loose ends...

Samuel and me,

playing our Stringer guitars

handcrafted by Hulon Stringer

... here, at the end of days, there are loose ends... random journal thoughts, homeless expressions of a wandering mind... may they find a home in you...

     Unanswered Questions:


Is my faith an event or a lifestyle?



From which perspective do I relate to best- 
     from below the horizon or from above? 



Am I pushing walls outward or pulling walls inward?



Is there an aspect of honor contained within generosity?



What are my students actually learning?



What does 'making a living' mean?



Am I on par with a broken clock- true twice a day?



If I were a font, would I be serif or sans-serif?



How can a person be heard if they haven't found their voice?



Is shame a consequence or an attachment?



Understand God? I don't understand me!




     Bits and Pieces:

My needs give other believers the opportunity to be the Body of Christ. Why am I uncomfortable with that?



In the natural realm, sight precedes sound.



Before a word can be spoken, it must first exist. Speaking lends breath to the thought.



Truth is easier to chew when you are smiling.



Sometimes I feel I am a piece that fell from a puzzle box. 




Mistakes leave scars.

Sam

Sam playing my Stringer

Sam's Strat signed by Leigh Nash

"Failure to hit the bulls-eye is never the fault of the target."

Gilbert Arland

Recently, one of my students suggested I mount a refrigerator door on the art room wall. "You can hang all the 'crappy' pictures on it with magnets" he said. In a world steeped in mediocrity there is, I suppose, a multitude of 'crappy' pictures. But, in an ongoing effort to promote young artists producing good work, pieces that hit the 'bulls-eye', it is with great pleasure I feature the work of my youngest son, Samuel Christian Carter.

Sam is a true warrior poet, defender of the oppressed (I have witnessed him step between small peers and large ones, ending fights with a glare). He loves music (currently being privately tutored on guitar by Luke Skaggs, son of music legend Ricky Skaggs, thank you Luke!!), writing poetry and painting. Fives times Sam's work has been named Watercolor of the Day in Teen Ink, an online magazine for teens. At Trinity, Sam's school, he is editor of InkVein, the school literary magazine. He is frequently asked by his youth leader to speak to the youth, sharing things that God is doing in his life. On several occasions he has worked on paintings in front of the church congregation and last week a lady purchased the painting produced that night. He is an amazing young man. I am blessed to call him son.

And he has only been on the planet sixteen years.

I look forward to seeing all that God has planned for him.

These are a few of the pieces produced to date.

On Being Centered

My guitar feels good in my hands because it was made, partially, by my hands. I watched every piece come together. Spruce, Walnut, Mahogany, Ebony, Maple. Based on Martin D28 plans, my guitar was customized and crafted by Master luthier Hulon Stringer of Bolivar, Tennessee. After spending several years as owner/operator of a men’s clothing factory, Mr. Stringer decided to spend his golden years making musical instruments. His violins and guitars are works of art. Watching him build my guitar redefined the expression ‘attention to excellence’. We began with the top, European Spruce I found online (it has a subtle bear claw). He sanded it close to the desired thickness and glued the book-matched pieces together. Then he sanded it to thickness, carefully measuring at several points with a micrometer. “Sounds pretty good” he said, as he tapped it with his finger. Finally it was time to drill the pilot for the sound hole. On closer inspection he realized he had drilled the pilot hole slightly off-center, almost imperceptibly (at least, to me). His reaction startled me. I thought he was going to throw it in the trash and begin anew. When I said, “It’s only off a fraction!” he stopped, looked at me, and said, “Off is off. The amount doesn’t matter.” I wonder if he knew the deep spiritual truth he had just offered. How many of us walk this life with ‘off-centered’ sound holes?