Only Wonder Grasps Anything

warming up?

Is global warming happening? I heard an interview NPR did with Tim Flannery, an Australian palentologist who was a global warming skeptic until he studied the data himself, and he's now written a book, The Weather Makers. He said that human civilization has caused the average worldwide temperature to increase, and that the polar ice caps are significantly melting. Yet I've heard of scientists who disagree, and President Bush's administration hasn't signed the Kyoto treaty because they don't think the scientific evidence for global warming is convincing enough. It seems you can find scientists on both sides of this issue, but if its really happening then something needs to be done.

Where are the Christians in this discussion? Why is it that we in the evangelical church seem so slow to see ecological and environmental problems? We have much better, deeper motivation for caring for the earth - its the Lord's, not ours to trash, and we have confidence that humanity can creatively meet the ecological problems we face because we're made in the image of a creative Creator.

Which science is good science? What is true in the discussion? Where are the voices for responsible stewarding of the natural creation--voices for valuing and tending creation, for using it without abusing it?

Let's plan an Earth day event this April...

my xanga blog hijacked by chinese hackers

Yikes! I clicked on the link to my xanga blog (first in my blog-link list on the right) and its all chinese, and when I dumped it into google's 'we can translate this page from chinese to english but it will read like illiterate inglish' page, it translated as my blog, but in a messed up way.

Last night I thought there was a problem when panera's sonicwall filter blocked me from accessing my xanga blog.

Have any of you dual bloggers had trouble with your xanga blogs? I saw that the comment page on hackenstar's most recent blog entry is entirely chinese - weird...

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edit - my new color scheme is coming soon - I just made a break-thru but am late for choir practice

color scheme opinion

I want to make this site look better. So, should I go for something subtle, or a traffic signal red, yellow, & green look?

Hmm, I just had a different idea... I think I'll try it offline, and if I like it I'll post it for comments.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

If you find yourself lacking good Irish music:

Altan - perhaps the best Irish traditional band, from County Donegal. I heard a clip of their music on NPR today as bumper music between two stories. This band has been going strong for over 20 years.

Bothy Band - also quite good traditional music, and haunting vocals.

Capercallie - a bit more electronic, but still very tied with traditional songs and tunes. Another 20+ year band.

Deanta - good music out of Belfast

Patrick Street - this quartet (or trio depending which album you have) plays very skillfully, and they know how to write good tunes. Their "Music for a Found Harmonium" was used in the Napolean Dynamite soundtrack, right near the end of the movie.

U2 - what can I say? Not traditional folk, but one of the best bands ever.

place to rest satisfied

I found a copy of Indellible Grace's CD, Beams of Heaven at McKay's for 99 cents a few weeks ago, and this song would have been work paying fulll price for the album. Words: E. S. Hall, 1897, Music: Derek Webb, 2005

-----------

I do not ask to see the way
My feet will have to tread;
But only that my soul may feed
Upon the living Bread.
’Tis better far that I should walk
By faith close to His side;
I may not know the way I go,
But oh, I know my Guide.

Chorus:
His love can never fail,
His love can never fail,
My soul is satisfied to know
His love can never fail.

And if my feet would go astray,
They cannot, for I know
That Jesus guides my falt’ring steps,
As joyfully I go.
And tho’ I may not see His face,
My faith is strong and clear,
That in each hour of sore distress
My Savior will be near. (Chorus)

I will not fear, tho’ darkness come
Abroad o’er all the land,
If I may only feel the touch
Of His own loving hand.
And tho’ I tremble when I think
How weak I am, and frail,
My soul is satisfied to know
His love can never fail. (Chorus)

on the Ukrainian elections

I emailed my mom's cousin and her Ukrainian husband and asked them about the upcoming elections in Ukraine, and I've put their reply in the extended entry. The summary is that the current president (Yushenko) may loose power if his party can't for a coalition for a majority in the parliament.

Its good to get my eyes off of America and spend some time thinking about and praying for other nations, and trusting that the Son is ruling them and us with a rod of iron, for the good of his people (the church) and his glory. Psalm 2.

My mom's cousin Audra wrote,

You are right, there will soon be parliamentary elections,
and this is a big deal. This could mean that the president
will have very little power if his party doesn't join with
another and form a majority. Right now there are 3 big
parties, 3 smaller ones and dozens of others that won't come
into play. The 3 big ones consist of the party of the other
presidential candidate in the last election. Right now they
have the biggest percentage in the polls (Yanokovich). Then
the currest president's party is next (Yushenko) Then his
former prime minister (a woman named Tymoshenko) . Two of
these parties need to join together to form a majority
within a month of the elections. If one party doesn't
establish itself as a majority then the president dismisses
the whole parliament in a month and there will be new
elections. Which will likely be just another mess. If the
president's party doesn't establish the majority with
someone else then whoever does will pick the new prime
minister and he will have the most power in the country. So
there is the possibility that Yanokovich (who Yushenko beat
in presidential election) will become prime ministry and
this will be better than him having won for president.
This is probably a longer explanation than you needed but we
do need prayer.

feelin' the rhythm

Tonight after church while I was gathering up my guitar and songsheets, someone asked me if I'd read anything on whether certain rhythms or patterns in music have physiological affects on the human body. We didn't have much time to talk, and I responded more from my gut than from a considered response, but the gist of the question seemed to be something relating to musical style, choices in the appropriateness of different styles, and whether some styles are worse (i.e. evil) that others, and whether those bad styles could have negative affects on the body.

To separate the questions, one could look at different styles and ask any particular style could be evil. A second question would be to ask the appropriateness of a particular style for a particular usage. My response to his question was that (1) I believe there's an incredible diversity of musical styles and that we are often only comfortable with what's familar to us because of the powerful association we make between musical styles and the contexts in which we are first exposed to them, and (2) in making stylistic choices for what music we use in our worship services or singing with the kids classes Wednesday nights I try to follow Calvin's dictum that if we let love be our guide all will be safe. Calvin counseled the church not to rush rashly into changes but to consider the calling to love the people we're serving with our gifts.

In the extended entry I'll address those two points in a little more detail. I'd love to hear your comments, rants, criticisms, or two cents.

(1). Styles are simply ways of organizing music, ways of manipulating sound through melodies, harmonies, rhythm, timbre, silence, and other aspects the languages of music. Sound is part of creation, and human ability to make and manipulate sound reflects one area in which we are exercising dominion over the stuff of nature. Since all of nature--all creation--is made by God, and was made good, we must be careful not to condemn portions of creation (1 Timothy 4:4,5). Sure, its broken and marred by humanity's rebellion against God, but it can be redeemed and as God's stewards and caretakers of nature we can squeeze it and tweek it and find all the ways we can to use it to magnify the glory of God.

Because styles are a result of the diversity of creation and of the people God has made and their endless creativity, I don't think a style of music could be inherently evil, any more than a rock or a tree or a pile of dirt or an ocean could be evil. The goodness or depravity of a style comes from what people do with the style, and as such, any style could theoretically be used for good or bad.

There's also a sense in which different musical styles are languages, and in order to critique particular pieces you must be a native and speak the language--a non-native won't know what's good or bad, or whether proper grammar and syntax is being followed or not. For example, I know next to nothing about hip-hop, and would be at a loss to tell you if a particular hip-hop song were decent, incredible, or really poor music. I grew up listening to classical music, and a lot of celtic music, and have frames of reference to critique within those styles.

Viewing style as analogous to languages, part of the beauty of humanity's being made in the image or likeness of God is the beauty of all the different musical styles we've made over the centuries and throughout the cultures. Each one has a unique gift and way of mirroring the infinite glories of the creator God back to him. Wesley wrote of having a thousand tongues to sing God's praise, and when all the peoples of the world bring the best of their musics to the praise and worship of their Maker, it magnifies his worth in ways that only a few styles would fail to do. How incredible that all that richness reflects on the richness of our God!

(2) Considering the issue of style in worship, and how I make stylistic decisions for what music to use at my church, I'll try to be a bit more consise. (Just for background, in the past I've been involved in selecting hymns for the worship services, but haven't been doing that on a regular basis since September 2005. Our corporate worship service is fairly traditional for a early 20th century Southern American Presbyterian service: hymns with organ and/or piano, and a fairly simple service.)

Calvin's advice to let love be the guide is what I try to follow. Often I've found music or songs that are excellent, biblical, and really cool--one's I really enjoy--but they wouldn't being loving choices for using with my congregation. If I choose a musical style too different from what we're used to people may not be able to stay in the room. While its good to help a congregation grow in their understanding of the diversity of styles and the appropriateness of that diversity, it must be done out of love for the people God calls me to serve with my musical gifts. The question, "Can the people stay in the room with this music?" is very helpful for me in asking whether a particular song is a loving stylistic choice or not.

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules for what styles are ok or not ok. It seems like a wisdom issues, one that musicians will have to make on a song by song basis, receiving criticism and encouragement from the leaders and the congregation, and seeking to love them through their music.

One other issue is that our musical styles should connect with people, so as to not obscure the message of the gospel. Paul adapted the style of his preaching (the language he used, whether or not he quoted the Old Testament scriptures or the pagan poets) to the audience he was addressing (Scripturally knowledgeable folks in Acts 13, rural pagans in Acts 14, or cultured pagans in Acts 17). As musicians, we must know those we're called to serve and adapt our musical style to what they can hear with understanding, so that it doesn't obscure the content we're communicating.

You have greater opportunities to minister to people through music when you have a greater range of styles in which you can play.

visit this site

Visit http://classicalmusic.suite101.com/, where Funke got a job writing on classical music.

on the airwaves

Yesterday during my lunch break I turned on 88.1 and was pleasantly surprised to hear an unmistakeably glaswiegan accent (glaswiegan is the local accent in Glasgow, Scotland). I listened as he spoke, thought of friends I know there, and as it turned out Terry Gross was interviewing Stuart Murdoch of the band Belle and Sebastian. This was cool because I was driving and could listen, and Belle and Sebastian is a band I know almost nothing about other than the concert description I read on Funke's blog, and since then I've called into UTC's music radio program two or three times to request Belle and Sebastian songs - and they've always played them quickly (awesome local radio programming, so why'd the station cut the hours of local coverage?). Anyhow, back to the interview, until about a year ago Stuart lived in the church halls of a presbyterian church (Church of Scotland) which he attended. He was the caretaker of the halls in exchange for his rent. How cool! I wonder if the caretaker I knew at St. George's Tron ever started his own rock band?

Today on the radio I head about the Mali musician, Ali Farka Toure, in this interview on The World. The cool part was after doing the world music recording and touring circuit for years he decided to return to his farm in the Sahara, and work to help feed people in his village.

with only 10% remaining...

...10% battery power, that is.

Well, ok, so I'm tired too, not just my laptop. I'm going to sleep.

I'm really glad that God doesn't ever sleep or slumber. Yesterday morning at New City Fellowship the preacher made a joke about God not sleeping or slumbering but sometimes taking quick little naps - it was clearly a joke, and everybody laughed, but I started thinkin' about it and I'm really really glad that he never sleeps.

As Luther said in Psalm 121:4, "Siehe, der Hüter Israels schläft noch schlummert nicht."

my Keeper is strong, He never sleeps, so I can rest in Him.

art institute of chicago

Two weeks ago Thursday I spent six hours at The Art Institute of Chicago, while on my way up to the L'Abri conference. I planned my visit to pass through the galleries chronologically, starting with Egyptian, Greek and Roman art, through the middle ages, the Reformation, Romantic, impressionist, and up to contemporary art.

Grant Wood's "American Gothic" (1930) is probably the most famous painting in their collection, and it was actually really interesting to see the real thing. I think I've seen so many parodies, I thought that I wouldn't enjoy the real thing, but it was really cool.

Here are a couple other more modern paintings that struck me near the end of the day:

Paul Klee's "Dancing Girl" (1940) made me think of cave paintings, and I'm not sure if the girl was happy or not while she was dancing.

This painting, Marc Chagall's "White Crucifixion" (1938) captivated me and was haunting in its prophetic vision of the suffering during the Holocaust.

When I found Kandinsky's paintings, I was happy. Above is "Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons)" (1913). The colors were so vivid, and I was able to enjoy the colors and the shapes without having to think about forms and representations of objects... abstract painting relaxed me near the end of the day.

Go Philly-girl! Mary Cassatt, a Philadelphia native, painted "The Child's Bath" (1893) and it was the last painting I looked at in the museum. I've seen prints of it before, but it was cool to find the original. I like this one.

So that's a tiny bit of what I saw at the museum. They had a cool Durer print of a rhinosaurus, but they don't have it on their website, and I really enjoyed the early Reformation paintings, many of which had biblical story themes, so I played "guess the story". The six painting series on the life of John the Baptist was pretty gruesome when it showed his body hanging out the prison window with blood gushing from his neck. Two ladies were wondering what that was all about, and I'd just read that story earlier that morning on the train into downtown, so I told the the story. Wow. The painting captured the Bible's realism.

And, sitting outside here at Panera's, the reality is that its gotten cold, and I've gotta scoot on home and get some sleep. G'night.