I love ASBOJESUS - these guys crack me up

Filed under: Uncategorized — jonbirch @ 11:21 pm

Let's Talk Post-Modernism and the Emergent Church...

OK, i'll say it..... I AM A DECONSTRUCTIONIST ........ i want to deconstruct all the hoopla around churcheeeeanity.... and introduce people to JESUS...... ..... and just start there... and let Holy Spirit do the job of conviction in hearts. Is this too simplistic.... ?
Perhaps......... but i think we've made the Gospel way to complicated . I'm glad these guys are at least looking at it..... when the guy asks "were they bored with God? What brought this about?" It's a fair question.... but i guess for me, i've gotten bored with church with all it's propaganda .... i do think that within context of at least Western Culture, it's gotten too easy to just "go to church" and think "this is what it's all about to be a christian."- i like edge walking and the saltiness of the dialogue. just my thoughts here.

Neil McSweeney: Long Way Round @ Plug, Sheffield.

I do love this mans music... rich, deep, thought provoking and a gut punch! NICELY DONE NEIL!!!!!!!!! Tipping my hat across the pond to ya!

Doctor Who: Dreamland First Clip! - Dreamland Online Blog

Ok, admittedly, i've been a Dr. Who fan since i was a kid... i would have loved the cartoon version of it..... but hey "your never to late to have a happy childhood" (tom robins for those that don't know that quote)
Gotta say, i'm chuckling on the american accents and the Area 51 reference ... seems to be a lot of that in reference lately.
I'm home today with a cold or flu, not sure what, just feel like general crap- so i'm distracting my cough with my computer. Seems if i take a vow of silence, my throat doesn't scream, my lungs aren't burning and i'm not coughing my head off. - yes, my husband KNOWS i'm sick if i don't say a bloody word! Some of my friends that are reading this - will be laughing at that thought. (so i sneeze in your general direction for doing so!)

Thought this was worth the ponder, since i did a piece on Traveling Sukkah as Kingdom bringers - kinda cool.. The magazine is called Tablet

In advance of Sukkot, we reached out to architects and designers and asked for contemporary reimaginings of the sukkah. Susan Shender first came to our attention as the creator of the SukkahSoul sukkah, a delicate yet sturdy construction inspired, in part, by the sefirot of kabbalah. In this sketch, she offers a sukkah held together by its inhabitants. She explains:

After receiving your request, I found myself thinking about it constantly. What I came up with surprised me. It’s sort of a lofty idea. But how do I show that graphically? While driving to synagogue, I heard an NPR piece about graphic novels and thought that that was a good method to use. My response involves the intersection of a quote from Deuteronomy, the layout of a page of Talmud, and the spirit of a graphic novel. Now, when dealing with conceptual ideas, reality is not always aligned with the vision. In this case, for instance, it might be tricky to eat in a sukkah when one is the sukkah.

U2 360 - Houston - Your Blue Room

So here is some more.... yes, we were in outer space for a few hours ....... Houston- "we Don't have a problem!"

U2 - ULTRAVIOLET -Houston Reliant Stadium 14.10.2009

So this is what i was doing last Wednesday Night... in Houston with Derek and Amy- Yes, it rocked, Yes, we had a blast, - great music, great food, great talks late into the night, -- pondering the universe .. clowns in space, some evangelical ideas with some naked truth... ummm yeah. A lil late night excursion - well 4am counts as last night right. (thanks D!)
Oh, yeah, U2.... back to that again, - loved that microphone. ... old school and it became a swing! - and how did he do that with the lights on the jacket. Actually, there was one point with this black and white light show part, that was such the sound of a battlefield, that if anyone dealt with PTSD issues, they would have been ducking under the seats.- yes, it was the biggest production at a Rock Concert in History, yes, we made sure we were there..... yes, we do Rock.
(there really were a few that i sooooooo wished were there with us.... - Yes Brian and Whitney that means you guys!) - you were sorely missed! But ok - next time we all go see them in Ireland!
xo

Traveling Sukkah

This might be a picture pun of Selah Sukkot - My dog's name is Selah which means "ponder" and i'm in a "Sukkah"/TENT, that John and Caroline got as a wedding gift. Actually, it's a tent for their dog and we were "testing" it out........ brings being in the "dog house" to camping posh levels.

However it does bring me to some pondering thoughts:

Deuteronomy 16: 13-15

13 “You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. 14 And you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your gates. 15 Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.

It’s been a quiet Sukkot this year. I would have loved to have gone to the “Harvest Festival” @ Morning Star, but with school and work, i guess it was more wishful thinking that practical relevance.

Our dear friend Paul (yes you are sooo dear to us dude), is in Israel, and it’s had my heart longing to stroll along those landscapes. However, G-d’s been having me look at the inner landscapes this week, in an internal Sukkot.

I love the Jewish Feast Days and their meanings as they are vast and layered in texture. Sukkot or AKA “The Feast of Ingathering”/ "Feast of Booths" or "Tents"- is much along the lines of our American Thanksgiving, where people come together and celebrate the Harvest and the transition to the New World.

The reaping of our labor from our “threshing floor” and “wine press” is part of what drew my spirit gaze today.

From an internal landscape perspective, both signify to me, the hard aspects of tilling the ground of our hearts and sifting our “wheat”, what is good, holy and will bring forth more growth in sustenance and the “tares”, that which are worthless, or the products of soulish self. I could “tare” into a soliloquy regarding that aspect, but suffice to say that the tossing part of allowing the winds of grace to blow that away, is more His Heart on the matter than dwelling in that tent of regret. I’d rather focus on the wine and not “whine” on all that.

