Beauty

Hey everyone -- I'll warn you in advance that this is Brian, LivingPalm's husband. I am a contributor on this blog. "Contributor" is an overstatement. I have written a grand total of three posts in all the time LP has been writing. I'll tell you why. When I read LP's account of the Thursday morning worship service God put on for Himself (see Thursday Morning Service Order) , I'm a little intimidated. I can't write like her. In fact I have been trying all day to capture that day from my perspective, and the following is the best I can do.

Tam and I were on pace for a typical day of church-work. Please forgive me if you have an overly romantic view of church-work. It is a lot like any typical day in any workplace -- hours of boredom interrupted by an occasional fire to extinguish. The day started like so many before it -- a routine fight, bad news from an unexpected place, and a desperation to know -- really know -- that what God is asking my family to do with our lives makes any difference at all.

Living Palm has an annoying yet endearing rule that we will listen to her iPod on the way to work and mine on the return trip. She asked her usual, "Do you want the Bible?" (A reference to the Daily Audio Bible podcast) -- I responded with my usual smart-ass answer, "No! I don't like the Bible." On came the text about Noah and the end of the ark internment. Send out a bird, no land, no land, land, Rainbow -- "sounds cool", I thought, "wish God would give me some of that hope today...." -- Read Tam's blog (January 16th) to get the rest of the story.

Here is my point: It is amazing when God interrupts my day with just the right touch of beauty -- a rainbow. It whispers, "Shhhh, Be still, I am God, My plans for you are for good and not for destruction." Honestly, it is more amazing when I read my wife's blog two weeks later and hear the same message -- only louder. Now that's beautiful!

Keep writing, baby.

i'm a mom with benefits

YESSIREE -- I've raised 'em up right!
Kendra is making a cake and Natalie is making sugar cookies. What more could I ask for??

It's always exciting to welcome new friends into the Blogging Neighborhood! Here's a couple of new sites I've been enjoying lately:

In A Day's Time - a daily photoblog (everything from busy family life to amazingly creative pieces of art).
Fun trivia: Deb Perry is my cousin's wife and I have not seen her kids since my 12 year old was a newborn! Love this new-fangled- world-wide-web stuff!
(don't miss the post titled 'day 19 and 20...miracle snow' -- it's a great story!)

Falling On Grace - Thoughts from a newfound friend, Lael.
Fun trivia: the Rich Mullins' song "If I Stand" that Lael took her site title from was one of the very first duets Brian and I ever sang together. (come to think of it, it was also one of the last!)

Last note for today: you just gotta check out the week of posts that served as a countdown to the marriage of David Taylor and Phaedra Wendler at Diary of an Arts Pastor Vulnerable, poignant, hopeful and well-written, I can pretty much guarantee you'll be clearing your throat and drying your eyes once or twice!

Happy Reading!

once

So we just hit "stop" on my second viewing of Once. I didn't want to write a gushy post until I was positive that I meant what I said.

Now I'm positive that I love, love, love this movie.
I love its concept.
I love its music.
I love its small budget.
I love its organic performances.
I love its location (Dublin in the spring anyone?!?).
I love its actors...especially Marketa Irglova.

But most of all I love this scene...


When I say love, I mean the kind of emotion that makes your stomach flip and tumble and your eyes fill up with saltwater and your head get kind of fuzzy. I don't know why -- well, yes, actually I think I do.
The act of two musicians who live ordinary and disappointing kind of lives but who will take the time and risk to share their music with each other and create this kind of beauty just about wrecks me. I don't know why. I found myself wanting to raise my hand in worship as I watched this scene with my family tonight. The Creator who shares beauty with us and through us wrecks me.
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with that, but for tonight I'm just enjoying this movie and the sharing of it with people I love.

Thursday Morning Service Order

Thursday, January 10, Morning Service

Pre-service:
Graphic:
The Evening of the Deluge by Joseph William Mallord Turner

8:35 - Cue Phone
(At this point Brian and Tami should be scrambling to get out the door to get to work on time. Make sure they do NOT have their coffee yet so they will be able to be fully cranky at the top of the service.)

