Frederick Hart (1944-1999)

A sculptor I greatly admire is Frederick Hart. He is probably best known for my favorite of his works, the "Ex Nihilo" creation above the west entrance to The Washington National Cathedral.

Another of his wonderful works is "The Three Soldiers," near Washington's Viet Nam Memorial. Of it Hart wrote, "I see the [Viet Nam Memorial] wall as a kind of ocean, a sea of sacrifice that is overwhelming and nearly incomprehensible in the sweep of names. I place these figures upon the shore of that sea, gazing upon it, standing vigil before it, reflecting the human face of it, the human heart...The portrayal of the figures is consistent with history. They wear the uniform and carry the equipment of war; they are young. The contrast between the innocence of their youth and the weapons of war underscores the poignancy of their sacrifice. There is about them the physical contact and sense of unity that bespeaks the bonds of love and sacrifice that is the nature of men at war. And yet they are each alone. Their strength and their vulnerability are both evident. Their true heroism lies in these bonds of loyalty in the face of their aloneness and their vulnerability."

You can access the Hart web site by clinking on the link on his name above. Spend some time enjoying, reading quotes, admiring his work. Hart professed a conversion to Christianity, a decision he came to while working on the Cathedral. Sometimes art changes its creator... May that be true of us.

Made For More

Clearly, this is made for more.
So obviously wanting.
Blatantly vacant.
Open and receptive.
Ready to be filled- but with what?
It's beyond me what that something should be.

I never envisioned this would stump me.
The organic nature of creation being what it is, however, I'm caught without an answer.

Weeks at a time, I felt like banging my head against the wall or flinging it in the trash.
"Can't I just be done with it?! This is becoming painful."

Once or twice, I almost painted over it. A blank canvas would be relief.

At times it makes me want to scream.
Some days it's more like weeping.
Other days I live in longing.
Dissatisfied.


Gracious friends, though, saw potential
Turned my criticisms on their heads.
Where I saw desolation, they saw invitation.
Redemption.
"Fill me. Mold me. Use me." It said to them.
Well, I never heard it say that. Well, I just never did.

(Was it because I wasn't really listening? Was even interested in listening?)
Had I decided it was hopeless? Dismissed it as junked with nary a thought toward completeness?



And now, of course, I wonder what You might see when You look at these holes.

Clearly we were made for more.

Hot off the Press

If you’re like me, you already own more books than you can possibly read before A.D. 2020. Still, sometimes you find a new one that calls you to move some stuff to the long-term reading list because it demands attention now.

And it looks like we’ll need to make room on the nightstand for Andy Crouch’s work, Culture Making.

In it he “unleashes a stirring manifesto calling Christians to be culture makers. For too long Christians have had an insufficient view of culture and have waged misguided culture wars. But we must reclaim the cultural mandate to be the creative cultivators that God designed us to be.”

Here are some swanky endorsements from people I respect:

Lauren F. Winner, assistant professor of Christian spirituality, Duke Divinity School, and author of Girl Meets God

"Are Christians to be countercultural? Or protect ourselves from 'the culture'? Or be 'in' culture but not 'of' it? In this bracing, super-smart book, Andy Crouch changes the terms of the conversation, calling Christians to make culture. I am hard-pressed to think of something that twenty-first-century American Christians need to read more."

Phyllis Tickle, compiler of The Divine Hours and former religion editor, Publishers Weekly

"In this graceful, articulate volume Crouch challenges Christian common wisdom about creation and challenges as well our traditional understandings about the Revelation to John and how it articulates with the rest of Holy Writ. As refreshing as it is smart, Culture Making is a significant addition to contemporary Christian thought."

David Neff, editor-in-chief and vice president, Christianity Today Media Group

"In Culture Making, Andy Crouch has given us a vision for creativity that is not reserved for the practitioners of high art, but that reveals the dignity of the most ordinary sorts of cultural creation. It is a transformative vision that inspires to action and--in the face of the almost inevitable failures--perseverance. In the end, cultural creativity is not a gift we own, exercise and grow anxious over, but one that we receive and nurture--and through which we come to know grace."

