Last night the Freeport Community Players closed its production of Man of La Mancha, the broadway musical story of Cervantes' Don Quixote. It was my great privilege to be a part of the Players and the musical as Antonia Quijana. It was a visual and auditory masterpiece. Since school is getting ready to begin, however, I am glad to have some rest. As I was driving home thinking about the relationships I had formed with quality, talented people and my new-found niche in the community theatre world, I thought about Christian cultural impact once again.
Or rather, how we don't impact the culture. Now I know there are, and have been, many Christians who say thet are fighting the culture wars. They write articles and give speeches (mostly to fellow Christians) and feel good about themselves. But so far, talking and writing (articles, at least) has not made a difference. Partly, non-Christians don't care what we say when we speak in Christian platitudes. We are losing the culture war.
Why? We don't make good art. We don't participate in good art. Unknowingly, the world is enjoying and imitating the beauty of God's natural revelation and the gift of his creative image in man while we are settling for pale reflections that we think are safe and modest.
Now I realize that the "academic discussions" are important in the culture war, but even more important, in my opinion, is that these talking heads, as well as Christians everywhere, take part in the creation of good art. When we excel or in the least, appreciate what is reflective of God's glory in good art, that's when the non-believing world takes notice. We need to be more incarnational and less rhetorical. These are talented people in the culture, for the most part, and we need to match their skill with skill, not verbal abuse.
And form relationships. Christians have a hard time forming realtionships with the unbelieving world, and most often hide behind articles, rallies, speeches and 80s hairdos. If I have learned anything in the past year, it's that relationships matter, perhaps more than anything else. We want to believe, wrongly, that choices and outcomes have to do with ability above all. But take our most important relationship- our relationship with God. If there is an functioning ability binding us, it is Christ's merit, but he did not merely perform a function for us. He restored our relationship with God. Think about all the time that business people spend netoworking or that law students spends interning. They need skill to land that job, but more than is often acknowleged it is important that there is relationship established. We need to establish a good relationship with the art world and those in. We need to learn from them and participate in good art with them, and beginning producing our own.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Untitled.
I don't post as much as I want to. We don't have internet right now so I use the library. Lots of exciting things are going on in our lives right now, but it's Friday and I am going home. Be back soon, I promise.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
The Beauty of a Child's Mind, Part one
I love the way that children think. So often it just blows my mind completely. For instance, the kindergarten teacher just told me today about an incident in her classroom. She was relating to them the story of Abraham and God's promise when she asked, "How could Abraham count the stars?" With exuberance one student cried out, "By tens!"
One of my professors used to tell us that the goal of higher education, as he saw it, was to retrain the "adult," "mature" mind into something more childlike. He did not mean behaviors or content as much as he meant that curiosity and inquisitiveness that so represents the child's mind. Only by asking good questions and having an open mind, he maintained, could you really continue learning. Calvin, from the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes, happened to be his favorite theologian/philosopher. The kid had something going, that's for sure.
We, and I mean adults, tend to work off of so many assumptions that we hardly question or perhaps even acknowledge. Increasingly, through teaching, I am confronted by questions in class such as "why?" or by the need to explain further the way things are related. Children, especially in the grammar stage, need those concrete explanantions, which has challenged my own thinking.
While we may feed on meatier stuff than milk, we must not, in academic pursuits or heavenly pursuits, lose that childlike awe that brought David to his knees before God or that questioning spirit that raised up reformers in the 15th century. Just something I was thinking about one day....
One of my professors used to tell us that the goal of higher education, as he saw it, was to retrain the "adult," "mature" mind into something more childlike. He did not mean behaviors or content as much as he meant that curiosity and inquisitiveness that so represents the child's mind. Only by asking good questions and having an open mind, he maintained, could you really continue learning. Calvin, from the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes, happened to be his favorite theologian/philosopher. The kid had something going, that's for sure.
We, and I mean adults, tend to work off of so many assumptions that we hardly question or perhaps even acknowledge. Increasingly, through teaching, I am confronted by questions in class such as "why?" or by the need to explain further the way things are related. Children, especially in the grammar stage, need those concrete explanantions, which has challenged my own thinking.
While we may feed on meatier stuff than milk, we must not, in academic pursuits or heavenly pursuits, lose that childlike awe that brought David to his knees before God or that questioning spirit that raised up reformers in the 15th century. Just something I was thinking about one day....
