Paul's Blogging has Moved!

Hey, all!

After running into platform limitations with Blogger, I've decided to move my musings over to the more powerful Wordpress software. I've taken advantage of this transition to redesign and re-title my blog. I'm quite happy with the new layout. You can look forward to a more user-friendly format, a unique domain name, and a growing list of guest contributors.

You can now find my latest posts, and all previous content from Three of Wands on the new site - Sparks and Ashes.

Threeow will stay online, but no new content will be posted.

I'm looking forward to seeing you on the new site! Please let me know what you think. Make sure to follow my new blog via email if you'd like to stay current with fresh content. I'm excited for the possibilities for communication and connection on the brand new site.

All the best,

-Paul

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we take a national day to pause and consider our blessings, I think of an old quote of Chesterton's:

"You say grace before meals.  All right.  But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink."

Let's be grateful for more than a turkey, potatoes and historical myths. Let's embrace our blessings with prayer that becomes life, and a life that becomes prayer. 

In all things, give thanks.

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The Swapping Continues...

Many of Threeow's readers know about my lovely wife Emily's significant involvement in the national foodswapping movement. Along with great friend and insigator/conspirator Bethany R., she was instrumental in founding PDX swappers, one of the most influential and media covered swapping groups in the nation. Their story has been filmed by Cooking Up a Story, covered by HuffPo, mentioned by the NY Times, and has been significant in inspiring and equipping similar events and community organizing nationwide.

If you're coming late to the party, food-swapping is a currency free exchange of homecrafted food, beverages, goods and services. 

Spawn to Be Wild

I miss the Northwest.

One of my favorite memories of living in a small logging community in the Coast Range mountains was the annual fall salmon run. Hundreds of huge fish, exhausted from their long fight from the Pacific would thrash their way up the stream in my family's backyard. Some would mate, all would die.

I was in awe.

KATU shares this video of "salmonic" tenacity.

Brueggemann on Ezekiel, Occupy, and Good Shepherding

I just came across an excellent piece by Walter Brueggemann over at Huffington Post.

As part of HuffPo's On Scripture series, Brueggemann explicates Ezekiel 34 in connection with the recent Occupy movement. The passage is a scathing condemnation of oppression, especially that of leaders ("shepherds") who fleece their flocks. The clear reading of the passage opposes leaders who exploit their position for imbalanced gain of any kind. Ezekiel takes a dim view of the 1%.


Ezekiel takes the long view though, recognizing that the abundance of abusive and mutton-hungry shepherds points (ironically) to a servant-leader, a "good" shepherd, a priest-king that will pasture the nations well, for the flourishing and feeding of humanity.

Brueggemann recognizes the potent messianic hope that the early church hailed in Jesus' declaration that he is the "good shepherd." He finishes by drawing the principles that society can learn from such an example of sacrificial leadership:

"...the news of Ezekiel is that because of God's resolve, mediated for Christians through Jesus, the Son and regent of God, it need not be so. As Israel need not have poor self-serving kings, so a democratic society need not suffer poor outcomes from an exploitative oligarchy. The promissory nature of Ezekiel's oracles articulates what good leadership looks like -- in government, in corporations, all through the private sector. That rule consists in,

-Seeking the lost,
-Bring back the strayed,
-Binding up the injured,
-Strengthening the weak,
-Feeding the hungry.

"In a word, good leadership consists in the restoration of the common good so that all members of the community, strong and weak, rich and poor, may live together in a common shalom of shared resources. The text is a powerful reminder of what might be; it is at the same time a summons to a political will for leadership that is not occupied, through ideological cant, with feathering its own nest. It is not enough to recite, in pious tones, the 23rd Psalm about "The Lord is my shepherd." What is envisioned (and required) is the formation of a different leadership that has in purview all members of the community. Ezekiel knew that is the only way to have a future that does not replicate the failed past. It is still, among us, the only way!"

It is still the only way. May the lies of the many fleecing shepherds be silenced and swallowed by the peace, the security, the truth of the Good one.

Read the full piece at HuffPo. 


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Saved through Childbearing

(C) 2005, Sisters of the Mississippi Abbey

This beautiful image was threaded through our church's liturgy this past Sunday. It especially captured my wife's imagination as we're expecting our second child any day now.

