The Art of Small Groups

One of the blogs I follow listed their small group offerings with meeting times and places. If I lived on the 

West coast and worshipped with this community of faith, this is the group I would choose join.   

 Since I live technically in northern Appalachia, I may have to start a group of a sort like this 

myself. Something to pray about. 

http://www.imagodeicommunity.com/small-groups/

Visual Journal

Group Facilitator: Martin French

Location: Imago Art Space (downtown)

Day/Time: Wednesdays at 7pm

See This Group on The City

Working with prompts from history, theology, and culture to craft a personal artistic voice.

Are You Ready for the Truth?

Tina Allen, African American sculptor (1948-2008) created in bronze larger than life figures of many notable African Americans such as: abolitionist Sojourner Truth,author Alex Haley,scientist George Washington Carver and the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., as well as many unknowns. Her talent for sculpting was evident in her early teens when during her art class in public school she sculpted a bust of Artistotle instead of the assigned ash tray in clay. She felt that it was her mission to be "writing our history in bronze," and as such did extensive research into the lives of her subjects, interviewing them and their friends, using many reference photgraphs and pictures, if the subject was deceased, to capture the essence of the individual. She said of her work, "I'm trying to infuse a soul into these objects." Her agent, Quentin Moses, said that "once she got her hands into the clay, her subjects started talking to her." As her hands molded and fashioned the clay into the desired image, it seemed to breathe.

Advent

This is an advent, an anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming" of more thoughts and ideas of what prayer and contemplation have to do with art. This blog has been silent for too long and the ideas are starting to flow again. Wikkipedia's definition of writer's block as "a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work...It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at handIn the sweet shadow of Thanksgiving I am giving forgiveness to everyone I thought had ill treated me. I want to enter the Christmas month with a clean slate. I want to think that everyone I know can enter the last month of this year free of any ill will between us. Let us all go into December 2012 free, giving and expecting the good thing.At the other extreme, some "blocked" writers have been unable to work for years on end, and some have even abandoned their careers" gives a thoughtful account of anyone involved in a creative process,writing notwithstanding. So it is with other creative endeavors, the visual arts, music, theatre, dance, the culinary and homemaking arts,and so on. A number of years ago a friend and I attended a retreat entitled Art as Prayer. During one of the solitary prayer times witting with a paper and box of crayons I heard God's audible voice call softly to me asking" who told you you couldn't do Art?" In my mind flashed the portion of the sistine Ceiling painted by Michaelangelo where Adam and Eve discover they are naked and try to hide. The art making, creative process is a process of laying bare and not everyone can bear being that exposed. It's all about shame. Who shamed you? who made you feel small unworthy, unable, unwhole, useless, and as one shamed, who have you shamed? Maya Angelou recently entered this thought on her wall on Facebook, it has become my prayer: "In the sweet shadow of Thanksgiving I am giving forgiveness to everyone I thought had ill treated me. I want to enter the Christmas month with a clean slate. I want to think that everyone I know can enter the last month of this year free of any ill will between us. Let us all go into December 2012 free, giving and expecting the good thing."

Repoussé: to push forward

The Enclyclopedia Britannica online defines repousse as a "method of decorating metals in which parts of the design are raised in relief from the back or the inside of the article by means of hammers and punches; definition and detail can then be added from the front by chasing or engraving. The name repoussé is derived from the French pousser, “to push forward.” Not all of the design is pushed forward or is a "positive" space, some of the spaces are pushed backward as "negative spaces".
The negative spaces provide contrast for the positve spaces making them look impressive and stand out.

So it is in our lives, the negative experiences and low points help make the positve, mountaintop experiences even more exhilarating. Joseph, the eventual Prince of Egypt first spent time in a hole in the ground and then in prison. Ruth was a poor, widowed gleaner of fields until she caught the eye and wedding committment of Boaz, just thinking....

