A Living and Embodied Faith

A Living and Embodied Faith Commentary by Rebecca Dean Cite Share Show Bible Passage The Evening Prayer II is an oil painting by Cameroonian artist Angu Walters. His studio is situated in the north-western city of Bamenda, which has been the location of violent civil war since 2017. While the harsh realities of this conflict have doubtless influenced him, his paintings, with their vibrant use of surrealism and caricature, tend to focus upon music, family life, and village scenes. This focus on community—the corporate and the collective—emerges gradually from the abstract imagery of the painting. As one’s focus sharpens, the human figures become visible, with echoes of the shapes and tones of their faces and hands found throughout the rest of the work. The traditional prayer pose of the two central figures is interrupted by the single open eye of the smaller figure on the left, while the circular face in the middle, simultaneously both background and central image, radiates a halo of colours across the rest of the painting. Are all of these faces engaged in prayer? Who or what else might be found within the shapes? This focus on human bodies and body parts—clearly delineated and yet also interconnected—resonates with the embodied storytelling of Acts 19. Paul’s touching of the disciples with his hands brings the outpouring of the Spirit, which is in turn expressed through the tongues of the new believers (v.6). Paul’s skin somehow imparts healing power to inanimate objects (v.12), and the other itinerant Jewish exorcists are left naked after their failed attempt to cast out a demon (v.16). Sight, hearing, and touch feature in the words of Demetrius the silversmith (v.26) and as the chapter unfolds, we see not just individual bodies but the ‘citizen body’ in action (Brown 1992: 84–85). This artwork can help to remind us that the story of Acts is one that is rooted in authentic human experiences of the living God. References Brown, Peter. 1992. Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press) Walters, Angu. ‘About Cameroon African Artist Angu Walters’, available at https://www.artcameroon.com/about-angu-walters/ [accessed 8 April 2024]