Luke 6:1-2 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

+

Consider the field you walk through with others. Who’s with you? Questions and answers, given freely, can foster new relationships. Who’s watching matters. Conversations can lead to new places both sides agree to explore.

If you change who you walk with, try exploring their fields with them.

*Elle Billing creates community on Očhéthi Šakówiŋ land in rural North Dakota. “I am reconstructing characters’ experiences through mixed media with a focus on vintage texts and contemporary themes,” they write. “In the studio you will find me deconstructing old books, making my own collage paper, and infusing my work with the power of story.” Experience their invitation “to co-create the world we want” at https://www.elleandwink.com/

About the Ophelia Series, Elle writes, “The series began when I taught Hamlet to a group of deaf high school students in 2017. Ophelia uses the symbolism of flowers (the so-called feminine) to speak truth to power (the patriarchy). She is a truth teller; however, the frames we have for storytelling don’t have space for that. In Joseph Campbell, women are relegated to madonnas or w****s, sirens or saints. ‘Get thee to a nunnery,’ Hamlet says, as Ophelia is used and cast aside. The in-betweenness her character is forced to occupy doesn’t exist. This is for all the times madness is truth, when it is beautiful, when it’s the appropriate response to the ‘rotten state of Denmark’: our partners, homes, and countries are bent on murderous intent and everyone stays smiling.”

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit marianneabellipschutz.substack.com