Reformissionary

Lots-o-Links 1.18.12

The Death of the Fringe Suburb

For too long, we over-invested in the wrong places. Those retail centers and subdivisions will never be worth what they cost to build. We have to stop throwing good money after bad. It is time to instead build what the market wants: mixed-income, walkable cities and suburbs that will support the knowledge economy, promote environmental sustainability and create jobs.

Seven Tips for Talking with Your Neighbors About Jesus

For whatever reason, it’s easy for Christians to clam up and get weird when talking about their faith in the day-to-day. Here are a few tips to make bridge those inhibitions and get the conversation going...

An Appreciation of Bird By Bird by Anne LaMott (get it at Amazon or on Kindle)

I thought I was teetering on the edge of crazy with no way to explain to anyone for fear they would quickly need to catch a bus. I was not crazy, or at least not in an inordinate way. With each turn of the page a brilliant sky of possibility opened up to gaze in. Now I might look crazy to some when looking up into that firmament. But, I knew I wasn't the only one. 

Richard Baxter on Meditation

The duty which I press upon thee so earnestly, and in the practice of which I am now to direct thee, is, “The set and solemn acting of all the powers of thy soul in meditation upon thy everlasting rest.” More fully to explain the nature of this duty, I will here illustrate a little the description itself-then point out the fittest time, place, and temper of mind, for it.

Groundhog Day is coming, and it's Groundhog Days in Woodstock, IL -- the movie Groundhog Day was filmed in Woodstock, IL 1992 and released in 1993. Watch it again this Groundhog Day. And if you are in the Chicagoland area, stop by Woodstock for the festivities.

Bad Art & the Tortured Beauty of the Cross

Wonderful, thoughtful discussion between Scotty Smith (Pastor, Christ Community Church, blog), Greg Thornbury (Union University), and Mike Cosper (Sojourn Music) on good art and bad art. I've been thinking through some of themes they discuss as they relate to some music I've been listening to this year. I'm working on a post on one singer/artist in particular who I think many Christians would hate, but for all the wrong reasons.

Anyway, that post is for another day. Watch this great discussion (via). And by the way, this is the best video thumbnail of my friend Greg Thornbury EVER.

Curator | Excellence in the Arts

Curator Magazine has this excerpt from Franklin Einspruch on excellence in the arts & middlebrow taste...

So I have worked out a pragmatic answer: Excellence is art’s reproductive drive. Excellent traits in art trigger the feelings, emotions, and attentions of the viewer. Thus aroused, an artist sets out to reproduce those traits in a new arrangement of materials. Thus the cycle begins anew. It’s not subjective or objective because it’s dynamic……

We don’t use the term “middle art,” and in my opinion there is no middle art. There doesn’t have to be, with so much overlap between high and low. There is, however, middlebrow taste. Middlebrow taste is a kind of chickening out of taste, in which you settle for familiarity instead of demanding excellence……

Go high, go low, but demand it. Whatever you do, don’t chicken out.

Read the rest: High and Low: What is Excellence in the Arts?

A True Work of Art

Joe Thorn told me about this great video about art from David Murray. You should keep up with David's blog: HeadHeartHand. Joe has a post going up about it, which I haven't seen. He predicted that after watching the video I'd post on it first. Sorry Joe. 

At the end of the video, which you should watch in full, where he discribes some pieces of art and shares glimpses into their meaning at the Grand Rapids Artprize Festival, David says this: 

"Some beautiful pieces with some really moving messages. What heights? What depths? What hopes? What fears? Exploring our un-creation and calling us to re-creation. And that's really all art can do. It can call. It can summons. It can point. It can raise questions. But it can never be the answer. Jesus Christ alone is the answer. When we find him we stop asking 'What's next?' He is God's hand reaching down to our hand. His peace calms our confusion. And it's only through Christ that we can do all things. Jesus Christ is the answer. He can take our darkness and chaos and transform them into beautiful light and order. And that is a true work of art." (visit David's post)

Review of Courageous & Christian Art

White Horse Inn posts a review from Anthony Parisi on the Courageous movie. I haven't seen the movie, but I resonate with the reviewer's take on the state of Christians and this kind of "art." If you have seen the movie, what are your thoughts on the review? Even if you haven't seen the movie, does the review reflect your concerns about how some Christians do art? Here's a teaser...

While surely produced with good intentions, Courageous is likely to further entrench the misguided culture wars and bring harm to the Christian witness in the world.

Don't Miss The Art You Missed

Was pointed to a new podcast that I am thoroughly enjoying. It's called The Art You Missed. From the website...

The Art You Missed explores, freely and with an open mind, acts of creation that are in danger of being overlooked amidst the ever-widening stream of the world’s new art... 

The Art You Missed embraces the artistic impulse and adds this premise: all art is forever new...

The Art You Missed is not merely an academic or historical exercise, but is rather an active meditation on the permanent revolutionary impulse at the core of art...

The hosts, Samuel Melden and Fritz Byers, talk music, poetry, and various other kinds of art. 

If you like the podcast, and I think you will, check out their Kickstarter Campaign. Also follow and "like" them out on Twitter and Facebook.

Summer Wakes the Bear Who Sleeps

Just got Summer Wakes the Bear Who Sleeps by Aaron Youngren and Charles Perrault in the mail for review. It's a book of poetry, one-act plays, sermons, and essays from St. George Rides the Dragon Press. Intriguing. Aaron is pastor of The Line in Chicago.