The wine press of all our grapes of experience, both sour and juicy plump luscious bits, ferment in the spirit and produce a glass or vat that is worth sharing. I’ve never seen G-d waste anything, He’s much more frugal with the aspects of our lives, that we instinctively wish to throw away.

All these things that are either “by His Hand or through His Hand” make up this Harvest of Spirit. Sukkot is considered a Sacred/ solemn celebration, which bares the contrast of what is to be taken serious and the joy of the promise that He will “Bless” the work of our hands in this Kingdom co-laboring.

The solemn aspect that this journey and year has been difficult and the labor strenuous is not something to be simply overlooked, but acknowledged; both sweat and tears reflect the saltiness of our lives, in which, salt brings out the flavor.

We celebrate in that acknowledgement, making the joy more defined and in ways a more sustainable fruit.

I find G-d’s inclusive perspective of whom we share this “Feast” and our “Tent” (family, extended family, “Levite”/ “Worship Artisans”, strangers, the fatherless and the widows) such the extension of His heart.

We tend to so compartmentalize our lives, and in many ways i understand that it’s necessary to function and not go crazy in the day to day. But to look at it from a Kingdom view for a moment, we really are a traveling Sukkah.

The people we are called to share the tent and table of our lives, may or may not have been there for all the labor parts (so grateful to the ones that WERE and ARE there for the perpetual Becoming of who we are in G-d, we couldn’t have walked through some of those Wadi like, experiences without those hearth like hearts), but i guess that’s G-d’s point.

We are daily called to come out of our homes of the day to day, and create a Tent for the ongoing ingathering. I think He uses the Feasts and all that, so we can pause/reflect/ SELAH on the deeper, often relentless, meditation of His Heart.

The “how’s” in all of this seems like a juggling act, with the plates needing to land on the table. Some of us are more theatrical, with our Tent Fabric, creating ongoing focal point installations, where as others are to create the movable kibbutz of family like hubs.

However G-d chooses to create His Tapestry of Tents, the ongoing adventures are still signaled by the Cloud by Day and the Fire by Night. Dwelling with G-d and having Him dwell with us in Emmanuel’s light of Jesus is always the open invitation.

Selah.

How To Set Up A Rain Barrel

can you tell what i'm thinking about!

John Callahan sings LOST IN THE CITY

Here is another one i found, a bit of a documentary - but it gives a lil more insight into his life. Gotta love the ART in it all..... very very real. Yeah perhaps that's what i love about him....

John Callahan sings TOUCH ME SOMEPLACE I CAN FEEL

Ok, so when i first started working in Rehab i learned about John Callahan......... His autobiography is "Don't worry, he won't get far on foot". He's a C5-6 quadriplegic (injury at 21) He's a pretty amazing cartoonist - writers and now has a CD. Brutally honest and funny as hell. He's got a MYSPACE MUSIC page as well. Go Google.

Stimulus and the Moment of Choice

I love John Paul's stuff - he's one of the best teachers - and his eyes actually sparkle. Got to meet him a few years back hanging with the BBI team. I might be posting some more since he's really got some serious wisdom on things. Enjoy!

Contrasting Sky

One of my indicators that i've not kept things up - is how many photo's that were still in my camera and not uploaded. So this is one of downtown Austin, that i captured from the 3rd floor Gym window. ( I work at a Rehabilitation Hospital that has some cool views).

It was about 10am- and as you can see, a storm was brewing .... From the North West sky, it was still sunny , yet from the South East, the dark brooding of the storm was cresting. It's shadow caused the reflection of the road against the sky. It looks like a dividing wall in the Spirit of sorts and that's what it feels like atmospherically here.

It's been about a year and a half since we've moved here (May of 08) and this pic would be a good way of describing what it's felt like.

We've pretty much been hosting since we landed, some short stays and some a bit longer. As ever, that is awesome and challenging all at the same time. Sharing our home and our hearts has bottom line, always been a blessing. The Challenging part of it, comes down to the fact that we were (and i guess still are on some levels), in transition.

Part of the reason i haven't done my typical blog posts is that everything has been in a state of Flux per say. Things have come in waves - some busy and some quiet - with a bunch of loose ends.

The house we bought is gradually becoming our own, as we do projects along the way. It would have been nice to have had lots of stuff done in the beginning, but due to finances and time constraints, it's been a slow go. (What i do for a living pays less here and the cost of living is higher) So it's felt more than half done on what we'd like to see happen. I still want to paint the living room area, bedroom and guest room, but haven't had the energy.

It's been the hottest summer in recorded history here and that was pretty harsh. Last summer was the 4th hottest on record and since we moved twice, (once into the rental while we were looking, then again in July when we moved here) i think that affected/effected our energy levels.

It's been a low season energetically in general, almost hibernating like, which i'm not really good at. I know God's working behind the scenes on some matters. Just because things aren't all "bells and whistles", doesn't mean that things aren't happening. It's just seems like it's been a long slow walk up a very dry hill. God's still speaking in it, though more quietly than He has in the past with me.

This Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur i felt a shift in the Spirit. Rosh Hashanah was the first cooler weekend than we have had, the morning was in the 70's and i could feel the breeze on my face. I felt His presence hovering around me in a way i haven't felt in a long while. Four months ago, my Dad died, and grief has been pretty strong. (actually, i think i've been grieving over a lot of things these last 17 months, but that was the proverbial "straw that broke the camels back".) So when i felt His presence i felt my spirit rise up and sigh in relief.

I'm not really sure what this next year holds, but i know His Hand is guiding as ever.

Shalom Ya All-