Six Word Memoir

Six Word Memoir

In the blog Abbey of the Arts, Christine Valtner Paintner asks, " What six word memoir would describe your life at this present moment?" She used these words to describe herself," urban monk bearing witness to beauty". After a few brief moments of thought I wrote these words: "Passing by watering gardens, seeking rest". As there are many types of gardens for different purposes, so there are many situations in life, home, work, neighborhood, church, organizations, school. In all of these I have endeavored to pour the living water of God's love and mercy. I now find that the pitcher is running dry. Where there was once the joy of the mountains, my interior landscape is looming as flat as a Kansas prairie. Putting six words togther in this fashion was a good way to guagw the condition of my soul. Put six words togther and describe the condition of your soul. Is is well with your soul? It isn't well with mine, but I know the well to draw from, the water is sweet and I am taking long drinks and resting in the shade. I'll be back shortly I expect, God willing.

Worship Arts Festival At Ascension Anglican Church,Pittsburgh

I am posting this announcement from an area calendar posting on behalf of my friend Suzanne Trenney on of the artists involved in the Convergence Worship Arts Festibal Saturday, May 30 2009 in Pittsburgh , Pa. Suzanne Trenney's worship arts have been featured in an earlier blog posting on this site and she has her work also posted on the Ascension church site. The Ascension Church is also the place where the Saltworks Theatre resides. Here is the article copied and pasted from the community bulletin board for your information should you wish to attend:

CONVERGENCE: Community Arts Worship Festival

The Church of the Ascension presents Convergence, an experience in the arts for people of all ages. This unique community arts festival is an exploration into the eddies of art and faith. Experience this kaleidoscopic presentation by local artists in painting, multimedia, drawing, sculpture, calligraphy, mosaic, song, story, poetry, photography, music and much more. Convergence will be held on Saturday, May 30th 2009 from 12:30-4:30 PM at Church of the Ascension, 4729 Ellsworth Ave. in the Oakland/Shadyside area. Admission is free. The schedule includes:

A performance by The Ascension Youth Band, Broken Glass
Scene reading and monologues by Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Park
The Ascension Puppet Troupe
Children’s Stories with Jude Blank
Lucy Scandrett and the Harp Orchestra
Sacred Stories with Roland VendeLand
Alan Irvine performing Parables and Legends
The Music of the Organ with Jeanne Kohn
David Minniefield’s one man show “Ecclesiastes”
Dance by James Gilmer
Blues Guitar with Mike Janiszewski
Poetry Reading by Lucille Seibert
Hands on crafts and Puppet making for all ages

Ascension prides itself on being a place of belonging where a wonderfully eclectic slice of Pittsburgh gathers to learn and worship. Many visual and performing artists have found a home at Ascension. Several area arts groups are active and supported from within the church community. For more information call Alan Irvine at 412-521-6406. Directions are available at www.ascensionpittsburgh.org The image is Suzanne Trenny's "Laundry Day"

Theresa Cates, sojourner with a paintbrush

On February 5, 2009 Theresa Cates will have a solo exhibition at the Red Door Gallery, 3715 JFK Blvd
North, Little Rock, Arkansas 72116. What is the big deal about Theresa Cates , who is she and why should I be interested you may be asking? Well since you are wondering... we are currently mourning the loss of a great American painter, Andrew Wyeth, a man who seemed to capture the essence of the mystery of life on canvas and paper in a simple and evocative way. Just as I was mourning the loss of the visual richness of this man, I stumbled across an article about thirty nine year old African American artist, Theresa, who began her "art career by doodling on the backs of bills. Her work is reminiscent to me of Harlem Rennaisance painter Jacob Lawrence, whom I greatly admire for his ability to use color and shape boldly while telling a story on canvas.Theresa was commissioned to paint switch boxes and bus stops in her native Arkansas and painted what she knew and loved best, people in church worshipping the Lord. She shows all the passion of the African American worship tradition in her work. Having just come from a staid and proper formal worship event at my church, I found her paintings stirred in my heart a longing for more passionate expressions of spirituality. Her her church paintings evoke the type of imagrey and passion that I imagine of the scene in which a woman poured expensive ointment on Jesus's feet and then wiped them with her tears while the rest of the folk sat upright and all proper in their chairs. Here are a few images from the Cates' exhibition. This is an artist whose work I hope to be able to see someday, other than in internet thumbnails. I think she has a lot to say if we will pay attention.

