September 2010 Archives

On August 31^st I arrived in Nairobi Kenya for the first time and have begun to go to the places and meet some of the people I will be working alongside.

I was amazed at a few things during this picnic. One is how happy and eager the kids are to share- they actually boast about sharing! I thought this amazing because for some of these kids this was their only meal for the day and yet they were not grabbing but receiving with an open hand. Even the cake that we had- for all 70 children- was 10 by 10 inches and so we literally tore off small bite-sizes pieces of cake and passed them around in a cup for each child to receive only one piece and yet they were so happy for it.

Another thing that struck me was how my perception of the children changed based on their surroundings. When we waited for the bus at Mathare the kids were playing in dirt but when we were in clean air and open grassy field laughing and playing games the kids changed in my mind or something. They transformed from these unfortunate children with little hope to children who had such potential, gifted-ness, and beauty- which I had somehow missed when we were in Mathare. I was so encouraged by this time with the kids, that though they live in awful conditions- their "kid-ness" has not been stolen from them. I am very excited about working with these children, and will begin next week on saturday morning. They have a movie time in the afternoon and a few other classes so it seems like morning is best. We'll see how it goes! Also I am still thinking about a theme and am now stuck on "what is Beauty?". I would like to show the kids beauty in themselves, other children, and even in Mathare Valley.

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Hales Ales Brewery and Pub SHOWS Fall 2010
 
Mon. Oct. 18:  Our Movie Show
“Vampires and Zombie and Film Critics, Oh My!”
We’ll discuss how these dark side horror films can show us the light
with host Dick Staub and panelists Jeffrey Overstreet, Christine Chaney and Jennie Spohr
films discussed: Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Let the Right One In/Let Me In, Nostenfrau (original and Hertzog’s ’79 remake), and Interview with a Vampire.

Mon. Nov. 15: Our Book Show
“Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest”
with host Dick Staub and panelists Jeff Keuss, Jennie Spohr and special guest TBA

Mon. Dec. 20: Our Annual Christmas Show
“Peace, Joy & Love”
Film, Fiction and Music Cultural Expressions
that explore and reveal Christmas themes.
with host Dick Staub
and panelists Jeff Keuss, Jeffrey Overstreet, Jennie Spohr

Doors at 6:30pm, show at 7, $5 cover. Hales Ales Brewery and Pub, 4301 Leary Way.

For Stimulating Conversation ~ Great Food
~ thoughtful live-audience

Fall 2010 TKM @ Earl Palmer Ministries
@ Burke Museum Cafe
Register online at:
http://www.thekindlings.com/events/the-kindlings-muse-earl-palmer-ministries/
 
October 4
Truth and Grace in Victor Hugo’s Greatest Story:
Les Miserables, Victor Hugo

November 1
A New Look at St. Paul: The Friend of Women
and Their Role in the Christian Church

December 6
Christians as Peacemakers Letters from the Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln Good News About Injustice, Gary A. Haugen

Founded in 1988 by conductor Harold Rosenbaum, The New York Virtuoso Singers has become this country's leading exponent of contemporary choral music. Although the chorus performs music of all periods, its emphasis is on commissioning, performing, and recording the music of living composers.

ELIGIBLE SUBMISSIONS:  All a cappella works for female chorus, and those with piano accompaniment may be submitted. If the text is not in the public domain, composers must submit a letter confirming that permission has been given from the author or poet to set the text to music.

APPLICATION FEE:  None. There is no limit to the number of scores submitted.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:  There is no formal application form required with the submission of scores. The postmarked deadline for the 2011 competition is April 8, 2011.
Scores should be sent to:

Canticorum Virtuosi, Inc.
2 Cove Road,
South Salem, New York 10590-1023.
Scores and CDs will not be returned.

