The Archives
The Bond Between Creature and Creator
by 16
2012
[This is adapted from part of the Hutchmoot 2012 session absurdly titled Your Story and Your Story: The Bond Between Creature and Creator.] I’m going to talk about this whole “Bond Between Creature and Creator” idea in just a bit, but first I want to lay some groundwork by telling you briefly about myself, and you’re going to have to trust me when I say that I’m going somewhere with it. Okay? Okay. I was born in 1971 and lived my early childhood amid the cornfields of Illinois. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the Midwest but the horizons there are just immense. You can see for miles and miles, and to a kid a mile or two can seem like the far reach of the universe. I remember trying to walk across the cornfield next to our house once. I was very young, maybe five or six at the time, and the cornfield had already been harvested and plowed under so that it was a vast tract of brown furrowed earth with bits of dead cornstalk jutting up, poking through the topsoil like dried bones. I set off on my great adventure to the other side determined to find out what the world looked like all the way over there, but I turned back halfway across because I was scared of the distance. The further I went, the smaller the house looked behind me, and the other side never seemed to come any closer at all. I was suddenly afraid that I might take one step too far, I might cross that giant horizon and lose sight of my house altogether, and then I wouldn’t know how to get home again. So I went back while I still could.
One Minute Review: Dark Shadows
by 15
2012
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have joined up again, this time for Dark Shadows. Fr. Thomas McKenzie has visited the shadows for you, and he has returned with this One Minute Review. You might want to watch it before deciding to spend the time and money on the movie. And in case your $14 have not joined the other billion that the movie has already made, check out the One Minute Review of The Avengers: www.oneminutereview.com/2012/05/avengers.html
Christian Storytelling, Part V: Faithful Improvisation
by 14
2012
Part I: The Right Stories Part II: The Story of God Part III: The Story of the Scriptures Part IV: The Biblical Drama There's a lot of N. T. Wright talk around here right now, so it seems an appropriate time to continue the series on Christian Storytelling. In the past couple of installments we began looking at Wright's view of the Bible as an "unfinished drama." We continue now with an understanding of ourselves as actors in the fifth act. The Christian story gives new meaning to the old Shakespearian line, "All the world’s a stage." The world is the stage upon which the drama of redemption takes place. And you and I are players. But we are not merely players. We are the faithful improvisors of the tragic and glorious fifth act of history, trying with all our might to remain faithful to the first four acts, as well as the few scenes of the fifth act, that preceded us.
Mother’s Day
by 13
2012
I remember what it was like to want a baby. I remember how it felt to walk through the grocery store watching others dispose so recklessly of everything I ached to be. I remember mothers (or so-called mothers) snapping off ugly words to curly-haired toddlers. I remember mothers (or so-called mothers) sighing in exasperation, ignoring bundles of angel on earth, telling them to hush. I remember seeing from a distance the wonder of ten little curved fingers, dimpled knuckles, wrapped sweetly around a shopping cart handle. I remember small voices saying, "Momma, Momma," and wondering what unforgivable thing I had done to become unworthy of that name. It has been sixteen years, but I will never forget Mother's Day empty-armed, trying to smile politely, running to the church bathroom, weeping the long, hard, labor of grief behind a locked door. Because of this, I define motherhood a little differently than most. I define motherhood as the womb of creativity and breasts of recreativity made full. Motherhood is an idea fluttering and kicking, compassion fluttering and kicking, music birthed, books nursed, social healing held upright on wobble knees until it walks, wounds of the heart and body dressed and bandaged. Motherhood is entrance into dark rooms where fright cries out from sleep, and motherhood is chasing away the monsters. Motherhood is the renaming of the rejected, it is the embrace of the lonely, it is a Saturday picnic packed for the hungry, it is the rocking of the forgotten in the lap of an old, sweet song. Motherhood is the soft, feminine hand of love on the cheek of the world's need. For children are born and tended in a million different sorts of ways. The earth cries out, and here you are to answer. You are maternity, and you are beautiful.
N. T. Wright sings The Beatles
by 11
2012
And finally, here's our video of N. T. Wright serenading us with his (and Francis Collins') version of The Beatles' "Yesterday." Enjoy, and have a great weekend. Watch the other videos here: Dylan's "When the Ship Comes In" and Sydney Carter's "Friday Morning."
Son of a Gun: A Musical
11
2012
Just a few posts below this one, you'll find Waterdeep (Don and Lori Chaffer) covering Paul Simon. And that's not all they've been up to. In the last couple of years, Don and Lori have been collaborating with Chris Cragin and Steve Day of the New York City theater company Firebone Theatre to develop a musical called Son of a Gun. They hope to premiere the first fully-stage production in New York City later this year and are trying to raise the money to do so on IndieGoGo. Here's the hilariously awesome synopsis: Son of a Gun is a quirky, darkly comic, folk/rock musical that tells the story of Danderhauler Agamemnon Khrusty, the eldest of three sons of Winston and Elmadora Khrusty, and the heir apparent to the throne of the Khrusty family Appalachian band. Danderhauler’s life is dominated by the charismatic personality of his father, a highly- functioning, highly-entertaining alcoholic. When Danderhauler meets the love of his life, Lucy Sunshine, they conspire to free him of the burden of his father’s addiction, but the surprising news of Winston’s tongue cancer thwarts their plans. In exchange for Winston agreeing to have his tongue surgically removed, Danderhauler steps up as the new band leader. As the events that follow spiral out of control, Danderhauler clings to his love for Lucy to keep him upright. When even that window of hope is shattered, Danderhauler realizes that to save his own life another sort of surgical removal is required. He must find a way to confront both his dead father and his own demons. He does both by means of an old fashioned cowboy duel. If you can help support the project, here's the link.
