On Sunday, June 30, upon return from a week  in Northern New Mexico, I preached a sermon entitled “Georgia O’Keeffe and the Spirit of Ghost Ranch.” In it, I lifted up some less conventional portals for understanding the “Mother of American Modernism,” whose images of flowers and cow skulls and red rock landscapes are so familiar and beloved.

I also included some questions to ponder in the spirit of O’Keeffe, which I offer here for further reflection. The entire sermon can also be read here. (put in link)

The first of these portals is Feminism. O’Keeffe was quietly fierce and independent. She went her own way. She definitely forged a path of woman artists during a time when the art world was dominated and controlled by men. She had a rebel spirit and never wavered or joined the consensus of the changing ideals of her peers. So, Georgia’s first question for you to ponder is: Do you allow fear to hold you back? How do you express your individuality?

The second portal is Intuition and Spirituality. Artists such as O’Keeffe were directly nourished by Transcendentalism (a philosophy with Unitarian roots) and Eastern mysticism. In particular, they were inspired by the “Nature” essays of our own Ralph Waldo Emerson. The artists felt it more important to respond to painting through intuition and personal connection than through explanation. Georgia’s second question to ponder asks: Have you tapped into your own intuition? Do you trust it? Has reason crowded it out?

The third portal is Sensuality. Quite commonly, O’Keeffe’s flower paintings are said to resemble the most intimate female body parts. Georgia denied this. In fact, she found it amusing. But these works awaken sensuality in the viewer. That’s not up to her, really. Georgia’s third question for you to ponder is: Are you at home in your body, in your sensual self?

Our final portal is Sacred Silence. Georgia loved the silence of her “faraway” New Mexico places, especially after her interval in NYC. She reveled in and revered the sacredness of her environment. Georgia’s last question to ponder here is: Where do you return to yourself? Where do you find or make room for sacred silence in your life?

May Georgia’s spirit live on to inspire us at Ghost Ranch and wherever we may find her.