Schizophrenia Sets In

One of my international colleagues recently died. It was sudden, unexpected and very sad, and at this point shrouded in mystery because we know very little about it. I'm writing announcements about that at the same time that I'm writing other people's birthday cards and other celebrations, and having very inspirational meetings with passionate people. Needless to say, it's been a strange day...

(Hey, that rhymes -- it might make a good song. Probably blues...)

Broken Site Stuff

I set up feeds for my site, and they were working, and now they aren't. My solution to this problem (seemingly experienced by many people that use Blogger with external hosts) is going to be rather complicated. I'm going to be porting my entire blog (100+ posts) over to a new content management system (CMS) called Joomla.

This will be better for me on several levels -- for one thing I will become more familiar with this CMS, a current standard in web development. And for another, I will have far more flexibility in the presentation and capabilities of my website. There are many plans lingering in my brain (and have been for about 10yrs now), and I think they will finally start coming into fruition. This is a rather exciting and daunting proposition for me, but it's a challenge I'm ready for.

Thanks for reading!

Just When You Think You're Getting It...

Unfortunately, this is impossible to avoid: this post is going to get weird.

I heard someone say recently that she feels like she's trying to quench people's thirst with her own. (That's using some poetic license, but her intent is there.) We have a church that has worked so hard to make a place where nobody wants to be. Structures have been built within them that reflect no-one's current desires. The path of least resistance has led us here. And?

There's kind of a shrugging acknowledgement of the condition of the church. There isn't a place for the 'other', for the 'too different', for the 'problem' people, especially for those people who are suffering the natural consequences of their own choices and actions. There is a dirth of the grace we're supposed to extend. I'm crushed because I just realised that I'm fully guilty of what I'm saying – the role of the Christian is to be the face of Christ to a hurting, seeking, struggling world. A world that we seem to have detached ourselves from at every turn. Rather we look for a place where we feel comfortable, established and settled. Silly, silly us.

How many opportunities do we miss because our brains are locked into set paths? Tons. Resistance to the new is problematic at every level. When we have the chance to interject truth into life, there is instead a church-wide knee-jerk reaction made at a mass media level. We have failed. We fail to achieve what we claim to want to achieve, and instead find success' surrogate. The wall and boundaries get fortified and reinforced until they are in danger of toppling down on us.

I'm saying that homogeneity is the rule of the day within the Church. And I'm saying that gives us the gauge to show us by how far we're missing the point.

I have a despair about postmodernism. Whenever the dice land, we keep throwing them again. I've begun thinking about what's after postmodernism. (Is post-postmodernism ubermodernism?) But we can't underestimate the value in the constant questioning. This is still a pendulum swing away from not questioning nearly enough. And, I guess the followups are, "Are we questioning enough yet? And if not, when?"

Driving Them to Drink?

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Unfortunately there's a deep truth in there, or it wouldn't be a cliche. I say unfortunate because it's our job (as Christians) to be the living advertisement for the Water that Christ described himself as: the kind that you drink and never thirst again. In a very real sense, it's our job to provoke thirst. It's our job to show the chilled condensation on the glass, to be the delicate clink of ice, to be the frozen-instant crystal splash. When I watch the world from the vantage point of my couch, or pew, or cushy-supportive bucket seat, I kind of think we're not doing such a great job.

Let's stretch the marketing metaphor a little (I'm far from the only one doing so, luckily). We have to believe in our product. The whole "I'm not just the president, I'm also a member" thing. If Christ-followers are shaky on their beliefs, then it translates tentatively. I'm not suggesting that we all turn into streetside evangelists. (But if that's how you feel led...) We need to understand how perceptions have been propagated and reinforced over the decades, and make sure that we're not bailing into the same crevasses. I'm saying that we need humility in the presentation, but absolute confidence in the material. I am a vessel for truth, not the truth itself, and the cleaner and clearer I am, the better the truth can be seen.

We can't make people drink. But I wonder if we can't do a better job of making people want to drink.

Definitive Proof, Because I Said So!

