The Alternative Arts Venue I am a part of here in the Phoenix-area, Foundarts, has started to build a network of artists, art-lovers, activists, musicians, and cultural-creatives.
If you would describe yourself in any of these ways (and even if you wouldn't), hit up the venue's new MySpace page and become a friend.
We spent the weekend in Flagstaff with our faith community. 10 adults, 7 kids, a puppy, and 8 inches of snow made for some crazy, but cherished times. The highlights included the guys beating the girls (once again) at "Scene It", riding the Polar Express, and building the sled hill Kirra's rockin' in the video below.
The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects (italics mine), to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation with violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work for peace. It destroys her own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.
– Thomas Merton
In my previous post, I forgot to mention one of the biggest and most daunting projects taking up my time these days – starting an alternative arts venue in Downtown Mesa. We're calling it "Found Arts" and it's will be a space devoted to the dreams of artists and non-artists alike. The hope is for it to be a place where new and emerging ideas are created, expressed, wrestled with, and discussed through various forms of creativity. Looking forward to this one – now all we need to $75k and we'll be on our way.
Seriously though, if you have $75k and are interested in sending it our way, we are all ears :).
I am afraid the new year brings a multitude of things to attend to. So I will be taking a break from blogging here for a while. No guess on when I might return – only time will tell. In the meantime, browse some of the other projects that are currently getting the better of my time:
Thanks to all of you who joined us last Friday for the advent gathering. I've put some of the pictures online that my wife, Kelli, took during the night. Check them out.
And if you have some pictures you took during the night, we'd love to see them. We've created a group photo pool where you can upload them.
The "Symbol Communities" Flickr group
….. until next time
There are a number of us here in the Phoenix area who are together exploring the tradition of Advent this holiday season. Most of us, while people of faith, have little experience in the holy seasons. Our goal is to dig deeper into the spiritual side of Christmas while steering clear of the rut of meaningless tradition. In a sense we are on a much-traveled journey, but are committed to forging our own path. If you're interested in participating you'll find some details here. Or email me at znewsome@mac.com.
As I was preparing for the gathering of our community this morning (we're looking at the concept of "symbol" as it relates to our lives, to our faith, and to our world – see the symbols of salt and light in Matthew 5), I found myself revisiting a book I finished recently by Peter Rollins called How (Not) to Speak of God. I loved this book when I finished it a few weeks back and I am discovering that it is one of those books that sticks with you in it's challenges. In other words, the ideas presented are only getting louder as time goes by. In chapter 3, entitled "A/Theology as Icon", Rollins says something that I thought was particularly interesting:
"In a world where people believe they are not hungry (spiritually speaking), we must not offer them food but rather an aroma that helps them desire the food we cannot provide. We (followers of Jesus) are a people whao are born from a response to hints of the divine. Not only this, but we must embrace the idea that we are also called to be hints of the divine."
Just wanted to share these words.