Crouch (M.Div., Boston University School of Theology) is editorial director of the Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today International. He served as executive producer for the documentary films “Where Faith and Culture Meet” and “Round Trip.” He also sits on the editorial board for Books & Culture (to which I subscribe) and has been a columnist for Christianity Today (also on my subscription list). For ten years he served as a campus minister with InterVarsity at Harvard. He’s also a classically trained musician who draws on pop, folk, rock, jazz and gospel.

Check it out.

Prayer: Fact or Fiction

The most recent SoulPerSuit was a study of Colossians using Sandra Glahn's book Cappuccino with Colossians. The one thing that the group agreed on was that this letter from Paul was a very tough to study. It isn't a peanut butter & jelly sandwich kind of book but more like a Toulouse Cassoulet with a list of ingredients as long as your arm taking days to make.

About half way through the study I stalled. Prayer is not a major or even minor theme in Colossians but this is the topic that shut me down. The times prayer is mentioned (from my quick review of the book), it's not to exhort or instruct but to encourage (Colossians 1: 3-4, 9, 12; 4:12).

The reason I stalled is probably because prayer had been a slow stew in the back of my mind for quite a while. It was even difficult to admit to the group, near the end of the study, that I was struggling with prayer - prayer in all its basic and not so basic aspects, the validity and effectiveness of it. I couldn't imagine starting a conversation with, "I don't think I believe in prayer" without getting, "Are you kidding me?" in return.

When I finally got brave enough to think about what my struggles were with prayer, I was able to nail down where it was at. I don't have a problem with prayer as worship, praise, mediation, or contemplation. Where I struggle is with the requests - asking God to do something.

I've heard a wide range of things asked of God in prayer: to "open a door" or "give direction", to heal someone sick or with cancer, to come through with needed funds, or even to raise the dead. But do these prayers really have an impact? My struggle is this: if I don't ask God to heal my mother-in-law of cancer, will He not do it? Is my prayer necessary for that healing? I don't believe it is. So why do we make these prayers to ask for healing? Doesn't God have a plan? Isn't He working all things together for good? Then what role does my prayer play?

Now I know simply saying this might cause some of you to drop to your knees with wailing and gnashing of teeth, praying for my doubt but I'm not doubting prayer; I'm questioning its use. I believe I'm experiencing a healthy journey into the character of God and the practice of prayer. I mean, we've all got questions about it. Do a search on Amazon for books on prayer and see how many come up. Those books are popular for some reason. Obviously I'm not the first.

No, I don't believe prayer is fiction but maybe some of our uses of it are. That's what I'd like to find out.

I'm going to do my own study on prayer and try to discover what it is really used for, what power it has, and how we are instructed to use it. Don't ask me next week for an answer! I won't have it. I don't know if I'll ever have it but maybe I'll know God a little better. It couldn't leave me anymore confused than those 327,671 books on Amazon.

What are your questions about prayer?

My New Hero

I have a new hero. His name is Shadrack, and he's the guy in the yellow shirt. He lives on the left side of this structure. The room through the door on the right is where he holds school...for 91 kids (they usually meet under the tree). And after school, he tutors their parents. With zero supplies. No pencils, no paper. Only the dirt to write in. (The same supply Jesus used when he wrote His Complete Works.)

Shadrack is teaching these kids because his spiritual mentors unanimously agreed that he had the right attitude and education for the task. So in obedience to them he went to a place that requires machetes to make a road. A place where the entire community is--or should I say, was--illiterate. A place with no running water and little food. His ultimate goal: to plant a church.

So here's my question. How creative would you have to be to find ways to teach 91 kids at the same time with no supplies? No blackboard. No desks. No chairs. No bus service. (The kids who walk more than four miles show up a little late. Especially in the rainy season.)

Often when we think of creative people we think of visual artists, novelists, sculptors. We think these require the best of our imaginations.

Are you more creative than you thought?

How is this like church?

Watch this video. It's only four and a half minutes, and really fun.

(If the image is jerky, turning off HD should help. Move your cursor to the right of the video and the blue letters that say "HD is on" will appear. Click it to turn off.)



