Like a small grey
coffee-pot,
sits the squirrel.
He is not
all he should be,
kills by dozens
trees, and eats
his red-brown cousins.
The keeper on the
other hand,
who shot him, is
a Christian, and
loves his enemies,
which shows
the squirrel was not
one of those.
Humbert Wolfe
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lam 3:21-23
http://retreadsessions.kut.org/
So much goodness in these sessions. Check out Jose Gonzalez, Akron/Family and Do Say Make Think…
The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everyone must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is we are sinners!
But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you… He wants you as you are, He wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to go on lying to yourself and your brothers , as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner. Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Life Together
Hmm… Napoleon Dynamite goes on an air drumming adventure. In the unlikely event this movie is trash, at least the creators can take comfort in putting together a most entertaining 2 minute montage.
“So white…”
“Like white tiger!”
Power is a worker at the mine whose love of drums and lack of musical skill has turned him into the ridiculed air drummer of his small town. But when a strike is called at the mine, Power discovers an underground subculture of air-drummers who just might hold the key to changing the world. Power’s journey across America brings him face-to-face with his town’s greatest enemy, and allows him to discover the beat within his own heart.
Man I am hanging out for some more Sufjan lovin’. This is from his work commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2007, dedicated to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Yes, beautiful music about an ugly lump of road. Coming out with booklet/3d glasses and other paraphernalia in 5 days.
Now I’m never afraid to ask the hard questions (mainly because I know I will never have to answer them). So I’ll put this forward – When will Nathan Rees stand up and commission someone to create something for Sydney’s very own Cahill Expressway? If we can’t knock the darn thing down, why not celebrate it. Like inking an exquisite tattoo around a hideous scar we could entrance wandering tourists and vexed commuters with sweet, soothing Sufjan – a musical beauty to the concrete beast. Alternatively we could commission Jimmy Barnes and transform an eyesore into an earache. And in my opinion both options are worthy of consideration.
http://asthmatickitty.com/the-bqe
From Noah and the Whale’s new album ‘The First Days of Spring’ – with accompanying film.
Full screen this sucker, then turn it up.
"Why have I gotta paint this bloomin' fence?"
Suffering
In the film The Karate Kid the young student is set a series of tasks by the old master. He thinks they’re all meaningless and irrelevant: painting the fence, cleaning the car, and so on. But eventually he discovers the repeated hand and arm movements have given him strength, reflexes and agility – everything he needs to be a great Karate fighter! Often the events of our lives appear to be meaningless and irrelevant. But all the time God is training us in grace and godliness. Tim Chester, You Can Change.
Some thoughts:
1. Why isn’t The Karate Kid used more for illustrations?
2. I know the trials God puts me through are for my benefit. But I don’t always want to work through them, or can see how I will be changed during that time.
3. Often in the midst of trial I’m concerned to not come out the other side self absorbed and bitter, so I’ll have a go at stoic perseverance. Dumb.
4. In the end however, I do end up clinging to the cross more and trusting in God’s goodness. Refinement only comes by fire…
"Fence won't paint itself son..."
Yeah! There is a new Vampire Weekend album coming out in January!
If you go to their site you can listen to their new track Horchata, or download it (signing up to their newsletter is optional).
Not totally into it just yet, though it’s growing on me…
