Artistic Expressions in a Fragile Space

This week, I've been continually reminded of the fragile space we inhabit between life and death, light and darkness, hope and despair...  We live amid such polarities and it's often hard to know exactly how to fully engage this space.

How incredible it was to welcome new life on Monday with the birth of Kaia and Ari to my dear friends Tim and Annemarie.  Couldn't praise God more for His hand in the miracle gift of these precious babies!  I'm already feeling so in love with these tiny, sweet girls!  In other circumstance, this week has brought a real awareness of the power and lure of evil in our lives.  My heart hurts over our brokenness and how sin crouches at the door waiting to devour, only to distance us from intimacy with the Father.

Jon Foreman recently blogged about how we are to make art, specifically music, in this tension of the polarities we find ourselves stretched thin between.

"Between the dialectic of life and death we are pulled tight, stretched out like the strings of my guitar. We are forever in still-life. A delicate balancing act between the end and the beginning, between the consciousness and the dream, between the forgetting that we call birth and the remembering that we call death. We are the notes dancing from the strings of time, held firm between life and death. This is the polarity of our existence, pulled tight between despair and hope, belief and doubt. We are strung tight between our birth and the grave. Humanity is dancing on the fretboard in-between. Death will one-day cut the string. Until then, we live in the tension."  

Last Friday, after skipping a class to have breakfast with my parents and a couple from church, I was driving back down to school and had this powerful moment in which I was struck with this picture of a piece of art.  I knew right away what it looked like and, in that moment, felt such an intense desire to create.  It was on a piece of wood.  It moved from the wonder and awe of creation, through a long desert of sorts that represented God's instruction in dry dead space, into an abundance of life toward God's direction for the future.  The emphasis definitely resided in the middle space.  It definitely reflected the picture I've had reading the Torah.  The day was so busy and I rushed to class in the rain then threw a bunch of clothes in a bag and headed back up north for a Jr. High retreat.  Arriving at retreat, I glanced through the booklet for the weekend and noticed that for a Saturday session the camp was setting aside time to express something through art.  Let's just say, I knew where I needed to be.  After wandering around in the woods for a bit, I found a stick.  There were magazines available and they were perfect. I found myself stumbling on the perfect pictures. Even though earlier in the day I'd cleared out the random papers in my Bible, a couple small papers remained tucked inside its pages, and they were perfect.  A couple of students that I attended the art session with asked me about it afterward and I didn't hesitate to explain, "this is what it means..."  Wishing I hadn't been so darn confident at the time as this little artistic expression has continued to become significant in other ways this week.  I'm so struck by the unique ways God speaks, especially through the arts, and continues to develop the picture and experience we have of Him.

I've never been more convinced that we are created to create.  I've never been more confident that God's Spirit is present, guiding and instructing in dry deserts. I'm hungering and thirsting for God right now.  All I can do is turn to God in adoration and worship, continually praying that the Lord's endless love would draw ever near those we so deeply love.  This has been perhaps been one of the most difficult weeks of my life.  Yet, the Lord's presence couldn't be more real and steadfast as He remains ever present in the midst of us, his beloved creations.

Legacy

Lately I can't help but think of things as legacy. Our faith journeys are a legacy. Our worship is a legacy.  Our prayer is a legacy.  The way we can read our Bible is a legacy. In so many ways we, as Christians, continue the legacy of those who have gone before us.  And that's pretty exciting.  Legacy gives motivation and urgency to our lives!  And we get to play a vital role in continuing the journey of the faith of our forefathers!  

Loved The Help! ...and all the time to read lately! "That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive--all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment" --the Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society

See ya Summa.

