Mooshy-gooshy

Okay, so, I went to the IAM Conference this past weekend and I WILL write something about it at some point (if nothing else, at least post visual art that spawns out of the inspiration to ART), but I also got to visit with Scott for a couple of days. So this is what happened...

Inspiration for creativity + God's awesomeness + Scott = Motivation for creativity + explosion of endearment

I try to keep math simple. I'm sure there are a number of other factors I could toss in there, but this isn't about mathematics. This is about poetry. Enjoy.


Proximate

No TV sound or ambience,
you woman, young man,
sitting in liberating silence-
a quiet scarcely breached
save for calm, regulated sleepy breathing
Forehead to forehead,
his nose neighboring her own,
and palms cradling cheeks.

Yet, even in this proximity,
lips never trespass what we've sworn,
strangers to each other
'lest wedding vows are spoken
And in this place, in this solace,
a peace grows between us
like a tender shoot young with life,
nurtured by the Son of David
and giving form to greater grace.

Gentle, tender, soothing
I feel no danger in this place
Who is this man,
mirroring through speckled imperfect glass,
the image of God?
Though incomparable with the face of Glory,
what a gift this is that I've recieved.

Hand cradling her cheek,
gentle strokes soothe her weary bones
The palm of the Spirit warms her
and she is captivated.

YB07 2 26

Look ahead towards March!

A WORK IN PROGRESS: Open Studios & Art Auction

Friday, March 23, 2007

At the Church Studios at Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church,

22nd and Mt. Vernon Streets

Silent Auction of original works, affordably priced,

as well as gift certificates to local cultural events

Preview at 7:00, Bidding from 7:30-9:30

Complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Limited, free onsite parking

Proceeds benefit the Church Studios and the CCO

The CCO partners with colleges, churches and organizations to develop

men and women who live out their Christian faith in every area of life.

Info: Rebecca Wainwright, rwainwright@ccojubilee.org, 215.232.8393

transforming college students to transform the world

Crowded

For those of you folks who don't know, I highly enjoy the David Crowder band. Their music is fantastic. I've been listening to Can You Hear Us several times over the past two days, which runs with my habit of listening constantly to the other CDs of theirs that I have, and I think I've come to a conclusion: David Crowder is my favorite band. This is profound because, if you don't know, I've always had a hard time nailing down ONE band as a favorite... and while all those other bands I ever list are also my favorite bands, I think it's safe for me to say that I have one that sits above them all -- and that's pretty much judging it by how often I listen to my CDs. They're starting to get beat up from me listening to them so much (thank goodness I have them saved on my computer now!). If nothing else, David Crowder is my favorite declared-Christian-band.

Anyway. That's a tangent thought. I actually just wanted to share lyrics that aren't by David Crowder, but it's a song he did a rendition of that particularly gripped me yesterday as I was driving back to Philadelphia in the morning, even though I've heard it many times before.... I first heard it by Delirious? , and it grabbed me back then too.

What can I do with my obsession?
With the things I cannot see
Is there madness in my being?
Is it wind that blows the trees?
Sometimes you're further than the moon
Sometimes you're closer than my skin
And you surround me like a winter fog
You've come and burned me with a kiss

And my heart burns for you
And my heart burns

And I'm so filthy with my sin
I carry pride like a disease
You know I'm stubborn God and I'm longing
to be close
You burn me deeper than I know
I feel lonely without hope
I feel desperate without vision
You wrap around me like a winter coat
You come and free me like a bird

And my heart burns for you
And my heart burns for you

And then some that actually are David Crowder:

I need words
As wide as sky
I need language wide as
This longing inside
And I need a voice
Bigger than mine
And I need a song to sing you
That I've yet to find
I need you, oh
I need you
I need you, oh
I need you
To be here now
To be here now
To here me now
To here me now

Retracing steps

I've been thinking a lot about my last post involving art and how jaded I seem to be against stereotypical 'Christian art.' Truth is, I'm pretty jaded against anything I precieve as overtly cute, idealistic, or utopian in nature that is purposed to be taken seriously.

Granted, let it be known that I've had my fair share of your stereotypical Christian art come out of my hands (with scripture scrawled, etc), and you can see plenty of examples of it at my DA art pile --> pandalemur.deviantart.com. The difference I'm trying to make is that I've been learning not to take those drawings and whatnot seriously. They aren't drawings I have any desire to be put into a gallery or in any sort of setting like that, but rather they are gifts to Christian friends and they can do whatever they want with them. Nevermind that sometimes I even annoy myself with that.
I suppose the use of crosses and icthuses in contemporary Christian art -- that is, the kind you see in bookstores -- is annoying to me because I feel like the theological and historical (respectively) meaning of each symbol is dumbed down or not even thought about. The cross is the place of suffering so we could have life, and I can't take a pink cross with little flowers as that... and the icthus could've been considered a secret-society symbol, so Christians could identify each other silently, and now it's all over the place like a tool of commercialism. Perhaps that's just the thing: I'm annoyed by the way half of American Christianity has become so commercial and consumeristic.

I will say one thing about some decorative art, "christian" or otherwise: I can give some credit to the skill they implement when painting. There is plenty of cottage paintings and eagle paintings that are infinitely better than anything I can do, but that's because it's not the kind of art I do. I have a hard time making things look remotely photographic. The skill and patience to do that is amazing; but this stands for any sort of art, not just those cottage-eagle-Christian paintings found in bookstores.

