Heart Song
Soaring
Everything was kind of muffled. Nasty head cold turned into both ears becoming infected. The anti-biotics are helping but all of the pollen in the air is making the process seem longer and a little bit confusing. Am I still sick? Or is it now just about having bad allergies?
Who really cares… it all feels bad.
Last Friday night I thought about going up to Starbucks and drawing for a little while but my ears … blech. I needed to go to the store instead. So I popped some DayQuil, pulled on a sweatshirt over my t-shirt, baseball cap, wore flip-flops and jeans … jumped in the car for .6 miles and headed in to the store.
I felt like a total middle aged bachelor on a Friday night. All I cared about was getting some kettle corn popcorn, diet 7-up and … whatever else was on my mental grocery list. Buying groceries and renting the movie Precious … those were my big Friday night plans.
I walked in the door and went to get a buggy and I noticed someone had left a two gallon jug of milk in one of them stacked several deep. Not only did someone forget that jug of milk, someone else had shoved more carts in line without even noticing. I dug the jug out and took it up to customer service.
On Philosophers and Creators – Holland Davis Responds
I sent my post on The Rise of the Modern Day Levite to some of my friends and I wanted to include a response from Holland Davis:
There are philosophers and creators…. philosophers talk about what they want to do… creators just do it…
There are alot of philosphers in the church that just talk about what they want to do and how they wish that they would be allowed to do it… the creators just do it and let the chips fall where they may…
We just planted a church called Worship Life… we’re just going to create and see what happens. I encourage all the other creators to do the same… and if it means they have to create outside the walls of the church… then let’s see if they really take the gospel with them or if they are just looking for their own personal self expression.
That’s how I’ve always lived out my art.
Very good points. It does seem that the purely creative person doesn’t wait for someone to open the door for them, or just sit around talking about creating … they create.
Let’s join them.
The Rise of the Modern Day Levite – Bringing The Arts Home To The Church
A facebook friend sent me the following message a few days ago:
Hi Randy,
I’ve been pondering for a while the place of the creative arts in the Body of Christ. I feel that the arts are a way to communicate the heart of God to those who don’t know Him and to those who are yet to know Him. My hearts to desire to see the arts returned to a place of honor as a way that God shares His message. I’d love to see a community where the artist connect and a place where the churches/organizations can connect with an artist. Anyway, just a bit of what’s inside. It would be great to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Blessings, J
This reminded me of my conversation with Dennis Jernigan back in 1995:
The first time I hung out with Dennis was at IHOP (the all night pancake place … not the all night prayer place) after we had both appeared on James Robison’s Life Today program in 1995. It was that conversation that turned my heart toward the arts and praying for the “modern day Levites” (artisans, worship leaders etc.) to return to prominence in the Body of Christ. Dennis is the one that coined that designation. I started praying that they would not continue to be shunned as “extra,” … or weird … but embraced as a necessary manifestation of worship, communication and communion. And, I think the Lord is answering those and millions of other prayers along the same lines.
Seeing the Musical Wicked – Again! A Brief Review
Some friends and I went to Tampa Friday night to see Wicked being performed at the Tampa Performing Arts Center (TPAC). It was fantastic … of course. I saw it in London last May and was thoroughly impressed with it there. However, the Apollo Victoria Theater (London) is a much smaller venue than the TPAC and I have to say, while the quality of the plays were phenomenal on both sides of The Pond, sitting in the 2nd balcony among 10 (15?) times the people clearly distinguished both experiences. In London, I went on a Tuesday night when all of the college students decided to go. I dressed up (a little more than business casual) for the play but the kids around me were literally in jeans and one girl had flowers all in her hair.
In Effort to prove NYC Folk are Nice, Man Gets Carried Across Manhattan
I love this video. It is about a man wanting to prove that New Yorkers are actually nice and will carry him from one end of Manhattan Island to the other. Hilarious. Laughed out loud several times. I think my favorite part are the little kids attempting to help out.
The Best Kayaking Trip Ever – A Survivor’s Story (Republished)
I wrote this on May 20th of 2007 on a previous version of my blog. It is one of my favorite stories. Enjoy!
***Heads up: This is the longest blog post I think I may have ever written. Go grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and pull up a chair. It’s a long story***
The Benevolent Trainer (TBT… I haven’t asked him if I can call him by his first name here or not yet) and I share the same birthday. I am eight years older than him but we were both born on May 14th. This year we decided to do something in honor of our birthdays. We both love to kayak but we had not ever gone kayaking together. We had planned to but it hadn’t worked out to date so we wanted to correct that delay and enjoy a nice day on the river.TBT was kind enough to stake out all the different kayaking places in central Florida and he was specifically looking for scenery, challenge and not to far out from Orlando. Where I go, Rainbow River, is pretty far north of Orlando. He even borrowed a two seater kayak and a Lincoln Navigator from a couple he knows, Mr. & Mrs. C. They were very kind to extend the use of their resources and we felt truly blessed. TBT thought it would be fun to explore The Black River. We got to the drop point and we were surprised to see that no one else was there. As we untied the two seater kayak, love bugs swarmed the car we were in and got all inside the interior. Every May the love bugs (don’t know their real scientific name) swarm over Central Florida. They are EVERYWHERE and annoying. They are nasty to clean up and really do a mess up your car when you drive. Even so, we went down to the water and instead of The Black River, it was more like The Black Trickle.
We only went down 50 yards or so and back. In that short span we:
* had to lay completely backwards into the kayak as we tried to clear the first obstruction of fallen trees.
* crashed through the second obstruction of fallen trees and brush. There were only the top branches of the trees coming up through the plane of water so we had to go through them, not around or under.
