"Santa represents frivolous consumption," Wright said yesterday, standing at the foot of the cross beneath the outstretched red-suited figure. "That's all he is. He shot Jesus right out of the saddle. He's the focus of Christmas." Read more of the Times Colonist story ... Here.
December 07, 2006
November 30, 2006
the art of life...sustainable living
An audio/visual photo essay, the true story of one homeless artist and his attempt to live in his own way. Great photos, fascinating reflection on our culture’s fundamental inability to embrace certain kinds of difference.
Sad that in our inability to embrace difference...we snuff out a creative life, that is far more connected with its surroundings. We have alot to learn from the Brian's in this world. ( Thanks Len for the heads-up )
November 14, 2006
forecasts...weekend planning
Just hearing the long range forecast for the week and into the weekend, images of wet just keep flooding my mind...so doing outdoor activities might prove a challenge. But hey, not to worry there are some very cool in door things happening...here's a couple. And, if you know of more and them to the comments.
Number # 1 ...@ The Place, Cafe Suburbia ; Friday evening November 17th...
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Corey Doak Number # 2 ... Persistent Images ; Art Show featuring Bruce Thomas... Bruce is a dear friend, he pours his mind, heart and spirit into each piece...a reflection of his inner most space.
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November 10, 2006
What would you think if you got this Christmas card?
This from Ben Bell, every year Ben puts out some great Advent cards and Christmas cards that his church uses as invitations...the images are always thought provoking, and stir up great conversation. As Ben points out...
I Got an email today from Elaine Olsen AKA Cassies Grandma
I was searching for Christmas clip art and found your site with the pregnant Mary. I thought you might be interested in some of the response I got when I posted it on a message board. I really like it by the way. But I am afraid there is no church I know brave enough to use it.
She asked the question ‘What would you think if you got this Christmas card?’ and got an amazing number of responses. I have had quite a bit of feedback from all over the world in response to the card which I first posted in 2004 but I haven’t received such full on criticism before which is quite a laugh I think! words like blasphemy and disgusting haven't been used before in response to the image and apparently, according to Dana
A real Christian would be offended to receive such a card. A lot of people claim to be Christians who are not. No true Christian would approve of this.
I keep asking myself, why does this image seem to bother people, especially " christians ", this image is likely much closer to the reality of Mary than the " Hallmark " images of christmas that distort our minds.
And this Advent reflection from Bill Millar over @ The Old Bill...we really do need to awaken from our slumber, of the nice, comfy and cosey christmas we've created....to the incarnation of God breaking into humanity.
Advent Reflection 2: Mary
She was thirteen or thereabouts,
pregnant,
still a child herself.
No vote, no rights, no husband,
no education,
in a small village in an occupied land.
So why would you,
the Great God of the Universe,
pick this peasant girl?
Why not some queen
dressed in blue and gold
like those statued madonnas?
I think we've had it wrong all along.
It's not that she was so saintly,
so pure,
so serene, so special,
but that she wasn't special at all.
Maybe she even had zits.
It was God picking someone mundane,
to show that we are all special,
God choosing what is simple
to confound the wise,
the banal
to shock the glitterati,
the castdown
to shame the exalted.
Mary understood,
Why has God chosen me, a handservant?
To pull the mighty down from their thrones,
and raise up the lowly,
to fill the hungry with good things
while the rich walk away empty-handed.
She could have been any downtrodden woman,
broken,
child of oppression.
In fact,
that is who she always is,
always has been,
and those peasant children of hers
have been messiahs,
but we were too busy
with our census, our mutual funds
our wars
to notice...Bill Millar
October 20, 2006
TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT...to Tell the Truth
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It is with great excitement that we can tell you registration for this year's "Telling the Truth" Conference is looking like we may nearly double last year's attendance - what with 24 artists involved directly with Friday night's "Show & Tell" gallery alone, things are looking to be picking up speed. Big, big thanks and hugs to Christine Neufeld for keeping everyone on track... |
October 10, 2006
the tension of a double reading...
As I continue to work on my piece for the " Telling the Truth: A forum on the Arts and the Worshipping Church " around the theme of redemption, I'm also reading Peter Rollin's, " How ( Not ) to speak of God." Brian McLaren says this about the book, " I'm a raving fan of this book...one of the most important contributions to date to the emergent church conversation. In fact, I would say this is one of the two or three most rewarding books on theology I have read in ten years."
From what I've read so far, I ditto Brian's words, I would go a step further...it is probably the most important contribution for "any" church passionate about engaging the post-modern culture in an honest and refreshing conversation around faith.
Peter talks about a need to read scripture in the tension of a double hermeneutic, that acknowledges our reading of the Bible ( as mediated through our particular tradition ) must be re-examined and wrestled with repeatedly as we encounter the situations that present themselves us. It is in the midst of this double reading between our interpretation of the texts and our interaction that the christian community operates.
It is this double reading that ensures that we are never absolved from the difficult job of making moral decisions. The double reading requires not only a commitment to listening to and serving the people we meet, but also a deep respect for the christian tradition. We engage with our religious tradition, for it acts as a compass that allows us to navigate the world. Yet we must combine this compass reading with a knowledge of the terrain inn which we find ourselves and a deep love in order in order to work out which way we must travel.