If you're familiar with biblical imagery and symbol, you'll recognize the pair as Eve and Mary. Their simple,  interplay of nakedness and clothing, shame and forgiveness, defeat and victory centers on the profound mystery of Mary's bulging belly. The mother becomes the daughter becomes the mother.

The "foolishness" of the Christ-story is much more than the passion, cross and resurrection. Central and inevitable is the mystery of God taking upon himself the brokenness, the limitation, the beauty, fragility, and mess of humanity.

It is a great, strange comfort that the lord of all things entered my world through slime, in the birthblood of an animal.

Richard Foster on Psychotic Affluence

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“We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. It is psychotic because it has completely lost touch with reality. We crave things we neither need nor enjoy. 'We buy things we do not want to impress people we do not like.' ...It is time to awaken to the fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick.”

-"Celebration of Discipline"

Well said, Mr. Foster.

Happy Birthday, Columbia River Gorge!

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act. As the Oregonian's editorial today points out, the law has both preserved the remarkable, fragile beauty of this national treasure, while simultaneously boosting local economy.

And there is no better place that I can think of to protect. I have lived life more fully in this 85 miles than I have anywhere else.

Just a few personal highlights of my Gorge experiences:

-My proposal to Emily in a harsh storm on the edge of Angel's Rest 

-Weekly night hikes in college (numbering in the low 100s I'd guess) with my best friends

-Many well spent days and nights at a family cabin by Bridge of the Gods
-Kayaking and fishing on Wauna Lake
-Exploring Eagle Creek with my brothers
-A dear friend's wedding on a wind whipped bluff overlooking Hood River
-Salmon fishing
-Bear chases
-Covering my body with Poison Ivy while free climbing Angel's Rest
-Foraging and eating lots of delicious natural foods
-Hiking to try and induce labor for our first kid
-Getaways from that first kid at Skamania Lodge

Many of my best memories are of the rocks, waterfalls, forests, and trails of this land.
I am profoundly and inexpressibly grateful for the preservation of the most wonderful place I have ever seen.

Beautiful Time-lapse of Portland

Simply gorgeous views of PDX at night, thanks to lens artist Lance Page.

Via the Portland Mercury

A Good Quote from Mr. Nouwen

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I came across a good reminder from the venerable Henri Nouwen today: 

“Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure.”

May we find silence and listen well, embracing both distance and proximity.

Health and wholeness to you.

-Paul

Kindle Fire Ignites Security Concerns

With Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet shipping today, many consumers are talking about the tablet's hyped features and low price tag. While I'm sure that the Fire will bomb the market as a low cost iPad alternative, and e-reader on steroids, what's far more interesting to me are the many security and privacy concerns integral to the tablet's new Silk web browser.

In the words of Steve Vaughan-Nichols over at ZDNet "Silk looks to be very fast and about as private as a bathroom stall without a door."

Social Media Propaganda

Satire at its best-looking, enjoy this collection of social media propaganda from Aaron Wood.

Dystopian alternate history, or slick social commentary? You decide.

Now go do your duty, comrade! Like! Plus!

And remember, RE-TWEET IS NEVER AN OPTION.

via Design Milk

Our "Kill Team" and the Death of Humanity

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Let me begin a difficult Veteran's Day Post by thanking any individual veterans or families who may read this for undergoing difficulty in support of national defense. Though I dissent strongly with America's military philosophy and culture, I do not forget the individual men and women who frequently put themselves in harm's way.

I've been following the trial of Sgt. Calvin Gibbs and his "Kill Team" ever since the story broke some time ago.

Gibbs was convicted of the murder and mutilation of Afghan civilians during a tour of duty with the 5th Stryker Brigade - a platoon described as "out of control" by prosecutors. The evidence bears that description out, with widespread drug use, abuse of Afghan remains, and suppression of whistle-blowers.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Gibbs pleaded that in many cases, after he murdered a civilian and staged their corpse, he cut off their fingers as trophies. Why? In his own words he was "disassociated." "It was like keeping the antlers off a deer you'd shoot."

War creates killers, there's no arguing that. I'm sure that we all can relate stories from family members or friends who have seen combat. But sometimes the violence exceeds even the standards of battlefield ethics. I've heard descriptions many times of sociopathy in war, whether in the Ardennes, Mai Lai, or Baghdad. The pressures of combat encourages the abandonment of social norms and ethics. Even good men do terrible things.