“Ah, now I see. For this she sleeps. She sleeps the winter gone, as do all of her kind. She sleeps for rest.” “No. The sleep she has chosen is a sleep without rest, a sleep tormented, a sleep that ends in death.” So begins an exploration of human frailty through the lens of fairy tale, image, one-acts, ritual, and poetry. Along the way: volunteerism as modern indulgence and doubt as modern fundamentalism; a father who tries to be a brother, and a brother who won't let him; a heretical text; a ship's captain who wants nothing more than to leave his wife and children. “So you have done all, you have sent all, and still she did not turn. There is nothing more to be done.” “No. There is still one more to send.”

National Poetry Month 2011

It's April! That means another National Poetry Month is underway! Hope to have a few good posts on poetry and poets. What a wonderful art. To kick off NPM2011, here's famous Beat poet, Allen Ginsberg, with his most famous poem, Howl (from Howl and Other Poems). Instead of giving you the longer poem in text, here it is read aloud by Ginsberg. What better way to read a Beat poet than by hearing a Beat poet. HEADS UP: He uses language some might find offensive. But I think it's important to understand.

Listen: Part I & II (includes text of poem) | Part III & Footnote

From Poets.org (great site) on the Beat poets...

Beat poetry evolved during the 1940s in both New York City and on the west coast, although San Francisco became the heart of the movement in the early 1950s. The end of World War II left poets like Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Gregory Corso questioning mainstream politics and culture. These poets would become known as the Beat generation, a group of writers interested in changing consciousness and defying conventional writing. The Beats were also closely intertwined with poets of the San Francisco Renaissance movement, such as Kenneth Rexroth and Robert Duncan.

The battle against social conformity and literary tradition was central to the work of the Beats. Among this group of poets, hallucinogenic drugs were used to achieve higher consciousness, as was meditation and Eastern religion. Buddhism especially was important to many of the Beat poets; Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg both intensely studied this religion and it figured into much of their work.

Allen Ginsberg's first book, Howl and Other Poems, is often considered representative of the Beat poets. In 1956 Lawrence Ferlinghetti's press City Lights published Howl and Ferlinghetti was brought to trial the next year on charges of obscenity. In a hugely publicized case, the judge ruled that Howl was not obscene and brought national attention to Ginsberg and the Beat poets.

Samantha Barks as Eponine

My family loves to watch and listen to Les Miserables. We own the 10th Anniversary Dream Cast in Concert DVD. Today we've been watching the The 25th Anniversary Concert and I was taken by Samantha Barks' rendidtion of "On My Own" from the character, Eponine (Lea Salonga is also amazing on the 10th Anniversary edition). It's one of my all time favorite songs, and it's here for you. Lyrics are below if it's new to you. Also look to DVR the concert as it's showing on PBS right now.

And now I'm all alone again nowhere to go, no one to turn to
I did not want your money sir, i can not hear 'cause i was told to
But now the night is near
And I can make believe he's here

Sometimes I walk alone at night
When everybody else is sleeping
I think of him and then I'm happy
With the company I'm keeping
The city goes to bed
And I can live inside my head

On my own, pretending he's beside me
All alone I walk with him till morning
Without him, I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me

In the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and forever

And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there's a way for us

I love him, but when the night is over
He is gone,
The river's just a river
Without him the world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers

I love him, but every day I'm learning
All my life I've only been pretending
Without me his world would go on turning
A world that's full of happiness that I have never known

I love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own

Family Worship & Bible Reading

I'm learning & growing to be the pastor of my family I've been called to be, and I'm enjoying leading them better in family worship and Bible reading. The recent Desiring God Pastor's Conference message by Joel Beeke on family worship was convicting and encouraging. You should check it out.

Right now we have five main resouces for family worship &/or Bible reading (singing resources aren't listed). For the most part our kids read Scripture in the morning and we use the other resouces at night. Let me know what resources you have found helpful in the comments below.

1. The Bible | Each of our kids has their own ESV Bible (compact Bible for my boys, my daughter has a prettier one). They are reading James every day in the mornings, sometimes on their own and sometimes with me and/or Molly.

2. ESV Study Bible | Same text with notes that help the family when we need a few interpretive helps on a passage. We have a copy permanently stationed in our living room for the kids to open if they need to check notes on their own. They don't do this much yet, but will get the hang of it.

3. The Story of God for Kids | Created by the good folks at Soma Communities in Tacoma, Washington. My family LOVES this. Well written and helpful notes for using it well, good questions to help it sink in. I have been reading it off my Kindle to them. Last night Elijah was peppering me with questions as he is piecing together the larger "Story of God" from the lessons blending together. Wonderful resource. Check out their other resources for adults and small groups.

4. Operation World: A Prayer Guide to the Nations | Eye-opening for our kids as they learn about the world and the needs of the world from a missionary perspective. They love to thumb through the pages and learn about a new country. We are putting little biographies of missionaries in their hands and they want to learn about those countries today. We want to teach them to pray BIG prayers to our BIG God for our BIG world. UPDATE: Commenter reminded me of Window on the World, an Operation World of sorts for younger kids. We have that and the kids like it a lot.

5. Four Holy Gospels | Just got this in the mail yesterday. It's the most beautiful Bible I've ever seen, with artwork by NYC artist Makoto Fujimura. Our family was able to meet Mako and attend the Crossway Books release event for the project. We now plan on using the Bible at least once a week (Sundays) to take turns reading aloud from a Gospel together before we leave the house to gather with our local church. It's nice to add a substantial piece like this into our family worship & Bible reading that will last through the years as a family treasure.