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Paul, Joy, Leadership
One of the main responsibilities I have with my 5th and 6th grade class is both to model Christ to them and to teach them to love Christ, and in so doing, know how to serve him. It's such a huge and overwhelming task! We were going through 2 Philippians today specifically to talk about considering others above yourselves and about not complaining. I read the opening verses with just new personal insight, though. Paul asks the Philippians church to be like-minded and love one another to "make [his] joy complete" and asks them not to complain so that he would not have '"labored in vain." Bam! The feeling with which he made those statements just struck me so forcibly. I am sure that parents and pastors and others in like situations feel the impact of these verses, but I had never before. Now I have this class of students, and as sinners and children, they complain, argue and bicker. And I know how deeply I want to see them grow in Christ and how much joy I would have to see them loving and serving each other in a Christ-like manner more and more. Paul, while recognizing the strengths of the Philippians wants them to abound more and more. And that is my prayer and hope for my class. Partly, I think it is such a difference for me now to be on the leading and giving end in the classroom, as opposed to the recieving end. It's such a blessing, though. Praise God!
Now I'm a true Mainer
Fun times. So this past weekend Matt and I embarked upon a true Maine experience. With work and all of the changes, it has been tough to find the energy and motivation to get out and do things. This past weekend we went down to Portland and saw a really cool light house. (Like the one on my blog here!) We also went to two sand beaches and took mini-hikes. Sidney (our Beagle puppy) went with us to the beach. She seemed to like running around the beach with us but never went too far. She definitely did not like the water part or sinking in wet sand (she whined), but it was fun. I took about 120 pictures, and got some really amazing ones.
While I was standing on a rocky part of one beach I just looked out on the vast expanse that receded into the horizon. It was stormy to the east and the sun was setting in a cloudy western sky. The words, "and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep" entered my mind and I just got chills. God's creation is amazing.
Not only that.....we ate a real lobster dinner! And by real, I mean, we made it ourselves. You can get lobsters out here for relatively cheap, so we got ourselves some live lobsters. I was not too keen on putting those things in the boiling water, so it was actually Matt who cooked the lobsters. Sidney helped, especially when one of the lobsters didn't want to go in the pot. She started barking at it. I have pictures of her sniffing a lobster and Matt holding it. We topped off the meal with bread, salad and wine. Awesome. Now I feel like I belong here.
Bring on the adventure...
While I was standing on a rocky part of one beach I just looked out on the vast expanse that receded into the horizon. It was stormy to the east and the sun was setting in a cloudy western sky. The words, "and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep" entered my mind and I just got chills. God's creation is amazing.
Not only that.....we ate a real lobster dinner! And by real, I mean, we made it ourselves. You can get lobsters out here for relatively cheap, so we got ourselves some live lobsters. I was not too keen on putting those things in the boiling water, so it was actually Matt who cooked the lobsters. Sidney helped, especially when one of the lobsters didn't want to go in the pot. She started barking at it. I have pictures of her sniffing a lobster and Matt holding it. We topped off the meal with bread, salad and wine. Awesome. Now I feel like I belong here.
Bring on the adventure...
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Heart Language
Two particular conversations with friends over the past week really got me to thinking about several threads that have been weaving themselves through the fabric of my thoughts over the past several years.
Wycliffe Raises Questions
First, my friend is now preparing to go overseas with Wycliffe Bible Translators. It has been so fascinating for me to watch her go through this whole process and learn with her about Bible Translating. Wycliffe realizes the power of the Word as revealed through his written word. Their focus, then, becomes putting the word of God into the heart language of people groups, and in fact, has as a goal to have it in the language of all people groups. After reading and watching videos about their work, I am more impressed with the speciial significance to the people groups of having the Word in their language. Alongside Bible Translating, Wycliffe does work in ethnomusicology. They maintain that music is not the universal language, but rather peoples have different music styles, etc., that speak to them. In their study of ethnic music, they find ways that people groups can worship through their own methods. Their heart music.
