messianic complex

Norwegian photo-journalist Jonas Bendiksen set out on a three-year spiritual sojourn (trying to be open-minded and receptive to the experience) to document the lives of seven individuals who style themselves as the Second Coming of Jesus and it was from those intimate portraits readers get the community of believers as profiled in The Last Testament.
The big questions of whether the spiritual leaders rise to their followers’ expectations is perhaps not outside of the scope of the book but leaves them unanswered, allowing readers instead to contemplate the crusades done in the name of original namesake. All those appearing in the gospel, who seem blissfully tolerant of their pretenders (perhaps there is enough geographical separation to avoid competition) despite the apparent stakes, are worth investigating but Vissarion, the charismatic figure of Siberia who leads a worldwide congregation of around ten-thousand centred around a settlement in a hollow called Minusinsky. Vissarionites preach a message of reincarnation, vegetarianism and sobriety of the soul (many points in common with his Japanese and Brazilian, Inri Cristo, counterparts) and consider their leader to be technically the word of God (the Logos) returned and not divine, despite some elaborate personal hagiography and celebrating Christmas on Vissarion’s birthday, 14 January—which is even closer to the Orthodox observation date.

gated reverb

Probably a nifty party trick and a perennially good suggestion to ring in the New Year but perhaps especially apt to usher out 2017, we learnt (first heard on NPR’s Politics Podcast—support your local public radio station) that if you play Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” on 31 December beginning at 23:56:40 precisely, that epic, heroic drum break will coincide with the stroke of midnight. I hope that this potential bit of performance art isn’t too much an imposition or disrupts your New Year’s Eve disc-jockeying—or rather, I hope it is a big disruptor and causes you to reframe your whole party. In fact, play all the Phil Collins and all the Tom Petty, especially “Breakdown.”

seasons greetings

Though there will be no long snow-bound, winter’s nap for H and I, we will be busy with Christmas celebrations over the next few days and we’ll be taking a pause for station identification. Thank you one and all for visiting (we cannot say it often enough) and we hope for a bright and happy holidays for everyone and we’ll see you again real soon.