So begins L.L. Barkat’s fourth chapter of God in the Yard, “Weep: celebration.” I sat to read this chapter in one of New York City’s newer parks, the High Line, shaped around former elevated train tracks on the west side of Manhattan. Sitting on a chair with a view over two avenues to the Hudson river, I was surrounded by the hum of city life: cars honking, passersby in conversation, birds chirping, cell phones and car alarms sounding, the breeze in the trees (yes, there are trees in NYC).

Responding to one of Barkat’s mid-chapter questions about my favorite celebration, I wrote:

“My favorite celebration is Easter. Its significance is profound for me because of my belief in the One whose resurrection we celebrate but also that it comes out of days beforehand of profound sadness and reflection. There is nothing “surface-y” to me about Easter. It is rich in its depth of experience and emotion. It is very REAL.”

A few pages later, Barkat writes, “My kids’ favorite religious celebration isn’t Christian, it’s Jewish: Passover. Maybe they instinctively understand the fullness of a holiday that begins with the remembrance of grief.” Wow. There it is- the connection between grief and joy that makes both so keen.

Less than two years ago my father died. A few weeks later when someone asked me how I was doing, I paused and said that I felt like my heart had been stretched. On any given day, the sadness and void I felt was so profound. But on other days, in other moments, that same stretched space could be filled with joy and gratefulness that was never as full as it was before my dad’s passing.

“Backtrack into grief...wade into grief...make room for it on the sled...” writes Barkat. Sledding is such a visceral image. I have vivid memories of sledding as a child. Like most fast rides, it evokes both fear and excitement in me. That “I’m not sure I want to do this, but won’t it be a thrill?” feeling. On my own, I’m not sure I would have gone sledding as much. But with my friends or my dad or another safe person, I felt somehow able to get on the sled and go. Grief is not necessarily safe or invited, but if we ignore it, like the proverbial “elephant in the room,” it doesn’t really do much good because it’s there anyway. And then we just feel the weight and miss the ride.

Dana Gioia, Erwin McManus, Calvin DeWitt, and Makoto Fujimura

to lead the discussion on what it means to “Be Generative”

NEW YORK CITY (September 22, 2010) – International Arts Movement, the non-profit arts organization founded in 1991 by painter and author Makoto Fujimura, will celebrate its twentieth anniversary at Encounter 11, “Be Generative,” taking place March 3-5, 2011, in New York City. Confirmed presenters include poet and former NEA Chairman Dana Gioia, author and speaker Erwin McManus, and professor of environmental studies Dr. Calvin DeWitt, along with Fujimura. The Kansas City-based dance company Störling Dance will perform, as will Rob Mathes, musical director for President Obama's inauguration and Sting's current tour. The Encounter 11 logo was created by Caldecott-nominated illustrator John Hendrix.

Pre-registration for the conference is now open at a significantly discounted price at www.iamencounter.com. As space is limited, early registration is strongly encouraged.

The IAM Encounter is a creative zone for aspiring, emerging, and established artists and creative catalysts. The three-day gathering includes three days of lectures, performances, exhibitions, networking opportunities, and engagement with the best of the arts in New York City. Past presenters include actress Patricia Heaton, philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff, theologian Miroslav Volf, artist Tara Donovan, architect Daniel Liebeskind, educator Laurie Midgette, and Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout.

International Arts Movement gathers artists of all disciplines and creative catalysts to wrestle with the deep questions of art, faith, and humanity, in order to inspire the creative community to engage the culture that is and create the world that ought to be. Past Encounter themes, such as “Artists as Reconcilers,” “Art in Action,” and “Generative Creativity,” point to a movement-based ethos of equipping the arts community to rehumanize culture.

For more on Encounter 11, please visit www.IAMencounter.com.

Sitting in my living room alone one evening last week, I read through chapter three of L.L. Barkat’s book God in the Yard, entitled “Look: contemplation.” While thankful for the two housemates I live with, I was happy to be alone in my apartment and able to sit quietly with this book. Certainly an easier environment in which to “contemplate” then when the sounds of everyday life pour in (dishes in the kitchen, music in the background, running water in the shower). Quiet.