Reality sinks in, Summer is nearly over and I find myself grasping these last moments not able to let go!  Summer was such a gift this year and for so many reasons I give God thanks.  For God's continual work in my life, for all things new in the life of Shoreline FMC, for Esperanza, for really late nights sitting on the kitchen floor listening to Dean and Marie's life stories, for music which continues to give glimpses of God's kingdom here on earth, for the piano, time spent with longtime friends, for time at home and out and about with family, for coffee and Cafe Aroma, for fun youth group outings, for spontaneous trips to Portland, for the Cinebarre, for good reads, for sleep... the list goes on.  Perhaps one of the greatest gifts this summer was being here in Shoreline.  This was the first year in a while that Summer didn't equal travel.  Ok, we did take a trip to Idaho for a few days in August but, having only missed one day of work, I'm considering it more of a little excursion (an awesome one at that).  Oh and there was the usual Esperanza week. But my point is that, in previous years, I've been focused on being elsewhere and in new places (Brazil...Russia...all sorts of national parks).  This Summer was different.  I able to be present here in my very own neighborhood.  And with all my time working and at church I had to be.  One of my favorite things about working at Cafe Aroma was that it forced me straight into the Shoreline community.  I got to know people's lives, normal people who go about their business right down the street from me.  I've loved hearing about the delicious meal plans of double short latte with two raw sugars guy, or about the new kittens of double tall blended latte couple, or the daily progress of grande vanilla latte lady's mom who recently went into icu after having a brain aneurism, or knowing that when green tea gal comes in late Friday and Saturday evening she is headed for a long night shift, or that 24oz vanilla's daughter wants a pink straw in her cocoa and pink and purple sprinkles on her whip cream.  I'm going to miss spending the majority of my time up here.  The space in my brain I've devoted to drink orders of our regulars is already being taken over and I'm honestly sad about that.  Its pretty great knowing at least the names and coffee drink of choice of the people you run into at the grocery store or in Subway.  What a reminder that we should be constantly aware and listeners of the people we encounter through everyday, ordinary business.  It's also been such a joy spending time with all the Shoreline youth peeps.  Having fun in the sun, prepping for the fall with leaders, practicing with the youth band (Worship Monkeys? or Golden Forcefield?) I'm so excited for this coming year!!  I know it will be significant as we continue to find identity as worshipers and people of prayer.  That's all to say I'm not quite ready to move back to school.  I'm not ready to go back to dividing my time between too many places. I really want to be present in everything up here.  But I'll pack tomorrow regardless.  And head back down to the little nook in Queen Anne.  And I'll be excited about my classes!  After all I'm only 22 credits away from graduation.  Now that's exciting!

One of the reasons why I can't help but be a fan...

http://www.spu.edu/depts/uc/response/2010-spring/features/u2.asp

A beautiful day and a beautiful show.

Finals

I’ve decided it is kind of funny. Seeing a lot of studious people the last few days it seems some think they have the most work of anyone as the quarter draws to a close. Let’s face it, almost everyone is busy right now. The coffee shops are teeming with studious people. Somehow busyness and the most intense classes make us look so accomplished. I love spending time in the gospels where Jesus constantly withdraws to spend time alone on a mountainside savoring moments of solitude, prayer and rest. Ok, as much as I want to use this as an excuse to maybe…take a sunrise hike in place of a piano final tomorrow morning?? I can’t and I wont. We all get to partake in this week of tests, projects, papers, last minute assignments together! Well, that makes it sound fun. I feel busy but productivity feels wonderful especially as it’s laced with moments of rest.

Focusing on the favorites of finals: the excuse to drink endless cups of coffee, spend time at Starbucks with friends (even while staring at separate screens fellowship is a blessing), manipulating sleep schedules, loving late nights of quiet, observing the pizza man deliver midnight snacks to neighbors who are likely up studying. Fitting everything in is kind of a thrill. I’d venture to say everything left feels manageable. I’m definitely feeling optimistic because U2 is buzzing around here and will be gracing the ears of their Seattle fans in just four days!!

Finals… we’ve been through so many of them. Maybe everyone does have the most homework of everyone. However much you have left to do, good luck friends!