Four Holy Gospels & Makoto Fujimura

I was invited to Crossway Books in Wheaton for the release of the Four Holy Gospels project featuring the ESV version of the four Gospels in a giant book format illuminated through the artwork of Makoto Fujimura.

The whole family got to attend and I really enjoyed it. Upon arrival the crowd was abuzz, the sugar water was flowing, appetizers were being served, and within a few minutes my wife and four kids found and "cornered" Mako. I was busy talking with Collin Hansen who introduced me to Stan Guthrie, an editor at large at Christianity Today. Then I noticed Molly talking to Mako and looking for me. That's a good woman. So I ditched Collin and Stan, who (I think) understood my abrupt departure, and went to talk to Mako.

He was kind and humble. We talked about his church, Redeemer in NYC, and his time at Resurrection Presbyterian during their time as a plant. I mentioned how much I have enjoyed his book, Refractions, which really is a great book on faith, art, and culture. So glad I got a chance to interact with one of my favorite artists of any stripe. Then the presentation got formal as Mako and others spoke.

The Four Holy Gospels really is beautiful. I'd love a copy, but can't afford one just now. It's $130 (cloth) through Crossway (or $350 leather, wow), but you can get cloth on Amazon for $73.40. I can imagine sitting down with my family every night and reading through the Gospels illuminated by this great artwork. 

Crossway's post after the event explains the art...

The Four Holy Gospels incorporates five large-scale paintings, including the frontispiece, “Charis-Kairos (The Tears of Christ)” and four opening plates (one for each of the Gospels); plus eighty-nine initial letters (each painted, and many adorned with gold flecks and foil) specifically created for each chapter opening; as well as more than seventy individually-painted reflections and embellishments complementing the Gospels.

I do hope many will take advantage of the opportunity to own this unique piece of art. I'm grateful to Crossway for the invite, and grateful for the chance to look through this beautiful book and meet Makoto Fujimura. Visit Mako's website, read some of his writings, and follow him on Twitter @iamfujimura.

For My Wife, On Her Birthday

Why is this for my wife? Because it's about a love relationship in which both poetic beauty and humor are abundant. I love you, Molly. Learn more about Billy Collins.

Fotoweek D.C. 2010

A great little video on Fotoweek D.C. 2010. I love photography even more because of stuff like this.

Wholeheartedness - Antidote to Exhaustion

“The antidote to exhaustion is not rest but wholeheartedness.” David Whyte

Read this very helpful post by Chuck DeGroat on wholeheartedness & integrity: "What's wrong with your pastor?" This post will be helpful for pastors and all Christians. Outstanding.

The quote comes from David Whyte's book, Crossing the Unknown Sea, which is now in my Amazon cart.

Detroit Lives

A really great look at Detroit. Anyone interested in cities, suburban sprawl, culture, art and creativity needs to watch all three parts. One of the coolest things I've ever seen on these topics.

Who Feels ___________

Sorry it's a blurry camera phone shot. It was hanging from the ceiling and moving. Elijah's (9) class all had poems where they filled in certain blanks (I suppose) and it makes up a sort-of poem. It's something only a kid would say, and I love it.

Judging An Album By Its Cover

Discovering good music is fun. I like to find music in a variety of ways, but it's nothing earth shattering. For the most part I read reviews and have trusted sources and sites.

But I've noticed something recently that isn't always true, but pert near. If you can appreciate an album cover as good art, you are more likely to enjoy the album as good art.

With this idea in mind I went over to check out the recently released albums at Amazon MP3. A screen cap of 5 are below. Which albums are going to be artistic? Which will "say something?" And which are more likely to tickle your ears for a minute maybe and then dissolve as something forgettable?

I've checked out all five. The first is a soundtrack and isn't quite the same category as it uses movie art and the album is a score. The next three are pics of the artists in various forms. Juvenile is there to look tough-ish. Enrique Iglesias is there to look good for chicks and I guess Cascada is there to look good for men, though odds are it's chicks who will listen to her. Notice you get four faces (and some body on the fourth). But the album on the right is different.

I haven't heard of Kathryn Williams or her album, The Quickening, until a few minutes ago. Her cover art caught my eye. The colors are odd, old, aged. There's both structure (lines and shapes) and busyness (clutter). I want to see what the bits and pieces are. Looking more closely we see it's a doll house. It seems worn, cheap, and as far as dolls are concerned, empty. What does that mean? The first albums try to convey something quick and seductive. "He's tough," or "She's hot." The final one is trying to tell me something. Trying to get beyond the heat of the moment and talk about something real, lasting, important. The first few tell me everything, which isn't that much. The last one only gives me the doorway for what I hope will be much more. I want to go there. If I try to be succinct, the first few appeal to "lust" (of one sort or another) and the last is about "life." 

After listening to samples from each of them learn that my impressions are correct. William's lyrics and music is artistic, rich, thought-provoking. The rest are nothing special. 

Looking into this album there's another interesting fact. This album was released in February in the UK. Check out the original cover. I don't feel at all weirded out being a dude and buying the album above. The doll house is odd enough that it doesn't seem girlish. But the original cover found through the link seems more like a real, modern day doll house. Less likely to pick up that album. Funny how it works, but that's my reaction.

Judging an album by it's cover doesn't always work, of course. But for the most part as a means of music discovery, I've been pretty pleased whenever I judge an album by its cover.

Tim Keller on Creation & Creativity

Tim Keller "Creation & Creativity" Clip from Redeemer Video on Vimeo.

