Tag: creativity

creativity

Lent: a rookie attempt

lent.jpgI, along with many symbol folks, are participating in lent this year for the first time. We have come to love the idea of lent being a seasonal rhythm preparing us for Easter.  For those of us from protestant backgrounds, we've talked about how this is new and unfamiliar territory for us.  But we're excited.  At our "40" gathering last night we shared some of thoughts of what we're planning on doing/giving up this lenten season.  There was a lot of talk of slowing down, creating space for rest, and to be more mindful of our busyness. Personally, I am doing a couple of things: 1.) giving up caffeine 2.) creating intentional space to "create" (write, draw, photography, design, etc.) each day of lent.  I will let you know how it goes.

UPDATE (2/27): I have been wrecked the past week with nagging headaches that grow as the day wears on.  Caffeine withdrawal no doubt.  The good news is that the creativity part is coming more naturally than expected.  Just about every day I find myself discovering space to create without even trying. Encouraging.

the symbol communities

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The faith community (it's really more of a community of communities) that has begun to emerge here in the East Valley finally has an online presence @ www.symbolcommunities.org.  To help discover our identity together, we are tackling some exciting projects (which I will post about soon) and have scheduled a worship gathering (or collective) for Ash Wednesday entitled "40: a symbolic journey".  We are unsure of what the future holds for us, but we are sure that sharing a common identity forged around a shared way of life (living a symbolic life) is the road we're on.

 If you are in the Phoenix area and would like to share in "40" with us or would like to learn more about the symbol communities, email me at znewsome@mac.com.

 

The Symbol Life

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While in Northern Ireland last week, I had a chance to talk further with others who are a part of an emerging global community deemed,"The Symbol Society". While this society is in it's infancy stages (we've been accused of having a name and a logo and so were trying to form something logo-worthy around those pieces of identity), what is emerging from this conversation is a sharing in a common way of life – a symbolic one.  This symbolic life attempts to as Kester has said recently, "… to point to something beyond ourselves. It is to live in hope, realizing that everything we do will have some ill effect somewhere, but believing that to keep raising symbols will, in some small way, have some greater impact at some unknown time in the future."  I like Kester's definition of this symbolic life. 

There is something wildy attractive to me about intentionally living in a way that points to an alternative, counter-cultural existence found in the kingdom of God.   As symbols we will fail to fully represent what/who it is our actions point to, but at some point all symbols fail. After all, a symbol is not the thing it represents – it just communicates something about it.  It is my hope that my existence (along with all those on this symbolic journey) will communicate well the beauty, the hope, the generosity, and the love that is central to the kingdom and the king we point to.

It is along these symbolic lines that a local community is beginning to take shape here in Phoenix.  It is appropriately called, "symbol", or more formally, "the symbol communities". 

May we be effective symbols. 

 

Oh yeah…an arts venue, too!

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 :). 

Engaging culture or living counter-culturally?

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Travis and I started talking about counter-cultural living today and ended up at this deeply troubling (at least to me) question – "As followers of Jesus are we called to be counter-cultural or to engage the culture?"  The two ways of life seem contradictory at first, but can they be?  I think the answer to the question is "yes" – Yes, we are to live counterculturally as citizens of a kingdom that is counter-cultural to our present world AND yes, we are to flesh out this faith within the culture we find ourselves in. 

There is much to say here, but I want to let it brew a bit.  In the meantime….I would love to hear your thoughts.

Simply Christian

Last week I started a new book called "Simply Christian" by one of my favorite author/theologians, N.T. Wright.  Wright has challenged my thinking in so many ways and that has made me a huge fan.  So While I was killing some time recently at our local B&N, I picked up this book. I have heard this book described as similar to C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity – which is a bold claim.  

As I read the introduction, I became more excited than I have ever been to read a particular book.  As Wright is explaining his purpose in this book, he explains that he has broken it into three parts.  He starts by describing the first part. Here's the passage that hooked me:

"First, I have explored four areas which in today's world can be interpreted as "echoes of a voice": the longing for justice, the quest for spirituality, the hunger for relationships, and the delight in beauty.  Each of these, I suggest, points beyond itself, though without in itself enabling us to deduce very much about the world except that it is a strange and exciting place." 

Community/spirituality/beauty/justice are aspects of the Kingdom, but are also as Wright calls them, "echoes of a voice" that the world hears and longs for, but doesn't understand.  To help them understand is what Kelli and I do.  That is our profession; our calling.

This book is so exciting to me because we for over a year now have felt these exact things.  Check back for updates on this book as I finish it this week.

Not going to just talk anymore

My good friend Josh just left our house and my mind is racing.  Kelli, Josh, and I talked for the past few hours about life, faith, and how well the two are working together.  What came to my mind, as it has seemed to so many times recently, was how much we talk big of living differently, but in reality, we aren't that much different.  Blame part of it on the fact that we are as flawed and hopeless as any other human on this planet, and put the rest of the blame on us directly. We have gotten too busy, too comfortable, too lazy, too casual about this Jesus we claim to follow.  Something has to change.  Something has to be done.  Not just for the sake of doing, but for the sake of balance, for the sake of justice, and for the sake of integrity.  So here's where we're headed, a life lived centered around community, Christ, creativity, and compassion.  No other distractions, no other agendas – just figuring out how to live in these ways – community, Christ, creativity, and compassion. We'd love to share this life with others, learning from them along the road.  If you resonate with this simple, yet serious way of life, you're more than welcome to join us – the more the merrier.

Back from Soliton

 

Matt and I just got back from the Soliton Sessions on Sunday. We had a great time and met some new friends. These are some of the "tricksters" we shared the weekend with – Shane Claiborne, Greg Russinger, and Si Johnston – each brilliant in their own right. Matt and I had some great chances to talk about ourselves as well as about the community we are a part of here in Mesa. I am still processing a list of concepts – most of which were stirred by dialogue with Kester Brewin about "dirt" and the boundaries we create around us that keep us from all things dirty and from thus becoming dirty ourselves. Interesting stuff.  Also thanks to Gareth, Pagitt, Travis, Andy, Rob & Angela, Jon, the people of the bridge (way to practice what you preach), and most of all Miki for letting us stay on your floor.

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