Author: Nanadadzie Ghansah

Play What Is Not There

The great jazz musician, Miles Davis, is noted to have often said this to his band members:

“Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.”

For the last few years, it has literally become my favorite quote as well as guiding principle.
I wanted to create an image to commemorate that. Since I had no model and no trumpet but had a sax and myself, I improvised.
I played with what was there to create what was not there.

“Play What Is Not There…”
(A wet plate collodion image on black glass)

 

You Are Not The One

“But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth”.
I Chronicles 22:8
 
In the Book of Chronicles of the Christian Bible, we learn that somewhere along the line, King David was living well and in peace in his palace. However, it bothered him that the Ark of Covenant was in a tent. It bothered him that he as a mortal lived in a house of cedar while the Lord lived like a nomad.
He resolved to fix that. He would build a temple to God.
He summoned the prophet Nathan and told him of his plans. Nathan encouraged him to do so. However, in a vision, God told Nathan to tell David NOT to build a temple. As a soldier who had fought many wars and shed much blood, God did not find it fitting that David should build him a house of peace. His son Solomon was destined to build a temple.
So David did not build the temple.
 
As I read Chronicles this morning I could not help but think of the debate around the National Cathedral that a group of Ghanaian church leaders want to build in Accra. A plan that President Akufo-Addo supports.
 
We in Ghana do not have a King David. Neither do we have an Ark of Covenant that lives in a tent. What we have is a President, the leader of the nation, and priests and pastors of Christian churches, leaders, and guardians of our spirituality, ethics, and morality. They are hell-bent on building a National Cathedral.
Even as conditions of David’s reign disqualified him from building a temple to the Lord, conditions in Ghana disqualify the President, the pastors, priests and all the “cathedralists” from putting up a National Cathedral.
 
A cathedral or temple is a place of peace and worship. We note that David thought of building one only when he lived in peace, that is, free from the affliction of Israel worst problems – attacks by the Philistines and other neighboring nations.
Thus a temple or cathedral is supposed to be envisaged when a land is free from most of its major problems. Even then, the Lord thought David was not fit to do that. Even then we see that God wanted someone to do it who truly represented peace.
 
In a land where the majority of children do not get a good education, millions still do not have good drinking water, people die in cars from lack of beds, the roads kill, corruption is rampant, bankers are plundering deposits and so on, let the words of God to David be an admonishment.
 
If our nation is racked with corruption and lack of integrity, is that not a blemish on all the priests and pastors?
If our nation has so many poor and hungry is that not a blemish on the President?
Is that not our equivalent of “shedding blood”? Our leaders may not be shedding blood but they shedding hope in the future!
David had achieved peace after all the blood and still was not allowed to build a temple. Our leaders “keep shedding hope”, ruling a land with “no peace” and still want to build a cathedral!
 
As the leader of the nation and guardians of ethics and morality in our communities respectively, I ask that the President, the priests, and pastors lead the nation to a place where the children will live in peace in prosperity.
In such an era of good, one of these children will arise who will build a cathedral that will honor the Lord and the country of Ghana.
Until then, let us remember the words of God to David, “This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in.”

The Noblest Virtues

Several things inspire me to write poetry. Some of the most powerful are images – paintings, photos, even a scene from everyday life or nature.
A few weeks ago, when I saw a painting by Yaw Safori, an amazing Ghanaian artist, the words came tumbling out. He has kindly allowed me to share the painting titled “Noblest Virtues” and my poem.

The Noblest Virtues
A Poem inspired by the eponymous painting by Yaw Safori

Peel back the layers,
Of color and strokes!
Beneath the layers of oils,
Pilled mindfully on canvass,
You’ll find me.

This unkind world,
Has forced a shield,
To grow around the soul,
That lets in no light,
That leaks no tears.

Yet below the hardness,
That bares its teeth,
In pointed defiance,
With steely defense,
Lies a lake.

A lake in which swims,
Love, care, and affection,
Wisdom and determination,
Truth, dignity, and purpose,
Courage and selflessness.

A lake!
Full of the noblest virtues,
Is what you’ll find
If you peel back the layers,
Around my soul.

© Nana Dadzie Ghansah 2018