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November 20, 2007

Greetings,

This evening, a couple of days before Thanksgiving, I was doing what, of late, is a rare bit of outdoors work, in the wooded area behind my house. There are some walking trails that I seed each autumn with rye grass, to insure that there will be ribbons of green to walk along when the winter forest is mostly grays and browns.

Autumn has been a bit behind schedule this year and it’s only in the last couple of weeks that the leaves have reached peak color. Today, we enjoy a perfect, if brief moment, where the leaves are still at full brilliance and still on the branches, a moment that will end with the first good breeze or light rain (which in Georgia would be a welcome oddity just now).

Shortly ago, as I worked hurriedly to make the most of dwindling daylight, the colors – gold hickory, red maple, rusty oak – were stunning. At one point along the trail, a single thin shaft of sunlight broke through the canopy and spotlighted a small group of trees. And just as it is in so many realms of life, it struck me that the colors are the brightest where the light breaks through. … Surely a song idea, yes?

I’m reminded of a passage from C.S. Lewis,

“We – or at least I – shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest. At best, our faith and reason will tell us that He is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have ‘tasted and seen.’ Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of our experience.” (Letters to Malcolm)

Travels of late – with the time to read, look and think ( I tend to drive in silence as good bit these days), and the richness of good conversation that compensates for nights away from home – have allowed Truth to break through in some memorable ways. To those of you who I’ve seen in the last few months, thanks for making time on the road so enjoyable.

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One of the most redeeming features of technology to a bibliophile like myself is the ability to purchase books quickly and conveniently on line, especially books that would be difficult to find anywhere close to where I live (though my newly renewed library card does get me on-line access, and borrowing capabilities, to most libraries around the state of Georgia). When shopping Amazon, I often avail myself of the “used books” tab where options often include “like New,” “very good,” and “minimal wear” designations. Usually there are other copies that are less costly, with descriptions like, “well worn with sturdy spine, considerable markings, underlinings, and margin notes.” From time to time, and increasingly of late, I buy those copies, partly to save money, but mostly out of curiosity for what I might find scribbled on the pages. In those versions, a conversation of sorts takes place, in which I read a marked up passage and ask the invisible previous reader “why did you find that line or paragraph worth marking” or, on the occasion that an eminently quotable passage is left unmarked, “why didn’t you highlight this profundity?” When I mark a passage myself, which is very much a part of my reading routine, I find myself wondering what some reader down the chain might think of my selection.

The obvious reality is that words mean different things to different people, depending on who they are, where they are, what their tastes might be, what they’re going through at a given time, and how the text intersects with their life at the moment. The idea of differing perspectives occurs to me a lot both as I read and, lately, watch film documentaries.

I don’t subscribe to cable TV and can only get a handful of stations here at the farm, which, for my tastes, means that I don’t watch very much television. For the last few months, in another grateful nod to use of the internet, I’ve been ordering documentary films through Netflix, documentaries that deal for the most part with slices of humanity that are far beyond my realm of experience. I find such stories valuable in challenging me to 1) consider viewpoints (personal, religious, political) different than my own, 2) broaden my understanding of what it means that “God so (loves) the world (usually “world” to me looks only like the 20th century American version that I’ve grown up in), 3) question which of my convictions are “truth” and which are simply local prejudice, 4) ponder more deeply just how broken the world is and the price that sin has exacted from humanity (the films often deal with suffering and conflict among people groups), 5) ask what, if anything, I can do to ameliorate the suffering of others, 6) admit just how narrow my experience, how insulated from suffering, and how uninformed many of my opinions have been, and 7) helps me to understand economic realities, class issues, and racial realities that are front and center to the lives of so many in the world.

Among the selections I’ve watched in the last couple of months are God Grew Tired of Us (about the lost boys of Sudan and the integration of some into American society), Born into Brothels (about the children of sex workers in Calcutta and the effort of a photographer to help them escape life in that world), I Am a Promise (about a public school in a distressed neighborhood in Philadelphia), Dark Days (about homeless people in New York who live beneath the subways there), Control Room (about coverage of the Iraq war by Al Jazeera network), Favela Uprising (about ghetto life and social activism in the slums of Rio de Janeiro), Auschwitz, Inside the Nazi State (a multipart production of BBC about the Polish death camp), Forgiving Dr. Mengele (about one Auschwitz survivor coping with her resolution of post Holocaust bitterness against the “angel of death,” Josef Mengele), and Hiding and Seeking (about a family of Hasidic Jews from Jerusalem coming to term with the Holocaust). …
You can imagine the different perspectives on life that are offered by the subjects of these films. I’ve no doubt that, if I and the people in the documentaries all read the same book (including the Holy Book), we might underline very different passages and scribble some very different comments in the margins.

To me, one of the benefits of spending time with the books and films I do, is that they tend to beg worthwhile questions. Each of the films, for instance, made me wonder what the Christian gospel might say about each of the troubling circumstances portrayed in them and, more pointedly, made me consider how credible the “truth as it is in Jesus” might be to people at the center of the documentaries. As different as my perspective – western WASP – is from many of theirs, it is no stretch to believe that Jesus, presented in a manner true to scripture, would be found attractive, sympathetic, relevant, redemptive, and responsive to the needs presented by each of the scenarios treated by the film makers.

