Goals for 2012

"Always the living reality of Jesus Christ revealed

must be our rallying point."

Calvin Seerveld

     The Psalmist declares- "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" A new year, a new day... new. Anything is possible with newness. It is the time to begin. Again. I am not given to making 'New Year's Resolutions' (I remember the classic words of Mary Poppins, promises can be like "pie crusts, easily made, easily broken"). However, I have of late been convicted, or, perhaps challenged (where is that line between inspiration and conviction) to articulate goals. So, as a matter of accountability, here are my goals for 2012:

1. Spend more time at Christ's feet
2. Strive for simplicity

3. Be more generous

4. Teach better (and more efficiently)

5. Complete, and submit, two books in progress (Long overdue)

6. Listen more, speak less

Whiteboards, Blackboards and Wordscapes

"It is not enough to like good books.

You must be a good book yourself."

Francois de Fenelon

1651-1715

"In the beginning was the Word.."

John 1:1

Today is day seven of my fast and my books are calling to me. I love books. The affair began with Pop's Reader's Digest Condensed collection. They made a good highway for Matchbox cars. The uniform size and large quantity afforded me bridges, tunnels- even skyscrapers to frame my literary landscapes. Everything changed when one day I looked inside them. I discovered wordscapes. My Mom allowed me to join a Book of the Month club, in lieu of allowance. Still, five decades later, books remain my highway.  But it is from books I am fasting.

Sunday, my wife asked, "Why do you read so much?"

My immediate response was, "It interests me." I knew there was more but I couldn't articulate more. So I  pondered that question the rest of the day. Then it occurred to me, the truer reason why I read- first, I continually seek answers to a never ending list of questions and second, I want to know what others think.

These titles patiently await my return:

Visio Divina

edited by Mel Ahlborn and Ken Arnold

Universe of Stone

by Philip Ball

Bright Earth

by Philip Ball

The Artist's Rule

by Christine Valters Paintner

The War of Art

by Steven Pressfield

Rumors of Water

by L.L. Barkat

and

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

by Eugene Peterson

I haven't placed all reading on hold, just 'informational pleasure' reading. For twenty one days I have chosen to read Scripture, work-related emails and student work only (I teach a creative writing class... I can't ignore their words for three weeks. If you'd like to read some of their words, click here).  I have noticed that, while I am not reading more scripture, I am 'chewing' on the text longer. After all, one of the purposes of fasting is re-focusing, restoring clarity to our time-perspectives through reflection, or as they say in the South, "Chewin' on somethin' different for a spell." As an aside, I've noticed notes and drawings that have worked themselves into my Bible. Here are a couple of them, transcribed to my Moleskine pocket journal:

Theatrum Dei
Calvin Seerveld

Four Stages of Mastery
Lance Wallnau

As I reflected on the sketches, I thought about the lectures associated with them. Both, Dr. Seerveld and Mr. Wallnau, used Whiteboards for visual aid. I like chalk. It's earthy. I like the residue of words on my fingertips. Sometimes I let it remain. But, this is the 21st Century. This is the age of the Whiteboard.


Fourteen days of "chewin' on somethin' different" remain.


Here is a photo from one of my lectures for you to chew on- 

The Hands and Feet of Art
Michael Carter

Photo by
Samuel Carter

On Knowing

"The distance between the heart and the mind

is greater than the distance of heaven to earth."

Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian (1872-1970)

hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia- the fear of long words

The weekend Calvin Seerveld spent in our home, he walked in, stopped, smiled, and said, "Your home is more aesthetically obedient than mine." I have thought about those words many times.

Last night I dreamed I was having a conversation with a student. I asked the student, "What do you know?" They began a response but I stopped them. Again, I asked, "What do you know?! Not, what do you think or believe?" I have been chewing on the question all day.

This morning I read this-

"And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth." Job 19:25.

This I know-

In words there is life and there is death.

My wife once told me, "You live in your own little world."

Guilty as charged. I'm working on getting out more.

In The Elements of Style, by Wm. Strunk and E.B. White, I just read-

Choose a suitable design and hold to it.

The first principle of composition, therefore, is to foresee

or determine the shape of what is to come and pursue that shape.

I am God's poema, His composition. I have seen glimpses of the shape I am to become, but, as Brancusi said, "To see far is one thing: going there is another."

This I also know-

God loves me.

An Embarrassment

Wendell Berry

"Do you want to ask

the blessing?"

"No. If you do,

go ahead."

He went ahead:

his prayer dressed up

in Sunday clothes

rose a few feet

and dropped with a soft

thump.

If a lonely soul

did ever cry out

in company its true

outcry to God

it would be as though

at a sedate party

a man suddenly

removed his clothes

and took his wife

passionately into his arms.

