 – 1643) Toccata arpeggiata Lamento della ninfa While little is known of Kapsberger’s life, he is primarily remembered as a composer As you walk through Venice for the first time, nobody can escape two things: the for theorbo, a large guitar-like instrument that was common in the period. This work, labyrinth of canals, and the striking Piazzo San Marco (St Mark’s Square), which which features on our ARIA award-winning recording Tapas, comes from a beautiful has been walked by countless musical geniuses over the years. One of these was 60-page manuscript published in Venice in 1604, titled Libro primo d'intavolatura di Claudio Monteverdi, who was the head of music at the stunning St Mark’s Basilica chitarrone (first book of theorbo tablature). Tablature is a form of music notation that which dominates the square. Famed for its extraordinary acoustic, St Mark’s indicates fingering rather than specific pitches. In this case, it shows which fingers Basilica was practically Monteverdi’s home, and it was during his over 30 years here are to be placed on which strings of the theorbo. The manuscript below constitutes that he cemented his position as one of the most influential and monumental figures the entirety of the music notated by Kapsberger for this piece: all other aspects in music history. He is usually credited as the father of the opera, and also as the of realising the music are left to the performers. However, the marking arpeggiata most important transitional figure between the Renaissance and Baroque periods indicates that is to be played with arpeggios: musical phrases that take individual of music.
    [Show full text]
  • III CHAPTER III the BAROQUE PERIOD 1. Baroque Music (1600-1750) Baroque – Flamboyant, Elaborately Ornamented A. Characteristic
    III CHAPTER III THE BAROQUE PERIOD 1. Baroque Music (1600-1750) Baroque – flamboyant, elaborately ornamented a. Characteristics of Baroque Music 1. Unity of Mood – a piece expressed basically one basic mood e.g. rhythmic patterns, melodic patterns 2. Rhythm – rhythmic continuity provides a compelling drive, the beat is more emphasized than before. 3. Dynamics – volume tends to remain constant for a stretch of time. Terraced dynamics – a sudden shift of the dynamics level. (keyboard instruments not capable of cresc/decresc.) 4. Texture – predominantly polyphonic and less frequently homophonic. 5. Chords and the Basso Continuo (Figured Bass) – the progression of chords becomes prominent. Bass Continuo - the standard accompaniment consisting of a keyboard instrument (harpsichord, organ) and a low melodic instrument (violoncello, bassoon). 6. Words and Music – Word-Painting - the musical representation of specific poetic images; E.g. ascending notes for the word heaven. b. The Baroque Orchestra – Composed of chiefly the string section with various other instruments used as needed. Size of approximately 10 – 40 players. c. Baroque Forms – movement – a piece that sounds fairly complete and independent but is part of a larger work. -Binary and Ternary are both dominant. 2. The Concerto Grosso and the Ritornello Form - concerto grosso – a small group of soloists pitted against a larger ensemble (tutti), usually consists of 3 movements: (1) fast, (2) slow, (3) fast. - ritornello form - e.g. tutti, solo, tutti, solo, tutti solo, tutti etc. Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 Title on autograph score: Concerto 2do à 1 Tromba, 1 Flauto, 1 Hautbois, 1 Violino concertati, è 2 Violini, 1 Viola è Violone in Ripieno col Violoncello è Basso per il Cembalo.
    [Show full text]
  • Brünnhilde's Lament: the Mourning Play of the Gods
    The Opera Quarterly Advance Access published April 18, 2015 Brünnhilde’s Lament: The Mourning Play of the Gods Reading Wagner’s Musical Dramas with Benjamin’s Theory of Music n sigrid weigel o center for literary and cultural research, berlin It was Brünnhilde’s long, final song in the last scene of Götterdämmerung,in Achim Freyer’s and James Conlon’s Los Angeles Ring cycle of 2010, that prompted me to consider possible correspondences between tragedy and musical drama and, in addition, to ask how recognizing such correspondences affects the commonplace derivation of musical drama from myth1 or Greek tragedy2 and tying Wagner to Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy. The impression I had gained from Linda Watson’s rendition of the song did not fit a reading in terms of apotheosis: the way the downfall of the world of the gods is usually staged, when, at the end of the cycle, Brünnhilde kindles the conflagration and follows murdered Siegfried into death. It seemed to me much more that what we heard was a long-extended lament. This performance did not seem to match the prevailing characterization of the scene as “solid and solemn” (fest und feierlich), as Peter Wapnewski has put it, speak- ing of an “apotheotic finale” and a “solemn-pathetic accusation.” In his words, “Now Brünnhilde sings forth the end. In the powerful scene of lonely grandeur that de- mands the singer-actress’s dramatic power to their limits—and beyond.”3 In Freyer’s and Conlon’s Götterdämmerung, tones of lament rather than the pathos of accusa- tion could be heard in Brünnhilde’s final song.
