Here’s a simple Christmas idea that’s multimedia explosion of incarnational goodness. It’s a reading accompanied by a ultrasound graphic and a womb sound effect. And I’ll give them all to you.

You’ll need:

1. Flesh of Our Flesh, a poem/meditation/reading by Martin Wroe
2. Eighteen Weeks, a visual piece based on an ultrasound by Elizabeth Mitchell (aka PiscusFiche, aka PixelFish).
3. Free Heartbeat womb sounds courtesy of Peter King (who conceived of pairing the reading with the heartbeat independent of me and earlier too)

How It Plays Out

Start playing the heartbeat loop or roll your own loop and music with this original heartbeat.wav file (Remix!).
Probably better if the room was dimly lit, perhaps by candlelight to signify the coming of the Light. Maybe you have your Advent Candle wreath on display.
Fade in the visual if you can. Let the heartbeat loop run for a bit before reading with some vibrancy. Remember this is Christmas not Good Friday.

Eighteen Weeks - Ultrasound Art

This was created by Elizabeth Mitchell for a friend of hers. It’s from an actual ultrasound. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but the ultrasound for my boy was gray and boring, which makes me suspect that Elizabeth Mitchell enhanced this one to get that evocative blue medical monitor glow. The text she added is a clinical description of the developmental stage of a fetus at eighteen weeks, hence the title of the work.

eighteen weeks
The fetus is now about five inches long.
The child blinks, grasps, and moves her mouth.
Hair grows on the head and body.

If Jesus were born today, is this ultrasound monitor where the fast food shift supervisors, who were visited by an angel, would gather around to tell Mary of what they had seen and heard about her son?

Eighteen Weeks
hi-res Eighteen Weeks

Womb Sounds Loop

Peter King from the UK had the same idea I had except he was able to create the heartbeat womb sounds into a loop. The mp3 is a four minute loop which should be plenty long.

original heartbeat.wav
looped heartbeat womb sounds mp3

Spoken Word - Flesh of Our Flesh

There are a couple of versions of this meditation on the dual nature of Christ. Here’s another version of Wroe’s poem found in the book When You Haven’t Got a Prayer: A Journalist Talks to God (Giftlines).

The central idea of the poem, which is addressed to Jesus, is asked after a few lines.

And if the Word was made flesh
are you flesh of our flesh
bone of our bones

It’s a series of questions to God the Son inquiring about his humanity. Are you really a human being Jesus or are you just putting on a our clothes? I mean, really, what does God look like when he becomes human?

Here are some choice bits:

… little Lord Jesus no crying he makes
well, that’s not true is it
the thing about flesh is it makes you cry

and

and did the flesh inconvenience and annoy
and anger you like it does the
rest of us…

There are a couple of passages that are even more challenging. Wroe asks if that really is Jesus “slipping clumsily out from between a Virgin’s legs.” I don’t think he means to be disrespectful or irreverent. He wants us to ask ourselves why this is shocking to us. True human beings don’t sprout fully formed from your forehead. True human beings are born in one of two ways. And while I wouldn’t talk about anyone “slipping clumsily out” in normal conversation. I might express that in some form of creative writing to make a point.

Having said that, I don’t recommend using this portion for a public performance. The language is so graphic I think it would distract from the theme. It’d be better to read this in a smaller groups where you can discuss it.

Read over the piece and then edit it to suit your audience.

Copyright Information

Heartbeat Sound Effect

Peter King has given permission for churches and other groups to use the loop.

Eighteen Weeks

Elizabeth Mitchell has given permission for her graphic art to be used for this purpose only. Because this is a personal piece, she wants to limit its use. Please be kind to attribute the piece to Ms. Mitchell somehow.

Flesh of Our Flesh

I’m most concerned with editing someone else’s poem. Do we have permission to do that?

This spoken word piece can be found on the album Life, Death, God which used to be available from Sticky Music’s old website. I’m not sure if it is anymore. Their current website is has been updated and it’s no where to be found. I don’t own this CD.

I bring this up because in the liner notes of another similar CD of Wroe’s work, Seven, (which I do own) he gives churches and individuals license to modify the poems for their purpose. I imagine the license is the same for the other CD. So, if you need edit the poem, I’m confident you have the author’s permission.

Here’s an Easter idea from a couple of years ago. I wanted to do a spoken word thing to set up the song Why by Nichole Nordeman on her This Mystery CD. Why tells the story of girl and her father on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They happen upon Jesus being condemned to die by the crowd. It’s a real tear-jerker that won Nordeman a Dove Song of the Year award. It’s perfect for a young girl to sing.

I opted for a sonnet form and recorded it with an ambient background. Listen for the piano teasing the song in minor key (a sadder, darker sound), especially the last phrase which plays a variation of the line “Why does everyone want him to die?”

As with any purely audio (non-performance) event, you probably want to have some sort of visual accompanying this piece. Maybe a depiction of any (or all) of Passion events or using lighting to focus attention on the cross or something else in your sanctuary.

Please feel free to use this for your church. Attribution would be nice, but isn’t necessary.

Download A Child at Calvary mp3

A Child at Calvary - Sonnet

A thousand and a thousand years ago
He took a cross to lay upon his back
Although the week before a crowd had cheered
The time was opportune for an attack

They hurled their hate on love; they called for death
Not knowing blood would gladly spill for sin
His love was without limit, without end
And all within its bounds would be forgiven

How from a child’s eyes this must appear
Who knew the man as Mighty and as Good
To see the mob insult him without fear
March to a hill and nail him flesh to wood

Would that child know that he must die
Or would she need to learn the reason why?