8:36 - Band vamps on opening to "Rainy Day Blues"
(This should play underneath Brian's conversation with the realtor. Keep Brian's vocal above band mix so all can hear him answer discouraging question after discouraging question from potential buyer regarding flaws of the house. Cut to occasional shots of Tami sitting in the car. Through the raindrops on the windshield, we see her frantically checking the time every couple of seconds while casting anxious and angry looks toward the open door of the house.)

8:45 - Cue band and vocals for "Why Does It Always Rain on Me"
(We hear the music while we see Brian and Tami backing out of the driveway. As the van makes it's way toward the highway we see through the windshield -- and windshield wipers -- Brian and Tami arguing -- using large hand gestures and "I told you so" expressions.)

8:50 - Silence

8:53 - Cue Scripture Reading

(We see Brian and Tami apologize to each other. A moment later Tami hits play on the Daily Audio Bible podcast.)

Genesis 8 (The Message)

Then God turned his attention to Noah and all the wild animals and farm animals with him on the ship. God caused the wind to blow and the floodwaters began to go down. The underground springs were shut off, the windows of Heaven closed and the rain quit. Inch by inch the water lowered. After 150 days the worst was over.
On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ship landed on the Ararat mountain range. The water kept going down until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains came into view. After forty days Noah opened the window that he had built into the ship.

Insert graphic: "Noah's Dove" by 14 year old artist from Belorussia
He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn't even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.
He waited seven more days and sent out the dove again. It came back in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak. Noah knew that the flood was about finished.
He waited another seven days and sent the dove out a third time. This time it didn't come back.
In the six-hundred-first year of Noah's life, on the first day of the first month, the flood had dried up. Noah opened the hatch of the ship and saw dry ground. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the Earth was completely dry.
God spoke to Noah: "Leave the ship, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives. And take all the animals with you, the whole menagerie of birds and mammals and crawling creatures, all that brimming prodigality of life, so they can reproduce and flourish on the Earth."
Noah disembarked with his sons and wife and his sons' wives. Then all the animals, crawling creatures, birds—every creature on the face of the Earth—left the ship family by family.
Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done.

For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."

Genesis 9

God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Every living creature—birds, animals, fish—will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You're responsible for them. All living "But your own lifeblood I will avenge; I will avenge it against both animals and other humans.

Whoever sheds human blood, by humans let his blood be shed, Because God made humans in his image reflecting God's very nature. You're here to bear fruit, reproduce, lavish life on the Earth, live bountifully!"

Then God spoke to Noah and his sons: "I'm setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I'm setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth."

God continued, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I'm putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I'll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth."

9:15 - Cue Rainbow in the Sky

(Wait until the van hits the crest of Twist Run Road. Brian and Tami cut audio and crane their necks out every possible window space to see the full arch of the full color display. Keep house lights dim so that all 5 colors - red, green, blue, indigo and violet -- are clearly seen.)

9:17 - Take a Bow

(Smile and bow as Tami applauds and exclaims, "YAY, GOD!")

9:18 - Cue band for Great Is Thy Faithfulness; insert graphic: "The Covenant with Noah" stained glass

(As the windshield wipers slow down through the drizzle, see close-up of Brian and Tami's faces expressing repentance and peace. )

Walk-Out CD cued to Delirious "Everything's Gonna Be Alright"

*note: I'm not kidding you. The minutes may be a little bit off, but this is how it went down on our way to work last Thursday. Boy, was I humbled -- and amazed.

My heart leaps up when I behold ... A rainbow in the sky."
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

this week: new music; book reviews; great hopes and bitter disappointments

In no way would I consider myself an expert "critic" or "reviewer" but since I am trying to grow in my critical thinking and communication skills, here are my thoughts about the music and books I've been enjoying of late.

Music
Snow Angels by Over the Rhine
I have just discovered this husband/wife team and am completely mesmerized! Read the band bio here. (you may also be interested to know that the duo are Christ-following artists)
I have not yet listened to other albums by OtR, but have a hard time believing there will be another that I like more than Snow Angels. And, while it is, in fact, a "Christmas" album I may not ever take it out of my playlist because it is just that kind of earthy, well-crafted and original music I love any day of the year. I especially love New Redemption Song, White Horse, North Pole Man and Snowed In With You. (the last two you'll want to share with the love of your life!)