Our interpretations of the Bible must be seen as temporary shelters rather than eternal structures. We never finish reading the bible, but always find ourselves standing on its threshold, ready to read again. Thus we can never rest easy, believeing that we have discovered the foundations that act as a key for working out what we must do in different situations: for the only clear foundation laid down by Jesus was the law of love. This love demands that we use the scripture not as an ethical textbook but rather as a texts that extrapolates the Christlike way of being in the world.
Pete then shares this story, of what happens when a community does read in this tension of a double hermeneutic...
The commander of the occupation troops said to the mayor of the mountain village, ' We know you are hiding a traitor. Unless you give him up to us, we shall harass you and your people by every means in our power.'
The village was, indeed, hiding a man who seemed good and innocent and was loved by all. But what could the mayor do now that the welfare of the village was at stake? Days of discussion in the village council led to no conclusion. So the mayor finally took the matter up with the priest. Priest and mayor finally came up with a text that said, ' It is better that one man die to save a nation.'
So the mayor handed over the innocent man, whose screams echoed throughout the village as he was tortured and put to death.
Twenty years later a prophet came to that village, went right up to the mayor, and said, ' How could you have done this? That man was sent bt God to be the savior of thsi country. And you handed him over to be tortured and killed.'
' But where did we go wrong?' pleaded the mayor. ' the priest and I looked at the scriptures and did what they commanded.'
' That's where you went wrong,' said the prophet. ' You should have also looked into his eyes.'
October 06, 2006
taking a break....
...conference poster from the outrageously creative mind of James Kingsley
Yikes!!! there is only 17 days to go, and I have produced only a few rough sketches. So I'm taking a break for a bit, in order to put the sketches to the canvas and paint. For more information for Poasis's upcoming "Telling the Truth: A forum on Art and the Worshipping Church", and the theme this year " The Art of Redemption ", check it out here.
So in the pause here, check out some of the folks in the conversation in my side bar. Peace...Ron+
September 27, 2006
Pass it on...
Pssssst...
Pass the word about...Telling the Truth
We have lifted off...Telling the Truth website launched
 After a grinding day on blogger, we've ( James Kingsley and friends ) launched a new website dedicated solely to information regarding this year's installment of the Telling the Truth conference (Oct 20-21). All the five w's are answered there and registration forms are also available. So check it out, and pass the word around. |
September 19, 2006
reverse graffiti...redemptive cultural conversation
(thanks to James Kingsley for the heads-up on this subversive artist)
Paul Curtis aka Moose is no regular graffiti artist. In fact, he’s the reverse-graffiti artist. He created his street art by *cleaning* the dirt and grime off of surfaces!
Authorities are baffled: is selective cleaning a crime?
The tools are simple: A shoe brush, water and elbow grease, he says.
British authorities aren’t sure what to make of the artist who is creating graffiti by cleaning the grime of urban life. The Leeds City Council has been considering what to do with Moose. "I’m waiting for the kind of Monty Python court case where exhibit A is a pot of cleaning fluid and exhibit B is a pair of my old socks," he jokes.
I have know idea whether Moose has faith life, what really intrigued and captured my imagination was his engagement with urban culture, using pop culture, graffiti and icons. This is a great lesson for christians in engaging culture using...redemptive cultural conversation.
Lets just wander into the texts of scripture and meet Paul in Athens ( Acts 17:22-31 ). Paul has been checking out the sites of urban Athens...the buildings, walls, art, writing, poetry, garffiti, music...back alleys, pubs, coffee shops. Paul is trying to figure, understand the culture...and what is it saying. There is a tension going on in side the deep spaces of Paul. I call it, " a redemptive cultural conversation." In the tension Paul is going to flip or subvert their culture with the cross...he's going to redeem culture.
Pop culture is worth listening to, it is worth looking at. It is a conversation of the senses that is worth overhearing if we want to genuinely understand the idolatries and tensions with which our neighbours...and we ourselves struggle with. Tension...
(thanks to Bill Millar for use of the image)
Redemptive cultural( Pop cultural ) convervsation, how the images speak to us has everything to do with tension...a deep internal conversation of tension. Redemptive culture/Pop culture conversation seeks to redeem culture from a fallen world, to rehabilitate, to reconfigure, and to reorient culture to the glory and service of God...that is to cause culture to affirm God as the awesome and beautiful Lord of all creation. The redemptive cultural conversation seeks to amplify the message of God's revelation, and does so in tension.
The tension of the conversation is the ability to see the reality of the tension...the contrast between this world-age passing away and the world-age to come, established in the redemption and incarnation by the resurrection of Jesus.
I think it is safe to say most " churches " have a fear of culture, I'm guessing likely due to weak theologies of sin and grace. In that, We fail to see and understand culture as a meaningful phenomenon. We tend to dismiss, castigate, or uncritically swallow pop culture.
Whether we like it or not Pop Culture, icons, music, language, images...fill our world. To engage it, faith communities need a balanced, relevant, and penetrating critique of Pop Culture...we have work to do. Pop Culture is everywhere, it inhabits, it interupts, it intrudes as we walk through the corridor of our daily lives. It is the world of our kids, the world oof our non-christian friends and neighbours...and we, by God's grace, are called into it.
ron cole
trying to live faithfully...search, revealing, and building the Kingdom
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