Art and Artist

I've been out of the blogging world for quite awhile, and to be sure I don't regret the current use of my time, but after reading a couple good blogs lately I decided to give it another go.

Do you enjoy art?

Have you ever marvelled at a beautiful work and wondered if it was even what they started out to create? I was down at ArtPrize last year and was just floored by the detail in some of the works. The winner was a 28 foot wide pencil drawing! I still can't help but wonder, did they have something totally different in mind. I doubt if Michalangelo did a rough draft of the Sistine Chapel.

In a small group I'm in at church we just finished reading Francis Chan's "Crazy Love". One of the things we talks about that we as Chritians often do is to rush into the presence of God. We close our eyes and immediately start asking God to bless so on and so on. Not that the Bible doesn't tell us to talk to God and even ask for his blessing. But I think often we lose sight of what our orientation toward God should be in the first place. He is Oue Creator, complete and whole without anything from us.

As you may have guessed Art isn't the point. The first chapter in Ezekeil offers us stunning imagery, and Chan asks us to meditate on it before we pray. Another technique is to consider all of Creation as a work of art. God created every blade of grass, every color of the fall, every sunset on the beach. Even consider ourselves, we were not made by accident or haphazardly. Think of the composition of our bodies and the composition of Earth and our atmosphere. If either were altered even slightly we probably would't survive. The Bible says that God knows every hair on our heads. Seems to me like "The Artist" took very exact care with each brush stroke. God knew us while we were still in the womb!

Especially the first days of the Creation story. Order out of Chaos. God did not start with a blank canvas. There was Darkness and Chaos and it was put in order. Ask any scientist, matter tends to decay over time. Given long enough, there is nothing in the world that becomes more complex over time. I can't throw a grenade in a junk yard and expect a working car to come out on the other end. To me, focusing on who created me, brings me into the right frame of mind to begin my time of prayer. So spend time admiring a beautiful work of art today, be it your spouse, your child, your friend. Then admire The One who created them. Have a blessed day.

Jesus' good looks?

What do you think Jesus looked like? I'll return to share.

Have to get some sleep right now...

Stuff

First of all "stuff" isn't the catch all title I used because I couldn't think of anything worth writing about. This is literally about the stuff we own, or the stuff that owns us.

Randy Pausch wrote a book called "The Last Lecture" while he was dying of cancer. I think he was a guy who really knew what the important things in life were. He tells the story of the days when he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon and still a bachelor. On the day he bought a new convertible he went to pick up his niece and nephew for one of their scheduled fun nights out. before they pulled out of the driveway Uncle Randy dumped his Coke on the seats. Later on the way home tears were saved when one of the kids spilled a milkshake in the backseat. I know It's not in me to do that.

Brother Juniper was one of the brothers of St. Francis of Assisi. Once he was left in charge of the Cathedral by the caretaker. When some beggars came, Juniper had little to offer them. He mentioned there were some silver bells in the tower, they could have, since it was God's house. So he helped them get them down. Legend is that when the bishop returned he scolded Brother Juniper so badly he lost his voice. Oh brother Juniper! (excerpted from Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne)

one more story: "All of the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. .. There was no needy person among them." Acts 4:32,34

So what am I getting at. One answer is that belongings can be obstacles to being the hands and feet of Christ. Christ's message not only transformed individual peoples hearts, but he changed the way people thought about their "Stuff". If you read the Book of Acts there are accounts of people selling all they had and laying the money at the feet of the apostles. Jesus himself said it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man see the kingdom of Heaven.
The Jesus movement of the 1st century had economic implications. People found what was important, making sure that everyone was taken care of.
Sometimes our government wants us to do our "civic duty" and give more, through millage or other means. Some cry foul on the tax hike. Some say they are trying to spread the wealth around. But Jesus taught a different way. The disciples took care of the needs of others because they were one in heart and mind. They also refused to claim any possessions as their own. So step one I guess is recognizing nothing is ours, it all comes from God. So how should we spend God's money?? Recently in Michigan the State Troopers were asked to take a mandatory 6 hours off for six weeks, amounting to less than one less paycheck for the year. This in turn would save the jobs of 100 State Troopers whose positions the State of Michigan could no longer afford. The Troopers Association voted down the furlough option nearly 2-1. Now forgive me for simplifying this issue. I don't have the energy to expound on the politics that brought about this ultimatum. I found the vote expected and inexplicable at the same time. I assumed in a culture where we think we are entitled to everything and how dare anyone infringe on our right to save up for that new boat. How can they go to work with someone who was on the chopping block and say "I couldn't spare a paycheck to save your career". REALLY? Are the troopers lacking the means necessary to care for those who need? or are they lacking the one in heart and mind concern that the original disciples of Christ were so good at cultivating?

So what do we do, do we sell all our stuff? Do we give our money to the government to hand out in the form of social programs? Do we go directly to the needy and give to them as they need? We can do anything we can do everything, we just have to remember that it's all God's anyway. The answer is up to you. I just hope we are doing it out of a genuine love for each other.