After watching, tell me in what ways do you think this is like church?

(For more on Matt Harding and his dance check this out.)

Not Just for the Refrigerator Anymore

In 2005, Korean artist, Yeondoo Jung, did a delicious photographic series called, Wonderland, which interpreted children's drawings.

In this case, it is life which mimics art.

Cinderella


The Magician Turned the Whale into a Flower

Little Red Riding Hood

Miss Sparkle Sprinkles the Magic

Take a look at these other fascinating series by Yeondoo Jung:
Documentary Nostalgia
Bewitched

Colossians Resources

Perhaps you've joined the SPS Yahoo group that's been going through Colossians--and making some cool creations, as you can see. Or maybe you're doing a study on your own. Either way, here are some Colossians resources:

Bible.org has wonderful audio messages, articles, and textual notes on Colossians.

Dr. Tom Constable, a professor at Dallas Seminary, has compiled extensive notes on the Book of Colossians. He makes his notes available online for free. You can access the .pdf file by following this link: Constable notes

Go here for Matthew Henry's complete commentary on Colossians

For online searches of biblical art relating to Colossians, follow this link to biblical art

After the NET Bible notes, my favorite commentary on Colossians is by Kent Hughes.

Why do things happen?

On Sunday, I was struggling with the age-old question of "Why?" Why do things happen? I'm a logical person and process things based on what I can know. I become afraid of the things I don't or can't know. I avoid them and only play the games where I know the rules.

The process of merging my logic with faith has been an exercise in accepting that there are things I cannot know. There are many, many things that I will never have the answers to. It reminds me that I am the child and not the Adult. It reminds me that I am the created and not the Creator.

Sunday my logic and faith collided with such force my why question went to a dark place. What if there is no reason why? What if the bad things that happen mean nothing? In a moment of deep darkness, you lose your grip on everything – even hope and purpose.

Much later I recalled a podcast I listened to this year of Rob Bell's Easter sermon. I encourage you to listen to the whole thing (select number 9, March 23, “Boasting Will Abound”, 49:10 minutes), but if you want to get to the why part of it all, skip forward to about minute 34:40. In it he uses a monologue from the movie Elizabeth: The Golden Age where Sir Walter Raleigh is describing to Queen Elizabeth what it's like to sail a vast, unpredictable ocean looking for a land that you've only been told exists. And then Bell says,

Resurrection is the belief that no matter how bad it gets, no matter how dark it is, no matter how long it's been since you haven't seen anything on the horizon, resurrection is the belief that at some point you will see land. You will see land. Others will see land. All of creation will see land. Resurrection is belief that God hasn't given up on this world despite all evidence to the contrary. This world is loved. This world has been rescued and this world will not be abandoned.

You have not been abandoned.
I have not been abandoned.
And, one day, it will all come beautifully into view for everyone.

Rising Numbers- Giveaway Results

Congratulations to Lela, winner of the Prang watercolor pencils.

With the long summer nights in Moscow, you will have plenty of light by which to watercolor. :) E-mail me your snail mail address and I'll ship these off to you ASAP.

Thanks to all of you who participated and made me feel not so alone in my gas-poverty and sweatiness.

For Your Reading List

If you're into faith and art, you should know about Rock and Sling. Check it out here.

Rising Numbers- A Free Giveaway

The heat out here in the DC area has been blistering this week! We've had temps in the high 90's all weekend, with a heat index in the 100's. I never thought I would be asking Texas this, but... can we have some of YOUR summer weather?

I saw on the local news today that gas prices are also reaching skyward. In the Washington DC vicinity prices are hovering right around $4.25 a gallon. It's enough to make a body just want to turn off the car, eat out of the pantry stash, and stay and sweat in the "comfort" of their own home.

This week I'm giving away another set of those ever-popular watercolor pencils. (The numbers are rising with these too- but in a way I hope you'll find more pleasurable than summer temperatures and petrol prices.) Last time I gave away a four pack, but I'm upping it to a set of 10 Prang Gallery watercolor pencils and a brush.