    [Show full text]
  • THE BOOK of JOB Blessed Be the Name of the Lord! Rev
    CONCORDIA SEMINARY LENTEN SERMON SERIES LENTEN SERMON SERIES THE BOOK OF JOB Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Rev. Reed Lessing 801 SEMINARY PLACE • ST.LOUIS, MO 63105 • 314-505-7000 • WWW.CSL.EDU The Book of Job: Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Newsletter Article One of the Bible’s greatest wisdom books is the book of Job. This Lent we are going to explore this magnificent composition that is numbered among some of the greatest literature of all time. Nine sermons will help us dig deeply into Job’s central message and supporting truths, while six Sunday Morning Adult Bible Classes will further address the book’s major topics and themes. We all suffer—personally and privately. We also suffer in more public ways. A husband loses a job. A child gets divorced. A parent dies. And now, thanks to the media, we are able to see and experience more and more of the world’s catastrophes and suffering. We need the book of Job, now, more than ever. Martin Luther asserted that “Job is magnificent and sublime as no book of Scripture.” Others have called Job “the Shakespeare of the Bible.” Yet the early Christian scholar Jerome perhaps put it best when he called the book of Job an “eel,” since the more one tries to contain it, the slipperier it becomes! The purpose of our Lenten emphasis is to learn how to apply Job to our lives, so that the book becomes less like an eel and more like a loving companion through life’s dark valleys.
    [Show full text]
  • Nt Lament in Current Research and Its Implications for American Evangelicals
    JETS 57/4 (2014) 757–72 NT LAMENT IN CURRENT RESEARCH AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR AMERICAN EVANGELICALS KEITH CAMPBELL* I. INTRODUCTION Shortly after OT scholar Hermann Gunkel (re)identified the lament genre in 1933, NT researchers began exploring its influence on the NT. Explorations gradu- ally increased, with significant contributions spanning several NT genres and disci- plines. The time has come to critically assess this field, to provide avenues for fu- ture researchers to explore and, of more specific concern to JETS readers, to raise awareness that American evangelical NT scholars have largely overlooked this field—to the detriment of evangelical churches. Covering contributions made to the Gospels, Paul’s letter to the Romans, the book of Revelation, and NT theology, my assessment begins in the 1980s after OT lament research had matured and when narrative and theological interests in the NT lament began to emerge.1 To provide an overview of the field, I summarize in the first three sections influential contributions to NT lament research before as- sessing these contributions in the fourth section. In the final section I explore vari- ous ways that evangelical scholarship, with a view toward influencing the church, can (and should) build upon these contributions. II. GOSPELS I begin with a groundbreaking, unpublished dissertation that, to my knowledge, every researcher (myself included) has overlooked: Rosann Catalano’s “How Long, O Lord?”2 Catalano is groundbreaking not because her exploration of * Keith Campbell is visiting lecturer of NT and Christian studies at Shanghai Normal University, No. 100 Guilin Road, Shanghai, China 200234. 1 It is difficult to demarcate some of the following contributions according to this taxonomy.
    [Show full text]
  • Using the Psalms of Lament to Address Grief Issues
    North American Association of Christians in Social Work (NACSW) PO Box 121; Botsford, CT 06404 *** Phone/Fax (tollfree): 888.426.4712 Email: [email protected] *** Website: http://www.nacsw.org “A Vital Christian Presence in Social Work” DARKNESS IS MY CLOSEST FRIEND: USING THE PSALMS OF LAMENT TO ADDRESS GRIEF ISSUES Terry L. Smith, M. Div., MSW, Ed. D. Presented at: NACSW Convention 2007 March, 2007 Dallas, TX I. Processing the Experience of Grief A. Because we love and get attached, grief is an inevitable part of living. It is our response to the losses we experience throughout life. Though we share common grief reactions, each person’s experience of loss and grief is unique. B. Situations of profound loss tax us physically, cognitively, emotionally, and spiritually. We grieve with all of our might, mind, heart, and soul. C. Models of grief counseling share a common denominator: one must accept the reality of the loss and experience the pain of the loss. D. People have found a variety of ways to acknowledge the reality and pain of loss and begin the process of making meaning out of the experience. 1. J. K. Rowling’s mother died while she was writing her first Harry Potter book. The event led her to make her hero suffer the death of his parents. 2. Black Cadillac represents Rosanne Cash’s grappling with hurt and her search for answers subsequent to the deaths of her stepmother, father, and mother within a year and a half. 3. Lee Smith wrote her novel On Agate Hill (Algonquin Books) as a prescription following her 33 year-year-old son’s death of acute myocardiopathy.
