Art
This week I had one of the most moving experiences of my life. I am indebted to the power of art to evoke emotion, to remind, to tell story, to confront, and to recapture my imagination from the prison of the mundane. I am convinced I need art to help me to see the beauty of the world again, to regain confidence in all of humanity as created in the image of God, and to appreciate the love I have for my wife, the gift of my kids, and the sharing of life with good friends. Words can't begin to do justice to the experience and my words become jumbled, cheap, and useless when trying to share the experience with others.
What the art was that invoked this in me isn't as important as the acknowledgment of the power of art to speak into my life and to give clarity to the confusion. I am convinced it is a primary way God speaks to our world.
It's been a long time since I've blogged here. Other than a few misc. links and pictures, this blog has been slow & silent. It hasn't been because I haven't had things to say or things to "propose" as I see best describing my typical posts, it's more that I've entered into a private season recently. I am not sure if anyone else feels this way about the various web-driven ways we expose our lives (facebook, myspace, blogs, twitter, flickr, etc.), but my existence can become so reliant on these less-than-personal and distanced forms of communication as the sole means of revealing myself to others. In the name of transparency, I can be deceived into believing that I can be known through my blog or my facebook or that I can have deep and meaningful conversations via Instant Messaging. If this remains true in my life for an extended season, my existence becomes "public". In other words, my efforts online become for someone else (usually someone who is imagined and not real) and who I am become shaped by what I want others to think I am from my online presence. Not very authentic eh?
Kelli and I are in Anaheim for a week of meetings at the CRM offices. We are amazed at the ethos and heart of those involved in CRM. They have created a number of resources to help those interested in joining with the CRM community in observing this Lenten season. If you're looking for a resource to help your Lenten journey this year, there's an email devotional where once you sign up you'll be sent a devotional each day through Lent. There's even a Facebook group you can join if that's the way your roll. If you're interested, 