An interesting question that has rolled around in my head concerns literal versus thought-for-thought translation. I have always automatically been drawn toward literal translation with no exceptions. Consider, however, the tribe in the jungle who has never seen snow. What meaning do they attach to "your sins will be white as snow"? Jesus seemd to speak in stories that resonated with his culture. Bring that attitude home then. What about translations such as the Message and the New Living Translation? I am inclined to hold English speakers to a higher standard, but is that merely my middle-class snobbery? God's word is powerful indeed, for it "strips the forest bare." I am still drawn to "better" translations like the ESV and NASB, but rightfully? Is there a line over which we cross into diminishing the Gospel's effectiveness by human frailty, or is our concern actually lack of faith in the power of God in salvation? Sigh.
Relevancy in the Church
While I have done minimal study on this particular subject, I am intrigued by the rising movement known as Emergent Theology. As far as I can tell, they are growing groups of Christians concerned about the rise of post-modernism and what they perceive as the church's failuer in adequately responding. Therefore, they propose what they call "new ways" of responding through worship and evangelism, etc. On the one hand, I am leary both of motives and methods of such a group (or conglomeration of groups), especially when using terms like "new," when there is nothing new under the sun, not even post-modernism. For another thing, I cringe to think that the motive might be to make Christianity more appealing (so as to grow in numbers and have similar goals) approaching a more "seeker-friendly" mode. The Gospel, even Christ himself, is offensive and divisive. There is a balance that is sometimes hard to find. So as I study this movement more, I may find different motives, goals and methods, but intend to ask hard questions to really figure out what they are trying to say and do.
On the other hand, I find myself nearly ready to jump on board with such thinking. As I sat in church this summer, at times I found myself thinking, "Is this my Christianity?" with an embarrassed grimace. I almost feel as though mainstream evangelicalism has taken on a Kraft macaroni mentality- very comfortable, easy, and ultimately, very cheesy. I always hate to be critical of the church because I find often that criticism of the church often leads to bitterness and separation, when Christ called us to love and serve the church. However often I fail, my desire is that if a person is turned away from Christianity, he has stumbled on Christ and teh Gospel and not the manner by which we have presented it.
Anyway....Worship wars continue to rage. In addition, I sometimes feel that as Christians (and more so in conservative circles) we sometimes choose something just because it's "old" and not because it's biblical. Back on track, though, it happened to be the music that particularly made me grimace. We would sing a hymn, but it might be one of those gospel songs that everyone knows and older generations love. As I consider the words, I think, what does this mean? Some of those hymns are so fluffy and meaningless, and yet they are old favorites. Huh. And the conversely, some of the praise songs we sang were equally as embarrassing and empty. At times, we didn't even sing the new, hipper songs, either, but flashed-back to the 80s. Yikes. I guess what really got me about these songs was this: perhaps they are comfortable and familiar songs but if a non-believer was at church that week, what would they think? I especially thought about the high school generation, that is so world-weary, bitter and dark in so many ways. Are teenage skater boys drawn in by the feminized praise songs? I am not advocating seeker-friendliness by any means, but perhaps our methods are worth considering. I sometimes fear that our presentation of the gospel is the stumbling block and not Christ himself. Consider again the work of the ethnomusicologist who says that music is not the universal language. So what music speaks to our generation?
I guess what this all means to me as far as the church is a challenge to the church and myself. The world out there is changing, perhaps not evolving into something new, but is changing. Are we as a church engaging that culture? Are we listening to its heartbeat and asking good questions? Are finding the heart language of our youth, risking relationship with them, and feeding them Christ. We have this tendency to throw cheesy phrases and chic tracks at people rather than risk meeting them heart to heart. Adults, at times, though ready to impress upon youth the majesty of Christ, fail to measure the heartbeat whose rhythm is not his own. We all too often stand on the precipice above shouting down to the raging sea, "Just swim!...not that way....Kick your legs!" rather than diving in, just to say, "I am here with you. We can swim this one together." I believe that is what our youth especially needs, adults willing to listen and find their heart language and speak in a way that upholds the gospel but does not diminish their hearts. I know I did.
Training Up Hearts
This topic of heart languages seems also to tie in very strongly with my new job. I am almost overwhelmed at the enormity and responsibility of teaching a class of seven 5th/6th graders, not only to be responsible for giving them knowledge, but to teach their hearts and share in the work of conforming their character to Christ's. It is very humbling work.