"God was an entrepreneur. He brought something out of nothing. He brought order out of chaos. And why did He do it? He did it, not because He had to, He did it because He wanted to. He did it for the joy of doing it. Creativity, it was just a joy to do. It wasn't a means to an end. It was the end itself. And this, I think, is important because we're made in His image. And therefore you don't really need a reason to create or to start something new. You don't really need a reason. Because...there's a sense in which God did not have to do it. He did it for the joy of doing it. And when you and I know we're made in the image of God it shouldn't surprise us that for a lot of us, especially those who are gifted in this particular area, we do it because we're just reflecting our Creator."

NPM: Philip Larkin - Home is so Sad

"Home is so Sad" by Philip Larkin

Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,
Shaped to the comfort of the last to go
As if to win them back. Instead, bereft
Of anyone to please, it withers so,
Having no heart to put aside the theft

And turn again to what it started as,
A joyous shot at how things ought to be,
Long fallen wide. You can see how it was:
Look at the pictures and the cutlery.
The music in the piano stool. That vase.

NPM: Czeslaw Milosz

Hear Milosz read "Magpiety."

NPM: CS Lewis

Strange that a trick of light and shade could look
So like a living form that, first, I gave
The shadow mind and meaning: then, mistook
His will for mine; and, last, became his slave.

NPM: Ted Kooser "Grasshoppers"

"Grasshoppers" by Ted Kooser
(from Delights & Shadows)

This year they are exactly the size
of a pencil stub my grandfather kept
to mark off the days since rain,

and precisely the color of dust, of the roads
leading back across the dying fields
into the '30s. Walking the cracked line

past the empty barn, the empty silo,
you hear them tinkering with irony,
slapping the grass like drops of rain.

NPM: Walt Whitman - "A Clear Midnight"

"A Clear Midnight" by Walt Whitman

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson
     done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the
     themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

Music Monday 4.12.10

• 100 $5 albums, including these gems
• Jonsi tour is looking good. Might go in a couple of weeks, if I can find the cash.
• Listen/download to Chocolate Grinder Mix from Tiny Mix Tapes. Vibe-alicious.
• Short interview with Jonathan Meiburg of one of my favorite bands, Shearwater. Their newest, The Golden Archipelago, is beautiful & powerful.

Review of Melanie Penn: Wake Up Love coming this week. Our whole family is really enjoying it. Christianity Today digs it. Watch her sing "Ordinary Day" below. I've provided some of the lyrics.

It's me when you catch the fragrance of spring
When tall trees sway
It's me in the cold winter sting
In the alleyway
I am the sigh
While all creation groans and waits

You can hear me speak
If you're listenin'
I will always be
And I have always been
You can hear me blowin'
Although you don't know
Where I'm comin' from
Or where I go

Doug Burr is a new name for me, and that's a shame because his music is outstanding. His new song "Red, Red" can be downloaded free. Here's "Should've Known"...

NPM: Fri-ku

Friday Haiku (or "Fri-ku"), by me...

misunderstandings
discombobulate the world,
so be slow to speak

Take 5 minutes, write your own and leave it in the comments.

NPM: Billy Collins Interview

Listen to this interview of Billy Collins by Christy Tennant of International Arts Mission (IAM). You should subscribe to the IAM podcast. One of the best things on the arts from a perspective of faith out there.

Also check out the most touching Billy Collins poem (to me) "The Lanyard." It's something I like to point to each April in remembrance of my Mom, who died of cancer in April of 2007.

NPM: Wendell Berry

Teach me work that honors Thy work,
the true economies of goods and words,
to make my arts compatible
with the songs of the local birds.

Teach me patience beyond work
and, beyond patience, the blest
Sabbath of Thy unresting love
which lights all things and gives rest.

NPM: Job Confesses & Repents

Then Job answered the Lord and said:

“I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”

(Job 42:1-6, ESV)

NPM: Carl Sandburg "Choose"

"Choose" by Carl Sandburg (Chicago Poems)

THE single clenched fist lifted and ready,
Or the open asking hand held out and waiting.
Choose:
For we meet by one or the other.

Michael Spencer: 1956-2010

I found the Internet Monk website of Michael Spencer years ago. His words about Jesus and His Church, spirituality and truth have been deeply encouraging and helpful in my discipleship and as I work as a pastor. We soon connected and I had the privilege of speaking at his school in 2006 and my family enjoyed the Spencers & the whole experience. Michael Spencer died today in the presence of his family in his home in Oneida, Kentucky. I have this picture with Michael (left) and Matthew Smith (center) from our time there. The photo below is the bridge I took from the home we stayed in to the the school where iMonk served.

I thought it would be fitting during National Poetry Month and the day after Easter to give you a poem from Michael's wife, Denise, posted in 2007.

For Holy Week - Denise Day Spencer

THREE-FOLD TORMENT

Let me share with you His pain,
Who for all our sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.

– Stations of the Cross, St. Ann Roman Catholic Mission

He stumbles ‘neath the load.
It is not heavy, yet it crushes.
Merely a mangle of thorns
Woven as a crude crown.
Thorns that boldly dare to mock their Maker.

He stretches out His hands,
Ready to embrace, but not fondly.
Only the ore of iron
Hammered into soiled spikes.
Iron dares to agonize its Author.

He writhes upon the tree.
Alone, and utterly forsaken.
Simply a structure of wood
Fashioned as a cruel cross.
Splintered wood now dares murder its Master.