A Rant about Hands and iPads

I recently caved and sort-of joined Twitter. (I'm sorry, self-respect).

It was almost worth selling my soul, though, to find a tweet from landscape architect/good friend @bethanyrydmark. She shared an excellent essay with her followers by Bret Victor, titled "A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design." (Link to full piece below).

Victor puts into words a sentiment that I've felt for a long time, but lacked language to express. Contemporary visions of the future (he highlights a particular ad campaign) portray the future of interactive design as a world where humans manipulate images under glass.

The problem? "...This vision, from an interaction perspective, is not visionary. It's a timid increment from the status quo, and the status quo, from an interaction perspective, is actually rather terrible."

How to Move Your Money Local

 A great how-to article over at Mother Jones is the perfect follow up to my earlier post about why my family banks local.

Read the piece for a helpful FAQ if you're curious about shifting your funds to a Credit Union or other local banking option.

You won't be alone. As Josh Harkinson comments:

"Credit unions across the country have added upwards of 650,000 new customers since September 29 (the day Bank of America unveiled its now-defunct $5 monthly fee for debit cards), according to a survey of 5,000 credit unions by the Credit Union National Association. The group also estimates that credit unions have added $4.5 billion in new savings since then, likely from these new members and transfers from other banks."

Read the full article here.

A Good Quote from Helmut T.

 

This quote struck me deeply when I came across it today.

"Truth seduces us very easily into a joy of possession: I have comprehended this and that, learned it, understood it. Knowledge is power. I am therefore more than the other man who does not know this and that. I have greater possibilities and also greater temptations. 

Anyone who deals with truth—as we theologians certainly do—succumbs all too easily to the psychology of the possessor. 

But love is the opposite of the will to possess. It is self-giving." 

-Helmut Thieckle, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians

photo credit 

Zoobombing the BBC

Bike Pile!

The BBC recently highlighted Portland in their "Close Up" series. What got their attention? The robust and wild local tradition of ZOOBOMBING. Participants careen down the West Hills, at night, on souped up children's bikes that they store in the bike pile seen above, outside Rocco's pizza on 10th Ave.

What about this seems like a good idea? EVERYTHING.

Full video after the jump on the BBC's website.

Photo Credit

Pollution, Consumption, Oregon.

An interesting study was recently published by Oregon's DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality).

The inventory demonstrates that higher levels of harmful emissions and pollutants are produced by the buying habits of Oregonians than by our driving or other transit choices.

In the words of Jonathan Maus over at Bike Portland, this shows that what "we buy emits more greenhouse gases than what we do."

The implications of this study (the first of its kind) are wide ranging. Theoretically, the data shows that a shut-in who compulsively buys stuff on Amazon potentially has a worse effect on environmental quality than a daily car commuter. Practically speaking, it should put our buying habits in a sobering perspective.

This study provides helpful nuance to our current thinking on consumption, environmental stewardship, and lifestyle. It shows unequivocally that our production practices carry profound cumulative harm for both global health and local communities that produce the things we buy. It's a compelling reason to produce and purchase locally made, grown, and crafted goods.

The wrong response to this study is to say that "what I drive doesn't matter then." False. Those of us interested in stewarding our communities and land need to continue to advocate for wise production practices in addition to savvy transit choices. Fundamentally, this requires simplification of our consumer lifestyle, local involvement and careful attention to the difficult wheres and whats of buying.

Buy to live where you work. Work to buy where you live. You may be surprised at the impact that your household's choices can have on creating a vibrant local economy and a healthy region. It's worth the investment.

Oregon's study is helpful in framing the discussion. It is also sobering in its implications. In the end, will you and I choose to change the way we view possessions, transportation, and consumption?
I hope that we will.

(Via Bike Portland)

Photo Credit

END OF ROCKTOBER!!! Z is for Zappa

Frank Zappa, rabidly original guitar blasphemer, brings the august month of ROCKTOBER to a close.

Zappa's musical perfectionism and compositional talents served a brain that was iconoclastic, crude, wildly inventive, and completely unique.

His legacy extends beyond music as an outspoken advocate of free speech, taking a firm personal stand against censorship - including offering senate testimony against the PMRC in 1985.