N. T. Wright: “Friday Morning”
10
2012
Bishop Wright sang three songs for us. You've already seen his performance of Bob Dylan's "When the Ship Comes In." Here's a look at the first song he played, "Friday Morning," by Sydney Carter (who also wrote the folk song "Lord of the Dance").
Waterdeep Covers Paul Simon! (I just fainted.)
by 09
2012
On this fine Tuesday, allow me to brighten your day with this beautiful cover by two of my favorite people (and neighbors, more-or-less) of one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite songwriters. That's FOUR favorites in one video. Seriously, Don and Lori Chaffer are delightful and crazy talented. If you've never dug into Waterdeep (or Paul Simon), here's a good reason to correct that. Check out Waterdeep's website here.
An Unforgettable Evening with N. T. Wright
08
2012
I want to say thanks to all the folks who came out and helped us welcome Bishop Wright to Nashville. As the Square Pegs sang their songs last night, I couldn't help but get a little misty-eyed. It was as if each of the songs was an offering, a gift given to a guest in welcome; a gift given to one who's given to many. I was proud of my friends, proud of my community, proud of my church. And after Bishop Wright gave us his address, I was inspired to awe when he responded to the gifts of the community with songs of his own. He sang three songs: "Friday Morning" by Sydney Carter; a rewrite of the Beatles "Yesterday" titled "Genesis" that he co-wrote with Francis Collins (leader of the Human Genome Project); and a rousing, passionate, show-stopping rendition of Bob Dylan's "When the Ship Comes In." The evening's joyful exchange of music and humor and knowledge was nothing less, in the end, than the Kingdom come, the Kingdom made plainly visible in the present. It was present in the brother next to me, in the sister laughing across the room, in the theologian imagining the universe into order, in the musician creating aural spaces for the Spirit to move, in the brownies and chips offered on the table, in all of it the the presence of a King and a Kingdom was apparent and palpable. It was a blessing, in the most real and literal sense. I'm grateful to have been a part of it, and I'll venture to guess that Bishop Wright is grateful for it as well. In fact, he told Thomas on the way back to the hotel that he had had "the most fun in a long time." And really, what could be better than that?
Your Calling and Your Critics
by S.D. Smith
07
2012
This is not a post about sports. Chad Pennington emerged as the last guy standing after injuries plagued Marshall University's football team at the quarterback position. Player after player went down and the unheralded freshman from Tennessee debuted. I was there at an early game, watching this guy throw passes that looked like they took ten years to get to the receivers. My verdict was in: this guy stinks, and he’ll never amount to anything in the football world. That was about 15 years ago. A few days ago, Chad Pennington retired from the NFL after an eleven year career in which he was twice named the NFL’s comeback player of the year. He still has the highest completion percentage in the history of the NFL, making him the most accurate professional quarterback of all time. And professional takes on a fuller meaning with Pennington. He is universally praised, loved, and acknowledged as an ideal pro athlete. He worked hard and overachieved his entire career. Besides his intelligence and athletic gifts, he is known for class, dignity, charity, and other virtues that make a lasting reputation. In college, he led Marshall to unheard of victories and became one of the most, if not the most, beloved quarterback the team has ever had. And that’s saying a lot at Marshall, which has had numerous great quarterbacks. Everyone in West Virginia feels like he belongs to our state, even though he is not originally from here. He is an adopted son and we are very proud of him. I admire him greatly, and despite my cheerless prognosis, I cheered him on for his entire career. His career features many highlights, one being that he was once a runner-up to Peyton Manning for the NFL’s MVP award. Playing through countless injuries, he left a mark on professional football that was all his own. What about my early prediction, my dismissive reaction to his debut?
Featured
The Shape of the Stories We Tell
[Note: This has been adapted from the Hutchmoot 2011 session of the same name. Click here for a portion of Travis Prinzi's contribution to that same session.]
What does the shape of a story look like? A lot of people might say it looks like a Bell curve: setup, rising conflict, and resolution. That’s the typical answer, and there’s nothing wrong with that, in fact, there’s a lot that’s exactly right about it, and there are a thousand and one books on the subject to prove it. But I don’t think that’s the whole picture. The reason for the question is that we want a way to predict whether a story is going to work. We want a pattern for our creation. We want rules to write by.
So what makes a story work? Every critic’s got a theory, me included—or you wouldn’t be reading this.
Because Two Albums are Better Than One
Hello, friends. I released my latest album, In This Hour, back in November, and I’m excited to announce a new limited-time offer (“limited-time” sounds fancier than “we don’t know when this is going to end but it won’t last forever”). Here’s the deal: If you buy a CD or download of In This Hour you’ll also get a free download of my last record, The Good Things. I am very proud of these projects, both produced by Cason Cooley, and would love to see them reach some new ears. If you can help out by spreading the word to your friends I would be incredibly grateful.
Thanks for your support, and thanks for helping me get the word out!
“That’s Not Who You Are”
from In This Hour by Jill Phillips
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