Northwestern Pennsylvania Worship Arts Festival

Saturday, February 28, 2009 at the Edinboro united Methodist Church 118 High Street, Edinboro, Pa. there will be a Worship Arts Festival and Conference sponsored by the Erie Meadville District of the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.The registration begins at 8am and worship at 9. Following an inspiring worship service participants will choose one of the eight specialized workshops to attend, providing hands-on opportunities to learn technique, style and acquire the tools to implement the arts in their worship settings. The Rev. John Zimmerman will be teaching a Multi-media workshop. Liturgical Dance and Expression will be presented by Michelle Hunt. Praying in Color and Visual Arts in Worship will be presented by Carole Werder and Suzanne Trenney. Puppet Ministry will be led by Bob Klingler.The Rev. Roy Gearhardt will teach a Drama workshop and Liturgical Weaving will be led by Mathilda Murphy. Glenn Rankin will present Creating Coffeehouse ministries and Alternative Worship and Margo Evans will present a worksop on building Praise Bands and blending worship.A light lunch will follow for all who attend. To register contact the Erie-Meadville District office UMC, 5304 US HWY 19, Cochranton, PA 16314. Make check or money order for 10$ payable to the Erie-Meadville district UMC to cover the registration fee and mail to the district office along with your contact information. Students are free. See you there!

Worship Arts Conference, Jan 31, 2009

This announcement has been shamelessly lifted from the internet verbatim but I wanted everyone in our region who reads this blog to know that a mere three and half to four hour drive away this opportunity exists to learn and grow in knowledge and fellowship among those interested in the worship arts, not just music, but the visual arts. I had a delightful conversation with the preseter of this workshop via dropping in by telephone. SHw was gracious and generous in answering my questions about worship arts. SHe also supplied the information leaading to the link I have supplied at the bottom of this posting which is for the United Methodist Fellowship of those who work in the worship arts ether they be music, dram, visual and liturgical arts or whatever you could imagine. I encourage you to explore their website and join their national effort. They have a national conference coming up in Florida this year. More to come. But for now, this January, here is an item of interest to those of you struggling with worship arts, or maybe not struggling, just looking for encouragement:
***************************************************************************************************

Artistic Creativity Workshop For Worship Centers and Alters- January 31, 2009

Altered Altars- This workshop focuses on designing worship centers as the focal point of the worship service We will talk about the differences between an altar and a worship center, where do we center the altar/worship center and what resources are available. Another topic in this workshop is how to decide what to put on the worship center and how often do we need to change the center.

Creating Sacred Spaces - Although we can dialogue with God , worship and praise our Creator in any setting, we often need to turn ordinary space into sacred space. This workshop explores the purposes of your particular worship spaces, whether it be an Annual Conference setting, church sanctuary, or small meditation room. How can we craft the space to provide the most meaningful worship experiences. This workshop includes looking at the whole environment of the space. We will also look at ways to create the art needed and how to contact and contract with artists to create your ideas

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Linda McMillion Clemow is a Liturgical Artist and Workshop Leader who served as the Arts-in-Ministry Coordinator at First United Methodist Church in Oneonta, New York, a position which she created. Linda’s duties included teaching art to children, youth and adults as well as studying the arts in relation to society, religion and creative spirituality. With her students, she also designed and created liturgical art. Linda now sells her art, leads workshops, retreats and seminars through her own Soul Source Studio. She has led workshops and retreats on the Conference, District, Jurisdictional, National and International levels on: Art and Spirituality, Visuals in Worship, How to Have an Arts Ministry, Techniques for Creating Liturgical Art. She is the first ever Chairperson of the first ever Visual Arts Committee of the national organization The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts.