I am amazed at the creativity of God in creating each of these children, and how their backgrounds, choices and experiences (of which I know so little) have formed them. And I realize that I am dealing with seven distinct and impressionable hearts that yearn (sometimes in ignorance) for the love of Christ, and how inadequate I am for the task of feeding them. I must remind myself that however much I have "matured" or moved on in the experiences of life, nothing is so important to their hearts as what they are feeling at this time, even if is something as seemingly small as a playground squabble. I must by careful oberservation and interaction to hear and to speak their distinct heart languages, and to love them. What a task! I sometimes think I can get lazy and throw empty, detached words at students, like "God told us to love each other so that's what you should do." That may be true, but I opt for the easy way rather than asking good questions about what might be going on in their heart, and learning to lead their desires to Christ. Sometimes, that just can't be done with words.
I have found that children have wonderful minds, and that I can teach a child to memorize anything or learn a math concept so easily. What requires more work is to train their hearts. One of the major roadblocks to this work is my own heart. I can trace my perception of situations or reactions to students back to my own assumptions and experiences. Praise God that he is strongest in our weakness.
So, these ramblings might be just that...and more scattered than I actually intended. But as I wrote extensively in my thesis, I believe that the heart is so important, in training and discipling kids, in relating to friends and in understanding ourselves. Rather than letting our own experiences, knowledge and assumptions dictate, it is so important (and really a delight) to undertake the risky task of understanding and learning to speak another's heart language.
Wycliffe Raises Questions
First, my friend is now preparing to go overseas with Wycliffe Bible Translators. It has been so fascinating for me to watch her go through this whole process and learn with her about Bible Translating. Wycliffe realizes the power of the Word as revealed through his written word. Their focus, then, becomes putting the word of God into the heart language of people groups, and in fact, has as a goal to have it in the language of all people groups. After reading and watching videos about their work, I am more impressed with the speciial significance to the people groups of having the Word in their language. Alongside Bible Translating, Wycliffe does work in ethnomusicology. They maintain that music is not the universal language, but rather peoples have different music styles, etc., that speak to them. In their study of ethnic music, they find ways that people groups can worship through their own methods. Their heart music.
An interesting question that has rolled around in my head concerns literal versus thought-for-thought translation. I have always automatically been drawn toward literal translation with no exceptions. Consider, however, the tribe in the jungle who has never seen snow. What meaning do they attach to "your sins will be white as snow"? Jesus seemd to speak in stories that resonated with his culture. Bring that attitude home then. What about translations such as the Message and the New Living Translation? I am inclined to hold English speakers to a higher standard, but is that merely my middle-class snobbery? God's word is powerful indeed, for it "strips the forest bare." I am still drawn to "better" translations like the ESV and NASB, but rightfully? Is there a line over which we cross into diminishing the Gospel's effectiveness by human frailty, or is our concern actually lack of faith in the power of God in salvation? Sigh.
Relevancy in the Church
While I have done minimal study on this particular subject, I am intrigued by the rising movement known as Emergent Theology. As far as I can tell, they are growing groups of Christians concerned about the rise of post-modernism and what they perceive as the church's failuer in adequately responding. Therefore, they propose what they call "new ways" of responding through worship and evangelism, etc. On the one hand, I am leary both of motives and methods of such a group (or conglomeration of groups), especially when using terms like "new," when there is nothing new under the sun, not even post-modernism. For another thing, I cringe to think that the motive might be to make Christianity more appealing (so as to grow in numbers and have similar goals) approaching a more "seeker-friendly" mode. The Gospel, even Christ himself, is offensive and divisive. There is a balance that is sometimes hard to find. So as I study this movement more, I may find different motives, goals and methods, but intend to ask hard questions to really figure out what they are trying to say and do.
On the other hand, I find myself nearly ready to jump on board with such thinking. As I sat in church this summer, at times I found myself thinking, "Is this my Christianity?" with an embarrassed grimace. I almost feel as though mainstream evangelicalism has taken on a Kraft macaroni mentality- very comfortable, easy, and ultimately, very cheesy. I always hate to be critical of the church because I find often that criticism of the church often leads to bitterness and separation, when Christ called us to love and serve the church. However often I fail, my desire is that if a person is turned away from Christianity, he has stumbled on Christ and teh Gospel and not the manner by which we have presented it.