    [Show full text]
  • Vox Luminis Lionel Meunier, Artistic Director
    THE DA CAPO FUND In THE LIBRARY oF CONGRESS VOX LUMINIS LIONEL MEUNIER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Wednesday, October 29, 2014 ~ 8 pm Coolidge Auditorium Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building The DA CAPO FUND, established by an anonymous donor in 1978, supports concerts, lectures, publications, seminars and other activities which enrich scholarly research in music using items from the collections of the Music Division. Presented in association with the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, DC Please request ASL and ADA accommodations five days in advance of the concert at 202-707-6362 or [email protected]. Latecomers will be seated at a time determined by the artists for each concert. Children must be at least seven years old for admittance to the concert. Other events are open to all ages. • Please take note: Unauthorized use of photographic and sound recording equipment is strictly prohibited. Patrons are requested to turn off their cellular phones, alarm watches, and any other noise-making devices that would disrupt the performance. When applicable, reserved tickets not claimed by five minutes before the beginning of the event will be distributed to stand-by patrons. Please recycle your programs at the conclusion of the concert. The Library of Congress Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building Wednesday, October 29, 2014 — 8 pm THE DA CAPO fUND IN THE LIBRARY oF CONGRESS VOX LUMINIS Lionel Meunier, artistic director • Program ANONYMOUS (13TH CENTURY) Lamentation de la Vierge au pied de la Croix CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567-1643) Vorrei baciarti, o Filli, SV 123 from Concerto: settimo libro de madrigali (1619) Alcun no mi consigli, SV 169 from Madrigali e canzonette...Libro nono (publ.
    [Show full text]
  • Reprintable Only with Permission from the Author. Monteverdi Madrigals
    Reprintable only with permission from the author. Monteverdi Madrigals Claudio Monteverdi, the father of the modern opera who wrote on the cusp between the Renaissance and the Baroque, was the composer of nine books of madrigals. In these astounding works he painted in sound the images and thoughts suggested by his selected texts. So it might seem strange to hear these works in a textless setting, as a string quartet. What can I say other than I was overcome with jealousy towards those who get to live with this music? I recently saw a movie, Reprise, directed by Joachim Trier, in which there are some scenes where a conversation is heard in the background but one sees only gazes and glances between the characters involved. The import of the words is there even in their absence. Here, in this string quartet setting, Monteverdi’s reflections of the words remain intact and the music is suffused with emotion every bit as specific as words allow. Rhetoric present in inflection can sometimes convey emotion even more honestly than the words it carries. We would like to think that much of the tenor of the text is still present here, and that the strengths of the string quartet medium closely parallel those of a vocal ensemble. We aim to give a convincing performance with shadow puppets. This group of four madrigals is taken from the sixth book, a group of pieces that perhaps has autobiographical import as it follows the deaths of two women in Monteverdi’s life: his wife and his favorite pupil, who had lived with him.
    [Show full text]
  • Rachel Rubin C'17, ” Barbara Strozzi's Feminine Influence on the Cantata
    Barbara Strozzi’s Feminine Influence on the Cantata in 17th-Century Venice Rachel Rubin (CLA 2017) Abstract In this paper, I will be discussing how Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) achieved success in the seventeenth century through publication. She is recognized today as one of the earliest composers to write and publish cantatas in such high quantities, though her accomplishments were not met without difficulty. Attaining recognition in the male-dominated musical culture of the Baroque era was a massive undertaking for a woman and required Strozzi to manipulate resources granted to her by her father’s social status. However, it was her own relentless ambition that ultimately propelled her to fame. As such, she paved the way for female composers and continues to inspire with her legacy. Analysis of her piece, Lagrime mie from Diporti di Euterpe, published in 1659, reveals a highly refined use of expressive techniques to convey the powers of song and sorrow. Her affinity for emotional expression combined with her sophisticated understanding of the human voice create a powerful yet sensitive tone in this piece. Given the physical evidence, Strozzi’s success through publication is undeniable, though it was her bold pursuit for recognition that allowed her to break gender stereotypes, making her feats all the more impressive. 187 Introduction Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) was both a highly praised composer and vocal performer of the seventeenth century. She made significant contributions to Venetian arias and ariettas but is most widely recognized as one of the earliest composers, male or female, to write cantatas in such high numbers (Timms).