He gazes on the crowd.
Mankind, pinnacle of creation.
One whispered word could destroy
Thorn, iron, wood, mad men.
Yet the Savior dares to speak:
“Forgiven.”

NPM: Joanna Newsom Song

"On A Good Day" by Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me. Song with lyrics below.

Hey hey hey the end is near
On a good day you can see the end from here
But I won't turn back now though the way is clear
I will stay for the remainder

I saw a life and I called it mine
I saw it drawn so sweet and fine
And I had begun to fill in all the lines
Right down to what we'd name her

Our nature does not change by will
In the Winter 'round the ruined mill
The creek is lying flat and still
It is water though it's frozen

So, across the years and miles and through
On a good day you can feel my love for you
Will you leave me be so that we can stay true
To the path that you have chosen?

NPM: John Donne for Easter

If you are suffering this Easter, read and be encouraged.

Hymn to God, My God, in My Sickness by John Donne (via)

Since I am coming to that Holy room,
   Where, with Thy choir of saints for evermore,
I shall be made Thy music; as I come
   I tune the instrument here at the door,
   And what I must do then, think here before;

Whilst my physicians by their love are grown
   Cosmographers, and I their map, who lie
Flat on this bed, that by them may be shown
   That this is my south-west discovery,
   Per fretum febris, by these straits to die;

I joy, that in these straits I see my west;
   For, though those currents yield return to none,
What shall my west hurt me? As west and east
   In all flat maps—and I am one—are one,
   So death doth touch the resurrection.   

Is the Pacific sea my home? Or are
   The eastern riches? Is Jerusalem?
Anyan, and Magellan, and Gibraltar?
   All straits, and none but straits, are ways to them
   Whether where Japhet dwelt, or Cham, or Shem.

We think that Paradise and Calvary,
   Christ's cross and Adam's tree, stood in one place;
Look, Lord, and find both Adams met in me;
   As the first Adam's sweat surrounds my face,
   May the last Adam's blood my soul embrace.

So, in His purple wrapp'd, receive me, Lord;
   By these His thorns, give me His other crown;
And as to others' souls I preach'd Thy word,
   Be this my text, my sermon to mine own,
   "Therefore that He may raise, the Lord throws down."

NPM: Emily Dickinson

The Beggar at the Door for Fame
Were easily supplied
But Bread is that Diviner thing
Disclosed to be denied

c. 1872

NPM: WH Auden - As I Walked Out One Evening

NPM: Billy Collins - The Golden Years

Billy Collins is my favorite contemporary poet. He is accessible, humorous and often slyly profound. Here one of his for day 1 of National Poetry Month.

The Golden Years by Billy Collins

All I do these drawn-out days
is sit in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge
where there are no pheasants to be seen
and last time I looked, no ridge.

I could drive over to Quail Falls
and spend the day there playing bridge,
but the lack of a falls and the absence of quail
would only remind me of Pheasant Ridge.

I know a widow at Fox Run
and another with a condo at Smokey Ledge.
One of them smokes, and neither can run,
so I’ll stick to the pledge I made to Midge.

Who frightened the fox and bulldozed the ledge?
I ask in my kitchen at Pheasant Ridge.

Poetry Is Good For You

As National Poetry Month (NPM) begins today here's what you'll find at Reformissionary. 

I hope to get up a new poem every day. May miss a few, but will make an effort.

I hope to help you find some new voices in poetry and music (the most popular poetic medium of our day). I like to find new poets: whether they are young or old poets, alive or dead poets. Let me know if you have a poet that should be on my radar.

I'll try to get up videos of poets reading their poems or talking about the value and art of poetry. 

I also help to find an essay or two on writing poetry and/or enjoying poetry.

Maybe I'll find something new and unexpected to post. Maybe I'll write a poem or two. Maybe I interview the greatest poet ever, whoever that is.

Take in at least a little poetry this NPM. Poetry is good for you. As a communicator I realize poetry can teach us conciseness in language, new angles in seeing the world and our experience of he world, a richness of description, etc. As a human I realize poetry makes me slow down and sip rather than gulp like I do most things. Information consumption has found a corrective in the slow ingestion of poetry, meditation on words and forms.

Coming Attractions 3.11.10

>< Starting to read Introverts in the Church by Adam McHugh soon. So much good buzz out there on this book. I've needed a book like this for years, and now it's here. From the introduction...

My hope is that, through this book, God will begin or continue a process of healing introverts--helping them find freedom in their identities and confidence to live their faith in ways that feel natural and life-giving, the way that God intended.

>< I'm still working on a review for Holy Ground: Walking with Jesus as a Former Catholic by Chris Castaldo. I really like it. If you are doing outreach to Catholics or have Catholic family and/or friends (that's pretty much all of us), I recommend this book. 

>< Phriday is for Photos tomorrow. Some of the photos from the photography project for 5th grade art are up at the school and I snapped a couple of pics. Proud of these kids. 

>< The last few days have been an explosion in good, new music. Looking forward to a few great recommendations on Monday.

>< New Lots-o-Links post middle of next week or so.

>< I'm planning to put a post up next week on resources I've been using to study and understand Catholicism. 

>< Getting a lot of ideas for posts on both evangelism and discipleship. Hope to start getting to those next week.

>< April is coming up fast, which means National Poetry Month comes once again to Reformissionary. Can't wait!

Lots-o-Links 2.25.10

Dave Kraft: What Makes A Leader? series

Hudson Taylor on Evangelism...

Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts and our feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things may be the true cause of our want of success.” (via)

GCM Collective (Gospel Community Mission) launches on Monday...