Prayer For Joshua

Teresa Carter

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen- one from each of the tribes of Israel. He told them, "Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder- twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' Then you can tell them, 'They remind us that the Jordan river stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD's Covenant went across.'Joshua 4:4-7

\ab-ˈstrakt, ˈab-ˌ\ Medieval Latin abstractus, from Latin, past participle of abstrahere to drag away, from abs-, ab- + trahere to pull, draw. 1.not easy to understand because of being extremely complex, remote from concrete reality, etc.; abstruse

I once heard Tony Martin, an artist/pastor from Great Britain give a lecture on Abstract art. It was a small gathering in a Memphis coffee shop called the Ugly Mug. He used the Joshua 4 passage as a defense, or rather, permission for Christians to participate in the production of Abstraction- as a means of presenting the Gospel. It was beautiful. For years I struggled with abstraction. Sometimes a lack of understanding is accompanied by suspicion. I wondered if Abstract art was legitimate, valid, or, as I had been told- 'an inability to do better, a cop out'. In a paper entitled, Toward A Prophetic Aesthetic, Greg Card said, "The challenge is to present/implement something in the material realm that represents the dynamic of the revealed spiritual dimension."

I suppose the thing I struggled most with was the notion that 'art is serious play.'

When Calvin Seerveld stayed in our home, he had a private conversation with Terri about painting. She told him she wanted to be a better realist. He asked, "Why?" It is a simple question with profound implications. He suggested, "enjoy the process, have fun...play with the paint."

And so, the years have passed. My understanding and appreciation continues. My vocabulary of the language of art increases. Sometimes what isn't said speaks loudly. Sometimes it takes the abstract. Thank you Tony, and Greg, and Calvin.

"Certain experiences may be transmitted by language, others-more profound-by silence; and then there are those that cannot be transmitted, not even by silence." Elie Wiesel

Calvin Seerveld and Teresa Carter, seriously speaking on having fun

A Temporary Age

Psalm 1, German Psalter, Ambrosius Lobwasser, 1722

When I cannot close my eyes, and the night goes on

Troubles taunt on every side, and my doubt is strong

Shelter me, shelter me

Let the thought of your compassion be my strength

Prince of Peace, shelter me

from the tempest of my unbelief

Mighty God who calmed the sea, come and shelter me.

Bruce Carroll, Shelter Me

Children of the 21st Century are born into a digital landscape. There's is a world of ridges and valleys built upon ones and zeroes. I entered the stage, as Calvin Seerveld puts it, in the middle of the 20th Century- 1956. In 1956 gasoline averaged 25 cents per gallon, a first-class postage stamp was 3 cents, and unemployment was at 4.4%. Woody Guthrie released This Land Is Your Land. Jackson Pollock died. The minimum wage was $1.00 and the average annual salary was $5,300. Something else happened in 1956, something that would change the way we see. Ampex introduced the Quad- a practical, professional videotape machine. In November, 1956, CBS became the first American television network to replace film with videotape.

In my senior year of high school I became fascinated with photography (the word photography comes from two Greek words and literally means writing with light). After reading everything I could find, I built a darkroom in my parents basement, under the stairwell. There was no sink so I had to carry tanks and trays upstairs to a bathroom or outside and use a garden hose. My favorite film was Tri-X, ASA 400, but, if you increased time and temperature in development you could 'push' it to 1600. Favorite developer-D-76. So, what's the point? Shooting pictures on film, for me, was a big deal. For each frame, I had ONE chance. My camera did not have a delete button. When the shutter was released I was committed. So, I framed my shots carefully, composing as I shot. I knew that capturing the image was only the beginning of a lengthy, expensive process. Watching that image appear in the developer was nothing short of a miracle, something 'children of the digital age' may not experience. This is a microwave, high-speed, temporary time in which we live. Did you know you can buy an ink jet printer, with ink cartridges, for less than the replacement ink cartridges cost? Why buy ink cartridges? Just buy a new printer. I suppose visits to Wal-Mart remind me why I love scripture, a reminder that some things are permanent.

I just read this- 'Then God said, "Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness". When I was nine years old I said "yes" to Him. It was a heart/soul/mind yes. So, I am still in the developer. And it is a lengthy, expensive process.

Age of Wonder

We live in an age of Wonder. With a small device known as the iPod, I can listen to a lecture by Calvin Seerveld or music by Michael Card, while walking around a lake.
But, as fascinating as that may seem, nothing beats a good conversation. This weekend I had a good conversation with my son. We camped, we fished (well, we cast rubber worms into the lake), we ate...alot. Two teenage guys can put some food away. I let the boys plan the menu:
Breakfast
Eggs, Toast, Bacon (thick), Doughnuts, Orange Juice, Coffee
Lunch
Hot Dogs, Chips, Trail Mix, Salsa, Mountain Dew
Dinner
Steak (Marinated 24 Hours), Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Salad, Crusty Bread
and, of course, snack stuff.

After many words, and some laughter, I realised that moments like we were enjoying don't happen often enough. I realised my youngest son is not a little boy any longer. I realised the generational gap between us doesn't have to come between us. And, as I listened to my son share his thoughts, I remembered being a teenager.
Relationships are fragile. I have seen a few broken, some of which are credited to my account. Regret is a terrible companion. As the days speed by I am trying to work on the relationships I have left. In order to do that, I need to learn how to be a better listener.