Low Tech Education in Silicon Valley

 

A recent piece in the New York Times highlights a Waldorf School in Los Altos, CA. Like other educational institutions and philosophies that share values with the Waldorf system, the vast majority of learning methods and resources are low tech, and low profile. Hands on learning is facilitated by a wide variety of methods. Ideas are captured on paper with old fashioned pens by students, on blackboards by teachers. There is a marked absence of computers.

So should it surprise us that top executives and other employees from eBay, HP, Google, Apple, and Yahoo send their kids here? In fact, 3/4 of parents work in the tech industry.  It feels like it should.

Mike Richtel from the Times comments:

"Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix."

Rocktober Alphabet: Y is for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Indie rock power trio the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a rockable, danceable mix of rough cut lyrics, great guitar work, and enough attitude to shake up every indie shoegazer who ever tried to pull a Ben Gibbard into an open-mike night PA.

Rocktober Alphabet: X is for the X-Ray Spex

The X Ray Spex, classic and influential late 70's punk rockers, came to light again this year. After the death of talented lead singer Poly Styrene in April, people have been rediscovering the group's music, especially their best (really only) album, Germ Free Adolescents.

Harsh, grating, charismatic, inventive, the group's dynamic presence shaped punk in its formative days. And they still sound really, really good. 

(photo credit)

Top 3 Most Invasive "Patriot Act" Provisions

10 years after the passing of the Patriot Act, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has put together a "Greatest Hits" collection of the Act's most invasive and dangerous elements.

In case you've been living in a bunker since 2001, the Patriot Act is a collection of

"...decidedly unpatriotic principles barred by the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution. Provisions of the PATRIOT Act have been used to target innocent Americans and are widely used in investigations that have nothing to do with national security."

Take the time to read the full article at EFF.

Via BoingBoing

Rocktober Alphabet: W is for The White Stripes

The most dynamic, haunting rock of my generation, Jack and Meg White brought roots-blues, American myth, biblical imagery, and garage punk noise noise noise to their fans.

Cultivating a southern gothic personal mystique, the pair made more genuine rock with just drums and a guitar than most full bands could dream of. Though they've broken up (as of February, '11), It's going to take people a very long time to forget about their music.

Shane Claiborne on Jesus and OWS

Out of Ur published author and activist Shane Claiborne's thoughts on the "Jesus-ness" of the OWS movement. Claiborne's is a refreshing perspective, that grounds the important action of OWS protesters and advocates in a larger - and compelling - theological context.

Shane writes

"One of the constant threads of Scripture is “Give us this day our daily bread.” Nothing more, nothing less. Underneath this admonition is the assumption that the more we store up for tomorrow the less people will have for today. And in a world where 1% of the world owns half the world’s stuff, we are beginning to realize that there is enough for everyone’s need, but there is not enough for everyone’s greed. Lots of folks are beginning to say, “Maybe God has a different dream for the world than the Wall Street dream.” 

Maybe God’s dream is for us to live simply so that others may simply live. Maybe God’s dream is for the bankers to empty their banks and barns so folks have enough food for today."

Maybe, Shane. Well said.

Read the full article at Out of Ur.com

(Photo credit)

Rocktober Alphabet: V is for Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder, frontman of Pearl Jam, is the quintessential alt-rock frontman. Angry, intense, loud, with a narrative, confessional style, Vedder helped propel alt-grunge into the mainstream of 90's music.

Outspoken, brash, human, difficult, Vedder is talented, opinionated, and raw.

Mobile Chapel of Love (Video)

My friend (ex-coworker and member of infamous rogue yarn group The Crotcheteers) Mary S. is highlighted in this video by OregonLive.

Mary runs the Mobile Chapel of Love, a Portland icon of... well, love. The bike powered chapel performs both legally recognized and above-the-law weddings, to anyone or anything you'd like.
Or rather, that you'd love... be that a bike, a Voodoo Donut, or the City of Portland.

Our marriage culture is more polarized than ever in America. As we (at the best of times) humbly discuss, and (worst of times) rant vitriolically about what marriage is and what makes it holy, let's take a minute to enjoy this. Whatever your views, it's a unique visual representation of something every husband or wife knows: much of your marriage is made of what you bring to it. 

Rocktober Alphabet: U is for U2

I will follow...

