Jun 20 | CPE Journal #16: June 19th

For worship on Tuesday we were to put on two finger puppets and have them speak to one another. I chose a rabbit and a lion-like thing – maybe a cougar. I came into the worship service late, though, so I had to discern for myself what people were doing – which was sitting in silence scribbling on paper with their non-dominant hand, while looking at two finger puppets on the dominant one! At first I thought that we were supposed to consider these two creatures and write down what they meant and why we chose them. Then I wondered if they were actually supposed to be having a conversation with us. I still got plenty out of it.

I thought of the rabbit-hearted girl versus the lion-hearted girl, and then how each creature was opposite and yet alike. A rabbit is frequently quiet and runs away from danger, but it can fight and is very intelligent. It is also a symbol of Easter. This rabbit said to me, “You are not dumb. You are a secret now. Easter opens your mouth.”

When I told my supervisor, he reminded me of the open tomb. Is there something dead that needs to be resurrected? Is there good news to proclaim?

The lion or cougar is beautiful, even though at first I thought it might be a tiger, which made me think of Blake: “In what furnace was thy brain?” They are predators who would eat the rabbit, and yet can be peaceful (they are cats, after all – they love to lie in the sun) And since this looked like a cougar, which is constantly moving into human settlements, is sometimes considered a nuisance for it. Really, though, it only seeks to reclaim what already belonged to it.

Both creatures are primal and essential. The rabbit says, “Listen.” The lion says, “Proclaim.”

-Clarity