To register for this workshop go to their website or call:
Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
1100 South Goodman Street
Rochester, New York 14620-2589

Main Number (585) 271-1320
Workshop is an affordable $55.00


To contact the United Methodist Fellowship of Worship Artists go to this link:
http://www.umfellowship.org/

Alex Woinski, Jesus Christ Superstar

A 13 year old boy dressed up as Jesus Christ for Halloween.

The boy, Alex Woinski, of West Brook Middle School in Paramus,New Jersey was sent home from school on Friday because he declined to remove his costume when school officials told him to.

Alex,with his naturally shoulder length brown hair, wore a white robe, red sash,sandals,fake beard and a crown of thorns. School officials were all right with the white robe and red sash but insisted that the crown of thorns and beard be removed. The District Superintendent, James Montesano, felt that the entire costume would be too "distracting" during the course of the school day.

Alex, who just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah and is studying Bible scripture,said no deal.
The boy's mother is Catholic and his father is Jewish. He recently celebrated his bar mitzvah and has spent much time studying scripture in preparation.

As a veteran teacher, I have seen a lot of creatures come into school on Halloween in my thirty five years of teaching experience, all of them "distracting". As a faculty we chalked up this past Halloween day to fun and fantasy, maintaining a sense of humor, as we usually do. The children I teach, Alex's age group, eighth grade, are heavy into demonic fantasy and slash/gore. I would have welcomed Alex's Jesus Christ personage and it would have given my students pause to think about their costumes. In censoring him a teachable moment was lost. Even though I can't speak of my religious faith in public school, I could have used the opportunity to note that no one thought to come dressed as Ghandhi,Buddha,Mother Theresa, Benjamin Franklin, Noah, Ghengis Khan or Zeus. All of these aforementioned are covered in the Social Studies curriculum, including Jesus Christ...a teachable moment was lost.

Blue eyed Jesus

The visual arts are not seen often in the church, except for stock 1941 Kriebel Bates Warner Sallman lithos of a very germanic appearing Jesus reproduced from a print fifty years ago. I recently worshipped in a church with the golden blue eyed Jesus picture prominently displayed in an idyllic fashion at the altar. It made me wonder what the rendering said about the group of people who worshipped there and their world view in terms of "Open minds, Open hearts, Open doors", as well as what a person of another culture or color would think worshipping at the altar of the blue eyed Jesus? In 1941, however, the western world would have been comfortably at home with this image so much so that in the film making industry, the character of Jesus is protrayed as a variation of the 1941 litho standard of which about 500 million images were printed.
It could be said that the art or the music of a congregation is a matter of taste and context, so much of what I have seen traveling around in and out of local sacred spaces has been limited to the few same images, the blue eyed Jesus being one. When I was a child I was comfortable with the image, now it is time to put away childish things, in a sense, as mu personal image of Jesus has become more comphrehensive. It could also be time, in this global age, to rethink the images of Jesus we use in our worship spaces and in our literature. Oh can anyone show me the real Jesus? More importantly, do you see the real Jesus in the way I life my life, or in the way other professed believers live theirs?

The Real Jesus

Wide-Eyed and Mystified
by downhere

Lyrics:

Jesus on the radio, Jesus on a late-night show
Jesus in a dream, looking all serene
Jesus on a steeple, Jesus in the Gallup poll
Jesus has His very own brand of rock and roll

Watched him on the silver screen
Bought the action figurine
But Jesus is the only name that makes you flinch

Oh, can anybody show me the real Jesus?
Oh, let Your love unveil the mystery of the real Jesus

Jesus started something new
Jesus coined a phrase or two
Jesus split the line at the turning point of time
Jesus sparked a controversy
Jesus, known for His mercy, gave a man his sight
Jesus isn't white

Jesus loves the children, holds the lambs
Jesus prays a lot
Jesus has distinguishing marks on His hands

If anybody walks behind the Good Shepherd
If anybody holds the hands that heal lepers
And if you recognize the eyes that see forever, please...