I am Anna Nicole Smith's baby's father! Okay, America, lavish me with fame and fortune! Or just fortune, your choice. Arrange for me a talk-show circuit and a book deal I want rights to the movie and merchandising too (perhaps a bobble head so that I can match A.N.S. herself). Oh, and a cool-dude entourage, and an Escalade. I know how this gig works! Oh and that other guy? The one who's suing $10m for character defamation because it was said that there's no way he could be the father? Take that as a lesson, man. Don't tell me whose father I can and can't be! For all you know I could your father, America.

Jimmy Kimmel (in a rare case where I agreed with him) said that everyone associated with television should be ashamed of themselves. In fact, even the people that supply electricity to television should be ashamed. When TV is knocking TV on the head, perhaps it's time to take notice.

At what point does all the trivial emptiness implode on itself? Do people honestly care that much? And if they do, why are they allowed to continue to consume perfectly good oxygen? At what point do either the audience or the entertainers realise that they're propagating the biggest waste of time, money and energy in history? And who's losing sleep on the biggest unasked question of all: "How are we going to top this when Kato Kaelin dies?"

In other news, CNN said-- sorry, my bad. According to CNN, there is no other news...

Welcome to my 100th Post!

Maybe that's a really ambiguous 'anniversary' to celebrate. But seriously, any effort of mine that has been (however sporatically) sustained to the point where I've reached 100 of anything is worthy of at least mentioning. I hope you agree. If not simply skip off to read something else. Pretty graphic though, eh? Thanks, I--

Oh you're already reading something else...

"Congratulations...

...You just won a free, all-expense paid missions trip!" What kind of world do we live in?

Movie Review: Sherrybaby

Maggie Gyllenhaal strikes me as a person that is interested in pursuing interesting and important work, art rather than commerce. Films such as the Secretary, Stranger that Fiction and even in her role in Mona Lisa Smile (her most mainstream appearance?) point me to that conclusion. These are not blockbuster extravaganza type diva roles. Rather they are heartfelt parts that get to the guts of how people tick. I don't know anyone like Sherry, but I know they exist, and I think the introduction to her world is important, shocking and sad as it is.

I'm trying to understand how God fits into this story. There are passing references to him, in the prayer/wishful thinking of the AA meetings, and there is even a scene where Sherry clearly prays, but these are pretty minor references in such a, well, gruesome story. And I have to start to think that maybe that's the point. I can't tell if that's the creators' intention here, but this film seems to examine a godless existence where a dependence on drugs, sex and even family seem to be surrogate answers to fill the longing in humans for Him. So many things are attractive bait to slefdestructive snares. Every element of life is perverted in this film, to the point where, I have to imagine, it pretty accurately reflects reality. The redemption in this story is so tremulous and feeble that it also, to me, mirrors a reality without Christ.

How they got that kid to come on board, and make such a coherent impact here, I don't think I'll ever know. I would honestly love to talk to her in about 5-10 years and see how she remembers this whole experience. She fits so well, her moods so in sync with what's happening (and needed) onscreen, that is was actually pulled out to contemplate it. I had to keep reminding myself that this is a work of fiction. I think, obviously, huge credit goes to Maggie for be able to so perfectly “be there” that she could so acutely work with everything that little girl gave.

It's a dark movie, no question, but there are elements that make this a very worthy effort, and for those who are either in it and haven't recognised yet it, or for those who will never see its world firsthand, Sherrybaby is for you.

Photo: Vancouver Walkabout

I was on a walkabout in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. I was supposed to meet up with a buddy, but I missed him and we ended up both going individually. It was kind of an inopportune day, cold and rainy, but it was an interesting personal experience. Me, the camera, and an entire massive city. I was alone in the masses -- kind of a weird, but not unpleasant, experience.

Glocalisation: This first shot could have been taken just about anywhere in the world. To me the context of the shot (urban shopping establishment) isn't at all important to the outcome of the photograph. I shot wide open with my 50mm f/1.7 lens -- though the focus falloff isn't entirely obvious at this size, it's pretty remarkable at desktop size or bigger.