The boys from Dublin have rocked better, for far longer than any other band in history. But it's not their longevity or prolific, quality output that earn them a spot in Paul's Rocktober Alphabet.

They stand out for the depth of their lyrics, the pounding, huge sound, the breadth and height of what rock music can be. Dynamic, intimate, poetic, angry. U2 rocks with more than  rebellion, more than raw sexual energy. Rather, they speak the truth about humanity's beauty and brokenness, with honesty, dignity, and hope.

The Vatican on Fiscal Theology and Financial Reform

A City on A Hill

Global Money and Human Flourishing

Released today, the Vatican's document on Global Financial Reform is an interesting and inadequate proposal for worldwide financial overhaul.

Phillip Pullella of the National Post summed up some key talking points of the paper:

“The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said.

It condemned what it called “the idolatry of the market” as well as a “neo-liberal thinking” that it said looked exclusively at technical solutions to economic problems.

“In fact, the crisis has revealed behaviors like selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale,” it said, adding that world economics needed an “ethic of solidarity” among rich and poor nations.

In addition to this, the paper articulates a strong ethic of Christian involvement for the common good:

Coffee Break Commentary: Why I Bank Local

Safer than a sock under the mattress!

An ancillary benefit of the Wall Street occupation has been to bring attention to the benefits of keeping your money local.

Though attention was given to the "move your money" concept during the 2008- 2009 meltdown process by the HuffPo and others, we're hearing it again as protests and general grumpiness about our fat and shattered system continue.Now may be the time for a personal exodus  from Wall Street finance to community banking.

My family switched to a local credit union several years ago.  

We've experienced several benefits after moving our money from one of the Big Six banks to a local credit union:

Rocktober Alphabet: T is For Townshend

Who?

Pete Townshend. Though blessed and cursed to live in the age of the Great Guitar Gods (Page, Hendrix, Clapton, Beck), Pete Townshend never felt himself the searing lead guitarist that a late sixties rock band demanded. His technique and "upward" lead abilities simply could not compete.

So he created his own kind of music.

Rocktober Alphabet: S is for Patti Smith.

Gritty godmother of punk, people still don't know what to do with Patti Smith. She's rough, artistic, sacred and profane.

Her sheer poetic force, lyrical originality, and dark charisma hypnotize me.

You need to be in the right mood for her albums, I'll admit it.
But there will never be anyone like Patti Smith.

Start with Horses.

OWS as "Post-political" Movement

Party on?

Occupy Wall Street's recently released survey data/overview of their supporters observes that over 70% of respondents self identified as politically independent.

Whatever your view of the movement - supportive, opposing, or apathetically cynical- the data reflects the fact that whatever the long range impact of the OWS movement will be, it is safe to claim that it is a major milestone in the breakdown of American two-party politics.

Rocktober Alphabet: R is for Radiohead

Superlatives fail. Dystopic rock virtuosos, Thom Yorke and his mates create incorrigibly brilliant music.

Masters of composition and form, Radiohead's combination of beauty and postmodern disillusionment has sung the language of our generation more elegantly than anyone else.

Melodic, brooding, atmospheric, haunting, and endlessly listenable.

Gaddafi Dead, Sirte falls to Libyan Rebels

From Al- Jazeera English, the end of the beginning of the Libyan Revolution. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Libyan people, during a time of  violence, victory, and vulnerability.

May this crossroads lead them down a road to peace, justice and a free Libya. The fall of a regime does not guarantee that. The real work begins now.

PLEASE NOTE: GRAPHIC IMAGES

Rocktober Alphabet: Q is for Queen

Off with your head.

I don't even know where to start.  The monumental creativity and musical experimentation of Queen is difficult to capture in an Encyclopedia article, let alone a blogpost snapshot.

The tongue in cheek prog-rock, formidable technical abilities, and rabid imaginations of Freddie Mercury and Brian May drove Queen to a place in music beyond popular commercial success, and beyond the mainstream music avant-garde. The albums are cohesive, emotional, fistpumping masterpieces with flair, humor, and a flamboyant punch.

Lunch Link: "Occupy My Life"

As the Occupy movement begins to come into its own, the myriad human stories of Occupiers are fascinating, heartbreaking, and occasionally very sweet.

A favorite moment from the movement so far.

Occupy!

