At Least

I want to get up early one more morning,
before sunrise. Before the birds, even.

I want to throw cold water on my face

and be at my work table
when the sky lightens and smoke
begins to rise from the chimneys

of the other houses.
I want to see the waves break

on this rocky beach, not just hear them
break as I did all night in my sleep.
I want to see again the ships

that pass through the Strait from every
seafaring country in the world—
old, dirty freighters just barely moving along,

and the swift new cargo vessels
painted every color under the sun

that cut the water as they pass.
I want to keep an eye out for them.

And for the little boat that plies

the water between the ships

and the pilot station near the lighthouse.

I want to see them take a man off the ship

and put another up on board.

I want to spend the day watching this happen

and reach my own conclusions.

I hate to seem greedy—I have so much

to be thankful for already.

But I want to get up early one more morning, at least.
And go to my place with some coffee and wait.

Just wait, to see what's going to happen.
~ Raymond Carver

(Place: Home)

Changing (A New Song)

Really happy with the song I just finished. Unlike other recent ones, I'm not uploading a YouTube. This one really only works with the production...I heard it/wrote it as it is here. (It may take a minute for the file to load...)

It just might be the world's only song inspired by Process Theology.

Hope you like it.




Changing

One night I was taken by a powerful dream
Walking through a field by a clear blue stream
Through grass that grew so tall and green
In the wind.

Then in a moment when I turned my eye
The flowers and the grass and the trees
had died
And the white hot gaze of the Sun had fried
What'd been.

And in a moment more, it was covered in snow
And a Still Small Voice called soft and low
"The field remains, but whatever grows
Must end."

Changing.
Changing.
Changing.
Every day.

Faded pictures from an old scrapbook
That my Dad's old Polaroid camera took
From my very first breath to the way way I look
Today.

A smiling baby with short blonde hair
Self-conscious teen with many cares
And a man still shocked how time bears
Life away.

But looking back, the great mystery
Is that in every shot, me was still me
And in each new frame it will ever be
The same.

Changing.
Changing.
Changing.
Every day.

Beyond the farthest star, transcendently
In the smallest cells, down in you and me
There's a part of God, and the parts we see
Change fast.

Each new moment is a new still frame
A fresh new chance, and a brand new game
Never seen before, but partly the same
As the past

So though it might seem way too odd to you
God's waits for the future you will choose:
To hold onto hate or just let love loose
At last.

Changing.
Changing.
Changing.
Every day.

And each new frame's a new occasion
To follow that Divine persuasion
Let go hate and let love loose
At last.

A Sermon Series: The Glory of God's Creation

This blog entry consolidates all of the sermons from Northaven's summer "Creation" series one place. If you've got some time to spend, click on the links below, and enjoy what we've been enjoying here at Northaven this summer.

The first two are audio-only. Many of the last ones are video.*
As the series concludes over the next few weeks, I'll add the final installments here.


WEEK ONE The First Genesis Creation Story: "It Is Good"
We begin at the "beginning," unpacking the first of the two creation stories in Genesis. (Genesis 1:1- 2:4). The main point of this story was never to posit a literal six-day creation of the world, but to celebrate the glory of creation itself, and how God calls it all "good."





WEEK TWO The Second Genesis Creation Story: "There's Always A Talking Snake"
The most interesting character in the story of "The Man" and "The Woman" in the Garden of Eden is the "Talking Snake." Never intended to be read as "The Devil" or "Evil Incarnate," the existence of "The Talking Snake" still teaches us a lot about God's good creation.





WEEK THREE "Wonder in Creation, Nature, and Worship"
In week three, we take time to consider the idea of "wonder" and how it is both a powerful part of our appreciate creation/nature, and also a key component of worship. The "wonder" we have about creation is connected to the "wonder" we experience in worshiping God.





WEEK FOUR "Creativity and Process: An Introduction to Process Theology"
A powerful theology that has been helpful to many in the modern period is "Process Theology," which gives us an incredible conceptual frame for understanding HOW God is creative in the world...and what the implications of that are for us. Far from being incompatible with Christian faith, Process Theology can help us to understand the fullness of "The Great Commandment," or "The Golden Rule."





WEEK FIVE "Creativity and Art: A Conversation About the Connection"
Instead of a "normal" sermon, we have a conversation between four artists, about the connection between art, God, and creativity. All four posit that spirituality and artistic creativity are vitally connected. A very interesting morning of conversation about spirituality and art.
NOTE: Technical difficulties have delayed the creation of a movie for this week. But it will eventually be produced. Please check back soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this video of quotes, from artists, about the spiritual life.





WEEK SIX "Faith and Science: Compatible and Complimentary"
This sermon celebrates the connection between science and faith. The thesis is that the same God-given creativity present in art is also what drives scientific discovery. However, before making this point, this sermon debunks the idea that one must choose either science or faith. This sermon suggests that this is a false forced-choice, put forth by fundamentalists in each side of the faith/science divide.




WEEK SEVEN "Our Sin and Creation"
No series on God's creation would be complete without a discussion of how of the environment and God's creation. Our capacity for sin, for pushing scientific discovery and profit motive beyond what is reasonable, causes to us cause great harm to the earth. Additionally, many scriptures are misinterpreted in a way that justifies reckless stewardship of God's gift of creation. For this, we must confess our sin. But the sins against creation are not just against creation, but against God as well.




* Because of length, the video sermons were posted in two parts. Be patient at the end of each "Part 1," and Part 2 should auto-load. If not, you can click on a link at the of part one to go to part two on each.

Here's last Sunday's video sermon on Creation and Science.



Be patient and, theoretically, this playlist should play parts one and two automatically. If you wait a few moments, and Part 2 doesn't start, you can click on a link at the end of part one to access part two.

Hope it's helpful to you.

Where Everything Is Music

Don't worry about saving these songs!
And if one of our instruments breaks,
it doesn't matter.

We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.

The strumming and the flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world's harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing.

So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.

This singing art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.

Poems reach up like spendthrift and the edge
of driftwood along the beach, wanting!

They derive
from a slow and powerful root
that we can't see.

Stop the words now!
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.
~ Rumi


(Place: At home)

Icarus Ascending

Soaring alone upon a threatening wind
Just fix your eyes on the horizon
Cut off from everything you've known or have been
I shouldn't think it's so surprising
Spiraling upward on a freshening lift
Reaching the realms of fleet Apollo
You have been given the most sacred of gifts
You must be fearless now and follow

Don't look down,

Though your heart may be weary
Don't look down,

Though your wings are on fire
Don't look down,

Though the night may seem endless
There's a reason you're flying this fast and this far
May your faith be your strength and your love be your guiding star

Venturing further than the length of your sight
Out past the reach of your beginnings
There is a gamble in each proud act of flight
But the losses pale before the winnings
Circling and diving with this freedom you've found
Illusion blows apart and scatters
There is no darkness in this place that we're bound
Love is the only thing that matters

Don't look down,

Though your heart may be weary
Don't look down,

Though your wings are on fire
Don't look down,

Though the night may seem endless
There's a reason you're flying this fast and this far
May your faith be your strength and your love be your guiding star

~ Dan Fogelberg

(Place: Peoria, Illinois)

Creativity and Process

Eventually, I'll get links to all the sermons in our current "Creation" series in one place.

For now, here's the video for "Creativity and Process" an introduction to Process Theology.



Be patient at the end and, theoretically, this playlist should play parts one and two automatically.
If it doesn't, you can click on a link at the end of part one to access part two.

Hope it's helpful to you. As I say in the video, this kind of theological thinking has been at the core of my own personal theology for more than 20 years.

Artist Quotes on Creativity and Spirituality

Here's a revised version of the short video I posted yesterday...quotes from artists about the link between art and spirituality. Hope you enjoy it.

Celebrating Creativity and Spirituality Through Art

I posted about this on FB, but I thought it was worth a blog post, in the event that not everybody saw that....

Tomorrow at church, instead of a sermon we'll have a free-flowing conversation between four of us connected to both the arts and spirituality. We're in the middle of a series on creation, and one of the clear ways that we human beings express our creativity is through the gift of art. So, who better to deliver the message that day, than artists?!

I'll be pleased to be joined by three very gifted artists...

Joan Hogge, painter and visual artist.

Vicki Cheatwood, noted playwright and author.

Ron Bobbitt, composer and musician.

And, you might imagine, I'll probably have a few things to say about the subject too.

Main questions for the day:
-- How do each of you see the connection between art/creativity and faith/spirituality?
-- Are there some specific ways you experience the connection?
-- Do you believe everyone is creative? What can people to do find their own creative path?
-- Are there specific rituals, places, practices that help you become more fully aware and creative?

To whet your appetite, here are some great quotes about art and spirituality from many artists in many times:

It's a lot to cover in twenty minutes or less. ;)

So, I'm sure we won't to get to all of it. But I have great respect for all three of these, and I look forward to the conversation that we'll "create" together.

The Sea Refuses No River

I remember being richer than a king

The minutes of the day were golden
I recall that when the joint passed round
My body felt a little colder
But now I'm like a sewer channel

-running lime and scag
Let me get at the master panel

- let me at my stack

The sea refuses no river
And right now this river's banks are blown
The sea refuses no river
Whether stinking and rank
Or red from the tank
Whether pure as a spring
There's no damned thing stops the poem
The sea refuses no river
And this river is homeward flowing

I have seen a trace of strain
In other's eyes not spoken
I must admit that I enjoyed their pain
But this time it's me that's broken
I demand for you and His
This must be the time
When we decide what freedom is
Turn water into wine

For the sea refuses no river
We're polluted now but in our hearts still clean
The sea refuses no river
We tried not to age
But time had it's rage
We're washed over stones
From babes into clones of the mean
The sea won't refuse this muddy river
Nor deny the sulfurous stream

There was a fool in a dressing robe
Riding out the twilight hour
Lonely and cold in an empty home
Trying to assess his power
But now he's like a stream in flood
Swollen by the storm
He doesn't care if he sheds his blood
Let him be reborn

For the sea refuses no river
Remember that when the beggar buys a round
The sea refuses no river
And rain fills the gutters
No time for stutters
This is our chance
To sing and to dance and to clown
The sea refuses no river
And rivers were sprung to drown

The sea refuses no river
No pecking code respected for the damned
The sea refuses no river
Whether starving or ill
Or strung on some pill
Just 'cos you own the land
There's no unique hand plugs the dam
The sea refuses no river
And the river is where I am

The river is where I am.

~ Pete Townshend ~

(Place: Port Aransas, Texas)

My Baby's Home

Santa Cruz shipped my guitar back to me on Friday, and I've been blissfully playing around with it ever since.

For those of you unaware of this pitiful saga, you can read the whole sad tale here.

Here are some pics I found online of the Santa Cruz repair shop. Below, you'll find some before/after pics. The truth I can finally stand to tell you now is that the main damage was three very large cracks down the back, a crack that ran completely around the seam between back and side for the bottom half of the guitar, and two more small cracks in the front. Later, I would find that almost every interior brace was cracked or popped out by the force of the Highlander's weight.

Stephen Strahm, their repair guru, told me a story about those braces. From what I can gather, Santa Cruz braces their guitars in a sort of "tongue and groove" fashion (my words, not theirs) so that the braces tuck underneath the side somehow (I am sure I am not describing this well...).

Instead of breaking, some of them had apparently popped out. Stephen said that he had never seen this before, and found it so interesting that he showed it to Richard Hoover. And Richard said he had never seen it either. As Stephen was relating this on the phone, he sounded amazed and astounded...like a geneticist discovering some new piece of mutated DNA for the first time. Like I'd somehow advanced the cause of Santa Cruz Guitar science.

(Glad to help?)

Anyway, the main gist I got from that conversation was this: it's something of a miracle the force didn't crush the whole thing.

So, here are the "before/after" pictures. Looking at them here, they don't really do justice to either state. The cracks were more horrible than this looks, and the repairs far more beautiful and seamless than these pics can relate.

The biggest of the three cracks in back was this one. The main work they did was to put an entirely new back on, and the wood matches perfectly. Amazing...

 

Then there's the crack between the back and side. Like I said, it ran around the entire bottom half of the guitar, and up to the soundhole on either side, and was really the thing that make it unplayable, I am sure. Luckily, it mostly ran along the seam, but that's still a HUGE crack to fix. As you can see, again, the work is amazing:

Here's the same crack from at the very bottom of the guitar. As you can see, it didn't just split right along the wood. But they fixed that too:

Isn't that something?

When I wrote that other, self-pitying blog, Butch Morgan left the comment that it would probably sound better when I got it back.

And, I have to say, I think it does. Amazing.

Other pics of me unpacking it Friday. Note the aire of incredulity in what they wrote on the repair tag....

Finally, to give her a nice test, I sat down and recorded this old song of mine yesterday. Just a way for me to hopefully share my joy.

I hope to have some gigs so you can hear her live soon....EF