Jesus, Jesus
Oh, can anybody show me Jesus
Oh, let Your love unveil the glory, the real Jesus

Oh, can anybody show me the real Jesus?
Oh, let Your love unveil the glory of the real Jesus, the real Jesus

Let sleeping dogs lie.....

I took Kelsey, my fifteen year old shetland sheepdog, to the vet yesturday for her annual exam. her teeth needed some dental work so she had pre-op blood work done and it was discovered that her liver enzymes were too high to put her under anesthesia. The blood work signaled other pending health issues as well. The vet advised me to number her days in terms of thinking of radical health measures for Kelsey. For her size and breed, she is "geriatric." I was her to have a good end of life and discussed dog hospice care with the vet.

My brother, at age 48, and my mother, at age 75, were both in hospice care briefly until they passed. No IV's, no extra fluids, with the assistance of medication to make them comfortable to deal with pain management and then just letting nature take it's course. They both died quietly slipping away in their sleep. That was my prayer this morning for my dog, that she will slip away in her sleep and I will find her some morning in her favorite spot curled up in a sweet dream. As for now, we went on a very short and slow walk this morning with frequent stops so she could catch her breath. She enjoyed the sunshine and the birds as well as the passing of another dog, which actually caused her to quicken her step a bit. She still enjoys her chow and her naps.

While I watch her age rapidly before my eyes, my body too is going through a similar decline, although not so rapid, would that my souls's willfulness would experience as rapid a decay as parts of my body! Where my dog was trained in obediance and would heed my commands, I am not so often keen to obey the word of my Master. My dog is simply what she is, there is no pretense, and it would be crazy on my part to hold her responsible or be disapointed because in the end of her life she was judged as not living up to her potential as a dog. On the other hand, when I say "I am only human" it is a lie, because Christ lives in me. I will end with this quote, " My ego is like a fortress. I have built walls stone by stone. To hold out the invasion of the love of God." Howard Thurman

The art of practicing surgery or Sunday school

In a few days I am going to have surgery under a general anesthesia. I certainly hope that the surgeon studied hard in medical school and worked on the cutting and suture techniques that will be needed to open and close the wound. The surgeon and the anesthesiologist will have my life literally in my hands when they administer powerful drugs to render me unconscious while the surgery is performed and at the same time make sure all my vital body functions are still carrying on. It is assumed that to maintain their licenses to practice medicine that they must go to training seminars and be briefed and updated on a regular basis on the latest, best practices in their special fields. Myself, the patient, would of course, be the beneficiary of all this training and knowledge, my chances of a successful outcome greatly enhanced. I certainly do not want a mediocre surgeon or anesthesiologist! Nor would the physician want a malpractice suit for practicing sloppy medicine!

Yet as Sunday school teachers we are not required to attend any kind of bible study or retreat to keep our minds sharp scripturally. Once pastors have finished their seminary training or licensing school they are on their own as far as continuing education as well. Knowledge workers: Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, dentists, therapists, counselors, teachers, pharmacists, are required by their professions to attend continuing education every so many years. It seems to make sense that it should be so for those who work for God. Shouldn't we give our utmost for him? Sometimes what passes for ministry, whether it be music, pulpit, ministry or christian education is mediocre at best because the time isn't put into the practice, study of best practices and preparation. Each one of us is responsible to study and practice to bring into quality the gifts we have been given. It is a discipline and a sacred responsibility. The apostle Paul talks about pressing on to the higher calling. Paul sets a pretty good example. He was never satisfied, never thought that he had attained, or had it made but was always moving forward. We all need to follow that example and keep pressing on. It beats being mediocre like the church in Laodicea, was that God's version of a malpractice suit?

The art of pain management...

Sometimes it is hard to keep a smile on your face. It is downright inauthentic to smile (stoically through clenched teeth maybe?) when life takes a turn of events that are tragic, painful, hurtful, difficult. Pain tells us something is wrong. It may be something we can change but then it also may be something beyond our power to impact. 1 Peter 1: 3-9 brings me comfort at these times.