(via Boing Boing)

Rocktober Alphabet: P is for The Pixies

Alt rock at its apogee, I can never get enough of the ubiquitous Pixies. Pioneering the soft/loud dynamics later heard in Nirvana's grunge, and much of indie rock, they are quirky, endearing, harsh, ferocious.

Much more popular in the UK and Europe than in the states, my first exposure to their music came from a returning traveler  from a European tour.

Black Francis' lyrics are an often bizarre stream of consciousness extravaganza, encompassing sea life, mind numbing parties, and biblical violence.

Lunch Link: Faeth Fiada

The strange, beautiful Lorica of St. Patrick has been on my mind today. May your day be sewn, stitched, hemmed, woven with Jesus Christ, the firstborn of many, many brothers and sisters:

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through the belief in the threeness,

Through confession of the oneness

Of the Creator of Creation.

Rocktober Alphabet: O is for Of Montreal

Lamp those skeletons, Kevin.

 Dissonant art rockers, pan-sexual flowering of loud, Of Montreal is simultaneously danceable,  frightening, comforting.

Really just a platform for frontman Kevin Barnes and his alter ego Georgie Fruit, the band's evolution from the odd scales and tempos of their early psychedelic nursery rhymes to the shimmering afro-euro-beat of their recent albums (Hissing Fauna, are you the Destroyer?; Skeletal Lamping; False Priest) is an odd journey in itself.

Who's the Monkey Now? Cynicism, Love, and Human Origins

Don't be an Organ Donor.

Ever since the Scopes Trial, the American conversation about where people came from has been a bit heated. This conflict has only intensified as recent genomic discoveries - made by an evangelical Christian committed to the view of the evolutionary process as God's tool for shaping the comos- have seemingly overthrown the possibility for the human race to have descended from a population of two individuals as the traditional reading of the biblical account would suggest.

NPR's recent piece Christians Divided Over Science Of Human Origins highlights this tension well, and breaks my heart in the process. Please take the time to listen to it.


Perhaps the most troubling thing about this piece is not the debate itself - though the issues at stake on both sides matter deeply. Perhaps the real catch is that two well educated men who claim to love Jesus need to be refereed by a radio host because they are so eager to jump at one another's throat on national airwaves. 

Where is civility? 
Where is balance? 
Where is humility and a Christlike commitment to both speech and to silence? 

Rocktober Alphabet Continues: N is for Nick Cave

Nick cave is all that is good about rock. Pure originality, smart, punkish, ribald. Holy, screaming, a pure poet and vicious musician.

Rocktober Alphabet: M is for Metallica

My heavy metal knowledge is limited. But fortunately, Metallica doesn't fall into that gap.

What is this, and why is it staring at me?

No comment. Only a deep, frightened feeling.

Indy Central Canal

I'll be honest. I did not expect Indianapolis to be awesome. But it sort of is. It seems livable, walkable, and on the same kind of midsize city upswing that Portland is experiencing.

Here are a few pics of the lovely Central Canal, that runs into the city's downtown from the White River. A recent mural project is brightening up the many bridges that span the water.

It's exciting to see the recent revitalization of these public spaces. One thing I appreciated was the orientation of many buildings (including museums and businesses) so that their front was to the car-free Canal Area, and their backs to parking areas and street access. That choice highlighted the pedestrian or cyclist as the expected and courted patron, rather than rewarding drivers with the building's primary presentation.

Nicole Baker Fulgham at CCDA

Nicole Baker Fulgham is speaking at CCDA today on the intersection between her Christian faith and vital involvement in the US public education system.

Former vice president of Teach for America and an experienced policy analyst, she has recent started an organization to mobilize faith communities for positive, service oriented engagement with schools in their neighborhoods.

She sees kids as profoundly disenfranchised in our broken education system, and models the role of a savvy, committed educator who does what she does because of her vibrant connection to Jesus.

Her stories of systemic transformation in places like Compton and Detroit are more than inspirational. They reflect unarguable, measurable change that has exponentially increased the number of college bound African American men and other populations that have been underserved and underheard.

Reversing entrenched and destructive trends in the school system is starkly difficult, but it can be done. It takes involvement, strategy, and grit.

How profound for her to example these things humbly, in the public classroom and eye, as a woman committed to the redemption of the kingdom, extending to shed common grace on the lives and desks of any child, regardless of race, background, or the prevailing "wisdom" of a broken system and a bent culture.

