Fourth Sunday in Lent

Text: John 3:14-21

Look:

Listen:

Today, I wanted to share with you some art pieces from an exhibit titled, “The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese Internment Camps, 1942-1946.” These are art pieces that were collected from all over the country from the Internment period. It started when one woman found an art piece done by her mother. It turned out to be extraordinary, and so she put out the call to see if there existed more works. She collected a wide range of pieces and all the artists used materials that they had on hand to construct the works.

It spoke to me of verse 21, “what is true come(s) to light.” Though they were taken away from all they knew and suffered serious hardship, their personal truth could not be squelched. Gaman means, “to bear the seemingly unbearable with dignity and patience.” In Lent, we look to Jesus who exhibited this spirit amidst horrific suffering. And we examine how we can invite God into the places we cannot bear- how do we voice this experience to God?

1.Artist Unidentified, Interned at Heart Mountain, Wyoming, Camp Scene, Wood, paint, Collection of the Japanese American Museum of San José, From "Art of Gaman" by Delphine Hirasuna, ©2005, Ten Speed. Terry Heffernan photo.

2. Mother of George Matsushita, Interned at Amache, Colorado, Senninbari vest, Silk cloth, thread, ink, buttons, paint, Japanese American Archival Collection Library, California State University, Sacramento, From "The Art of Gaman" by Delphine Hirasuna, ©2005, Ten Speed Press. Terry Heffernan photo. http://eyelevel.si.edu/2010/05/gaman-and-the-story-of-the-vest-with-a-thousand-knots.html

3. Himeko Fukuhara, Kazuko Matsumoto (Interned at Amache, Colorado, and Gila River, Arizona). Bird pins. Scrap wood, paint, metal. Collection of the National Japanese American Historical Society. FromThe Art of Gaman by Delphine Hirasuna, ©2005, Ten Speed Press. Terry Heffernan photo. http://eyelevel.si.edu/2010/03/gaman-and-the-story-of-the-bird-pins.html