At the end of the term...

It is the end of the Spring term, and I have been thinking about my blogging life, such as it is. I created this blog to add some extra content and/or questions and/or play to the content of the Theological Mosaic class. This term I also started to blog on a different site and realize that I need to give a little more 'face' time to that endeavor.

All this to say, I think that I am going to retire this blog and consolidate my two class blogs at the 'Artistic Impulse' blog site. So, if you want to keep reading/following my random abstract thoughts about life, art and theology, please visit my other two blogs. As for the Theological Mosaic, it will be missed, but all good things much come to an end eventually... or find a life elsewhere, as the case may be.


Here are the links. Enjoy!

The Artistic Impulse (short thoughts on what I am reading, watching, hearing and experiencing in my theology and the arts life... oh and occasional thoughts and announcements for my classes...)

Evangelical Crossroads (A group blog with the authors of Routes and Radishes. In my posts I will focus on my continued exploration of and search for a Christian aesthetic...)

Oh, and I should add one last sarcastic video for the road.... hope you like the video, it is meant to make you laugh, not cry...

A Few Thoughts on Rob Bell

I thought I would send a few links for recent thoughts on Rob Bell's new book. I appreciate Peterson's willingness to listen both critically and respectfully. And I appreciate Jeff Cook's thoughtful interaction with Lewis and Bell (although I don't think that Lewis is a Universalist...). Enjoy!

Eugene Peterson on Rob Bell

C. S. Lewis and Rob Bell

A Little Inspiration

A little inspiration for you from Henri Nouwen's Theological Ideas in Education:


Most students...feel that they must first have something to say before they can put it down on paper. For them writing is little more than recording a preexistent thought. But...writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals what is alive.

In another place he writes:

The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know....Writing is like giving away the few loaves and fishes one has, in trust that they will multiply in the giving. Once we dare to "give away" on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath...and gradually come in touch with our own riches.

So, as you write, I pray that you will "come in touch with" your "own riches."

"The Bad Vicar"

OK, I promised that I would put up a couple of funny (read sarcastic) videos about the Church over the next week. We do need an outlet for some of our more cynical feelings about the Church. About this video, all I'll say is that I really hope that this has not ever been your experience of Church... if it has, I am extremely sorry...

This from the British TV show, "That Mitchell and Webb Look":

Music and Freedom: Wisdom from Jeremy Begbie

I feel like I have returned over and over again this term to the concept of freedom. Freedom and Kenosis. Freedom and Improvisation. Improvisation and the life of the Church... We keep coming back to the questions: "How do we define freedom? What does it mean for us to live fully before God and one another? What does it mean that 'where the Spirit is, there is freedom'? Are we in competition with God?" And many more questions. These are what I think of as 'driving questions.' They keep us exploring, wondering about our faith or the lack of it.

To aid in our explorations, I thought that I would share a couple of videos with you all. This is Jeremy Begbie speaking at the Veritas Forum a few years back. If it sounds a little familiar, it is true that I have stolen all of my best material on music and freedom from Dr. Begbie! My favorite phrase in the videos (although I really like everything that he has to say!) is, "God is about 're-humanizing' us, not 'de-humanizing' us." Good stuff!

Let me know what you think...

Speaking of Vulnerability

Just in case any of you are interested... Here is the my quintet playing Brahms a few weekends ago. This is the first time that we have played together, and the first time we have performed together. The Brahms quintet in F minor is an amazing piece (we are playing just the first movement). I think that we did fairly well for just a short amount of practice time. (Keep in mind that we are just amateurs--people who simply play for the love of the music... we are not the Emerson String Quartet--that is my tender vulnerability coming out...)

As you are watching, notice how we play off of one another. Try to trace how the melody moves from instrument to instrument. How does the piano interact with the string quartet? How do the string players interact with the piano and with one another? Sometimes we literally pass the tune on to the next player. Sometimes we are all playing the tune together. Other times we support another player, helping them to soar beautifully. In a few sections we are all playing at different times, playing just two or three notes of the tune, playing off of one another to make a unified melody. I hope you enjoy!