Whispers of Innovation

This year's CCDA Conference focuses on the theme of innovation, especially as it connects to creative solutions to the broken American educational system.
Last night we heard from pastor Thurman Williams of Baltimore, MD as our plenary speaker.

Williams expressed theological and biblical foundations for innovation and creativity in ministry, connected with the concept of God as a profoundly innovative doer of new things.

Wind, Fire, Whisper

Williams grounded his call for innovation in 1 Kings 19, where the discouraged prophet Elijah encounters a difficult question from God while on the run from the powers that be.

The text is an interesting one. God asks the fleeing prophet: What are you doing here, Elijah?

Paraphrased, his answer is "Running for my freaking life because I'm the only one in the whole wide world who gives camel spit about you and your justice."

God's response is to tell him to go outside the cave he's squatting in, onto the side of the mountain. You know what happens next:

Occupy Indianapolis

I walked a bit around Indy yesterday with the men, women, and kids of Occupy Indianapolis. They marched from the state Capitol building to the Columbia Club where Gov. Rick Perry was speaking.

"We have a question for Gov. Perry" they shouted at the side of the building.

"Why is he speaking at the most expensive club in Indy when he could have spoken at a free public venue?"

Though Perry didn't answer (or likely hear) the question, it's a good one.

Paul writing from CCDA, Indianapolis

I'm honored to be attending the Christian Community Development Association conference in Indianapolis, Indiana today through Saturday.

The schedule of speakers and workshops is out, and it looks like an incredible list.

I'm looking forward to connecting with friends old and new, as we ponder together the communal and social implications of the Kingdom of Heaven and grounded holistic ministry in varied contexts. I expect conversations relating to reconciliation, social justice, advocacy and policy, and robust theologies of community, vocation, and cultural engagement.

I'm sure that I'll be posting thoughts and updates as the week progresses, so stay tuned.

Will you be attending the conference? Please comment so that we can connect.

(photo credit)

Rocktober Alphabet: L is for Led Zeppelin

There will never, ever be another band like Led Zeppelin.
Their starkly original blend of gritty blues, shimmering acoustic instrumentals, and caustic rock redefined what was possible for a four man band to accomplish...

Rocktober Alphabet: K is for The Kinks

The Kinks were one of the most influential and under played bands of the British Invasion.

Literate, talented, funny, raucous, they helped shape punk, new wave, and mod, and even molded contemporary superstars like The Who and The Doors.

Their popularity has never really taken off, and most people know them only for one of the handful of singles that scored moderate commercial success. We should remember them for more.

Rocktober Alphabet: J is for Jimi Hendrix

Sitting today in the Seattle airport, it's only fitting that Rocktober's J post should honor the Emerald City's favorite musical son.

James Marshall Hendrix.

An electric gypsy still ahead of his time, Jimi redefined what was possible for rock music.

His virtuosity with the guitar made it more than an instrument. He made it a lover, an enemy, a weapon, a true second voice.

Not all his music will be remembered. In fact, about half of his catalog feels dated already to me. But Jimi at his best made music that is timeless, moving, and profoundly expressive.

Though he has wandered on, his early death a bitter and foolish waste of a special creative life, Jimi still has the power to awe, soothe, and move us.

Rocktober Alphabet: I is for Iggy Pop

A Real Wild Child.

Iggy Pop, outrageous singer of songs, bare-chested howler and roarer.
The hop, the swagger, the wild sweaty scream ushered in proto-punk while many bands of the late 60's and early 70's were still shedding their flower people bandannas.

Iggy has never received the acclaim he deserved.
Rabidly original, widely influential, nonetheless the public has never known quite what to do with him. He smiles too much, shies a bit like he's scared of his crowd - then proceeds to sear our ears with biting, punishing words. He's too tough to pigeonhole, and that makes people nervous.

He deserves more. Give him a listen. Start with Fun House, on a day when you can turn it up in an empty house and stomp a little bit.
Iggy may surprise you, but he won't let you down.

(Photo Credit)

Holy Vandals and Heavenly Subversion

 

“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”

—Steve Jobs

This weekend, I've been on retreat in Yelm, WA with the Murdock Trust - the organization that provides the funding for my current Editorial Residency at Leadership Journal.

For those of you unfamiliar with the trust, it's a foundation dedicated to spending the money of M. J. Murdock (inventor of the oscilloscope), for the common good of the citizens of the Pacific NW. Their pockets are deep, their generosity is legendary, and you would be surprised at the many many wonderful things they support in our region.
I can almost guarantee that if you're a citizen of Cascadia, then you owe these guys a thank you note for something.

The retreat has been a very positive experience. Aside from some kayaking and pesto covered prawn skewers, I've enjoyed interacting with Steve Garber of the Washington Institute.

Garber is a key contemporary thinker on the intersection between faith and vocation, and the radical application of "common grace for the common good." He's very interested in helping people make deep dents in the universe, and he has a powerful reason for doing so ... a reason that I wholeheartedly share.

Rocktober Alphabet: H is for Buddy Holly

Every day, it's getting stronger.

Buddy Holly's brief career shaped rock n' roll more than any other early rocker.

It's impossible to overstate his impact.
His attitude, his electric style, his cool aloof, the swing of his leg and the punk cock of his head at the camera - all are his legacy beyond the twang and sparkle of his pop singles.

In the video below, I see Roger Daltrey, Joey Ramone, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant.
I see Slash, Bono, Patti Smith, and Trent Reznor.
Every rock star since Buddy picked up his signature Fender Stratocaster has been (conciously or not) channeling him.

I don't care who you are or what you listen to. You've heard Buddy Holly, you've seen Buddy Holly everywhere.
He usually sings with other people's voices, punches with other people's feet, winks with other people's eyes, but it's him.

Next time you meet him, make sure to say thanks.

(Photo Credit)

Rocktober Alphabet: G is for The Grateful Dead

 

Meet the kings of dirt-under-your-fingernails psychedelic Americana. 

Seminal jam band pioneers, the Grateful Dead cultivated a devoted following that redefined the notion of fan-dom. 

Entire mobile communties of “Deadheads” toured cross country with the band - sometimes for months or years - comprising an economy whose chief exports were tie dye and veggie burritos, and whose chief import was cannabis.

Thousands of concerts recordings by Deadheads comprise a seemingly infinite catalog of bootleg recordings that are distributed legally to this day.

Deadheads were drawn to the rootsy, gritty sound, the laid back message of peace and love, and the outstanding talent of Jerry Garcia. They founded a community that Joseph Cambell reportedly named "the newest tribe".
The music was great, but following the band meant being part of something bigger than the songs. Really it was about belonging. For the most faithful, the music (while great) was a folk-electric excuse to be part of a family.

The Dead are still celebrated by fans, and the remaining members have continued to play shows after the death of Garcia in 1995. They still swap those bootleg recordings for free, though the day of the Deadhead is over and gone.

But I have to admit, whenever I hear the first couple chords of American Beauty, I can understand the pull, the draw to dance with friends to the guitar and the mandolin, to sing with the turtles down by the river, to run from the devil down the whiskey colored train tracks back home.

Here's Brokedown Palace.
Enjoy.

(Photo Credit)

Rocktober Alphabet: F is for Fripp

Fripp with King Crimson, 1973

Robert Fripp.

One of the truly great guitar innovators, Fripp's meticulous, obsessive attention to the musical craft of rock, combined with his groundbreaking uses of technology, carved a lasting niche in the music world. He could easily be called the "thinking man's guitar hero."

Extremely talented, both in performance and production, his virtuosity with the guitar and creative use of analog looping in a real time technique he dubbed "Frippertronics" influenced a generation of players and producers, notably Brian Eno.

For his fiercest rock foray, listen to King Crimson's sonically vicious In the Court of the Crimson King.

A taste of Fripp/King Crimson live in the late 60's (pardon the poor quality):

And, for the purists, a demonstration of Frippertronics:

Remember when he was developing these reel to reel performance techniques, lest you be jaded by the ubiquitous looping, sampling, and digital correction of today's music.

In an interview, Fripp says this about art and the creative process:

"For me, art is the capacity to experience one's innocence. Craft is how you get to that point. Maturity in a musician would be the point at which one is innocent at will. At that point, the relationship between music and the musician is direct and reliable."

Fripp's body of work reflects this philosophy and maturity, in a rare and challenging way.

(Photo Credit)