As for the mysterious stuff I was talking about, I realize not all art has to be mysterious in nature........ perhaps that's my head overflowing and giving fodder to my own ideas and mode of creating. As I was thinking about it the other day, I realized that opinion is heavily reflected in my own art; that there is suffering and I think the suffering should be represented but also weaved with beauty, hope, and redemption. I play with the ideas of bondage and freedom quite a bit (and this I didn't realize until a year ago, when my professor pointed it out to me). The idea of suffering as necessary for growth and life is an idea that grips my bones, convincing me that it is equally necessary to acknowledge that dynamic. True, that while although not everything in the world is beautiful all the time, there certainly are beautiful things in the world that deserve recognition - and as a follower of Christ, it's those things my mind is meant to dwell on. Yet I would not know what the truly beautiful things were if I did not also acknowledge what the ugly things were. I need to know what is bad to appreciate that which is good.

But anyway.
Now that I've explained myself and expounded on my thoughts a little bit, it's time to get lunch.

Y

Tempted to chase the pigeons.

So, I've been here in the city for three weeks today. It's fantastic.... it's funny how I keep having the urge to chase the pigeouns when I come across them though.
Also, I will be frank: the beginning of this week hit me with the gut realization that, "I live an hour plus away from friends and my church family, and my family. It's going to be a long time before I will see most of them again." Overall, though? I would say I'm holding up pretty well but it's been rough not feeling settled into a church, yet. I'm hungry for community, and although I'd been attending Liberti for a while now and I love it there, I haven't settled into community. What I'm going to end up doing, then, is moving on from Liberti's church service and checking out some other churches. I just started going to a Liberti homegroup, and I plan to continue to attend because I need some kind of stable community as I go through this. At least, that's what my thought process is. Prayerfully, God will have me settled somewhere soon. I really should've started doing this by now.

At any rate, there are so many things that I would LOVE-LOVE-LOVE to rattle on about. Things like going through Psalms with Scott; or Art and how a lot of "Christian art" is just plain bad art; or the unique and strange passion to go into a place where I know my Jesus is hated; or even the frustrations I have with Christians who don't respect the world God has created.

I wouldn't even know where to start. I've been engaged in so many beautiful discussions that I could just explode. (in a good way) I suppose the best thing for me to do is to do brief little servings of each mentioned topic, although more certainly abound in this little noggin of mine.

Reading Psalms with Scott has been such a blessing to me. See, Scott and I typically talk on the phone every night. I don't know why we talk on the phone ever night, besides the fact that we're in a relationship and I enjoy carrying a conversation with him for hours. Anyway. As a result of our lengthy conversations, we decided it would be good to read a Psalm and talk about it before ending the call. You know what's awesome? It's awesome to be able to see and hear of the goodness of God; how great He is and how little we are; and how amazing it is to be able to express a full range of emotion to Him. I've gone through Psalms before, but there's something extraordinary about being able to discuss the Word and the goodness of God with another human being whose heartbeat is for the Lord. Because it is in my thoughts on a daily basis, it encourages me to share that goodness with other people and causes my heart to yearn more compassionately for those who do not know Christ.

Christian art, for those who don't know, has this way about it to come across as bad art. While I am sure that kitsche and decorative art has it's place in the world (much to my chagrin), too much of "Christian art" is of its variety. Paintings of cottages or lighthouses with Scripture scrawled across the bottom, Precious Moments dolls, or other such things are the end product of a desire for an unattainable utopia. Or it has a overtly Christian message that basically tells you how to look at the art. Or there's overused symbology of crosses and icthuses (the 'Jesus Fish'). Christian art has the reputation for giving off warm-fuzzies, and it's those warm-fuzzies that just rub me the wrong way. I suppose that this is equally true of non-Christian art of the same nature that create a sense of 'all is well in the world, everything is beautiful all the time.' Fact of the matter is that the world is not beautiful all the time. There are downright awful things in the world, from physical events to psychology, and to ignore such is to live in world washed in falsehood. Not only that, but to have a blatant message or agenda is to destroy the mystery that can be so characterstic of much of art today. You have it there, but it's a matter of figuring out how to put it there without making it too easy to find. Kind of like a Where's Waldo? book. Waldo's there, but there are so many other characters to discover in the process of looking for Waldo. If Waldo's too easy to find, it gets boring real quick.
I like to think that God is all for mystery, too. There's something mysterious about our relationship to Him and being indwelt by the Holy Spirit... And, there's always something to discover and learn.
But as for the beautiful... To appreciate beauty, real honest to goodness beauty, I think you have to learn to appreciate and recognize that which is not beautiful. Sometimes, as a creative person, you have to expose that non-beauty. However, as a Christian creative person, I think it's also important to weave in expressions of hope and beauty into that non-beauty and despair. There's a message of hope and that the world can be beautiful, but it's not blatant. Hope and beauty often times comes up in the most unlikely of places: think, for instance, of the Cross. Christ is the hope out of despair, and the One that brings beauty into life; and yet His suffering and death -- which was completely necessary for our salvation -- was not exactly what you would call a beautiful thing. The Jews had been looking for their Messiah as a man of great standing and as a majestic early King... Jesus came in a lowly state, humility, and recieved a criminal's death penalty. Of course, He was resurrected into glory and splendor.. But beauty and hope came from the least likely of places.

... I suppose that's enough for me to write about for now. The other two things I could rattle on about I can get to another day. I'll leave you with that to chew on.

Y