Regardless, you just gotta love Brahms...

Vulnerability and the Improvisational Life

Yesterday in class we were talking about the church and improvisation. One concept that really stood out to me was the question of whether or not we will accept or block the 'offer' to come play. Will we say 'Yes' or will we say 'No'. Sam Wells argues that those who say 'No' think that what is being offered is either "improbable, improper or dangerous" or really all of the above. It is much safer not to take the risk.

I believe that risk (vulnerability), freedom and contingency (that anything can happen) all go together. The other side of the coin is trust (whether in ourselves or others--including God), structure (some kind of ordered way of being and doing) and constraint (some kind of canvas on which to paint our lives). There has to be structure if we are to practice and live into freedom and contingency.

When I put that together with Sarah Coakley's ideas that the kenosis of Jesus Christ (that mysterious way of talking about Christ's self-emptying or his pouring out of himself) as 'vulnerability-in-power' I realize that vulnerability, especially a healthy understanding of vulnerability, is at the heart of the gospel. It is the way of Jesus Christ. It is who we are empowered to be through the Holy Spirit. This is not some 'touchy-feely' way of thinking about who we are as humans, much less the people of God. We are called to be persons before one another, before God and before the whole of the created order. Our freedom as persons (not individuals) is bound up in and even vested in our interplay with others. There is no freedom without vulnerability. Freedom is mediated to us through other people. This is the call of the Christian life. This the core of the Jesus way.

And so I wonder about the Church. Could we do work in this class that actually moves us to a less cynical place about the Church? About God? About one another? Is there a constructive way to imagine what it means to come together? What role does worship play in your life? What desires do you have? Can worship awaken your desire for God? For healthy relationship? For wholeness? Or is vulnerability, freedom, wholeness, desire, etc. antithetical to what Church is? What are you questions? How can you aks these questions? Are you asking these questions?

I think this could be a very powerful integrative space in this class. Anyone up for the challenge? Say 'Yes' to vulnerability, even if it involves the imperfect group of persons (even individuals) that make up the Church...

Here is video by Dr. Brene Brown on vulnerability. I think she gets to the heart of the matter. Let me know what you think:

J. Kameron Carter On Jazz...

I am really enjoying blogging about 'making space'. I think I will keep going over the next few weeks. But today I want to invite another voice into the conversation, although he is talking more in terms of freedom and tradition.

Here is our guest blogger for the day: J. Kameron Carter on Esperanza Spalding. Theology and jazz. See, I'm not the only one thinking about this topic...

A Little Romance for You...

Here is a version of "My One and Only Love" by two Jazz greats, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. The way they play off of one another is like butter. I'm goin' all melty inside...

Sam Wells and Improvisation

Molly reminded me of the importance of Sam Wells's book, Improvisation. In this book, Wells talks about improvisation as a model for church. In essence, it is about how we are with one another and in the world. He was a pastor for years and applied these principles in his church and community. His church dying and was in a section of England defined by poverty and cynicism. He wondered how it was possible to revive a church in such circumstances, but it did work. He went on from there to work with Stanley Hauerwas, and is now the Dean of the Chapel at Duke Divinity.

I think I'll talk about this in class... I'll practice improvisation in my teaching life...


Molly sent me a link to an interview in The Other Journal with Scott Bader-Saye, where he talks a bit about Wells's understanding of improvisation. Check it out.

• The Other Journal & Dr. Scott Bader-Saye

Joshua Redman...what more do you need?

It is a truth known to jazz players that technique is the gatekeeper. You cannot make space for others if you do not have space for yourself. After you can play you are able to make space for others, you are ready to play the game. But first, you have to go to the woodshed. You have to play by yourself if you are going to immerse yourself in the game. Jazz is pure playing toward others...