2 Seconds on the Tracks: This was taken out of the front of a rainy Skytrain windshield. It's a 2 second exposure, hence the name. I love the motion in it, but also you can tell the focus is sharp on the track because of the fine streak marks there.


Seclusion: I liked the way the dark, curved arch intersects the bright, straight lines of the window, especially adding dark to the higher part of the frame, which is somehow unexpected. I like the contrasts -- I took several of this, and I think I like this one the best.

Cool Beans!

I gotta share something I just heard that's got me entirely jazzed. This American Life is probably my favourite radio show of all time. I've followed it online for a few years now. I just love the stories they find, and how they chase them down. If you've been reading LM at all, you know how much I value the honest pursuit of truth, and I really feel like the creators of this show espouse those ideals, even if I don't always agree with where they end up.

Anyway, preamble over, they're now announcing a TV documentary! I can't wait to see what they do with this concept visually. Apparently there already 6 episodes -- collect them all!

Photo: B-Roll From a Weekend Event

I'm getting used to my new camera (Pentax K10D). I was at a work-related event this weekend, and amongst several work-related shots, I got this one. It's cool to see the special effort put in by people to make the details work. And so often they are just taken for granted. A heartfelt thank you to all the unsung, behind-the-scenes heroes in my life, wherever you are.

What does Evangelical Mean?

This question was asked in an online forum amongst a bunch of evangelical pastors. It got one answer -- a cut and paste from a wiki. And that's it. We're living in such a weird time where the buzzwords get bandied about so readily, with so many interpretations, that they have no real meaning left. Or at least that's my take. :-)

A Radical Church that Isn't

What does church look like? That's a question that's been asked for, oh, 2,000 years or so. And we've seen some pretty cool, and some pretty horrific answers. Now they're naming an entire movement out of the question. I want to offer all sorts of caveats and preamble before the following statement, but I won't: I love it!

The emerging church is a movement (or conversation) that been happening for the last decade-and-a-half, and it's entire reason for existing is trying to get the church to ask itself hard questions. I mean, they shouldn't be hard. They should be easy, at everyone's fingertips, given eagerly and candidly at every opportunity. But somehow it remains challenging, even for a social critic like me.

Photo: Droplet

Camera: Pentax *ist DL
Lens: Sigma 70-300mm (at 300mm on macro)
Shutterspeed: 1/180s
Aperture: f5.6
Flash deployed at minimum flash compensation (-2 stops).

Without a digital camera I would never had attempted a shoot like this. I got a tap dripping steadily, and then fired at it using the on-camera flash to freeze the motion. I got literally 30 pictures of absolutely nothing, having fired just before or just after the drop fell. But I got a whole bunch of variations of the tiny splash too. There is infinite mystery in something so deceptively trivial. I love the camera for teaching me that!

My Kind of Bumper Sticker Theology

When God locks a door, He breaks a window.

A Fear Worth Hoping For

I live in a truly fascinating context. I'm surrounded by leaders. Most of them are a of a 'certain age', and by that I mean usually baby boomers. But they are facing tension-paradoxes themselves. They want to be modern in a postmodern world (or vice versa). They want to be relevant while remaining true to their roots. They want to be hip, fresh, cool, and all sorts of other terms best associated with world-famous cola. But I wonder if they recognise how much courage it takes to get there.

When I propose an idea, the reluctance I get is not from fear of inertia or backlash. No rather there's a real drive to change, to improve, to progress. And that's widely shared. Any reluctance simply comes from some unquestioned assumptions. For example we're changing the look of our quarterly publication. It won't look like a newsletter anymore -- it's a cross between a magazine and an annual report. But there's a degree of fear that goes with that because it's not as definable. My assertion is that we get to play Adam, and define such an animal the way we want to. It's defined by its purpose first, and how it looks second. And that goes for every part of the world.

I think our generation has benefited from getting used to computers at an early age. We are familiar with making sweeping changes on the fly, and if they don't work, there's always an undo button. Perhaps this is going to be the direction that culture moves quickly, in a wild cacophony of ideas. And when the next generation ascends to leadership, maybe they'll get me questioning a whole bunch of my own assumptions. That's a fear worth hoping for!