    [Show full text]
  • Songs of Lament
    Songs of Lament The below is also available as a playlist in Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cSPkXYbpRzDZJFnCfvvhe?si=xp0l2RzbSrCdVQ-aM51UUw Walk With Me, Lord • https://youtu.be/fsixjKOXpVc How Long O Lord • https://youtu.be/_anmR_EeFxA Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel • https://youtu.be/lBpx-OCFHKY Swing Low, Sweet Chariot • https://youtu.be/z9Y_GLT4_9I By the Waters of Babylon • https://youtu.be/B11KZxvRIJE Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended? • https://youtu.be/CSN3oSOjInE O Sacred Head Now Wounded • https://youtu.be/PdIwr8lAJ1E Were You There • https://youtu.be/owqqhWnDxIk My Shepherd Will Supply all of My Needs • https://youtu.be/fPwz-O3bXEU Here I Am, Lord • https://youtu.be/mSzm7rEkmEU We Are Standing on Holy Ground • https://youtu.be/ZdminhRbHvE Shelter Me, Oh God • https://youtu.be/ROUr4fTIgIM O Come, O Come, Emmanuel • https://youtu.be/XF8jtLC4UPo Rivers of Babylon • https://youtu.be/ta42xU2UXLA Why Stand So Far Away, My God? • https://youtu.be/8IXwfPvCYu0 My God, My God, why (Psalm 22) • https://youtu.be/DGW7DKP1twE In the Presence of Your People • https://youtu.be/tPJNR4T43CI It Is Well With My Soul • https://youtu.be/Zs-D6vwvgLs Tears From Heaven • https://youtu.be/X5DXKz0iXOo Sad Songs Say So Much • https://youtu.be/X23v5_K7cXk Green River Blues • https://youtu.be/fswDAImwskQ St. Louis Blues • https://youtu.be/5Bo3f_9hLkQ Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen • https://youtu.be/jzaWFfyh1N4 The Way We Were • https://youtu.be/ifWOSnoCS0M I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry • https://youtu.be/y9oa_BOS2KA Send in the Clowns
    [Show full text]
  • Lament Psalms
    Lament psalms Jeanette Mathews Making space for lament Paul Kelly’s song ‘Meet me in the middle of the air’1 is an interpretation of Psalm 23 that is striking in its first person address. The lyrics are sung from the perspective of God: I am your true shepherd I will lead you there Beside still waters Chorus Come and meet me in the middle of the air I will meet you in the middle of the air Come and meet me in the middle of the air I will lay you down In pastures green and fair Every soul shall be restored Chorus Through the lonesome valleys My rod and staff you’ll bear Fear not death’s dark shadow Chorus With oil I shall anoint you A table I’ll prepare Your cup will runneth over The Reverend Dr Jeanette Mathews is an Old Testament Lecturer in the School of Theology at Charles Sturt University. Lament psalms Chorus In my house you’ll dwell forever You shall not want for care Surely goodness and mercy will follow you Chorus Paul Kelly sang this song at a memorial fundraising concert following the Victorian bushfires of January 2010. In the middle of a noisy, high energy concert with 80,000 attendees, this song was sung unaccompanied and brought the crowd to silence. It was a song that both acknowledged the pain of the community with its words ‘death’s dark shadow’ but also offered hope with its first person invitation: ‘I am your true shepherd… come and meet me in the middle of the air’.
    [Show full text]
  • The Church's Lament: Moving the White Church from Grief of Complicity to Lament
    Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 10-2019 The Church's Lament: Moving the White Church from Grief of Complicity to Lament Kristin Hamilton Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin Part of the Christianity Commons GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY THE CHURCH’S LAMENT: MOVING THE WHITE CHURCH FROM GRIEF OF COMPLICITY TO LAMENT A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PORTLAND SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY KRISTIN HAMILTON PORTLAND, OREGON OCTOBER 2019 Portland Seminary George Fox University Portland, Oregon CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________ DMin Dissertation ________________________________ This is to certify that the DMin Dissertation of Kristin Hamilton has been approved by the Dissertation Committee on October 9, 2019 for the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Global Perspectives Dissertation Committee: Primary Advisor: MaryKate Morse, PhD Secondary Advisor: Kurtley Knight, DMin Lead Mentor: Jason Clark, PhD, DMin Copyright © 2019 by Kristin Hamilton All rights reserved ii DEDICATION To my grandmothers, Frances Bogart and Elois Carlson. They taught me that fighting for social justice and loving the church are not mutually exclusive. To my parents, Dennis and Mary Bogart. They have loved me well and continue to teach me how to love the church well. To my husband, Scott. His love strengthens me. He chose to journey alongside me and became a social justice warrior as well. To my children, Cameron and Jill, Grace and Jacob, and Gwen. They have each wisely chosen their own paths to loving people and the church. To my new granddaughter, Iris Hamilton.
    [Show full text]