The Fermata Weekly: Introducing My Fables
Turtle & Wolf
The Fermata Weekly is the weekly recap & preview of my artistic activity, with special attention given to Notes of Rest, my contemplative-musical retreat, and The JuJu Exchange, my jazz-electronic fusion band.
Hi everyone,
I am excited to start sharing my fables with you as part of my ongoing conversation on faith, music, and rest. What I find in the fables is a portal to a wellspring of creativity that is made possible through my inheritance of storytelling traditions that come down to me from the Bible and West Africa.
Moreover, fables are desperately needed in our time of being overworked and skimming. You can’t skim a fable, just like you can’t skim poetry. You have to sit with it and let it unfold before you and in you. (Perhaps this is a reason Jesus’ parables - a cousin to fables - are some of the most remembered parts of the Bible.) The posture of writing and sharing fables cultivates in me the rest I was created to receive. May it be so with you too.
This fable is called Turtle & Wolf.
An old turtle once met a young wolf. The runner admired how far the swimmer had come. The young one asked: “in all of your travels, what have you learned?” The elder sat calmly, felt the familiar, weathered shell, and responded: “Through it all, I’ve remembered that I’m covered.” Then the traveler retreated inwards, to settle down, as the rain began falling on them both.
One reason I love this fable because it gives me so much space to explore how I’m feeling and how I’m experiencing the world. Sometimes I possess the curiosity of the wolf, asking others about how they have come to be how they are. Sometimes I’m the one being asked, and if I’m remembering my humility, I’ll give glory to God for covering me always. Sometimes I may just be the rain, falling on someone else. Or the rain might be seen as a reason for others to retreat and rest. (Note that the rain can be seen as a help or nuisance, depending on perspective.) The traveler retreating inwards has many possibilities for identity. Is it the turtle or the wolf who retreats inwards? Who did the traveling that day?
I love that fables can’t be overdetermined. None of the meanings I found are the exclusive ways to read it. I’m curious to hear how you do.
What do you see? What do you hear? What’s your invitation?
abundantly,
Julian
Upcoming Appearances:
Sept 3-4: Notes of Rest at Plymouth Congregational Church UCC in Des Moines, IA, Sept 3-4 (The retreats will happen during Saturday evening & Sunday morning service, and then I will play a concert at 2p on Sunday afternoon at the church. Only Sunday’s content will livestream.)
A Listen about Being Covered: