hi.
no. it's not anxiety. but even in doing life in the spirit* i find, especially during this time of year, that's what is occupying the driver's seat. why?! i don't know. so i pray for my family and friends -- and heck, i'll even throw you the reader in there! -- that this anxiety and stress would somehow be turned into the spiritual fruits of (especially) love, joy, and peace.
love - that it would inhabit all our relationships and interactions: those closest to us as well as those we don't even know
joy - that we would go about even the most mundane events of our day with its perspective
peace - that it would wholly undergird us, especially knowing that most things are in Someone Else's control
yes.
*NOTE - i was gonna write "trying to do life in the spirit", but true spirit-life has nothing to do with "trying".
Monday, August 27, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
fired?
hi.
one hears sometimes of pastors and ministers (not to mention congressmen, CEO's, educators...) being terminated for a single act of indiscretion. perhaps it is right that they are.
but if i were to go to my church's elder board and say, "hey, i've been really inattentive and terse with my family recently", or "i've found myself lately looking too closely at all sorts of hot women", or "i am having some serious struggles with assigning too much value to material wealth and 'things' -- and i've got the credit card bills to prove it", would i be asked to resign? probably not. why?
one hears sometimes of pastors and ministers (not to mention congressmen, CEO's, educators...) being terminated for a single act of indiscretion. perhaps it is right that they are.
but if i were to go to my church's elder board and say, "hey, i've been really inattentive and terse with my family recently", or "i've found myself lately looking too closely at all sorts of hot women", or "i am having some serious struggles with assigning too much value to material wealth and 'things' -- and i've got the credit card bills to prove it", would i be asked to resign? probably not. why?
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
is it live, or...
hi.
music is my life. you don't have to know me that well to know that well. i love to perform it, talk about it, listen to it, write it, recommend it, worship through it, see others play it, delight in others' enjoyment of it.
but what is music? seems like a silly question, right? is it the piece of paper with little black dots on it handed to you at choir practice? is it the cd you throw into the car stereo? is it the 0's and 1's dancing their way from your iPod to your earbuds?
i submit that these are all mere representations of music. (this is not a novel concept.) music is organic. it is alive. beethoven copied down what he wanted his fifth symphony to sound like, but in essence each performance of it, each interpretation, is a brand new creation. the studio wizardry that went into the making of revolver and sgt. pepper produced some unbelievable stuff, but i'm sure those guys would even agree that they are but snapshots, and that in many ways 30th january 1969 yielded a truer musical moment. it's also why jazz is jazz; the idiom's very nature is one of letting the music happen right now. kind of blue would have been a muuuuch different record (and the purpose defeated) if miles & co. had laid down the tunes in more than one pass.
you musicians out there have probably participated in an impromptu jam session at some point in your "careers". 'member that? you probably do, because it was such a moment! some of my most creative musical nuggets have come via extemporaneous singing or playing. it's magical. by both performer and listener, music is best experienced live. we must heed the words of a wise sage: "you gotta lose yourself in the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go (whoa)..." mmmm -- i can taste mom's spaghetti right now.
gotta go. got rehearsal tonight. can't wait.
[by the way, best live show i've ever been to: indigo girls @ war memorial auditorium, greensboro, nc - 23rd june 2005.]
music is my life. you don't have to know me that well to know that well. i love to perform it, talk about it, listen to it, write it, recommend it, worship through it, see others play it, delight in others' enjoyment of it.
but what is music? seems like a silly question, right? is it the piece of paper with little black dots on it handed to you at choir practice? is it the cd you throw into the car stereo? is it the 0's and 1's dancing their way from your iPod to your earbuds?
i submit that these are all mere representations of music. (this is not a novel concept.) music is organic. it is alive. beethoven copied down what he wanted his fifth symphony to sound like, but in essence each performance of it, each interpretation, is a brand new creation. the studio wizardry that went into the making of revolver and sgt. pepper produced some unbelievable stuff, but i'm sure those guys would even agree that they are but snapshots, and that in many ways 30th january 1969 yielded a truer musical moment. it's also why jazz is jazz; the idiom's very nature is one of letting the music happen right now. kind of blue would have been a muuuuch different record (and the purpose defeated) if miles & co. had laid down the tunes in more than one pass.
you musicians out there have probably participated in an impromptu jam session at some point in your "careers". 'member that? you probably do, because it was such a moment! some of my most creative musical nuggets have come via extemporaneous singing or playing. it's magical. by both performer and listener, music is best experienced live. we must heed the words of a wise sage: "you gotta lose yourself in the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go (whoa)..." mmmm -- i can taste mom's spaghetti right now.
gotta go. got rehearsal tonight. can't wait.
[by the way, best live show i've ever been to: indigo girls @ war memorial auditorium, greensboro, nc - 23rd june 2005.]
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
take your pick
last post of the day. i promise.
i want to tell you about two friends that both have gigs this coming friday night, 10th august:
- jim mcconnell, aka 'jimimac', will be playing some jazz gee-tar at restaurant starlu in durham from 6:30 to 10:00. he really good.
- jeff crawford, aka 'hib hibner', will be playing (with full band, which includes another friend of mine) a CD release party at nightlight in chapel hill at like 9:30-ish. some great songs on this new record.
heck. check 'em both out.
i want to tell you about two friends that both have gigs this coming friday night, 10th august:
- jim mcconnell, aka 'jimimac', will be playing some jazz gee-tar at restaurant starlu in durham from 6:30 to 10:00. he really good.
- jeff crawford, aka 'hib hibner', will be playing (with full band, which includes another friend of mine) a CD release party at nightlight in chapel hill at like 9:30-ish. some great songs on this new record.
heck. check 'em both out.
'i'm so vain, i probably think this life is about me...'
hi.
levi wants to be wendy from peter pan for halloween. he was insistent about it this morning to the point of tears and writhing on the floor. not quite sure what's going on there.
anyway...
each day is a confirmation that doing life is hard (yeah, and...?). the fine line of selfishness and selflessness is a tightrope. i have found that i absolutely love helping people out with little unexpected everyday things, like taking some stranger's dishes up to the bin for them at foster's or something -- not so i may be then be showered with admiration and approval (that would happen regardless), but that i may, in the name of love, brighten someone's life in a simple way.
why is it, then, that there are (more) times when i don't feel like doing that? a true christian would always be looking out for the welfare of others, right? is it wrong, then, to look out for 'number one' every once in a while? when does taking care of myself -- and expecting others to do the same -- turn into selfish living? wouldn't it be more beneficial for the kingdom if i took my sons' college funds (which right now have about $3.75 each, mind you) and gave that money to someone who really needs it? truthfully, i don't ever need to buy another piece of clothing for myself ever again; i've got more than enough, so why do i not ever ask my neighbors if i can buy their clothes for them instead?
self-preservation and entitlement are the order of the day in our society. whether i realize and/or admit it or not, those are not things which i am shunning all that much myself, even though i claim to want to. how do we christians live counter-culturally in this way, living out christ's example as servanthood to the world, but still provide the necessities for ourselves and our families?
geez, i went from carrying off a dirty dish for someone to becoming obedient to death! i believe the essence is the same. i want live and serve and love the way jesus did.
levi wants to be wendy from peter pan for halloween. he was insistent about it this morning to the point of tears and writhing on the floor. not quite sure what's going on there.
anyway...
each day is a confirmation that doing life is hard (yeah, and...?). the fine line of selfishness and selflessness is a tightrope. i have found that i absolutely love helping people out with little unexpected everyday things, like taking some stranger's dishes up to the bin for them at foster's or something -- not so i may be then be showered with admiration and approval (that would happen regardless), but that i may, in the name of love, brighten someone's life in a simple way.
why is it, then, that there are (more) times when i don't feel like doing that? a true christian would always be looking out for the welfare of others, right? is it wrong, then, to look out for 'number one' every once in a while? when does taking care of myself -- and expecting others to do the same -- turn into selfish living? wouldn't it be more beneficial for the kingdom if i took my sons' college funds (which right now have about $3.75 each, mind you) and gave that money to someone who really needs it? truthfully, i don't ever need to buy another piece of clothing for myself ever again; i've got more than enough, so why do i not ever ask my neighbors if i can buy their clothes for them instead?
self-preservation and entitlement are the order of the day in our society. whether i realize and/or admit it or not, those are not things which i am shunning all that much myself, even though i claim to want to. how do we christians live counter-culturally in this way, living out christ's example as servanthood to the world, but still provide the necessities for ourselves and our families?
geez, i went from carrying off a dirty dish for someone to becoming obedient to death! i believe the essence is the same. i want live and serve and love the way jesus did.
