Nick Cave – St. Mark’s Gospel

Paul writes - The musician who has accompanied me for the longest period of my life is Australian Nick Cave

Yesterday (22^nd), which incidentally was his 48^th birthday (“Happy birthday Nick!”), I had the opportunity to read a short reflection by Cave, written to introduce Mark’s gospel in the Pocket Canon series of booklets (this series of “introductions” has now been published in one book called Revelations: Personal Responses to the Books of the Bible).

The whole introduction is worth reading; Nick’s language is so evocative and rich. He deepens our experience of sitting with the Jesus of Mark’s gospel. Here’s a “taster.” He writes (highlights are mine):

“…The Christ that emerges from Mark, tramping through the haphazard events of His life, had a ring of intensity about Him that I could not resist. Christ spoke to me through His isolation, through the burden of His death, through His rage and the mundane, through His sorrow. Christ, it seems to me, was the victim of humanity’s lack of imagination, was hammered to the cross with the nails of creative vapidity…

Merely to praise Christ in His Perfectness, keeps us on our knees, with our heads pitifully bent. Clearly, this is not what Christ had in mind. Christ came as a liberator. Christ understood that we humans were forever held to the ground by the pull of gravity – our ordinariness, our mediocrity – and it was through His example that He gave our imaginations the freedom to rise and fly. In short, to be Christ-like…”

Comments

[Stephen]

Cave's introduction was one of the things our NT tutor handed out in class. Didn't connect with everyone in class but some (including me) found it helpful and stimulating.

[Beth Wacome Keck]

rise and fly - rise and fly ...
perfect word pictures ...

[Jason Goroncy]

A fascinating commentary. Thanks for directing me to it.