Praise to God for a Living Hope from the NIV Bible :

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We weren't promised prosperity or peace. Will we go through troubles in life? Jesus said to his disciples in John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Shalom.

In His Image

We are created in the image of God, male and female. Being that that is the case, is it not strange to look at another human, made in God’s image, as basically one thing, a sex object? As brothers and sisters sharing the mage of the Holy One, we are equal, there is no Jew, Greek, slave or free, just people, mankind, imago dei. Yet the reality is that we live in a world that bombards men, more so than women, with sexualized images daily, although women have their images as well, just not in the abundance. Everything from cars to sports bars are sold with a sexual twist. Movies, television, video games, dolls and toys, images of people, objectified. The God of Love, Agape, reflected and distorted as Eros...a totally different and very limited manifestation at that.

It is difficult for many to move beyond lust-driven intimacy to close friendships in male female relationships given the sexually charged nature of our society. Our young people are suffering. One in four of them will contract a sexually transmitted disease, some of which have no known cure. They tend to have an objectified and gratuitous view of relationship lacking long term committment and integrity.

Our young people see that in the church and in society in general many men continue to frustrate women- denying them the roles they have a deep calling to. They see many women, at the same time, frustrating men- parading their sexuality. So they follow suit. Young people can't stand hypocrites and are pretty pragmatic about doing what seems right and practical in their own eyes.

As Male and Female created in the image of God, in what way has God called us to service in our very being? He has not called us to impede one another, laying stumbling blocks before each other. How can we leverage our unique gifts and identity in building up and serving one another? What would this look like in a church? What would this look like in a confused world where men and women are either stereotypes or suffering from bland androgny? What would it look like to be fully male and fully female in Christ? Christ was fully man and fully God. We are called to be one in him, in His image. What do you see when you look in the mirror? What do our young people see when they look at us? Have we put on Christ?

Truth

• "Our truest responsibility to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find the truth." Something to think about by Madeleine L'Engle.

Work of Art

"It is easy to become a Christian, it is much harder to turn your Christianity into a work of art."
Ash Wednesday service quotation, Rev. Rand Edwards

Be Ye Glad

I want to share the remedy for the winter blahs I have. It is listening to Micheal Kelly Blanchard sing a song he composed, Be Ye Glad. I couldn't find him doing it on utube but found several other artist doing their renditions of his work. The hymn he wrote is compelling and I can't stay down after I have considered the lyrics. I share it with you today. I did the painting almost 37 years ago right after I accepted Christ into my heart. Here are the lyrics to the song:
BE YE GLAD

Words and Music by M.K.Blanchard
© Gotz Music/Benson
(860) 673-5100

In these days of confused situations.
In these nights of a restless remorse,
When the heart and the soul of the nation,
lay wounded and cold as a corpse.
From the grave of the innocent Adam,
comes a song bringing joy to the sad.
Oh your cry has been heard and the ransom,
has been paid up in full, Be Ye Glad.
(Chorus)

Oh, Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad,
Every debt that you ever had
Has been paid up in full by the grace of the Lord,
Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad.

From the dungeon a rumor is stirring.
You have heard it again and again.
But this time the cell keys are turning,
and outside there are faces of friends.
And though your body lay weary from wasting,
and your eyes show the sorrow they've had.
Oh the love that your heart is now tasting
has opened the gate, Be Ye Glad.
(Chorus)

So be like lights on the rim of the water,
giving hope in a storm sea of night.
Be a refuge amidst the slaughter,
for these fugitives in their flight.
For you are timeless and part of a puzzle.
You are winsome and young as a lad.
And there is no disease or no struggle,
that can pull you from God, Be Ye Glad.
(Chorus)

