Selah. If you have a passing knowledge of the Psalms, you'll have noticed that every once in a while they insert that little word in between some of the lines. The definition has been lost over time, but it's commonly believed to be a musical notation (since many of the Psalms were originally sung) that meant to pause and reflect on what has just been said in the text. But even then, there is debate. Does it mean "stop, pause, be silent and reflect"; or does it mean "accent what was said with a blast of the instruments and a shout"?

SELAH!!!

Yeah, I could picture shouting that word.

Then again, I could also picture an entire throng of people, singing the words and suddenly stopping . . . unison in their silence . . . absolutely hushed (except the slight twittering giggle of a few children, uncomfortable in the sudden quiet) . . . stopping to think about the words of the song they were singing.

But today, here and now, we've given Selah a different meaning. SELAH: The Psalms Project is the latest community project by Community Comics. And whether you intend to do so with a pause or a shout, the idea is the same: to reflect on the Psalms.

I love the Psalms because they're beautiful and messy; open and honest; sacred and base. Bono, in an introduction to a book of Psalms that actually was one inspiration and catalyst of this project, said, "That's what the Psalms feel like to me, the blues. Man shouting at God -- 'My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me?' (Psalm 22) . . . The Psalter may be a font of Gospel music, but for me it's in his despair that the Psalter really reveals the nature of his special relationship with God. Honesty, even to the point of anger." Interestingly enough, another inspiration for this project was Michael Bennett's contribution to Proverbs and Parables, where he contrasted a Psalm with a blues song. (Psalm 51 is going to be included in this project as well.) The Psalms were, originally, artistic songs of worship and adoration, of questioning and anger, of relief and comfort and thankfulness to a powerful and loving God, proclaiming his awesome-ness to the world.

That powerful and loving God is STILL powerful and STILL loving and STILL awesome, and what Community Comics wants to do is encourage Christian artists to create artistic pieces of worship using the Psalms as the starting point. You can take any Psalm. Use any translation. (We will need to make sure that we have appropriate citations, depending on the translation you choose. We will take care of this detail for you, if need be.) And then illuminate the text with your artwork.

Here are some general guidelines and explanations:

1. Don't be shy. This project is open to EVERYONE. Everyone who wants to take part CAN and WILL be included. So you think you can't draw? Don't worry! This is about expressing ourselves in worship, not trying out for a job for Marvel or DC.

2. Choose the Psalm that speaks to you the most. As we said, you can choose any Psalm you want. Do not worry about doing the same Psalm as another artist. This is supposed to be an intensely personal project, and the way you approach a Psalm will be different than the way someone else does.

3. Be creative. Don't limit yourself. Already, before even announcing this project, we have a single panel comic, a couple comic book style pages, and a painting. Someone is working on a collage. Think outside the box, here. The text of the psalmists is your starting point, but it is up to you to create a visual representation of the Psalm. Avant-garde . . . abstract art . . . sequential . . . symbolic . . . manga . . . collage . . . painting . . . whatever.

4. The Psalms will be posted on the Community Comics website. Eventually, this project may be published in a concrete form, like a book or a CD. Anyone who wants to take part will need to send us the consent form (which gives us permission to publish your artwork, but also makes it clear that you are the sole owner of the artwork). The consent form can be found HERE. You'll just copy and paste the consent into your e-mail when you send us your comic. (This is to protect both you and us.) Since the format will originally be on the web, you do not need to worry about page sizes or format. Just remember that for us to print -- if we print -- we will need files at least 300 dpi. When you contact us, we can discuss those needs. We're also going to ask you for a short bio about yourself and a short explanation of why you chose your Psalm, if you like.

Send the short bio, brief explanation of why you did the Psalm you did, the consent form, and the image files of your Psalm to communitycomics_selah@yahoo.com and we will post it as soon as possible. It's that easy.

5. Make this project an act of worship. How? Well, worship is expressing adoration for our God. It's a simple concept, but one that even the wisest and smartest of us have trouble understanding . . . or doing.

As said before, our goal with this project is to encourage Christian comic creators to merge art with worship. Meld creativity with spirituality. For some, that is an everyday occurrence. For others, it is a new idea. Some artists struggle with the dichotomy. Others have never even considered it.

But back to Bono: "Music is Worship: whether its worship of women or their designer, the world or its destroyer, whether it comes from that ancient place called the soul or simply the spinal cortex, whether the prayers are on fire with a dumb rage or dove-like desire . . . the smoke goes upwards . . .to God or something you replace God with . . . usually yourself." I believe the word "music" could easily be replaced with "artwork" or "comics". Artists, for whatever reason, have a tendency to focus on the act of being a creator, to concentrate on the potential physical perfection of beauty, to revel in the act of creation, and to forget the One True Creator while we do it.

This is an act of corporate worship, in some ways -- Christian comic creators lifting their voices (and pens) together to praise the name of the Lord in their artwork. The focus of this project is not US. Is not COMICS. It is one thing and one thing only: our awesome God.

Psalm 34:3 -- Come let us worship the Lord together.

SELAH!!!

Ben Avery, EIC -- Community Comics

Past Ben's Pen articles:

That One Cartoon Song, You Know the One

"Dirty Diapers and the Apple of God's Eye" -- Thoughts on Art and Worship

The Ten Best Christian Comics You've Never Read, pt. 1

The Ten Best Christian Comics You've Never Read, pt. 2