This way, you'll be prepared for the next round of SoulPerSuit. Or at least have something to do with yourself while you're sitting at home, sweating and not driving your car.

Want to enter your name in the drawing? Answer two questions in the comment section to be eligible, I'll draw a name at random:

1) What is today's temperature where you live?
2) What is the price of fuel in your area?

I'll draw and post the winning name next Monday, June 16th.
Stay cool and stay home.

Men and Women as Co-Creators

My friends Sue, Kelley, and Henry have recently coauthored a new book that tackles an important subject. It's called Mixed Ministry: Working as Brothers and Sisters in an Oversexed Society. The title says it all. Whether co-writing or partnering to find creative solutions to social problems or running a drama ministry, women and men in Christ's Body need to think of and treat each other as siblings.

You can read an excerpt (pdf) by going here:

Mixed Ministry: Working as Brothers and Sisters in an Oversexed Society

LetterJames.com

AlphaPicture patented a technology called Widescope that allows two pictures to seamlessly fade into each other as if they were one photo to begin with. To promote their technology and their products they created the LetterJames web site. Here, up to 25,000 visitors a day create free pictures with customized text that you can e-mail to friends so they can e-mail two friends, and so on, and so on, ...

For the free feature, click here or look for the E-cards link on the home page. Images created are 72 dpi and about 4"x4" (please respect copyright). You can also test out the feature in the right side bar by typing the text you want and selecting one of the pictures.

They also have a product line for sale but I think it's only setup for the UK. But the free E-cards are cool.

Have fun!

The "Vampire Lady": Art Leads to Faith

SoulPerSuit Colossians Study

SoulPerSuit is presently hosting a group going through the book of Colossians.
Sandi shared this great clip with me last week and I think it's a great piece to share with the entire group. And the world, at large.
Be amazed by it. Be blessed by it.

Louie Giglio- Laminin (approx. 9 mins.)

Last year I discovered Dante's genius for the first time. So today, I give you some of my favorites:

Foolish is he who hopes our intellect can reach the end of that unending road only one Sustance in three Persons follows.
Purgatorio iii 34-36

He who best discerns the worth of time is most distressed whenever time is lost.
Purgatorio iii 777-78

His choice phrases:

celestial justice
sturdy intellects
filthy effigy of fraud
colored with shame

His gift for humor:

"Perhaps you did not think I was a logician."

And finally, his words that give us new insight into old stories:

"Haste denies all acts their dignity."

In these six words I see a prodigal father running to spend his dignity to buy his child a few more seconds in his arms.

TEDTalks: Jill Bolte Taylor

"We are energy beings connected to one another through the consciousness of our right hemisphere as one human family." - Jill Bolte Taylor summarizing how the right hemisphere of the brain interprets reality.

I'm just beginning to explore the TED Talks. I ran across them on a rabbit chase one day through the bloggy woods. TED, Technology, Entertainment and Design, has been around since 1984 but their videos have only been online since 2007. Their idea is to bring great thinkers and speakers in these three fields together to share what they are passionate about. The TED tag line is "Ideas Worth Spreading". I was thrilled today to start sorting through their Entertainment and Design themes and watched a juggler exploring rhythm and motion in what he calls "visual music in space".

"And as soon as my left hemisphere says to me "I am," I become separate. I become a single solid individual, separate from the energy flow around me and separate from you." - Taylor summarizing how the left hemisphere interprets our reality.

The first TEDTalk I linked to was Jill Bolte Taylor: "My stroke of insight" (link to video is below). Taylor is a neuroanatomist - she studies the brain and how it works. In all the years that she'd studied and researched, never did she learn as much as the day she experienced the shutdown of her left-brain from a stroke.

"Whoa! I'm a weird looking thing. It was if my consciousness had shifted away from my normal perception of reality where I'm the person on the [cardio] machine having the experience to some esoteric space where I'm witnessing myself having this experience." - Taylor's first observations when a blood vessel exploded in the left hemisphere of her brain.

Her talk is just under 19 minutes, a characteristic of TED talks, and it is absolutely fascinating to hear this scientist describe the physical, emotional, and spiritual experience of having a stroke. And you know there's nothing more thrilling to me than hearing these worlds described as interconnected. Believe me, it's well worth your time.