Being called as an artist, Suzanne Trenney

I just finished reading an older child's tale by Madeleine L'Engle, A Wind In The Door. As part of the story she talks about the enemy being the one who "un names". Reading in scripture in the book of Exodus, God tells Moses that he knows him by name, knows who he is the stuff of which he is made. In order to be true to that for which we were created and called, we need to know the "name" by which God calls us. My friend Suzanne Trenney has struggled with her "name" and is finally realizing that she is indeed called to create art for the glory of God. She has a gift and that gift is a blessing with which she is to practice, study to show herself approved by the on going development of her skill and therefore God bless others. Suzanne's work is pictured here. Suzanne Writes:
The piece behind the leaded glass is entitled, "Empty plate, empty bowl, full wallets" and has a second title, "The Great Omission". In it, a relatively well off couple passes the sparsely filled offering plate. Behind them is a stained glass window with individuals who are potential saints(an elderly woman, a troubled teenage young man, a Muslim woman and a starving African child holding an empty bowl) who might turn to Christ if the parishioners truly gave proportionally. Also pictured is a crutch and shackles both of which can be removed by God.
I drew this around two years ago when I was new to Ascension and had not fully left my former church and was also helping at a church plant. I was really struggling with where to give my offerings. My former church (which was really huge) was able to give over a million dollars annually to missions. The church plant seemed to need the money the most. But I was being fed at Ascension. Although I was disappointed with the level of giving at Ascension after attending my first annual budget meeting as well as the amount of the church's budget which directly went towards fulfilling the Great Commission, God told me that my tithes were to go to Ascension as I had, by that time, begun to consider it my church home. This drawing was made during this period of frustration.
Later, I attended a class at Trinity called "Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes" which was taught by Ken Bailey. He told us about how he was once teaching about the parable of the servants who were entrusted with money while their master was away and were later rewarded based on their faithfulness. He discussed how they were rewarded based on their faithfulness-not productivity, but that in each case, faithfulness did lead to an increase. He was asked by a woman about a situation that didn't seem to be addressed in the parable where a servant was faithful but what was entrusted did not increase. Though he did not have a good answer for her at the time, he continued thinking about it and realized that Jesus did not include that scenario because it doesn't exist! We do not possess the yardstick to measure productivity. Just as love never fails, Ken Bailey said that he believes that faithfulness never fails. Rather than attempting to measure the productivity or kingdom value of a church, or its members, I need to be faithful with what I have been given and to that which I have been called. We do, however, need to prompt and encourage one another to faithfulness. We have been blessed in order to be a blessing.

The Art of Avoiding Vertigo

(To link to the home site of this art go to: http://www.brickels.com/index.htm )
True vertigo, from the Latin "vertere," to turn, is a distinct, often severe form of dizziness that is a movement hallucination. The dizziness, is a symptom, not a disease. The term vertigo refers to the sensation of spinning or whirling that occurs as a result of a disturbance in balance (equilibrium). The body cannot find it's "center" in much the same way that a compass cannot find north, a scale cannot calibrate accurately to zero, or a piano tuned to middle C. Some things have to be tuned, centered, adjusted or they spin out of control, lean, tilt, crumble, flatten, and falter. This past year has been one of faltering, a year of moral vertigo. I do not mean to pick on just 2007, It's just that as the news media reviews 2007 there is little good news. The popular media my Generation Y students consider their "daily bread" would have made my mother blush, at best, it only makes them shrug. They are jaded by life already for the most part. These are the offspring of corporate scandals, single parent homes, the war in Iraq, school shootings and nuclear insecurity. They have the capacity to smell a phony and a fake a mile away and are looking for adults who are living the faith authentically. The idiom, " A divided against itself cannot stand", was coined by Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address. It actually refers to the words of Christ quoted in Matthew 12:25, 'And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand'. The illustration I present to you today is this image of the "vertigo house" by American ceramicist John Brickels. The link to his site to view more of his delightful work is supplied here. Brickel's vertigo house serves as a visual metaphor for the state of the interior life of the soul manifest in many. A confused potentate, Pilate once asked Jesus, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" JOHN 18:37, 38. May this be a year of tuning to C, finding true north, and standing tall and upright in the Truth.