Anyway....Worship wars continue to rage. In addition, I sometimes feel that as Christians (and more so in conservative circles) we sometimes choose something just because it's "old" and not because it's biblical. Back on track, though, it happened to be the music that particularly made me grimace. We would sing a hymn, but it might be one of those gospel songs that everyone knows and older generations love. As I consider the words, I think, what does this mean? Some of those hymns are so fluffy and meaningless, and yet they are old favorites. Huh. And the conversely, some of the praise songs we sang were equally as embarrassing and empty. At times, we didn't even sing the new, hipper songs, either, but flashed-back to the 80s. Yikes. I guess what really got me about these songs was this: perhaps they are comfortable and familiar songs but if a non-believer was at church that week, what would they think? I especially thought about the high school generation, that is so world-weary, bitter and dark in so many ways. Are teenage skater boys drawn in by the feminized praise songs? I am not advocating seeker-friendliness by any means, but perhaps our methods are worth considering. I sometimes fear that our presentation of the gospel is the stumbling block and not Christ himself. Consider again the work of the ethnomusicologist who says that music is not the universal language. So what music speaks to our generation?
I guess what this all means to me as far as the church is a challenge to the church and myself. The world out there is changing, perhaps not evolving into something new, but is changing. Are we as a church engaging that culture? Are we listening to its heartbeat and asking good questions? Are finding the heart language of our youth, risking relationship with them, and feeding them Christ. We have this tendency to throw cheesy phrases and chic tracks at people rather than risk meeting them heart to heart. Adults, at times, though ready to impress upon youth the majesty of Christ, fail to measure the heartbeat whose rhythm is not his own. We all too often stand on the precipice above shouting down to the raging sea, "Just swim!...not that way....Kick your legs!" rather than diving in, just to say, "I am here with you. We can swim this one together." I believe that is what our youth especially needs, adults willing to listen and find their heart language and speak in a way that upholds the gospel but does not diminish their hearts. I know I did.
Training Up Hearts
This topic of heart languages seems also to tie in very strongly with my new job. I am almost overwhelmed at the enormity and responsibility of teaching a class of seven 5th/6th graders, not only to be responsible for giving them knowledge, but to teach their hearts and share in the work of conforming their character to Christ's. It is very humbling work.
I am amazed at the creativity of God in creating each of these children, and how their backgrounds, choices and experiences (of which I know so little) have formed them. And I realize that I am dealing with seven distinct and impressionable hearts that yearn (sometimes in ignorance) for the love of Christ, and how inadequate I am for the task of feeding them. I must remind myself that however much I have "matured" or moved on in the experiences of life, nothing is so important to their hearts as what they are feeling at this time, even if is something as seemingly small as a playground squabble. I must by careful oberservation and interaction to hear and to speak their distinct heart languages, and to love them. What a task! I sometimes think I can get lazy and throw empty, detached words at students, like "God told us to love each other so that's what you should do." That may be true, but I opt for the easy way rather than asking good questions about what might be going on in their heart, and learning to lead their desires to Christ. Sometimes, that just can't be done with words.
I have found that children have wonderful minds, and that I can teach a child to memorize anything or learn a math concept so easily. What requires more work is to train their hearts. One of the major roadblocks to this work is my own heart. I can trace my perception of situations or reactions to students back to my own assumptions and experiences. Praise God that he is strongest in our weakness.
So, these ramblings might be just that...and more scattered than I actually intended. But as I wrote extensively in my thesis, I believe that the heart is so important, in training and discipling kids, in relating to friends and in understanding ourselves. Rather than letting our own experiences, knowledge and assumptions dictate, it is so important (and really a delight) to undertake the risky task of understanding and learning to speak another's heart language.
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Maine points only...
Phew. So, I have much to write. For now, I will only abbreviate and hope to catch up completely later. I am in Maine now. Matthew and I moved here with no glitches. God has been so good to us. I started my job last Tuesday and have a wonderul group of 5th and 6th graders. More on everything later. Sigh. I feel overwhelmed with all I could and want to say....I suppose I will postpone for another day.
Oh. The most exciting news..we got a puppy! We have a cute little beagle puppy named Sydney. Whoohoo!
Oh. The most exciting news..we got a puppy! We have a cute little beagle puppy named Sydney. Whoohoo!
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