MyGeek and I were in complete disagreement after watching the video. He believes it was rehashed eastern mysticism, mumbo-jumbo (he can correct me here if I'm misrepresenting him.) I was absolutely fascinated to hear this intellectual describe in human and scientific terms what her perceptions of our reality and existence are through the most complex organ we posses and understand so little about.

"Who are we? We are the life-force power of the universe with manual dexterity and two cognitive minds and we have the power to choose moment by moment who and how we want to be in the world." - Jill Bolte Taylor, "My Stroke of Insight"

You can't tell whether Taylor believes in the existence of a higher power or not but do you think that's what she's describing? Would you describe Yahweh as the "life-force of the universe"? Are we created in the image of Yahweh? And in our arrogance of intellect or of being "grown-ups", we must remember we are mere children in the eyes Yahweh. Isn't Taylor using the best of man-made terminology to describe what might possibly be the spiritual realm? What do you make of her use of the term "energy"?

This Page Is Intentionally Left Blank

From the world's most renown unreliable source, Wikipedia:

An intentionally blank page is a page that is devoid of content, and may be unexpected. Such pages may serve purposes ranging from place-holding to space-filling and content separation. Sometimes, these pages carry a notice such as, "This page is intentionally left blank." Such notices typically appear in printed works, such as legal documents, manuals and exam papers, in which the reader might otherwise suspect that the blank pages are due to a printing error and where missing pages might have serious consequences. The phrase is a self-refuting meta-reference, in that it falsifies itself by its very existence on the page in question.

An intentionally blank page is a brilliant metaphor.
What do you think of when you see them at the end of a book?

What is Sin to a Postmodern?

Here are my thoughts after reading Scot McKnight's post, "Emerging Atonement: What is Sin?"

Postmoderns reject Christian terminology as being judgmental, hypocritical, and exclusionary. "Sin" is on of the Christian terms they reject. If a discussion with a postmodern is to eventually lead to a discussion of atonement, then we need to consider what means "sin" to a postmodern and use those words. Let's explore the postmodern culture USA very briefly.

Self Aggrandizing
Raising one's street cred is not just about materialism (the latest technology for your hip and designer clothes) but it's also about how charitable you are or how green you are or how involved in other cultures you are. And this is all done on a large scale, globally, if possible. Send money to Phuket, bid at a charity auction, or volunteer at the humane society one day a week, then talk it up at the local coffee house that uses only organic materials and recycles.

Self Promotion
Do you have pictures on Flickr? Have you made videos for YouTube? How many friends do you have on FaceBook? Do you have a blog? Only one? The numbers of ways for social networking on-line are endless. YouTube videos alone have made several average, everyday people famous and/or rich. What could be better than having your video downloaded and viewed a million times? Getting paid for it, maybe.

Reality TV seems to be on it's way out, but the networks will repackage the idea because our desire to be affirmed in public is insatiable. We are the personalities now. Have you noticed how much more energetic and personable game show contestants are? And their whole family is on the show with them. The possibilities are endless for makeovers, surviving, getting a husband, getting a wife, becoming more sociably acceptable, losing weight, or proving you're top in your field. Who would have ever thought you'd see game show winners walking the red carpet?

Self Realization
You need to know who you are and what you want. And if you don't, at least you're doing a lot to get there. You're reading The Secret, you're doing yoga, or you're Feng Shui-ing your living room. If one thing doesn't work, you simply pursue another. There's always something new and better and they'll tell you about it on Oprah or Dr. Phil. You're getting closer all the time, you can just feel it! Closer to figuring out who you are and what you're doing here.

So, to a postmodern, these things are the actualization of a complete life. So why these things? Why pursue these particular things? What drives this culture to Self Aggrandizing, Self Promotion, and Self Realization?

Don't misunderstand me. These things are not wrong. Recycling, taking yoga, and giving to charity are all good things (I do these things), but for the postmodern they are a replacement for the real deal.

So what terminology or what imagery do you use in the postmodern culture for "sin"?