I’m not sure what an arts pastor is, but David Taylor is apparently one. I really like him, and not just for his great sideburns. This video will make it all clear. The subject is close to my heart — art — but the implications are wide ranging.
I know only one place and group of people doing what David describes in this video — a café-bar in the center of our city, run by friends of mine — local hero’s who get no fanfare or round of applause, and often misunderstood by many well intentioned believers. But, they are living ordinary lives of creative goodness for the sake of others, particularly the creative community.
I found this video encouraging, stimulating and provoking. Now, I must go now and do some drawing.
[apologies for the repeated spelling mistakes that appeared in this post]
Thanks to a recent post by David Ruis, I’ve been reminded about my series on mission and pain. In short I’m saying, at least I think I’m saying, (along with many other voices) that incarnational mission, is not a simple walking into a situation and solving all the problems, but rather entering the neighborhood and pitching you tent there, entering the reality of life in that time and place, including the pain. This is the testimony of Mother Theresa, Heidi Baker, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Paul of Tarsus and of course Jesus. As my brother likes to point out, Jesus often gets read as some sort of Clark Kent / Superman figure, but this is not the case, Jesus became fully human. As Philippians 2 puts it:
I want to continue the thought explored in the last post on ‘Mission and Pain’. There’s a few directions I’d like to explore, so I’m going to have to come back to some of these, including: some of Tom Wright’s stuff exploring this issues, on following in the way of Jesus, and on the role artist; also the aspects of Bruggeman’s talk on the prophetic imagination in regards to grief and hope.
However, now I want to think about lived examples. I love hearing real stories of real people, and I believe these stories free us to imagine how our lives could be. Recently I’ve become aware of a number of local friends who are ‘being’ in places of pain, I’ll use pseudonyms so not to not cause embarrassment. The following is a brief description of three of these.
I wrote to a friend today (concerning a particular piece of writing) saying:
‘all i want to do is “add to the stock of available reality” – i think personal stories and dreams are a perfect way of doing this. As we hear each others stories and dreams it releases us to dream also.’
“Adding to the stock of available reality” is a phase I picked up from the Image Journal — there Gregory Wolfe writes about how good art gives us fresh idioms, through new juxtapositions and new forms that spark our imaginations. I’ve been thinking how here the stories of others, their successes and failures work in a similar way. As a result I’m trying to encourage others to write and report on their stories, and dreams. Watch this space.
Listening to Steve Chalke talk on the Mars Hill podcast helped me today. I highly recommend a listen it. Look for: ‘Stop the Traffik’ by Steve Chalke over at Mars Hill – he tells his own story there on how and why he ended up doing what he’s doing. Let your imagination be ignited.
In continuation of the ‘local heroes’/'ordinary radicals’ series I thought I’d tell on the-family-round-the-corner.
I’ve heard people say “If your faith community left you neighbourhood or town would anyone notice or would they care?” The-family-round-the-corner are moving out of our neighbourhood soon, and many, many people are going to be sad to see them go, both people in our faith community and those with no connection to it. The-family-round-the-corner have lived round these parts for a few years now, and almost every week they’ve made their dust bin men cups of tea, not many people know this, they don’t do it for show, but they faithfully do it. They always look out for others, helping single mum’s and running mum-and-toddler groups out of their house. They practice hospitality, invite in people from aroud the neighbourhood, connect people, organise meal roatas for those going through difficult times and looking after other peoples children.
We’ve been on the receiving end of their kindness many times. Our lives are better for knowing them. The-family-round-the-corner will be missed when they move.
One of the early intentions of this site was to encourage and inspire through symbol and praxis. So getting that back on track, I’ll kick off a series of ‘Local Heroes’ (or should it be called ‘ordinary radicals’). I’m sure we all have stores to contribute. These are tales of ordninary local folk, the kind of people who don’t get a podium or a publishing deal, but are faithfully living grace filled lives among us. (You yourselves may appear in these strories — names will be kept descreet.)
Whist I’ve been writting all these posts, my wife has been busy loving those around her through ordinary acts of kindness and generousity. She has been looking after the daughter of a friend who’s husband is in hospital with cancer. Actualy, he did have cancer when I first drafted this. My wife was one of a handful of people who said they’ed pray. After a recent check up the new results show no sign of the cancer that was once there. (Amazing). This week, she organised an evening of food and games so that two friends (who were unknown to each other) could meet up and know that they are not the only ones working through the painful process of seperation. And, she has allowed our lives to intergrate more with those that live closest to us. My wife is a local hero.
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