It is a gospel community that lives out the mission of God together, as family, in a specific area and to a particular people group by declaring and demonstrating the gospel in tangible forms. God is moving to create thousands of new gospel communities on mission around the world. Be a part of this movement.

Did I Get Married Too Young?

When my very smart and relatively young girlfriend (she was then 20) first told her father she was thinking of marrying me, he refused to even hear of it. "How much college debt does he have?" he demanded. "What's the rush? Why not wait until your career and finances are established? How do you know he's the one?"

Brent Thomas sees Rob Bell's Drops Like Stars

Just because someone says something very well, that doesn’t mean someone says something very right.

Acts 29 Theology Workbook

Tim Keller: The Big Issues Facing the Church & How Should Churches and Leaders Be Preparing To Address These Big Issues Facing the Church?

Joel Virgo: Pray with Perspective series

Francis Chan: Public Passion vs Private Devotion

Last summer I came to a shocking realization that I had to share with my wife: If Jesus had a church in Simi Valley, mine would be bigger. People would leave His church to attend mine because I call for an easier commitment. I know better how to cater to people’s desires so they stick around. Jesus was never really good at that. He was the one who said, “He who loves father or mother … son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matt. 10:37 NIV) I’m much more popular than Jesus.

Having come to that conclusion, I came back to the church with resolve to call people to the same commitment Christ called them to. I knew that people would leave, and they have. I found comfort in that because, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26 NIV) Over time though, the conviction can fade, and it gets tiresome seeing people leave. There is a constant pull to try to keep people around rather than truly lead the faithful who remain. When my church was started, I used to tell my wife that I didn’t care if we only had ten people, as long as they really loved God and desired to worship Him with all of their hearts. Where is that conviction now?

Lots-o-Links 2.17.10

A Beautiful Idea: Artists Changing the World is a beautiful idea

Bill Streger: What is Ash Wednesday?

Dave Kraft: What Makes a Leader? --> See the vision

A leader is, first and foremost, somebody with followers. If nobody is following, you are not leading, no matter what outstanding leadership qualities you might possess. Many years ago, my daughter, Anna, had a sign on her bike that read: "Lead, follow, or get out of my way," and the way she rode that bike, I believe she meant it. People are more than willing to follow someone who knows where they are going.

John Piper: How I almost quit

The church is looking for a vision for the future—and I do not have it. The one vision that the staff zeroed in on during our retreat Monday and Tuesday of this week (namely, building a sanctuary) is so unattractive to me today that I do not see how I could provide the leadership and inspiration for it.

Joel Virgo: Prevailing Prayer

Arthur Wallis once said, “A move of God will last as long as the Spirit of prayer that inspired it.” You can tell when this happens. It’s when prayer is used as a last resort, as a spare wheel, but it’s meant to be the steering wheel.

Bob Thune: Outline of John Owen's Mortification of Sin

Rob Bell at Out of Ur on the dangers of video preaching

Video is not church. You put images and music on a screen, and people will listen. But it's also dangerous. You're playing with fire. I think video technology deserves to be scrutinized heavily.

REN3W Video - Redeemer NYC

Check out the REN3W Campaign from Redeemer, & this beautiful, artistic intro (go full screen)...

REN3W Vision Campaign from Redeemer Video on Vimeo.

Lots-o-Links 6.13.09

Doxa Fellowship is moving our Sunday morning worship service to downtown Woodstock, the historic Waverly House.

Jonathan Dodson: Marriage Resources

Rain City Hymnal CD is out at Re:Sound, and on Noise Trade.

Matt Chandler on the role of men

Resurgence (Bob Thune): Is preaching killing your church plant?

Advance Conference MP3s

Art21 is on Hulu. Episode 1: Art in the 21st Century on "Place."

TGC/BoB: Art & Culture in Christian Blogging

I was asked a while back to speak at the Band of Bloggers event at The Gospel Coalition conference, which was this month in Chicago. I was happy to go and be one of the eight panel members discussing being "Servants and Stewards" through our blogs.  Each panelist was given 7 minutes to answer a particular question on blogging.  Mine was "What is the place for art and culture in Christian blogging?"  Here's a general outline/recap of my talk. It always comes out differently than I write it down, but should still be helpful. You can also view the handwritten notes from my Moleskine that I used for my talk (page 1, page 2 - page 2 is really my talk outline and page 1 quotes that I referred back to).

---

*As I stood to talk I took a shot at my friend and co-panelist, Justin Taylor, who has yet to spent $9 on a domain name, but still has one of the best read Christian blogs in the universe. Justin, seriously, buy a domain name. :)

Context

1. Art - Beauty -- mention I don't have the time to explain a theology of the arts; assume the audience assumes it (later quotes should be an encouragement to look further into the arts)

2. Blogs -- mention that because we have different kinds of blogs with different purposes (pastor blogs, church blogs, personal blogs, family blogs, resource blogs, etc). I will explain what I do on my personal/pastoral networking blog and let the audience determine how to best blog on art & culture on their blogs.

3. Christians in general -- mention the need to enjoy, support, and create the arts; our blogs are a good place for us to do that

Abraham Kuyper quote, found in Art for God's Sake by Philip Ryken -- "Like God himself, we have 'the possibility both to create something beautiful, and to delight in it.'" - and I add "...on your blog"

Use the quote for a two part outline, in reverse. As we delight in and create art (and blog on it), we encourage others to do the same.