This is the essence of how I understand jazz improvisation, and one of my favs is Joshua Redman. He is such an amazing player and his ensembles are solid. I love to hear him play. We saw him live about 10 years ago (we need to see him again!) and I was hooked. The whole band grooved and moved together. Making space for one another indeed. Here is Redman live:

Bach's Art of the Fugue

We can't have a series on 'making room for the other' without including J.S. Bach's art of the fugue. Here are a couple of videos of the Emerson String quartet (one of my favorite quartets) playing this monumental work (at least bits and bobs of it). The first video has a short explanation of the work, the second one of the 'Contrapunti'. In essence, this is a series of different fugues (Contrapunti) based upon the same theme (or subject, although the subject varies from variation to variation). The variety of the work spins out into eternity and ends mid-sentence because Bach died before he complete the work. I wonder if he would have just kept composing in endless improvisation on this theme into eternity... It seems as if that is exactly what he did.

Watch and listen for the independence of the different voice intertwined with how they interact. This is play in motion...

[N.B. The Oxford American Dictionary defines 'fugue' in the following manner: "Music a contrapuntal composition in which a short melody or phrase (the subject) is introduced by one part and successfully taken up by others and developed by interweaving the parts."]

Talking of Michael Jackson...

So, one more adaptation that is amazingly cool (in my geeky string player mind). Here is version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" played by two cellists. I love how they play off of each other. A great example of making room for one another, even if they seem to be dueling it out!

And one more...

OK, one of my favorite adaptations is Eva Cassidy's version of Sting's "Fields of Gold." I always loved Sting's song, but I think that Eva takes it to another level. I also love her version of "Time after Time" in case you are interested...

I'm not sure what I think about the nature shots in the video, but whoever put it together started in Scotland, which makes me want to go back. The fields of the Kingdom of Fife are truly the fields of gold... the light had that certain glowing quality when the canola fields were in bloom... Oh and there are some shots of the Orkney Islands as well... beautiful. I love standing stones!

Another Adaptation...

Jonathan sent in a different adaption. This time, instead of Queen on the ukelele (by the way, thank you to Emily for sending me that video), it is the Jackson 5's hit, "I want you back" by The Civil Wars. So I thought I would repost his link and also include the original with a Jackson 5 video. Love those moves! If you don't get up and dance I'm not sure if I want to talk to ever again... no really, I wish I could move like that. Michael, you inspired us all.

• "I want you back" by The Civil Wars

Making Space for the Other...

Every day this week it is my goal to post a different example of 'making space' through some kind of imaginative improvisatory and/or creative activity. One form of creative improvisation is taking a song from one genre and adapting it to another genre or instrumentation. This is a significant way of articulating this concept of 'making room for the other' within musical space. Adaptation helps you hear the song differently and gives honor to the integrity and power of the original song. (It also shows off the virtuosity of the player...)

Performance is an important way of learning to hear other voices, and in this video we have a very cool example of an unexpected song on an unexpected instrument. My guess is that after this performance, you will never hear Queen or the ukelele in the same way again.

Enjoy!

Calvinism vs. Arminianism

OK, for those of you who are interested, here is a good and concise website about the key stances and difference between Calvinism and Arminianism.

• Comparison of Calvinism and Arminianism

Enjoy!
Chelle

Chance for Extra Credit

This week there is a chance for you to get extra credit for the theology class. (Up to 2 points.) All you need to do is attend Jon Stanley's Wednesday night lecture, "God is Dead and I don't Feel So Good Myself," and then write a 2-page report about the content of the lecture and the evening. Here are the details:

Jon Stanley is a graduate of Mars Hill Graduate School and is currently working on his Ph.D. in philosophical theology with the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto (yes, in Canada).

What: Alumni Speaker Series (co-sponsored with The Other Journal and The Parish Collective)

Where: Mars Hill Graduate School

When: 7PM on Wednesday February 9th, 2011

Anne Lamott at Seattle Uni's Book Festival

Check out Seattle University's Search For Meaning Book Festival this Saturday, February 5th. It looks like Anne Lamott is speaking at 10:15. Let me know if you go!

Go Knox and the Union Gospel Mission!

Hey, I was just looking at the Seattle Times and the lead story was about art at the Union Gospel Mission. And, there was Knox on the front page...

So, check out art at the Union Gospel Mission this week! Gallery open from 6PM to 8PM this Thursday, February 3rd.