Of course, there are people in all of the afore-described cultures who have heard and have given themselves to the Gospel. And from them, no doubt, ones like myself have much to learn. I read this observation just today:

“A young American Christian, Paul-Gordon Chandler, wrote a book called God’s Global Mosaic in which he detailed the insights he had gathered from visiting Christians around the world. He said that from the Russians he learned about mystery and reverence. From Middle Eastern Christians he learned perseverance. The Latin American church taught him how to celebrate the gift of life In India he came to reappraise the role of Jesus as a teacher. In Africa he found believers who had a deep experience of the freedom of God. In the Far East he was introduced to the idea that God can’t be confined.” (from Imagine, by Steve Turner, p. 100)

Until I get to all of those places myself, an unlikely “until,” I’m grateful for film, for books and for conversations with people that are , “well worn with sturdy spine, considerable markings, underlinings, and margin notes.” What an interesting world we get to be a part of. And how many are the opportunities of Jesus’ followers to live out His love and kindness.

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Just for fun …
I met a fellow recently who has set a goal of running a marathon in each of the 50 United States. His strategy is interesting. He doesn’t train for any of them. He registers, pays his fee, shows up on race day, and then does the race, with no pretense of competing. When he gets tired, he walks. When he gets hungry or thirsty, he stops and enjoys a food break with people along the race course. When he finishes the race, he gets his picture taken, heads home and gets ready for the next one.
Not sure what there is in this, but seems like there’s something.

* * * * * *

This is the first year since I started doing music that I’ve not had a specific recording project (or projects) to focus my attention. I’ve missed the process and am looking forward to doing one or two ‘albums’ next year. (I did write and record a lot this summer but it was with no intention of putting out a new project. What I have as a result is a number of almost finished recordings, a few finished ones, and some that are medium rare. Maybe I’ll do something with them in time.

Q: is there anything in particular that you’d want me to consider as a recording project next year? Another People in My Town, a collection of children’s songs (for kids to sing along with and learn), something more up tempo, soft stuff, a live recording? I’m just curious and would welcome your input.

And I’d also be interested in your input about a redesign of this website. I’m working with a talented designer at present and work is well underway. The look will change and there will be a few new features including a blog which will allow for easier, shorter, more frequent updates. A media page will allow me to add photos and short video clips. Is there anything you would suggest or be interested in having on the page? I want, as I always have (despite my delinquency in keeping it “fresh”), for the site to be interesting, enjoyable, and worthwhile, consistent with our vision of provoking Godward thought. If there are things you’d like us to consider for the site, please pass your thoughts along to us.

And, about the photos on the website …
I read to several groups of children at a nearby elementary school last week. I was “Guest author” for my part in the children’s book Oliviatown. The first session was kindergartners and first graders. Before I began to read, one little boy raised his hand and, thinking, I suppose, that the point needed to be made, loudly announced that “you look a lot older in person than your picture in the book.” I responded appropriately by having security remove him from the room.

For the past two or three years, sister Beth has been using words like “antique” and “fraudulent” to describe the photos on my home page.

Others have been less kind in telling me that it’s time to change the pictures on the site. They should know by now that I don’t particularly like to have cameras pointed in my direction.

But … I get the hint. I will either remove all photos or update them. Promise.

* * * * * *

Quotes presently on my bathroom mirror:

“Blessed are those who can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.” Elizabeth Bibesco.

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshed others will himself be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25.

“Christ didn’t die to teach us lessons about bravery or to encourage us when we face difficulties. He died because that was the penalty demanded by God for sin.” Imagine, Steve Turner.

“It is impossible to follow Jesus and not be lead away from something. … That journey away from the former places and towards the new place is what converts us.” Craig Barnes, When God Interrupts.

“The world is neither so full of evil that we can’t enjoy it nor so full of goodness that we can abandon ourselves to it. When we see something beautiful there is always the qualifying thought that it is tarnished. When we see something ugly, there is always the qualifying thought that there is something of the Creator hidden there. …

The doctrine of redemption, the idea that God has initiated a rescue plan, completes the picture.” Imagine, Steve Turner.

“… adorational attentiveness …” Eugene Peterson, a phrase in The Jesus Way.

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It being the holiday season, I’ll be listening to my favorite Christmas CD’s: Holiday songs and Lullabies (Shawn Colvin), Midwinter (Peter Mayer), In the Spirit, a Christmas Album (Michael MacDonald), and Joy (aw shucks, you know ….) .

* * * * * *

Well, it is time for me to sign off. And I do so with gratitude, appropriate to this week’s national celebration, for the blessing of your willingness to stand with me in the work that I do.

From where I stand this year, the light breaks through, and, seeing what I see and knowing what I know and having all that I have, how can I be anything but

Thankful,

allen

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