Exploring the Intersection of Art, Faith and the Human experience


Get Up & Go

by Laura Turner

On Sunday January 26th I attended what I have started referring to as ‘art church’. It’s called Convergence and is geared toward nurturing Christian artists and the creative spirit. Each time I attend, I fall more in love.

Each Sunday is different as opposed to the usual three-songs-and-a-sermon and for this particular occasion there was a soup & bread dinner accompanied by a speaker: Jason Hamacher.

Jason, a DC native, is a drummer for a hardcore rock band that has toured internationally. At one point the band had a break while in the Middle East. During this time, he rented a car and drove around Mesopotamia. Amid his travels he stopped at a Syrian Orthodox Church. He simply knocked on the door and asked for a tour and suddenly his life was projected on a very interesting path.

The Syrian (or Syriac if you want to get fancy) Orthodox Church can trace its roots all the way back to Simon Peter and is documented in the book of Acts. As an act of worship, the church elders perform chants that have been passed down verbally from generation to generation. (There are manuscripts to follow, but no actual recordings of the music exist besides some that were made by an Austrian man in the 1960’s, which have proved difficult to find.)

Jason formed a bond with members of this particular church the day he visited and over time they agreed to let him bring some equipment over to record the chants. Some of the men performing for the recording were the last ones to know certain chants. One even died of old age shortly thereafter so Jason was able to preserve the last of that music through his recording session. Wow!

One obstacle in Jason’s quest for preservation is the fact that Syria has fallen on seriously conflicted times. Many people Jason interacted with have been executed or simply disappeared. Buildings and ancient landmarks have been destroyed. The pictures he took and the recordings he made are some of the last documentations of an incredibly important culture and way of life.



 

The work he was able to do before this happened attracted the attention of Yale and the Smithsonian. When asked how he was able to obtain access to people and places that many westerners don’t, he simply answered, “I just asked”.

As an aspiring photojournalist, there are many facets of Jason’s story that speak volumes to me.

I have always been fascinated by the quiet corners of the world. Be it the actual planet we live on or my own personal surroundings. We live in a very loud, progressive landscape. Listening to the Lord’s Prayer spoken in its original language made me realize how cheap our culture can be. We are quick to do away with old traditions and objects to make way for the next bigger, better thing. Wanting bigger and better isn’t wrong in and of its self, but there is beauty in preservation.

The idea of ‘just asking’ is monumental to me. As a single 25 year old woman, I am looking around. I am seeing other people’s stories written in front of me, being inspired by them and wondering where my own narrative fits in the scheme of things. As if life is an all-you-can-eat buffet and I am watching what everyone else is loading onto their plate, but not filling my own. In general, I find that people tend to search for a formula to mold their life into, whether it’s “career, retirement, travel” or “school, spouse, kids”. In my opinion it’s a coping mechanism…seeking the path of least resistance in a chaotic world. I, for one, feel as though I walk the line between formula and chaos daily. I feel called to chaos, but the idea of making that personal leap into the unknown terrifies me. Life does not usually work out the way we try to project it, so I am not even sure why I allow my fear of great things to stop me from ‘just asking’.

Lately I’ve been reading up on a lot of photography related reverse engineering. Photographers with phenomenal and thought provoking images answer questions such as, “What was your thought process behind this moment?” “How did you determine what lighting to use?” and “If you could give advice to the readers, what would it be?” Almost universally the response has been to stop reading about greatness and go out and live your own moments. I don’t think Jason knew he was facilitating a poignant moment when he knocked on the door of the church, but he was curious and made the next logical step. If you make enough positive decisions to put yourself out there and just live your life exploring those quiet corners, you have a better chance of finding yourself in an extraordinary circumstance.

So out the door I go!

 

**The above image is of a train jumper very candidly doing his thing. In the middle of a photo shoot, the train passed through and I was very elated to see him in the act of jumping off the train. I’ve had plenty of conversations with drifters passing through, but never as they attempted to come or go. This opportunity is a post all its own but I found it very fitting to my theme of Carpe Diem and subculture.**

 

Article republished with permission from Laura Turner: http://theworksoflaura.com/blog/

 




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