him, producing a volume which invites attention far beyond itsdeceptively modest appearance.
Anyone who has watched Roger work with children has been struck
by his almost magical ability to hold their attention and encourage their
participation. He won the lasting affection and gratitude of hundreds of
little people and their parents at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia,
South Carolina, during his remarkable tenure there as Canon for Chil-
dren’s and Family Ministries from 1998 to 2015. Many of those children
will remember him all their lives.
When I saw Roger’s first book, The Painting Table, I was captivated
by the richness of color, form, and imagination that characterizes his art
and his shaping of it into a narrative. There is a wide-ranging fecundity
underlying these images and their context. By providential design, The
Painting Table was ready to move into a situation its creator never imag-
ined, when the tragic massacre of children in the Sandy Hook Elementary
School in Newtown, Connecticut, occurred in 2012.
xi
Newtown’s Trinity Episcopal Church invited Roger, bringing his
special skills, to minister to the traumatized survivors and their fami-
lies. There, under his benevolent gaze, the children could work out their
distress as the painting table became the image of the Lord’s Table where
they received communion and the promise of healing. You could almost
call it art therapy, but such a term would be reductive. Roger’s Christian
faith combined with his artistic gifts enlarges his work into a higher
realm.
Now, Under the Fig Tree appears with its invitation to adults. Above
all, it is deeply biblical, which commends it especially to those seeking
a closer identification to the Gospel. Roger’s seemingly simple sketches
catch the eye, but more important, his way of combining biblical texts
and pictures gives rise to thought. There is humor, yes, and surprise, but
also depth. Passages from the Old and New Testament have inspired his
images in a way that brings the participant deeper into the narrative of
salvation. It is a joy to commend this lovely book to adults and older
children alike.
Fleming Rutledge
Rye Brook, New York
April 21, 2015
xii Under the Fig Tree
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