Making Room for the Chicken (Holy Spirit)

I went down under to teach, and ended up learning a lot. Teaching for this intensified period of time, and teaching in an embodied way helped me see a lot of these concepts that I've been teaching in a new way. I've read the story 'Watch with Me' by Wendell Berry many times, but after the class acted out the story on the beach (as the sun set--left), 'making room for the chicken' became my new picture for how to teach. In the story, a whole group of men start following a crazy, suicidal guy in the community since he was carrying a shotgun. If they had followed too close, he probably would have shot someone. But they didn't just ignore him either, because he would have shot himself. Eventually, keeping their 'not too close, not too far' distance, a chicken--who represents the Holy Spirit--the mother hen--flies into his face. Had they been too close, there would have been no room for the Holy Spirit. But if they had ignored him, he would have killed himself before encountering the chicken. The guy swatted at and hit the chicken (instead of the 'watching guys') and at that moment finally woke up out of his crazed spell. The fight has to be with God, not the people who are helping. This right space is difficult to keep, but it has inspired me. I love it when students help me learn what I'm teaching. When that quits happening, I quit.

On the left are the guys keeping watch at the right distance leaving enough space for 'Thatch' to encounter the Holy Spirit (Chicken) and have his awakening fight with God. The chicken flies in his face, he hits the chicken (instead of his friends) and he then snaps out of his crazy spell realizing where and who he is.