designed for good.

Silkscreen with a local, social conscience... These guys find a need in their community, document the story, design, screen and sell only enough shirts to meet the need, then give the proceeds to the people who need it, and post a follow-up on their website. I get the goofiest grin every time I check their site!  I have the green one, and I'm already eyeing 2 more...

some things cost more than we think

further:

www.thestoryofstuff.com

we're all in this together

He is risen!

Again, my most favourite scripture, ripe with meaning on this joyful day:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,  set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

{Colossians 3:1-4}

{What a joy it was to stand face to face with God's people today, singing the praises of Jesus, our Saviour!}

without singing

Three days after my doctor put me on vocal rest (to heal my teaching-ravaged singing voice), I found myself at a Sunday morning gathering, feeling admittedly, a little bit off.   All around me people were singing, and I wondered how I could participate in this corporate act of 

(musical) worship.  My first inclination was to shut my eyes tight and pray, and I did.  But once I opened my eyes, I found there were quite a few ways for me to meaningfully engage with the music.  I became very aware of my brothers and sisters around me, and found it was kind of encouraging to listen and watch.  I smiled at some, and noted some newcomers to greet after the service.  I winked at one of the girls I mentor, and was heartened as I watched her close her eyes and sing with feeling.  I prayed for my family around me, and realized that as part of the congregation, their singing was my singing.  Watching and praying was oddly fortifying, and I felt very much that I was worshipping with the body of Christ.  I may have been silent, but we were not.

The next week, I came ready to worship without singing, and was flooded with all sorts of ways to worshipfully engage the music component of the gathering.  Without a voice, my posture became significant.  Simply raising my eyes upwards or bowing my head, lifting my hands or touching my heart, all became ways to demonstrate my love for God.  I focused my attention on the qualities of God we were singing about and found myself ruminating at length on the meaning of the words.  Certain phrases jumped out at me, and spurred me to pray silently, or open my Bible.  (Once in a while I cheated, and sang out a lyric or chorus that I just could not keep in!).  Many times we sung lyrics that spoke of the song of the heart, and I knew that my heart was indeed singing, even though my lips were silent.  

How great is our God, sing with me, How great is our God 

All who sing, how great, how great is our God!

Name above all names, He is worthy of all praise

My heart will sing how great is our God!

{'How Great Is Our God', Chris Tomlin}

yet to be sung (Am, C, F)

i tilt my head back
look way way up
i have to close close close
my eyes
a little smile escapes
can't keep it straight
all around is bathed
in your bright
how does so much
glory
fit inside my
little story?

a good morning (lamentations 3:22-26)

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, 

                        for his compassions never fail.

                                                             They are new every morning; 

       great is your faithfulness.

                       I say to myself, 

"The LORD is my portion, therefore I will wait for him."

  The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, 

                                                                         to the one who seeks him;

  it is good to wait quietly 

                                                                         for the salvation of the LORD.

in quietness and trust (isaiah 30:15)

today at church 

i worshipped God without singing

because i have laryngitis and

cannot sing

i closed my eyes

i whispered ragged prayers

i put out my hands

i listened and looked up

vincente guerrero [08/05]

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.

                                                        {Mother Theresa}

sky blue sky

God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone

      but also on the trees,

                               and in the flowers,

                                                            and clouds,

                                                                              and stars.

{Martin Luther King, Jr.}

a seed

I can't take intellectual credit for the definition of worship that I love the most;  I overheard it at a coffee house, a snippet of conversation displaced, like seeds blown by the wind, and planted into my own conciousness.  And so, as I flipped through ReadyMade magazine, and sipped my (grande non-fat no-whip one-pump sugar-free hazelnut white chocolate) mocha, I heard a phrase that has stayed with me, and informed my own idea of worship for many years: 

"Worship is touching God's heart, and inviting God to touch ours."

Years later, I am still working through the significance of this statement, recognizing and confessing (often!) my self-centered ways, and seeking to please God in all the arenas of my life.  