1. To Delight

Someone who delights in the arts is called an arts patron (observer, supporter, advocate). Use the questions from and Tim Keller quote in "Are you a patron?"

Questions:

Have you attended an arts event or venue in the last six months? (live music concert, museum or gallery, play, dance performance, independent film, etc.)

Do you have a favorite art form that you particularly enjoy experiencing and learning about?

Do you occasionally attend different types of arts events/venues, besides your favorite?

Do you have a favorite artist or arts organization whose work you follow closely?

Do you ever spread the word about a particular arts event or artist?

Do you sometimes look through the Arts section in newspapers or magazines?

Have you financially supported an arts organization or artist (outside of purchasing tickets) in the last year?

Do you know an artist, are you involved in his/her life, and are you actively supporting his/her career?

- The more "yes" answers = the better patron. Where there is a "no" it's good to stretch ourselves.

Quote:

"Christians cannot abdicate the arts to secular society. We must consume, study, and participate in the arts if we are to have a seat at the table. Whether it has a religious theme or strikes us as irreligious, we must be patrons if we are to have an impact on how the world interprets and responds to the arts. We cannot be wary, we cannot be afraid, we cannot be self-righteous. Christians must look, listen, read, and experience the arts if we are to lead our culture to renewal." - Tim Keller (via)

*As I mentioned I was going to quote Keller I took a second to mention my Tim Keller Resources page.  Then I told the attenders that they received a Tim Keller book in their bags (each received 10 books as a part of attendance).  I told them Keller's new book is very short and titled Unfashionable, which includes a lengthy epilogue by Tullian Tchividjian. As you probably know, attenders did get Tullian's book which includes a 3 page forward by Keller. People laughed. [By the way, get Tullian's book. Like it a lot so far. He graciously signed my copy after.]

How I delight in the arts at Reformissionary...

Music Monday: I use my enjoyment of music to fuel a weekly post on music, CD's, music videos, concert experiences, etc.  Illustration: recently at the Brandi Carlile concert my wife, Molly, for the first time heard the background singers because she could see them.  It was a learning moment for her. Patronage increased her appreciation for and delight in music.  Now the CD sounds different to her. As we blog on these kinds of experiences we will encourage others to become a patron and delight as well.

National Poetry Month: Each April I blog on National Poetry Month with numerous poems, poet highlights, videos of poetry readings, etc.  We can take advantage of nationally recognized arts emphases to become patrons and to encourage patronage.

2. To Create

"The characteristic common to God and man is apparently that: the desire and the ability to make things up." - Dorothy Sayers in The Mind of the Maker

"The primal artistic act was God's creation of the universe out of chaos, shaping the formless into form; and every artist since, on a lesser scale, has sought to imitate him." - Perrine's Sound and Sense

How I blog on my creation of art at Reformissionary...

Phriday is for Photos: The last few years I have taken up photography. While I've been a little too infrequent in my Friday photographs lately, it's been a staple at Reformissionary for a long time. When I've slacked I've gotten notes from friends and readers mentioning they've missed it. Because I'm creating and blogging my art, my readers have been an encouragement to me to keep creating. And through blogging my photography I hope I've encouraged my readers to create themselves.  Actually I can say that I have talked to several readers who have taken up photography because (at least in part) they have enjoyed my Phriday is for Photos posts. [One Band of Bloggers attender talked to me after the event and said he just upgraded from a Nikon d50 to d90, to some degree because of my blog. I'm jealous.]

Conclusion: A quote by Luci Shaw from her chapter "Imagination, Beauty, and Creativity" in The Christian Imagination (Ed. Leland Ryken)

"We were each, in the image of our Creator, created to create, to call others back to beauty, and the truth about God's nature, to stop and cry to someone preoccupied or distracted with the superficial, 'Look!' or 'Listen!' when, in something beautiful and meaningful we hear a message from beyond us, and worship in holiness our creator who in his unlimited grace, calls us to become co-creators of beauty."

Select art/culture websites:

• ArtsandLettersDaily.com
• ArtsJournal.com
• CuratorMagazine.com
• InternationalArtsMovement.org (blog)

Select art/culture podcasts:

• IAM Global - outstanding on all arts
• Filmspotting
• NPR All Songs Considered
  
• The Writer's Almanac
• Pen on Fire
• Creative Screenwriting Magazine
• NYT Book Review

NPM09 - Music Monday Addendum

Andrew Bird is one of those musical artists that loves playing with language, and so is one of our great musical poets.  Here are the lyrics for "Measuring Cups" off his album, The Mysterious Production of Eggs (download/CD).

Measuring Cups by Andrew Bird

get out your measuring cups and we'll play a new game
come to the front of the class and we'll measure your brain
we'll give you a complex, and we'll give it a name

get out your measuring cups and we'll play a new game
can't have the cream when the crop and the cream are the same
liquid or gas no more than the glass will contain

when you talk about the hand of glory
a tale that's rather grim and gory
is it just another children's story that's been de-clawed?
when the tales of brothers Grimm and Gorey have been outlawed

i think they're gonna make you start over
you don't wanna start over
put your backpack on your shoulder
be the good little soldier
take your places now, cause we're all predisposed

measuring cups, play a new game
front of the class, measure your brain
give you a complex and we'll give it a name

when you talk about the hand of glory
a tale that's rather grim and gory
is it just another children's story that's been de-clawed?
when the tales of brothers Grimm and Gorey have been outlawed

so put your backpack on your shoulder
be the good little soldier
it's no different when you're older
you're predisposed
that's all for questions
now, the case is closed

NPM09: "For the Anniversary of My Death" by W.S. Merwin

A few days ago on NPR's Fresh Air Terry Gross interviewed Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin.  I liked the poems he read.  Here's one he didn't read.