The Blood by Kevin Max

Yep...it's that Kevin Max...that guy from DC Talk who seems to have mastered the look and vocals of a brooding, artsy, rock-star guy. I have always enjoyed his vocal talent and now I'm even more impressed by his willingness to dig into a unique album project that stretches out of the rock/pop genre while maintaining his own sound.
The album explores (or should I say sticks its toes into the water of) the roots of rock (Gospel), but doesn't try to be something Max is not (a black soul singer).
My favorite song? A cover of Blind Boys of Alabama Run On For A Long Time (sung with A.I. finalist Chris Sligh) While you're looking that up on iTunes, check out Johnny Cash's version too.
As far as production quality, I'm such an amateur at understanding the nuances, but I would say that is my least favorite category of this recording. It felt a little too bland for such an interesting concept. Every once in awhile throughout the recording there's a hint of a productioon thread that taps into the concept (white rock star singing old gospel songs), but, overall, the interesting sounds and instrumentation added seemed a little timid. I would have enjoyed a lot more of production innovation of David Crowder's A Collision

Books

Tender at the Bone: Growing Up At the Table by Ruth Reichl
An excellent and, oh so much fun, memoir from the Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet magazine. Although I did not realize who the author was when I picked up the book and do not consider myself even slightly intersted in the world of gourmet cooking, I just had so much fun reading this book.
For one thing, I enjoyed the voice this writer uses and would like to model her in my own writing. She is just an excellent storyteller and even admits up front to a few exaggerations (even fabrications!) when they help the story along. Even still, what a very interesting -- bizarre even! -- life she experienced growing up in Greenwich Village in the 1960's.
Two additional characters join the cast of her detached German father and manic-depressive mother, FOOD (in full mouth-watering description) and TRAVEL (exotic and spontaneous). It's no wonder that upon completing the last page I had the strong urge to fly to Greece to eat olives and then to Italy to drink wine!
If you do like to experiment with cooking, you'll especially enjoy the recipes that are integrated into each great story in each chapter. Please let me know if you decide to cook up a few...I'll be right over!


They Like Jesus But Not The Church by Dan Kimball
Two factors influenced my decision to read this book.
1. The title is just so dang intriguing!
2. I heard the author speak for a tiny portion of a main stage presentation at the Willow Arts conference back in June and was totally impressed with the way he could present difficult and, even controversial, material in a completely humble and Christ-focused manner. His writing does not diminish that quality in the least.
While I would not recommend this book for someone who is just looking for something to read with a glass of wine and an overstuffed chair, I would suggest it for anyone who is interested in what post-Christian people are believing about the institution of the Church.
I think, in part, the slowness of my reading this book was due to my own current struggle in living out of true love for the Church. I couldn't take too much of the content of this book at one sitting and had to pace myself.
I appreciate highly Dan Kimball's humble, yet passionate voice, and in this way he reminds me of the voice of one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller. Miller is a much better writer as far as narrative goes, but the content of the message is very similar.
Kimball takes an excellent approach to an important topic -- interviewing people who don't like the church, but do like Jesus -- sound familiar? -- and sharing large portions of those conversations as the basis for the book. He seems to be able to dive into the disappointments and even accusations of these people without placing a priority on their opinion over the biblical calling of the Church.
He places a major emphasis on the need (and even desire) of today's generation to learn and understand biblical history and theology. However, Kimball's major point is to encourage us, Christ's followers, to get out of an separatist mindset (using the image of a church bubble) that warps us into believing we are to focus on going to church or doing church stuff. Instead he places a passionate plea for those who follow Christ to embrace a missional mindset that would cause us to start being consumed with being the Church -- the supernatural, living and breathing bride of Christ. (and as an, oh,by the way, being the Church will include going to church and doing church stuff). This would be an excellent discussion guide for anyone wanting to challenge their own thinking and experiences.