Pentecost and Propaganda

This post is a long time coming. It's been in the works for more than a week, but I've been prevented from getting more than one sentence in at a time by a busy schedule, but here is is.

Last year I read a book called Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne. In the book he talks about how we are citizens of the Kingdom of God first and foremost. Yes, we may be citizens of the United States, but Jesus finds what we call borders no more than annoying lines in the sand. Meaning they hold no sway over where he will go, what he will do or who he will bless. Keeping our primary allegiance in mind, what are our most important "holidays" as followers of Christ? Obviously, the birth and Resurrection of Christ are first on the mind of many readers, I know they were first in my mind. Then we have Pentecost, the oft overlooked celebration of the birth of the church. 50 days after Easter we received the Holy Spirit from God as our advocate. Acts 2 and John 16 are both worthwhile if you want to know more.

All of this I was thinking 2 weeks ago on Memorial Day. I was on the street early in the morning with my American Flag in hand, thinking to myself, I wish this was a Pentecost Parade. I thought the memorial day service and parade were nice, honestly. The boy scouts and colonels and reservists who stood on stage and said this is one of the most important days for our country every year. Well, that was more than a stretch.

There is a great podcast called "stuff you should know" that recently covered the topic of propaganda. They went over the different ways it is spread and how effective each one is. For example, one way is called "Glittering Generalities". This involves taking a commonly accepted or liked theme and pairing it with one side of the argument. George Bush did this extremely well. The Patriot Act really has nothing to do with patriots, it's main focus is information security and domestic spying. Whoever is against it though can be easily characterized as anti-American. "What do you hate Patriots?" Or the "Pro-Family" movement, really nothing to do with helping American families in their struggles but seeks to broadly restrict the rights of homosexuals and marginalize them. Anyone bold enough to point this out must hate families. In an interesting side note I learned Pope Gregory (V?) established the congregation of propaganda to return people to the Catholic Church after Martin Luther nailed his list to the church's door. I digress back to Memorial Day. I felt like the Memorial day service was this propaganda piece to perpetuate the myth that America is a christian nation. It's this belief that we are "The city on the Hill" that justifies so much war. It's the Us/Them mentality. I won't even start on asking them to mention the thousands that died in Nagasaki and Hiroshima or hundreds of other wars. In the end that day wasn't remembering those that died. It was Glorifying those that died, as if the lives of Americans are worth anything more to God than those of others around the world. Myths, propaganda. I'm not deluded I know Christians have fought in many wars. I just believe the way of Jesus was non-violent.

I'm all about glorifying the one who died not just for me but for ALL of HUMANITY, Jesus Christ. I hope you had a blessed Pentecost, thanks for reading.

Two types of prayer.

I'm flipping through the channels and I happen across "The O'Reilly Factor",not being a regular viewer I actually stopped, But I can't say exactly why, it could have been sheer curiosity or a desire to see what was going on in the "No Spin Zone".

So Bill is sitting there with Alan Colmes and Monica Crowley. They're doing a bit called between Barack and a hard place, how infinitely clever. Crowley and Colmes' job is to highlight the best and worst thing the president has done in the last week. Without trying to remember everything that was said, suffice it to say each spoke to their target group. Crowley was allowed to have the last word, so at the end of the segment Colmes begins to defend the president's course of action. There is a bit of talking over each other before they calm down so Bill can go to a commercial or whatever. When he says to Crowley, "will you pray for Alan?", then, "We'll pray for you Alan".

WHAT?!?!

Some questions first come to mind. Why are they praying only for Alan Colmes? What exactly are they praying for? It seemed to me they were praying he (Colmes) change the way he thought about the President. Praying he see things the republican way, the "right" way. This is a microcosm of what is wrong with the Church today. Believers should take pray seriously, for it is our duty. Intercessory prayer is one of the greatest responsibilities of the followers of Jesus Christ. The fact that it felt completely insincere really bothered me. Imagine the millions that watch The Factor, he is often top in his time slot. Someone might get the idea that this is what Christians are supposed to pray for! Political ideals. Jesus lived in a time when the Jewish people were under roman rule. They could be asked to carry a soldiers pack at anytime. Jesus didn't pray for the Romans to see it his way. He changed lives and hearts through service to others. That's an entry for a later date. The point his our prayer without ceasing shouldn't be spent getting people to think a certain way. My most frequent prayer is that God work in MY heart. because I haven't got it all figured out. Which is the exact opposite notion of O'Reilly's suggestion. Rather than be objective, or better yet simply tell him you disagree. Those things can be done without hijacking religion. His position is that He already knows and conforms to God's will so it is his guests who needs praying for. Maybe I'm being harsh. But what if I'm not? Again millions of viewers, and there would be enough non-believers among them, to make this thought process not at all far-fetched.

I wonder what the world would be like if more people started praying the way Jesus taught and less like Bill O'Reilly suggests