* Five paddle strokes later we were going under a bridge that was being expanded. The pile driver thing started up right about then. It was excruciatingly loud.
* We pressed forward and had to clear two more man made obstructions, one on each side of the bridge. The water in between was nasty and stagnate.
* After clearing those we went about 3 paddle strokes to the next trash filled obstruction. It was huge and there was no getting through it… and we got stuck in the Florida muck.
* Frustrated, I jumped out of the kayak to pull us out and sank in the muck up to around mid thigh level.
* The only true thing about the black river was that the water was black. I was NOT a happy camper and told TBT so. We turned back and had to go back through all of that just to get back to the car.
Oh there is more … so much more …
The Book of Eli – Movie Review
Last night I went to a very nice theater in downtown Orlando to see The Book of Eli. My eight word review is:
Hallelujah! … oh ok … now that was gross. Hallelujah!
I will do a general review and then a more specific review after the jump so as to not reveal any spoilers for those that haven’t seen the movie.
I loved it. I love artsy symbolic movies. I love action movies. I love obvious good vs. evil movies. I love epic movies, self-sacrifice movies and movies with a really good twist I didn’t see coming. Big Hollywood said the twist was silly. When the twist was revealed I literally shed a tear or two. I thought it was beautiful … absolutely heart-wrenching and definitely close to the level of the plot twist at the end of The Sixth Sense that completely changed the context of the whole movie.
I love Christian movies because at least they are trying to put the eternal transcendent into artistic form and that is just simply not an easy thing to do. This is very much a Christian movie. It’s about the last Bible on the post-apocalyptic earth and the voice of God leading a man on a journey of faith to secure the Bible well into the future.
I tried to impose some literal interpretations of the symbols onto the movie and they might be worth exploring (I’ll do so a little after the jump.) Yet after sleeping on it I think the overarching symbolic message is that The Word of God is alive and powerful to bring Light and Life to men. It is worth fighting off the world system, powers of darkness and personal despair in order to protect it as we go on our life’s journey. God’s word will survive because He has ordained it to be so and for no other reasons. Others will try to abuse it for power but only those who have “eyes to see” will actually be able to receive the true life giving power of the Holy Spirit inspired and empowered scriptures.
The Word of God is worth dedicating our lives too and sharing with others who might not “look” or “act” like church folk, but have a pure faith and an undeniable spiritual zeal to know the Truth. We can abide in and embody The Word, emulate Christ and pass off this noble, sacrificial and beautiful faith to others so they might take it back “home” to those still left in chaos and bondage.
Everything I wrote in the two preceding paragraphs are symbolized very very well in the movie.
That was the general review. More, including spoilers, after the jump.
Cindy & Meghan McCain Pose for NOH8 Campaign
Well, I added the little widget over at the top of the sidebar and this topic was one of the first two suggestions of topics to blog about so … here we go! (more after the jump.)
Cindy and Meghan McCain joined the NoH8 Campaign this week and two things came immediately to my mind. 1) They both have striking eyes. 2) I heard nothing about it except on a few gay blogs.
Beyond that, I have no doubt that the McCain ladies are well intentioned toward those who identify as gay … not so much toward social conservatives. Their participation isn’t any surprise to almost anyone who follows politics closely.
The symbolism of Meghan’s holding an elephant indicates that she believe she represents the next generation seeking to mold the Republican party into a pro-gay party through gay activism that stigmatizes those in support of traditional marriage as oppressive “h8ters.” I think this is a fairly large mistake on her part because it isn’t true (hate did not motivate Prop8) and will undermine her position within the party. I think almost everyone knew she and her mom believed this way and tolerated that disagreement but now she has joined in falsely stigmatizing her socially conservative Republican peers … not a good move.
It appears obvious that they don’t see the transcendent nature of marriage as being an unalterable symbol of God’s love for His Bride, the Church, like I do.
Maybe someday I could have a chat with them at the Big Republican tent.
Thanksgiving 2009
Today is the day we in the United States eat way to much to celebrate what we are thankful for. I am thankful for:
- Family: Goes without saying but must be said! I love you all so much and have the most beautiful, intelligent, creative and awesome nieces ever.
- Friends: Online – been online since ‘93 and have met some amazing people and have a real appreciation for the good that online communities can bring. You (blog readers) have seen me go through quite the travails of whether to keep blogging or not in 2009 and I appreciate you hanging in there with me.
- Friends Offline – When I came to Christ He eventually released my unabashed extroverted-ness
. Now, I have the honor of enjoying friendships with folks all over North America. PLUS I have great new friends in England and Mexico that I met this year . - Food: oh yeah … I like my food … a lot. Especially ice cream food.
- The Gym: maybe I like food a little too much? I actually like the gym a lot. Some cool folks go there and it isn’t a meat market. That plus a reasonable gym membership price, no waiting for machines and great spin class schedule. Ok… the spin class schedule is great even though I don’t ever go to it.
- Live in a *great* country and we will leave it at that for the day . Live in a great state. I love Florida. And I have great neighbors and a nice home that brings rest.
- I am grateful for my church family. Especially grateful that we are based in the grace of Christ’s atonement for us.
- Grateful for art and creativity. Still trying to learn how to paint with acrylics.
- Grateful for being able to read and write.
- Grateful for prayer, private worship and communion
- and of course grateful to God for His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who dwells within.
- … and much more.
So, what are you grateful for?
Super-Doodle
Super-Doodle
It’s totally a Super-Doodle. I don’t think I have ever brought in actual words into my artwork before. This is another of my drawings in my little moleskin journal. I am using it to explore new things before going to larger canvasses. This was completely drawn in church over the span of a couple of months .