Peppermint-Filled Pinatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love by Eric Michael Bryant
This title was also suggested during the Willow Arts Conference back in June. As far as writing excellence goes, this book was extremely simplistic which, at times, made a provactive subject seem boring. I think the book is far better suited (and maybe even more intended) as a discussion guide. The discussion would inevitably be heated and passionate regarding how we, in the church, view "evangelism" as an agenda to change people's behavior rather than loving them where they currently live and believe and behave. As we love people because they are people and even like people because they are people, we trust Jesus to call them to Himself and to transform their lives. When we are embracing a lifestyle of love rather than a religious sort of tolerance, the people we would love and hang out with would include those of different religions, races, economic standing, lifestyles, and even democrats! (that's a political joke in case you were wondering)

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kaled Hosseini
Last summer, my mom loaned me The Kite Runner by the same author. This Christmas my son, gave me Hosseini's second title (also on many best-seller lists). Both books are fictional, but based in current Afghanistan (by current I'm referring the last 50 years.The story in Suns ends just after 9/11/2001.)
Hosseini is another excellent storyteller and quickly enveloped me into a world that is completely foreign to me -- not just because it is across the world, but nothing about the terrain, Muslim religion, political process, poverty and family structure resembles even closely my own American experience. As any great storyteller, though, Hosseini is able to bridge those differences with the human commanility of love for family, grief over loss, suffering from hardship and other emotions such as loneliness, doubt and even hope for a better future. This particular story centers around the life of women in a Muslim culture -- a culture that shifts from comfortable tradition to extreme abuse depending on the political climate. I felt like I left the story with a far greater understanding and appreciation for the conflicts in the Arab/Muslim world.
As just a sidenote, I felt like the story of A Thousand Splendid Suns was diminshed by an ending that was a little bit too "and they lived happily ever after." I think we all know better.



Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
After reading this book, Tami felt....(check all that apply)
Wistful for beautiful travel -- check
Hungry for delicious pasta and savory wine -- check
Eager to enjoy the love and friendships in my life -- check
Mad as hell at the narcissistic false gospel the author gushes -- check.
The book is a memoir of Gilbert's year of travel to "find herself" across Italy (thus, the fabulous eating), India (and there's the yoga-like meditative praying) and, finally, Indonesia (Bali to be exact where she claims to learn to love, but really is more like "I'm so lucky to be able to not have to work for a year while I escape to this beautiful paradise and since I've been so wounded by my failed marriage and this poor, hard life of being a disappointed, wealthy and intelligent woman I've earned the right to jump into bed with this handsome, passionate, rich man who expects nothing from me and will make all my sexual fantasies come true.") Please.
I'll give you that I thoroughly enjoyed Gilbert's writing style and could learn a lot from that alone. She blends profound, personal insights with an accessible and conversational style. I also benefited from her writing because it allowed me to clearly "hear" the spiritual and relational longings of our culture -- particularly the fellow women in my culture.
But I HATED the blatantly celebrated narcissism of everything the author concludes about God and herself (actually that should read "everything the author concludes about herself as god") This mentality came out loud and clear in an arrogant view toward men and marriage and family and a non-existant view of Jesus. After watching Oprah and her audience gush over the woman (why was no one ticked off that Gilbert's spirituality was found because she had the time and money to travel around the world for a year doing whatever she wanted with whomever she wanted??? how many people do you know who get to live like that???) and after an unbelievably disappointing week learning about another church member giving into the god of self (leaving husband and family and friends behind as casualties), I'm up to my eyeballs in naseua over this brand of spirituality.
Pay attention. This book is a huge bestseller right now and I believe that many people (mostly women) will read it with blindness to the lies being celebrated inside the author's excellent writing and storytelling.

Great Hopes and Bitter Disappointments
I was going to include some updates and stories from my own life over the past couple of weeks, but have decided to come back with that in a separate post. (wait till I tell you about the audio-visual experience God gave Brian and me a couple of days ago!!) In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of my "reviews". Have you read the same book, listened to the same music, have a different opinion? What else are you reading and listening to?

there are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it." --Bertrand Russell

It all started with a $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com from my sister-in-law, Young-Mee. (really, it all started with my mother and her mother before that... the bibliophiles in my family tree) The day after Christmas I am lustily totalling up my purchase on amazon -- finally settling on these titles.

Of course, this meant I needed to get cracking at the stack of books next to my reading chair by the fire place. I managed to complete four of the titles that have been listed in this sidebar for quite some time. Next post I'll tell you what I thought of 'em...aren't you excited?!?