fall fun

Halloween always reminds me of Jack Handy’s deep thoughts.  Though I confess: I’m a little embarrassed by some of the high school pranks that guy inspired.  (Sorry again Brad, Eric, & Chris… ’bout that whole pumpkin episode.)

I still think he’s funny:

If you’re a circus clown, and you have a dog that you use in your act, I don’t think it’s a good idea to also dress the dog up like a clown, because people see that and they think, “Forgive me, but that’s just too much.”

– Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts

i love strawberry-rhubarb pie

(So does Cindy Crawford.)  Here’s the (now) famous version.

rest

(A good thing.)

in medias res

I was overcome with hope today during the last 20 minutes of corporate worship.  After a solemn message provoking my sensitivities regarding war, I wept as Christ (in and through His Body) proclaimed, again, the final word: We’ll join in singing with all the redeemed, Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King.For now, we feel so deeply what it is to be in the middle of things.  And in this place (in the middle), I think Chesterton is right:

What we need is not the old acceptance of the world as a compromise, but some way in which we can heartily hate and heartily love it.  We do not want joy and anger to neutralize each other and produce a surly contentment; we want a fiercer delight and fiercer discontent.  We have to see the universe at once as an ogre’s castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return at evening.

And so it should be – this life of ours – in between the “ought” and the “is” …

But living so veritably – so earnestly and truly – amidst two irreconcilable realities (both of them pressing-in) is an elusive practice for me.  (Most days, I feel “surly content” … not “fiercer delight and fiercer discontent.”)

Not this day.  In the presence of my own deep consternation … in the presence of Christ’s incarnate community, (alas) the train did wreck.  And the universe was an ogre’s castle and our very own cottage come evening.  Where – save in the community of faith – does such perfect paradox find expression?

another date (i’m dreaming of) …

Come Thanksgiving, I’ll get time with another couple of cuties!  Yet two more reasons why I love those words: “Aunt Nettie” …

the perfect date …

About once a month, I get an entire evening with my kc-heart-throb, Ethan Cole.  I always feel grateful and refreshed after our time together.  (Tonite was no exception.)  We usually get a few good chuckles in.  Tonite’s big joke – I’m pretty sure it’s been the big joke all month- was putting the ball inside the cup; then pretending to drink.  Yeah.  That one’s funny for a long time.  Can’t wait for all the laughs (even tears) yet to come…

evening psalm

1 O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me. Hear my voice when I call to you. 
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. 
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. 
4 Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies. 
5 Let a righteous man strike me– it is a kindness; let him rebuke me–
it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it.
Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers; 
6 their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken. 
7 They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.” 
8 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;
in you I take refuge– do not give me over to death. 
9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers. 
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.

–David, Psalm 141

beauty & the beholder?

Allow me to suggest three basic criteria for evaluating art and beauty.  First, is the artist skilled (i.e., mastered the artistic medium)?  Second, what is the content of the artwork?  What is the artist attempting to convey?  Is it truth or falsehood?  What morals are reflected?  What is the worldview?  Finally, how creative is the artwork?  Does it provide fresh perspective?  Does it speak profoundly to the viewer? 

In each of the three criteria, God has an ideal for artistic beauty.  In skill, He is pleased with excellence; in content, he is pleased with truth; in creativity, He is pleased with quality and depth.  Each of these criteria is a refection of His character–excellence, truth and creativity.  Without trying to oversimplify this complex issue, it seems that the closer a piece of art is to these ideals, the more pleasing it is to God.

–Dr. Jim Eckman, Issues in Perspective

here’s one …

For awhile in my early twenties, my only clearly articulated ambition was to eat at least once at every restaurant on Pico Boulevard, starting with the fried yuca dish … working methodically westward toward chili fries at Tom’s #5 near the beach.  It seemed a reasonable alternative to grad school at the time.

—Jonathan Gold, This American Life

This, the source of my snickering (turned gut-laughter & tears by the time Mr. Gold had outlined the first 3 rules of his game).  There’s nothing, I say, like the euphoric vibe of cruising away from a long day in the office while at the same time finding total (if arbitrary) reassurance that “other people” are as intricately weird and inspired as you.  (Who didn’t write their own [original] grad-school game?)

Yet one more reason to love the commute.

john’s gospel prologue … brilliant stuff

1:1-2         the pre-existence of the Logos or Son, see also John 17:5
1:4             in him was life, see also John 5:26
1:4             life is light, see also John 8:12
1:5             light rejected by darkness, see also John 3:19
1:5             yet not quenched by it, see also John 12:35
1:9             light coming into the world, see also John 3:19; 12:46
1:11           Christ not received by his own, see also John 4:44
1:13           being born to God and not of flesh, see also John 3:6; 8:41-42
1:14           seeing his glory, see also John 12:41
1:14, 18    the “one and only” Son, see also John 3:16
1:17           truth in Jesus Christ, see also John 14:6
1:18           no one has seen God, except the one … from God’s side, see also John 6:46

—Apostle John, Gospel of John, (outlined by Carson, The Gospel According to John)