For the Anniversary of My Death
by W. S. Merwin

Every year without knowing it I have passed the day

When the last fires will wave to me

And the silence will set out

Tireless traveler

Like the beam of a lightless star

Then I will no longer

Find myself in life as in a strange garment

Surprised at the earth

And the love of one woman

And the shamelessness of men

As today writing after three days of rain

Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease

And bowing not knowing to what

Poets Academy also has a fine collection of short videos where different poets talk about life and poetry, including this one from Merwin...

NPM09: "An Ember in the Dark" by L'Amour

I posted this during a previous National Poetry Month. As one of my favorite all-time poems I can't help but post it again.

Louis L'Amour was a famous writer of frontier/adventure novels.  "An Ember in the Dark" is found in his book of poetry, Smoke From This Altar. 

An Ember in the Dark by Louis L'Amour

Faintly, along the shadowed shores of night
I saw a wilderness of stars that flamed
And fluttered as they climbed or sank, and shamed
The crouching dark with shyly twinkling light;
I saw them there, odd fragments quaintly bright,
And wondered at their presence there unclaimed,
Then thought, perhaps, that they were dreams unnamed,
That faded slow, like hope's arrested flight.

Or vanished suddenly, like futile fears--
And some were old and worn like precious things
That youth preserves against encroaching years--
Some disappeared like songs that no man sings,
    But one remained--an ember in the dark--
    I crouched alone, and blew upon the spark

NPM09: "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost

Robert Frost was a wonderful poet. With famous poems like "Fire and Ice" and "The Road Not Taken," we can see why. One of the places I first heard Frost was from the mouth of Ponyboy in the movie The Outsiders. Here's the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay."

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

NPM09: "This is Just to Say" Poems

The poem, "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams is interesting in itself. It's an apology, sorta. More, it's an explanation of why it's easier (and at times advantageous) to ask forgiveness than permission. It's meant to be playful.

What makes it more fun is how people are responding by writing their own "This is Just to Say" poems.  Some of these are highlighted in the recent This American Life radio episode "Mistakes Were Made" which I recommend you check out. The author of the Somewhere in the Suburbs blog has also asked readers to write their own version of the poem.

First, the original poem by William Carlos Williams. Second, my poem, followed by others from elsewhere.

This Is Just To Say (via)
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

My attempt...

This is Just to Say
by Steve McCoy

I left
an insulting comment
on your
blog

when you
heartily
recommended the new
U2 album

Forgive me
I was already
logged in
and have functioning ears

Two from Kenneth Koch, poet (via)

Last evening we went dancing and I broke your leg.
Forgive me. I was clumsy and
I wanted you here in the wards, where I am the doctor!

(And...)

I chopped down the house that you had been saving to live in next summer.
I am sorry, but it was morning, and I had nothing to do
and its wooden beams were so inviting.

Carol (Somewhere...commenter)

I called
your new husband
by the name
of your old boyfriend.

The one
We thought
Would
Marry you.

Forgive me.
He was familiar
So jolly
And easy talk to.

NPM09: Emily Dickinson on Opinion and Truth

Opinion is a flitting thing,
But Truth, outlasts the Sun -
If then we cannot own them both -
Possess the oldest one -

(c. 1879, published 1924)

NPM09: Song "3 a.m." by Gregory Alan Isakov

This is also a Music Monday addendum, but whatever. My introduction to Gregory Alan Isakov was last Thursday as he opened for Brandi Carlile. More people need to hear about this guy.  I've been listening to him since Thursday and I like his songwriting a lot. Here's good music-based poetry for your Monday night during this National Poetry Month. I found some lyrics for the song with mistakes. Some I could correct, others still may not be perfect. I did my best. Enjoy!

Well, it's 3AM again, like it always seems to be
Driving northbound, driving homeward, driving wind is driving me.
It just seems so funny how I always end up here
Walking outside in a storm while looking way up past the treeline
It's been some time

Give me darkness when I'm dreaming, give me moonlight when I'm leaving,
Give me shoes that weren't made for standing.
Give me treeline, give me big sky, give me snowbound,
Give me rainclouds, give me bedtime just sometimes

Now you're talking in my room, there ain't nobody here
Cause I've been driving like a trucker, I've been wearing through the gears
I've been training like a soldier, I've been burning through this sorrow
The only talking lately is a background radio

You are my friend and I was a saint
And riding that hope was like catching some train
Now I just walk, but I don't mind the rain
Singing so much softer than I did back then

Well the night I think is darker, we can really say,
God's been living in that ocean, sending us all the big waves
And I wish I was a sailor so I could know just how to trust
Maybe I could bring some grace back home to dry land for each of us

Say what you see, you say it so well
Just say you will wait like snow on the rail
Combing that train yard for some kind of saint
Even my own self, it just don't seem mine

Give me darkness when I'm dreaming, give me moonlight when I'm leaving
Give me mustang horse and muscle, oh, I won't be going gentle
Give me slandered looks when I'm lying, give me fingers when I'm crying
I ain't out there to cheat you, see I killed that damn coyote in me

NPM09: Colossians 1:15-20

What scholars call an early Christian hymn or poem, Colossians 1:15-20 is a beautiful statement of the lordship and supremacy of Jesus Christ. 

He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created,
    in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
    whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities
—all things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
    whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross.