Meditation Monday: Crescent Dragonwagon Edition
Well, it’s been a while since we’ve all discussed our DEEP THOUGHTS around here, so while I am busy-beaverishly preparing my series of travel posts on Cincinnati (yes, there will be a series– it was a big honkin’ trip!) (also? my nephew Daniel The Computer Genius is adding a whole new Travel section to Babybloomr.com– isn’t that cool?) (and yeah, I have no idea why this suddenly deteriorated into a series of unpunctuated sentences in parentheses, but the fact that I was up last night until 3 a.m. finishing a deadline might have a little something to do with it…), I thought I’d revive my ever-so-intellectually-stimulating, gee-you-never-know-when-it’s-coming Meditation Monday posts!
And if you’re actually still with me at this point, A) wow and B) apparently I’m not the only one who’s feeling a little ADD-ish this morning.
Oh, look! A chicken!
Anyway. *shakes head to clear it*
You guys remember me mentioning my brilliant friend Crescent Dragonwagon , right?
You know, the writer? (And yes, that is her real name.) (Geez, AGAIN with the parentheses?) Well, I read a poem of hers this morning that I just loved, and wanted to use it as a jumping-off point to let you, my wonderfully interesting readers *bats eyelashes shamelessly* give me some of your DEEP THOUGHTS on it.
Ya wanna? Aw, come on, don’t be shy, it’s not like its gonna be graded or anything– I’d just love to hear what her words stir up in you.
Here’s the poem:
Your thoughts…?
(*Wonderful Auntie Mame-esque photo of Crescent courtesy of nameoftheyear.blogspot.com)
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Momma Lloyd– It just occurred to me that your ‘Little Man’ computer reader might not be able to read Crescent’s poem in the form I just published it in, so I thought I’d put a special more tech-friendly version of it here, just for you because you know I’m crazy about you. Also, I always really want to hear you have to say!
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
Safety went to work in the World Trade Towers one morning.
Trust believed her husband when he said, ‘It was only one kiss.’
Faith, with her tiny silver cross, star of David, om sign, served the victims
of the plague. ‘How’ she asked God, ‘Could you let this happen?‘
God replied, but did so inaudibly.
Belief clapped hands for Tinkerbelle, who did not arrive.
Certainty, the bough on which the cradle rocked, broke.
The baby fell down, down, down into limitless dark star-free space.
The baby falls still. The baby will fall forever.
Mystery said:
I am big enough to hold you all.
Mystery said:
Are you big enough, small human, to hold me?
c Crescent Dragonwagon, 2009
First thoughts? –
1) I think it’s beautiful
2) It’s haunting and thought provoking
3) much of it is true
4) it would all be true if the premise wasn’t flawed, but thankfully, according to my world view, it is.
I really appreciate the descriptions of safety, trust, faith, belief and certainty as constructs that often fail us.
There is so much that we are sure of, that we think we know, that can disappear in an instant.
From our frail human perspective, I also understand the line ‘God replied, but did so inaudibly’ – because, sometimes, that’s how it feels.
I also love that there is so much mystery in the universe, and being able to accept that, live with it and even rejoice in it is a huge part of life.
What I can’t subscribe to is the falling ‘forever’. You see my temporary safety is not guaranteed but I’m eternally secure. Trust may let me down, and I may misplace it and not understand it, but the ultimate object of my trust is sure. Despite what the creeds may say it’s not my faith in itself that saves me – it’s God and his faithfulness. The same is true for belief, I may have got a lot of stuff messed up in my mind but the foundation I know to be true. And, actually, there is one thing that is certain and He makes sense of everything. Yes there is a lot of glorious mystery surrounding God, the universe and humanity, but He is a good, faithful, personal, revelatory God who underpins it all.
As I say, this is my world view, and I can definitely learn from others who believe differently. But if I didn’t think it was absolutely true I wouldn’t believe it at all. I am reminded of an interview I watched of Steven Curtis Chapman and his family after the tragic death of their daughter – they said when everything was taken away they reached rock bottom – but when they got there they found the foundations were sure. There is no ‘limitless falling’- thank God.
See, kids? THAT’S what I’m talking about!
rachelbaker– One of my favorite things about good poetry is that there is always room for personal interpretation. My take on the ‘falling still’ and ‘falling forever’ lines is quite different. Those lines spoke to me of the inevitability of having to re-evaluate so many of the things we feel certain about in this life. I thought of it in terms of aging, actually– I remember so many things I was so sure of in my youth, and how time and experience have altered my view and changed my mind again and again. It can be about disillusionment and disappointment, or it can just be about life and change. But to me, after I recovered from that first time I felt like the world that I thought I knew was crumbling around me (in my case, it was probably about a boy and I was probably about 17!), I felt sure I would never be that blindsided again–and of course, I was.
Life brings lots of instances where the bough breaks, and the ‘baby’ falls… And chances are, until I leave this world, the bough will break again, and the ‘baby’ will fall again. And again. Sometimes I’ll understand why, and sometimes I won’t. THAT’S the Mystery that challenges me, and like you, my faith is a core part of why I am indeed big enough to hold it, and allow it to hold me.
Yeah. What Rachel said. And what Tori said. You girls are SO DEEP! (So….what does the line about Tinkerbelle mean?)
Tori, have you ever asked your friend, Crescent, what her thoughts were about this poem?
Oh look! Another chicken!
First thing that came to mind when reading the ‘falling’ part was a lyric from the band The Call —
“We live not in a fallen world, but one falling every day.”
I’ve been up for 20+ hours–I’ll think about this tomorrow. (Or later today I guess.) (Pulling a Scarlet O-Hara.) (Getting into the paragraph thing, though!)
Now I’m gonna go chase that darn chicken!
OK REALLY tired when I read it twice and didn’t realize I said paragraph instead of parenthesis!!
What can I say when my daughter has said it all! Thanks.
Tori – I also love that different people can see different things in the same piece of writing. It was one of the things I struggled with when I was studying (a million years ago) – if the educated, experienced, way-clever-than-me literary critics that I was obliged to read thought differently to me I assumed I’d got it wrong and often wasn’t brave enough to write my opinions in an essay. Right at the end of the course one of the last modules was on war poetry and I chose to write about a Polish poet who had only just been translated into English and no-one (in a language I could understand) had ever written about. It was liberating and fun … and the highest grade I ever got :-/
Anyway, I digress. I love what you wrote above, and had a lot of the same internal responses. Its just when words like ‘forever’ and ‘limitless’ are used I can not help but think about eternal things. That’s when the mystery subsides and certainty becomes an endless stream of ‘wow’.
Oh, and LindaB – I would tell you about the Tinkerbelle line but I really don’t want to shatter any of your illusions
(and I’ve seen you do ‘deep’ a lot better than me).
jonny- thats an interesting line – fallen and falling I think, but also caught and with the catcher ready in place.
Gramma Jac – oh, I would have enjoyed your sleep-deprived deep thoughts.
Mum – don’t use me as an excuse not to join in.
Ha! I don’t have any illusions left, Rachel! I’m 64! Peter Pan is on Medicare now. ;(
“Mum – don’t use me as an excuse not to join in.”
Yep !!
“Anyway, I digress.”
Love when you do, and belated congrats on the highest grade you ever got = )
“Momma Lloyd– It just occurred to me that your ‘Little Man’ computer reader might not be able to read Crescent’s poem in the form I just published it in, so I thought I’d put a special more tech-friendly version of it here, just for you because you know I’m crazy about you. Also, I always really want to hear you have to say!”
Thanks for doing so, you’re not the only one; and, you’re not the only one *big pulsating heart* !! = )
“See, kids? THAT’S what I’m talking about!”
And, Former, even at 64 you seem to be nothing more than a child in the eyes of Mrs. Tori = D
Hi Tori,
Been sooo long since I posted any comments (my bad, as I slap my own hand – ouch – This could result in some typos, so I apologize in advance)….
I have read and re-read this poem. Here is my 2 cents worth.
I think the person is questioning; Faith.
The person “trusted” her husband when he said “it was only 1 kiss” – not a potential affair.
Person had faith with the various “religious” jewelry that all would be well. But we need NOT put our faith in jewelry and/or trinkets but in Him.
We all know Tinker-bell has this “magic wand” and can perform her magic, but after acting with misguided belief (clapped hands) the “magic” didn’t actually appear. We need to relay and have faith in Him and only He knows why these tragic and terrible things happen(ed).
The next section with the bough on which the cradle rocked etc., I see that as the world as we know it was rocked out from underneath us on that horrific day. I think the “baby” is faith which may be weening and continually weening (globally) hence the baby falling, could even be that our faith hasn’t fully matured.
Last section I think is the Lord 1st stating that He can hold us and then asking if we have enough faith and belief to still believe in Him and keep/hold Him in our hearts.
This is what I saw after reading this.
Susan
Gracious, Tori, I was just about to type that my little man wouldn’t read it, when I saw how thoughtful you had been.
Rachel is always so good when diving into those tough verses.
The first thing that came to my mind is that she is writing about 9/11 and what was going on in the minds of all those poor victims early on the morning before leaving home to go to the Towers for work….and then the thoughts of others after the horrible accident. Pregnant women’s babies were falling and would keep on falling through eternity….times of lightheartedness when tinkerbell danced about are gone…..many prayers went up and God heard all…from the victims to the survivors to the families…each according to their pain with the assurance that God was taking care of all of them….each according to their need. They all went to work feeling safe that morning…with different things on their mind…perhaps one even wondering if she could trust her husband when he kissed her. goodbye, assuring her of his fidelity. We are reminded of how there is no promise for what the next second will bring. It is suggested that there were those who ministered to others during that awful time of entrapment…while still not understanding how it could be. It’s all so sad. I believe she ended it with God asking us (small humans) how big our faith is now.
I’m afraid that is a bit scrambled but it’s kinda hard to keep it all in my head as I type. I mean in proper order.
I have enjoyed reading all of the comments and, yes, it is so interesting to read our different feelings on the same words. I tell you, Tori, the lady is a fantastic writer because she can really make you feel the tragedy of it all….or at least of how I interrupted it to be.
I love you.
Oooh, this is getting good!
LindaB: You gave me a great idea, I think I will ask Crescent to weigh in! And yeah, you’re not fooling anybody around here– we’ve seen you go reeeeeeeeal deep, so don’t think you can be hiding that big ol’ brain of yours from us, baby!
small j: I LOVE that line! And I’d never thought of applying it to this, but you’re so right.
Gramma Jac: OK, we’ll let you off the hook long enough to get caught up on your sleep– THEN we wanna hear you weigh in!
rachelbaker: You and I share a similar filter, so I always understand your references– but it might surprise you to know that Crescent follows a different spiritual path than we do. That is why I love getting so many different takes on what this poem brought out in each of us! We all read the same words, yet we each take them in and process them based on our own personal experience, belief system and understanding.
bettyrwoodward: Nice try, but yeah, Rachel’s right– we want to hear from you!
swerchon: Wow, interesting in-depth response– you did a great job of expressing yourself!
Momma Lloyd: OK, I really love that you tied all of the verses of the poem to the events of 9/11 that Crescent referenced in her first lines– that is yet ANOTHER way to look at this, instead of the way I did, which was to take each couplet/verse as a separate scenario, unrelated to the one before or after it. Very thought-provoking. I especially loved the image you evoked of the woman going to work at the World Trade Towers wondering if the goodbye kiss from her husband that morning was a lie or not…
HA! Who says you can’t fool some of the people all of the time? LOL
Yeah, Tori, Michael had some great lines/words/insights in his songs. More than likely a huge inspiration for me with mine as well. And I actually picked up on Crescent not being of the same faith, which does makes this all the more interesting in my opinion as well = )
I find that so interesting that anyone would look at it as anything other than a very tragic 9/11 poem with a lot of spiritual questioning. Can’t help but be interested in your telling us more about the author. You’ve made me curious.
Do you know I felt what I believed I was reading to the point that it has churned up my emotions inside? I mean, it is as if I were back there on that day witnessing those things. I agree, Tori, that all of us interpret things according to past experiences, etc., and perhaps even our age to some degree. Maybe how we interpret a poem tells us almost as much about ourselves as it does about the author? For example, perhaps I have a neeed to tie everything together in one package…rather simplifying it that way? Even so, when I go back and read what others have said, I am able to understand what they are saying….but it does not change my feelings. I hope y’all know I am not saying this as anything more than trying to make a point in further understanding it all. Now, if the author would come here, that would be the icing on the cake.
And, Linda, you can’t be deep? You can be any depth you choose to be at any given time…and then some.
OK – I TRIED. I’m tired. My brain hurts!!! I’m so not into poetry – especially poetry when you have to figure what the darn thing even means.
I read it…and read it…and just said “Huh?”
And I read all of your “takes” on it. And wondered how you got that.
swerchon – I kinda got what you were saying.
My take – I’m so “not with it.”
Give me something concrete and easy like – “Jack and Jill went up the hill…”
Sorry…I’m no help here!
MostlySunny: HA! No, no, you don’t have to figure it out, it doesn’t have to be DEEP–just read it through a couple of times and tell us what it made you think of, if it reminded you of something, how it made you feel… (besides confused!)
First of all, thank you, Crescent, for inviting me to share my thoughts, and secondly, to the rest of you I must say I heard this poem first at The Writers Colony Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Arkansas from Crescent’s own lips. Her mellow voice resonated through the hushed room, collecting the audience one by one, and finally its entire body of us into one entity…
At the time, I felt I “got” the poem, and when she delivered the line about “the baby falls still. The baby will fall forever.” I felt an ineffable sadness, and did not agree with it.
I thought to myself, “Who is the baby who does not realize he/she will be caught in safe strong hands by a father who loves her too much to let him/her fall forever.”? Is it me? Is it all of us?
At the time it felt like I was attempting to interpret someone else’s dream, which is none of my business, you know, as each person must interpret his/her own dream, as he/she is its creator and author.
I was not at all confused by the poem. I knew its meaning instantly, apprehending the author is listening for God’s voice, and in the end, hears him audibly, writing it down:
Mystery said:
I am big enough to hold you all.
Mystery said:
Are you big enough, small human, to hold me?
This is the ultimate question each of us must answer privately. He is “big enough to hold us all” which IS the Mystery, but in the end, will we be “big enough” to hold onto Him “in return”? The Love from which we were issued yearns for us to return to Him in the end, realizing and affirming “The Mystery” as the Great Unexplainable. How can we be so greatly and individually loved when we KNOW we are “so small”?
For me, as an individual, I take it on faith, yes, but it isn’t just that. I sense the absolute and unconditional acceptance of my SELF by “The Mystery” I will never fully understand. Until I am taken fully into that “mystery”, I must be content to be a “small human” doing what I can to live in the presence of light and love. The indeniable fact that “light and love” exist at all in this ancient and darkening world IS the Great and unexplainable Mystery!
In addition to my own thoughts, I’d like to acknowledge the contribution of “swerchon” as most closely aligning with my own ideas about this very deep and moving piece of work Crescent has given to us.
Tandy Belt: Welcome, welcome, and thanks so much for sharing your thoughts here! Beautifully expressed– I especially love your take on the unfathomable grace of The Mystery’s lovingkindness towards each one of our small, human selves.
“Maybe how we interpret a poem tells us almost as much about ourselves as it does about the author?”
I believe it does, and at times even more about the person interpreting it than the work of art itself.
Woah, things got busy on here in the middle of my night! Thanks for coming and sharing, Tandy Belt … I’m going to have to take some more time just to think about what you wrote. I love the different responses – Momma Lloyds interpretation was especially moving … it also made me wonder if our initial responses are different if we read something or hear it read to us.
Tori – I realised straight away that Crescent is ‘on a different spiritual path’ to me, and I think thats why I didn’t want to read the whole of it only through my personal filter. Although a huge part of it I can understand through the ‘spectacles’ of my Christian faith , when the language of eternity (‘forever’, ‘limitless’) came into it I didn’t want to try to mould what she wrote into what I believe.
There are two reasons for this. As I have mentioned before, for me eternity will not be about mystery it will be ‘knowing as I am known’ and I will be in constant wonder. Also I don’t want to be disrespectful to the author, who has beautifully described her perspective, by changing it into something that it wasn’t meant to be. I can learn from differing world-views even though they are different to mine, I find it fascinating.
Saying all that, however, seeing other people’s responses has definitely made me think about it in different ways. I love how even a few words can have an entirely different meaning to two different people.
I
Tandy, I’m so glad you came by and hope you will come back again. You expressed yourself beautifully.
jonny, I kinda think so….because I believe without realizing it, we may tend to take the author’s words and make them our’s….expressing what we want them to mean….or what they mean to us rather than trying to figure out what the author means. For example, the baby falling forever bothered me a little until I convinced myself that she was saying the unborn baby or babies would never rock in that cradle, as we know it here on earth. That way I still allowed that she just hadn’t carried it far enough to take that baby into heaven and eternity. I read it as being very spiritual….and obviously, I was wrong. But then, do we read to understand the author….or do we read to satisfy ourselves?
Sweet Rachel, I wonder if you don’t have something when you questioned whether something would come across differently when read to you from reading it yourself? Certainly we know that people have gotten into trouble by writing something and offending the one receiving the note because she did not read it with the same thought intended by the writer.
I also believe that a work of art can be used for things beyond, outside, that which the one involved in creating it intended, or got out of it themselves. This would even include what those who have various interpretations and experiences with it got out of it was well. That once completed, made public in some way, it then takes on a life and purpose of its own that transcends anything we may think we have an understanding, or grasp of. Therein lies the power, magic, mystery and ministry of art in many ways. From my limited experience and understanding of these things of course = )
Oh, and part of the beauty of art as well !! = )
Yep, jonny – Art is a big part of the beautiful mystery of life.
Okay. I noticed something no one else has mentioned…..it doesn’t RHYME!
It did when I translated it to Finnish, though ; )
small j: Beautifully said, and I completely agree– that IS the ‘power, mystery and ministry of art’!
So remember, guys– there really isn’t a right or wrong to this! And if I understand Crescent correctly, she says this is one of those pieces of writing that she felt she was simply a ‘conduit’ for– it kind of came into her, and passed through on it’s way to being born. I understand that, and I bet every one of you who have written anything–a song, a poem, a journal entry– have experienced a form of that in one way or another. Sometimes it feels like something just jumps into your heart fully formed!
Funny how there are times you sit down and without even thinking about it, it just comes out. If this doesn’t happen, you may as well get up and go do something else because all you will end up with is a struggle with words.
Same thing with writing a personal letter. If forced into replying right then, it will usually be a brief, right to the point, message. But, at another time, you may sit down and write six pages (well, maybe) and you can’t write/type fast enough to say all that you want to say.
Does this happen to others?
Yep, there is something amazing about that ‘conduit’ type of writing. Sometimes the words just flow easily, almost bypassing my brain.
Other times a thought or idea won’t rest until it gets put down on paper. In those cases it comes out in a torrent of release that usually just needs a bit of tweaking in a more subdued moment.
Those are the most enjoyable ways of writing (whatever form they may take). However, I’m also beginning to find what Momma Lloyd calls the ‘struggle with words’ fulfilling too. In the past I always associated that sort of writing with deadlines approaching fast while inspiration was severely lacking – a fairly negative experience. Now I’m training myself to write anyway, with very varying results. It can be frustrating, but there is a sense of satisfaction in having won a small battle when just a few coherent words get formed. Sometimes the end result is appalling, sometimes I surprise myself. I’ve also discovered that forcing myself to write is the best way to get re-inspired, and I also seem to internalise things better when I write them myself rather than just read them and think about them.
Well, Tori, and I mean this sincerely…I don’t know of anyone who expresses themselves better than you. You can be funny, sad, express any emotion known to the human heart, and you take your reader right along with you in your simple but-oh-so-eloquent way of describing the various journeys. You could make a walk to the mailbox at the end of the driveway…exciting or lonely or funny or anything that came into your mind….and it would hold our attention from start to finish. You have a love affair with words…and we are so priviledged to be witness to it.
Hear hear
I wholeheartedly agree, Barb and Rachel. That’s what keeps us coming back here nearly every day to see if you’ve said anything else we can enjoy…..or mull over! That is quite a powerful gift, and I love that you don’t use it unwisely or unkindly. And that you can laugh at yourself and be totally alright with it…..and enjoy it!
Okay, about that poem…..I read it again about 20 minutes after taking Ritalin and here are my thoughts——-what came to me is that this is about how unpredictable life is and how helpless we are to protect ourselves. We can plan ahead, we can have faith and belief systems, we can trust in people, even people who love us, but in the end we are helpless as babies in freefall. But then in the last verse, like Rachel, Crescent and I have to part company. First of all, I assume Crescent was speaking about God when she says “Mystery” says I am big enough to hold you all. My Christian God does have “mysterious ways”, but He is not a mystery since He’s revealed so much about Himself in Scripture. So much that we can never exhaust all He has divulged about the Godhead if we read the Word daily for the rest of our days. And here comes the big difference between those who “choose a different spiritual path” and Christian believers—–“Mystery said: Are you big enough, small human, to hold me?” In our view, from what we believe from scripture, God does ALL THE HOLDING! He does not leave his precious charges to their own ability to hold on! That is a gamble He can’t and won’t take. We are too precious to Him. (AND, He has said He does all the work so no one can boast in Heaven that through their own tenacity, they’ve reached Heaven.) Spiritually, we are like babies until we see Him and “are known as we are known”. And like babies, we need Someone to hold onto us! You wouldn’t say to a falling baby, “Grab onto something! Save yourself!” In the same way, you can’t expect a frail fallen human being to “hold onto” a mysterious God and save themselves. As I understand it, this is the difference between Christianity and the rest of the belief systems in the world—–they have rules and rituals that they cling to to save them, but we have a mighty God Who clings to US! He seeks us out! He stalks us with love! He calls us by name! And He never gives up! And He’d never leave us to our own devices! (I’m feeling a little Pentecostal now. Hallelujah! What a Savior!)
I should add that I believe He seeks out all mankind—-every man and woman and child on the planet—–to come to Him and let HIM hold THEM.
I keep promising myself I won’t write any more comments on this post because there is way to much of me on here … but I just need to add a ‘hallelujah’ to Linda’s comment! (I also think it would be kind of cool if my Dad came on here and gave a synopsis of my favourite ‘Peter walking on the water’ sermon which illustrates Linda’s point powerfully).
Oh Rachel, I have made that promise so many times, and have yet to keep it! But I think it’s Tori’s fault! That gift of hers we’ve been talking about has a way of making us THINK long after we’ve said our piece, closed up the computer and are on to something else! And we are compelled to slink back here and add a “one more thing”! My problem is…..I am a bit slow and am commenting long after everyone else has left the discussion! LOL
Note to Rachel’s father——-PLEASE do it! I would enjoy that immensely!
This is Stuart, Betty’s husband, unable to resist the plaintive plea of my daughter! The sermon is long but in short the following may be helpful. As a one time teacher of Religious Education (yes such beings exist in England) my life was profoundly affected by the comment of a twelve year old boy. You will have to wait to read what he said. In the story of Peter walking on the water you can see both a synopsis of Peter’s life and a picture of the Christian life. For Peter in the call of Jesus to come (i.e. get out of the boat) we see his first call when Jesus said follow me. As He walks on the water we see the great triumph of the declaration at Caesarea Philippi (you are the Christ). As he sinks we see his denial of His Lord and as Jesus lifts him from the water we see a picture of Jesus restoring Peter on the beach.
Regarding the Christian life we see that no one can come unless Jesus calls. We see the need for the response of faith (leaving the boat)but we also see our frailty in the sinking, or am I the only one not to have walked all the way in perfect faith?! Now to my life changing moment. I was teaching a class of children and using this story. I ran out of material and so asked random questions. One was, ‘Why didn’t Jesus let Peter drown?’ various answers were suggested and then the boy said; ‘If Peter had drowned it would have been Jesus’ fault.’ I asked him to explain and he said: ‘Jesus did not tell Peter to get out of the boat as long as he was sure he had enough faith to make it all the way. He simply told him to come so I reckon once he got out of the boat he was Jesus’ responsibility.’ Profound and life changing words for me and I have never doubted the security I have in Jesus since that day. Sometimes I may begin to sink but He is faithful and will not let go of me. this assurance is called faith, the faith we are called to live by rather than allow transient feelings to be our touchstone of reality. Thank you for allowing me to intrude!
Oh my! (And you will never be an “intrusion”, BTW. You’re welcome anytime!) That was an amazing real life sermon! And I love it! Out of the mouth of babes!
It kind of makes me chuckle a bit to think I’m Christ’s responsibility! What a job He has, but He’s proved He’s up to it many times over!
Thank you, Rachel’s Dad, for that picture of faith!
Yes, Stuart, thanks for much for stopping by and sharing = ) Grateful for you doing so !!
I have to add though that I can not help but think of Love whenever Faith is presented. The two go very much hand-in-hand for me. I can see the same sermon being applied to loving God, others and one’s self; the getting out of the boat and start doing so part. This also brought to mind a song I used to really like back in the Eighties entitled Who Can Hold Us. Anyway, found it on YouTube if anyone is interested —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBaUmeD5aLs
Stuart – You made my day! There was so much in there that I needed to hear THIS VERY DAY! Thank you!!!
Gracious, Stuart, now that we have found you…we will never let you go. What a fantastic devotional. I believe the little boy preached a sermon all by himself. What is it we are told….to come to Jesus as little children? How old are we when our trust begins to weaken at times? Thank you, Stuart.
“I completely agree– that IS the ‘power, mystery and ministry of art’!”
I could not help but find it interesting that you left the word ‘magic’ out. I also find it more than interesting that we come to a ‘come to Jesus as little children’ direction with this thread. Both are connected to me.
First, I wasn’t sure whether I used use, or leave the word ‘magic’ in there. Mystery could have been more than enough for that end of things, and it tends to be a taboo word of sorts for some in the body. But, a big part of why I decided to leave it in there was because of the ‘magical’ sense of whimsy and childlike awe and wonder that is hopefully being developed in all who are His, and that I believe art can also be used in/with this type of development, child-like growth in us as well.
I do have a prayer request as well. There are three Christian art/artist associations over here that seem to be interested in how Christ has been using me in the arts the last 18 years in Helsinki. There is a possibility that I may actually then have a ‘job’ as a minister of/to the arts here in Helsinki, as well as other parts of Finland too if all goes as some of us believe it might, or could go. Hope that communicated. Anyway, this would start out as a part time job, at least for the first half a year, and then we would try and see where Christ is leading after that. Again, if all goes as some of us hope it could, or maybe even should go = )
Stuart: WELCOME, friend– now that you’ve found us, don’t be a stranger! I love your illustration so much, it puts a new twist on a story I’ve heard since I was a child. I think most of us (especially we success-driven Yanks) can fall into the trap of thinking it’s up to us to ‘work out our faith.’ The idea of knowing, REALLY knowing that God has us in His care forever is something I’m still working on…
small j: To tell you the truth, I didn’t purposely leave out ‘magic,’ I was just writing from memory after reading your comment and I inadvertently omitted it! I love that word, to me it’s a combination of mystery and whimsy– we can’t quite figure it out, but it delights us!
Cool = )
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