BEHIND THE SCENES - PROTECTED

“Protected” by Katie Berman, 2020
Reclaimed wool and cotton yarns, copper tubing.

Recently, I started a conversation about my body of work “New Humanity” inspired by my most recent read Jesus Want to Save Christians... (Bell and Golden). If you missed it, you can read up on my first work “Broken and Poured: Study #1” and behind-the-scenes thoughts here.

As I’ve been meditating on the things I’ve read, I’ve found myself immersing my time into contemplating the story of the Exodus. The Exodus is an account in the Jewish tradition about Moses-- with the help of Yahweh God-- leading the ancient Israelite people out of Egypt, freeing them from their oppression under the rule of Pharaoh (anyone remember The Prince of Egypt??). This is a story that embodies big picture concepts of the relationships between divine deities and humanity and the overall redemption of the world. 

When I read this story, I find myself thinking a lot about cycles. Our life exists within them. We see it everyday in the rising and setting of the sun and moon. The way tides become low and high. In our seasons. Our bodies. 

And cycles happen within our relationships. From a 30,000 foot view, that’s kinda what the Exodus story begins to share with us. 

If you’re unfamiliar, here’s a super quick, very simplified rundown of what’s happening: The Israelites are a growing immigrant group in Egypt. The rulers of Egypt aren’t too keen on this and through fear and desire for power enslave the Israelite people. The Pharaohs force the Israelites into brutal manual labor, kill their babies, etc. This oppression lasts for several generations.The Israelites cry out in their anguish. God hears them and sends Moses to go help the cause of freeing these people. In the end (spoiler alert...), God rescues the people of Israel and frees them from their enslavement to the Egyptians. 

Yay, happy ending, right? But if you read further, the Israelites forget the goodness of God, start doing what they want and they experience hardship and enslavement again. And this keeps happening. They cry out for help, God saves them, they forget, they choose their own way, they hit hardship and enslavement. Again. And again. And again.

We all fall into these cycles, don’t we? Whether it’s with each other or within our faith journeys if we have them. I see this relationship cycle so clearly in my own life. When I decide to pursue my own selfish gain and forget those around me, I experience hardship and disunity with others and myself. In the midst of my hardship I remember the goodness of God and cry out. I am witness to the light and life of Christ and experience healing. I live in the protection of God. I remember to break myself open and pour myself out for others around me. To listen and to love and to care. And when things are going good, I have a tendency to forget who I am and who I belong to. I forget where my healing and protection came from. Instead of choosing selflessness and care, I choose...myself. And the cycle begins again.

So with relationship cycles and the Exodus story in mind, I’ve organized “New Humanity” in such a way to represent the stages of this cycle:

Captured

Hear and Remember

Protected

The first piece I’ve created to kick off this cycle is “Protected.” 

I think I started here because it’s the part of the cycle that is the most encouraging to me. No matter how many times I find myself in the selfish phases of the cycle, the healing and protection portion of the cycle always comes back around too. My hope is that I linger there a lot longer than I do in the selfish phase...  

May we recognize the cycle within ourselves and others and choose to live in healing and hope.  

- KB