"Therefore I urge you, brothers [and sisters], to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1 

we are all artists!

I've always shied away from calling myself an artist.  Let's face it: I'm not one who routinely creates groundbreaking paintings or records hit songs.  And yet, I am always artistically engaged with the world around me.  Everywhere I go, I take note of interesting compositions, graphic colour combinations, lyrical moments, and photographs waiting to happen (In fact, during my soul-crushing commute to work, I keep my camera handy to capture those fleeting moments that would otherwise pass me by in a whirl).  I am constantly humming new melodies, creating thematic mix cds, or filling my sketchbook with all manner of whimsical drawings.  So while my so-called "art" may never be curated in a gallery, I think it is safe to say that I am very much an artist.

All this to say that, in my mind, we are all artists.  Within each of us is the creative spark. We are image-bearers of God, one whose public art installations (reference: ocean tides, the stars reflected on water, bioluminescence, or newborn babies) are staggering.  Some of us (like me) are perhaps more tuned in to the art all around, and some, more naturally gifted at the technical/practical making of art.  But all of us yearn to create - or at least, to appreciate - and no act of artistic expression is insignificant or lacking value.  With the right tools and a little inspiration, all of us have something creative to put out into the world, and the people, around us.  What's more, our creative endeavours speak of God's own character, and thus have the capacity to touch not only those around us, but God's own heart.

Further:

www.learningtoloveyoumore.com

www.photojourneywithgod.blogspot.com

the bubble project

Yet another project I like: The Bubble Project.  And once again, it's a vehicle for artistic expression in public spaces, by the public.  Basically, blank speech bubbles (like the ones in Saturday morning comics) are stuck onto the ads that run rampant all around us, left for some innocent (or not-so-innocent) passer-by to fill in at will.  There's a certain authenticity to the results; culture jamming that isn't trying quite so hard.  It seems I am drawn to these guerilla-style art installations that invite the (unknowing, at times) participation of randoms just walking down the street.  We are all artists!  (Stay tuned.  More to come!).

a rainbow today

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds 

and it will be the sign of the covenant 

between me and the earth."

Genesis 9.13

anthem

Ring the bells that still can ring 

Forget your perfect offering 

There is a crack in everything 

That's how the light gets in. 

- Leonard Cohen, Anthem

learning to love you more (assignment no. 42)

5 events from1984:

1.   Eating popsicles on the porch with Mom on a sundrenched august afternoon.

2.   Getting my first pair of (really big!) glasses and actually seeing stuff.

3.   Dancing to Beach Boys songs in the living room with Jeff.

     4.   Wandering onto the kill floor of a local butcher, and seeing a live cow hanging upside down from a hook in the ceiling by its tail.

     5.  Asking Jesus to 'come into my heart' on the brown couch with Dad, after asking him how someone could fit inside there.

 

you are beautiful

I like everything about this project:

[Your beauty was perfected because of My splendor which I bestowed on you.  Ezekiel 16:14]

the marriage pact

tonight you'll sing your songs in front of

all the people

and i'll smile at you from the back

of the room

and i'll sing along softly

thinking

of you and me

when i was a bride

and you a groom

what if we saw the same things?

oh, the songs we'd sing

if you knew the bright that he brings

wouldn't that change 

everything?

so tonight you'll sing your words

painting pictures

of destruction

of a boy's life

and i'll listen wistfully

thinking

that girl could be me

except i've gone and done

what's right

what if we saw the same things?

oh, the songs we'd sing

and if you knew the bright he brings

that would change

everything

Colossians 3:1-4

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, 

set your hearts on things above, 

where Christ is seated 

at the right hand of God. 

Set your minds on things above, 

not on earthly things. 

For you died,

           and your life is now hidden 

with Christ in God. 

When Christ, 

who is your life, 

appears, 

then you also will appear with him in glory.