"(punctu'ation) question...!?"
i expect to hear from rebecca, but anyone can assist me here.
i was talking to someone the other day about the menu at foster's market. now - would that be foster's's menu? foster's menu? foster's' menu? eye suppose it could be referred to as the foster's menu. or perhaps we should just stick to the menu at foster's. help a brother out.
i was talking to someone the other day about the menu at foster's market. now - would that be foster's's menu? foster's menu? foster's' menu? eye suppose it could be referred to as the foster's menu. or perhaps we should just stick to the menu at foster's. help a brother out.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
gone phishin'
hi.
as you can see from my 'current ear food', i'm obsessed with phish right now. they're so good. check 'em out if you don't know them. go buy rift or a picture of nectar.
now. go.
as you can see from my 'current ear food', i'm obsessed with phish right now. they're so good. check 'em out if you don't know them. go buy rift or a picture of nectar.
now. go.
i love ben, but...
hi.
rachel and i and 22,315 of our closest friends went to see john mayer and ben folds (with james morrison) at raleigh's enormo-dome on tuesday evening. as you could imagine, most of the tanned-skin, cell-phone-toting nineteen-year-old girls were there for mister mayer (and rightly so: he's sooo dreamy) and i thought for months that this was an odd duo to be touring together. i mean, i like them both, but they seem, musically or demographically, to neither overlap nor compliment. however, the result was successful: great performances, top-notch backing bands, terrific showmanship - a great call all the way around, except for one thing.
the king of irony outdid himself a few years ago by setting dr. dre's "b-tches ain't sh-t" (i'm not sure what i accomplish by gouging the i's out, but there you are) to foldsian melody and instrumentation with at once hilarious and sublime results. it has become a BF show favorite. prior to this night i had wondered if he would do the song. "surely not," i thought. "this isn't really his show."
he did it. and i thought he shouldn't have.
i'm not intending to be self-righteous; in fact, it's not at all that nat stine was embarrassed by this crass song. it's more that nat stine was embarrassed by this crass song being heard by twenty-thousand-plus tanned-skin, cell-phone-toting...you know -- most of them there to see the other guy. [i know a teenager who was there with her parents. awkward.] i am a huh-yooge BF fan (thanks in large part to my bro-in-law), and his wonderfully whiny reflections on the ironies of love and life often result in some four-letter sunday school words. his honesty is quite engaging and endearing. this song goes beyond the occasional throwaway cuss to an onslaught of graphic images and word-pictures that i believe were inappropriate for that particular crowd.
(am i getting old?)
when an artist headlines a show, that crowd is theirs. ben folds engages, involves, and loves his audience as few others can. however, on this occasion i would have expected ben to recognize whom 90% of people were there to see and not expose them all to the funny-but-dirty family inside joke.
rachel and i and 22,315 of our closest friends went to see john mayer and ben folds (with james morrison) at raleigh's enormo-dome on tuesday evening. as you could imagine, most of the tanned-skin, cell-phone-toting nineteen-year-old girls were there for mister mayer (and rightly so: he's sooo dreamy) and i thought for months that this was an odd duo to be touring together. i mean, i like them both, but they seem, musically or demographically, to neither overlap nor compliment. however, the result was successful: great performances, top-notch backing bands, terrific showmanship - a great call all the way around, except for one thing.
the king of irony outdid himself a few years ago by setting dr. dre's "b-tches ain't sh-t" (i'm not sure what i accomplish by gouging the i's out, but there you are) to foldsian melody and instrumentation with at once hilarious and sublime results. it has become a BF show favorite. prior to this night i had wondered if he would do the song. "surely not," i thought. "this isn't really his show."
he did it. and i thought he shouldn't have.
i'm not intending to be self-righteous; in fact, it's not at all that nat stine was embarrassed by this crass song. it's more that nat stine was embarrassed by this crass song being heard by twenty-thousand-plus tanned-skin, cell-phone-toting...you know -- most of them there to see the other guy. [i know a teenager who was there with her parents. awkward.] i am a huh-yooge BF fan (thanks in large part to my bro-in-law), and his wonderfully whiny reflections on the ironies of love and life often result in some four-letter sunday school words. his honesty is quite engaging and endearing. this song goes beyond the occasional throwaway cuss to an onslaught of graphic images and word-pictures that i believe were inappropriate for that particular crowd.
(am i getting old?)
when an artist headlines a show, that crowd is theirs. ben folds engages, involves, and loves his audience as few others can. however, on this occasion i would have expected ben to recognize whom 90% of people were there to see and not expose them all to the funny-but-dirty family inside joke.
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