This week, Barkat gave me trees and bushes to consider, as she wrote about “marking a temple” in her spot of the woods, the idea of a hallowed space that allows you to openly and willingly take in your surroundings. Her words immediately prompted a memory of one trip I took to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in New York City. I went alone during cherry blossom season and after strolling around the gardens for a bit, laid down under a canopy of cherry trees, the soft grass under me, the amazing pink blossoms reaching over me, glimpses of sunlight sneaking in. My shoes were off, I wiggled my toes, and I just laid there. I stopped. Barkat quotes DaVinci who said, “Do not despise my opinion when I remind you that it should not be hard for you to stop sometimes...” How hard it is for us city people to stop! Maybe it’s hard for country people to stop, too, but my 17 years of life in NYC have taught me that there is indeed a drive and pace here that is faster than almost any place I’ve been.

Jesus stopped. He stopped for people (those most overlooked, those in the public eye, those in the middle) and moments (healings, meals, conversations) all the time. He didn’t just always sit with the Old Testament Scriptures but was in His Father’s world. The created world. The rivers and mountains and valleys and trees and bushes. Which is a huge part of contemplation. Quoting Calvin Miller, Barkat writes, “Christ doesn’t just lord it over the natural world. He inhabits it.” WE are part of God’s natural world because He created us. And we bring to our understanding an “inner landscape” that as Barkat suggests “...may be crucial to the contemplation process.” So, why not lie in the grass, under a tree, or near an oft-forgotten bush? Take God’s written word and stop for it- let it settle in and take root; but also, stop for God’s created world and realize that He is speaking as much through it as through any word on a page.

“Ever present, never twice the same.” (Anonymous) O, that I will stop more.

 Early this week, I had one of those terribly sleepless nights when you crawl into bed completely exhausted, only find yourself surprisingly unable to to fall asleep. After struggling for awhile, working a crossword puzzle, eating a snack, and trying again and again to fall asleep, I decided to pick up L.L. Barkat’s book and continue my reading. I was drawn to something that would quiet my mind and soothe my heart, both of which seemed to be at war with each other while I lay in the darkness. I had to smile, because within two pages, Barkat’s words and references struck a chord with me that did begin to calm me down.

First of all, she starts off with a reference to birds, cardinals specifically. Now, I am not a bird person, per se, but God has given me a few bird encounters over the years that have greatly moved me: seeing a lone seagull jump against a crashing wave, determined to hold its perch on a rocky crag; watching the hop-hop-hop of many a little bird pecking along a park path; witnessing a fast-moving train hit a bird in mid-flight, its imminently lifeless body left helpless among the passengers waiting for the next train.

Secondly, Barkat identified books, writers, and topics that I have spent time with in the recent years: Julian of Norwich, Karen Armstrong and her book The Spiral Staircase, and spiritual disciplines. Which is part of the thought behind this chapter’s title “Rules: the way.” Disciplines. There is freedom in limitation through all of life and yes, we need rules to guide us along the way. God gave us ten commandments and a zillion other amazing ideas about how to live a life that pleases Him. But we can get stuck in the box of what’s right and wrong and confused about, as Barkat writes, “...whose job it is to keep our lives from falling into nothing.”

The whole matter of our lives does not just rest with God (we have a level of responsibility), nor does it rest with ourselves (we will fall under the weight of it). Here’s a paragraph I love, Barkat’s description of what she discovered watching the mama cardinal hop to the left, then the right, then to the left again of her baby, urging him (or her) stumblingly onward to papa and a waiting branch:

“In this scenario, God is on the left. Then he’s on the right. If there’s any rule at all, it is listen. But the direction and path can change...My job is not so much to practice a rigid set of disciplines as to pay attention.”

Amen to that. Pay attention. “...stand within the limits of one’s plot and take stock.”

Well, I’m listening.

(Karen Lacy, Queens, NY)

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