Holy Crap…. It’s actually happening
We always knew it would happen… or rather we’d like to say that we always knew that. But it’s happening. We have a house, we have many interested students. We need a little more cash and a little more furniture, (If you can help in either way please let us know) but it’s moving forward. God is moving. Amazing things are happening.
The First Year
It’s hard to believe that I’m writing this. Not only am I married to a beautiful, talented, intelligent and godly woman, but I’ve been married to her for almost a year. On sunday it will be a year, and I still can’t believe it.
Bringing Back Fiction
Several years ago, a friend said something to me along the lines of “I don’t have time to read fiction anymore”. He was one of those Mars-Hillian theological nuts that can soak up Calvin, Spurgeon and Piper without the need for a heavy doses of caffeine. I have the utmost respect for people that can engage theology so directly. But there are a lot of such people at Mars Hill and the unintentional pressure to be the same kind of reader tends to alienate a lot of others in the church who have a hard time staying awake during long reading sessions of theology. I was never a huge book reader in the first place, but I did enjoy a good science fiction novel from time to time. After hearing this statement, I restricted myself to only reading non-fiction, which needless to say, cut my reading down to almost zero.
Life is short and then all of your fish die.
This is not a happy story.
A few weeks ago, I was able to get my hands on an old half gallon starter fish tank from my parents that they didn’t want anymore. We figured it would be fun to get a couple of fishies. So one fateful day, my wife Luz, our roommate and friend Ansley and I decided to get some food and some guppies in the international district.
A Disciplined Performance
Last week, I had a much needed day of exploration on my own in the beautiful city of Portland. I had many wonderful adventures including a trip to the famous Powell’s Bookstore, a tasting of some fantastic sour ales at Cascade Brewing Barrel House and a trip to the Portland Saturday market.
The most striking thing I came across in my adventures was this very talented street performer.
Fountain Pens and Wax Seals
Charles Morrison is one of the most interesting men I have ever met. He was my humanities and sciences teacher for my first year at Cornish in a class called Art & Ideas. He has led a long and eventful life has raised eight children and he’s still going strong. Now he teaches subjects ranging from Buddhism to criminal justice in colleges all over Seattle. Hearing his stories and musings on life for an entire year has been a wonderful experience.
Tragedy through the eyes of a crab fisherman.
I had an assignment in my “Arts and Ideas” class to write a story about “The Tragedy of the Modern World”. It took me a while to come up with an Idea for the story, but I have been watching a lot of Deadliest Catch lately, one of my all time favorite shows, and I figured I would write it about a crab fisherman. Luz liked it and said it was “intense”. I think it brings up some good points, so you can read it if you like. But I warn you, it’s not a happy story.
The world is full of self-reliance and self servitude. Far too often man believes that he is all he needs to succeed and be happy, and when things don’t go right, there is nowhere to fall. Man does not realize that ultimately, we are powerless.
What is Art?: Abrasive Images
When you see this image, what is your immediate reaction?
This photograph is the infamous Piss Christ a photograph taken by artist Andres Serrano. It depicts a small plastic crucifix immersed in a jar of urine. To many this is an extremely abrasive image. Naturally this piece of work made a great many people upset upon it’s debut in 1987. And I’m sure it will offend many more people for years to come.
On the Defensive
I was rather violent as a kid. Not physically, but spiritually. I was the obnoxious religious kid that made his own t-shirts with bible verses, and catchy phrases found from bumper stickers at the christian stores. Secular music, while not evil, was to be avoided at all costs. When others criticized me for my faith. I got hurt, and when I get hurt, I get mad, and I repeatedly lashed out at those who didn’t know God, and took their unbelief to be my failure. All this time I had no idea that I was no better than they were. Luckily for me, God is as equally gracious to the bold-faced religious types as He is to the absolute heathens. God spoke to me a lot, and did a lot of work to make me who I am today, and while today’s model is nowhere near perfect, it’s come a long way from where it was.
On the Offensive
Cornish is an offensive place at times. Many of the posters hanging around the campus promote and celebrate things that make me a little uneasy. To be honest I get a little upset at times seeing things portrayed in the propaganda and actions of the students. It’s easy to get stuck up, feel superior, write them all off as freaks. The funny thing is, many of the other students feel the same way about me. And the truth is that I am no better than the other students at the school.
