About the Poet The Creation Cabal My father was a professor of law. As an attorney he taught me that words have meaning. My mother was a speech therapist and special The Creation Cabal educator. She knew words could bring healing and hope. With their The “Creation Cabal” is a support I went to school and earned conversation. “Cabal” actually a BA in Economics, but money words means “conspiracy,” which is always felt disingenuous to me. probably closer to the truth. It also So, like my maternal grandfather suggests an artistic collaboration. and paternal great grandfather before me, I went to the seminary. Sandy Roumagoux is a deeply There I picked up my Masters of thoughtful and amazingly gifted Divinity degree and more questions eco-artist. Over time we have than I started with. discovered that much of what she seeks to say with oils I try to paint with As a preacher I work on words. words. We are both concerned As a poet words work on me. about our world, the environment My oldest son is now headed to law and our impact on it. We also grieve school. My daughter has her sights the erosion of common language set on pastoral ministry. Apparently between 21st century arts and they have caught the family disease. religion. The “Creation Cabal” is as A third child still waits to pick his much about spiritual connections as path, but all three find their it is environmental ones. Both beg way into my writing. for our attention. “The Creation Cabal” at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, Oregon. http://www.blackfish.com My life partner, Gretchen, is a Unfortunately, only some of Sandy’s midwife. Her trust in the birth process paintings are included here. Our Poems in conversation with the art of Sandra Roumagoux. and patience with pregnancy hope, though, is that these images www.roumagoux.com supports me, as it has countless and words will find a home with you. women. I do not believe I wrote Feel free to find your own voice and poetry before we labored together. The poems and commentary in this booklet are the work of Dave Brauer-Rieke, join the conspiracy. a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. At the time of this writing he served Atonement Lutheran Church in Newport, Oregon. Currently I pastor with the Dave Brauer-Rieke He may be reached at [email protected]. community of Atonement Lutheran October 2006 http://www.climateimagination.com Church in Newport, OR. It is there that I was privileged to meet Genesis quotations are from the King James Version Bible, translation of 1611. Public Domain. Sandy Roumagoux. he creation mythology of Genesis 1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. T apparently took on its present form And the earth was without form, and void; th in the 5 century BCE. The people of Israel and darkness was upon the face of the deep. were in captivity in Babylon. Their walled cities had been overrun. Their holy places And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. were destroyed. Artisans, crafts people and And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. everyone who was anyone had been dragged And God saw the light, that it was good: away across the great desert with no hope of and God divided the light from the darkness. return. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. Israel’s captors had their own creation myths. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” In the Babylonian story Enuma Elish, the water gods spawn a dysfunctional family of divine Genesis 1:1-5 beings. The heavens erupt as a violent, brutal and misogynistic battle ensues. Tiamat, the mother of life, is eviscerated. Her skin, internal organs and tears of pain become the raw 1. material of a carnal creation. An upstart godchild, Marduk, creates “savage-man” only as an after thought. Humanity’s primary purpose becomes service to Marduk’s court and the Intersecting impotence involuntary ire gods’ greedy and abusive and pursuits. lonely loveless limbo So Israel writes, “In the beginning God created!” As the primordial seas (false gods) thrash about leaving lazy lifeless liars in darkness the Divine simply speaks. “Let there be light!” Talk about a subversive text! The God urban ugly unresolved of Israel, in calmness and love, brings life from death and order from chaos. Let the powers of mating madness mindless malls Babylon do their worst. Night will always give way to a new day. i am The poem here is built upon the theme of nodding notice netting night “Illumination.” Today more than ever we need to discern what powers are true and which ones and perpetuate violence, pain and prejudice. there was evening reaching out for sight ho knows what a “firmament” is? ”And God said, Let there be a firmament W Presumably it is something solid, in the midst of the waters, something “firm.” Modern day translations of and let it divide the waters from the waters. Genesis use the term “dome” instead. This word we understand. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament Like a salad bowl plunged upside down into a from the waters which were above the firmament: sink full of dishwater, so the dome created here and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. is more important for what it does than what it And the evening and the morning were the second day.” is. The “firmament” creates a space, an air bubble, a physical pause in the midst of Genesis 1:6-8 insanity. This place also has a name we understand well - “Sanctuary.” Meaningless battles over evolution, intelligent design or biblical literalism totally miss the point. Such battles only add to the tsunami of cultural 2. chaos. How sad that so many who claim this beautiful myth fail to understand its deepest meaning. Divinity separates the waters from the waters, the fury from the ferment, the angry Sanctuary safety shelter sky significance from the oppositional. It is the space in- between which is called “Heaven.” evaporating envy energy extravagance arasol partitioning “Separation” is the theme of this second poem. p As the God of Israel forces the gods of pain and arrogance into their respective corners, so true an atrium and aisle Divinity sidelines violence and abuse. In the middle of the worst we can do to our world reverie reversing random raging room renewed there is still a space, a place of safety and hope, which is the Genesis of all life. and there was evening chasing morning with a freshness touched by dew 3 ere the false promises of “might makes “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven H right” are pushed further aside as Divinity be gathered together unto one place, calls forth the fertile soils of possibility. From and let the dry land appear: and it was so. earth’s richness come herbs and foliage of all kinds, each with their own seed. Order, And God called the dry land Earth; greenness, a future and beauty spring into and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw being. that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree The priests of Israel, who compiled this story, yielding fruit after his kind, invoke the sacred patterns of daily life as they whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. knew them. The seven days of creation And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, reinforce the rhythms of the Jewish week. For six days one works. After that there is the need and the tree yielding fruit, for celebration and praise – Sabbath rest. whose seed was in itself, after his kind: Furthermore, a day which begins in the evening and God saw that it was good. and moves into the light proclaims a different And the evening and the morning were the third day.” reality than what we often acknowledge. Our journey begins at sunrise only to find us Genesis 1:9-13 collapsed and fatigued as evening sets. The sacred, daily rhythms of ancient Israel were 3. infinitely more hopeful. Evening proclaims possibilities and looks ahead, “never more the same.” usty dry desirous dirt D “Designation” is the theme of this poem. enigmatic emerging earth Space is designated for life. Rich soil is designated for growth. Green plants are called soil sensation seedy sod to produce their own seed. The cycle of life moves continually towards tomorrow. invite invest inspire involve gravelly ground grizzly grains nestling nurture needing names and there was evening never more the same 4 he ancient word for “lights” used in this ”And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament T story, , literally means “lanterns” or of the heaven to divide the day from the night; “luminaries.” It is a diminutive word, a functional and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And word, perhaps even a festive word. It is let them be for lights in the firmament purposely applied to the sun, the moon and the stars which the Babylonians regarded as their of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made gods. People still consult the stars today, two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to do they not? rule the night: he made the stars also.