“… Be present especially with the young who must choose between many voices. Help them to know how much an old world needs their youth and gladness. Help them to know that there are words of truth an healing that will never be spoken unless they speak them, and deeds of compassion and courage that will never be done unless they do them. Help them never to mistake success for victory or failure for defeat. Grant that they may never be entirely content with whatever bounty the world may bestow upon them, but that they may know at last that they were created not for happiness but for joy, and that joy is to him alone who, sometimes with tears in his eyes, commits himself in love to thee and his brothers. Lead them and all thy world ever deeper into the knowledge that finally all men are one and that there can really be joy any until there is joy for all. In Christ’s name we ask it and for his sake. Amen”-Frederick Beuchner, The Hungering Dark, page 33
Books
@stickysheep : new venture from the brilliant mind of @johnwellis & myself
john ellis and i started hanging out about two years ago and chatting on all things business, church, marketing, web, technology, family and more. eventually some of our thoughts and conversations about the business church marketing technology stuff had us thinking, "we need to write this stuff down. there might be two or three people who want to hear this." so we started writing a book (scary i know). as we are developing the book we have gone and launched "sticky sheep" our concepts home portal. so if you are interested in some of the new ventures of me and/or want to get a glimpse of this collision of business and church then subscribe. i plan on doing a weekly wrap up, such as this, of what have been my musings over there as well.
this week in sticky sheep
- sticky paper is great, but it's getting seen that is the stickiest
- giving up control to the freshman team sticks
- what is the best ever social media campaign
you can also check us out on facebook & twitter of course.
“As I Grow Older” : on with my dream
recently in my change of life i wandered to a different part of the book store, leaving the religion section behind this time. i bought a poetry collection of langston hughes. hughes i remember from my college studies as he was one writer that "i got".. (even though i'm not black or at any level oppressed.) i loved his jazz feel to his poetry & never felt it was trying to impress me with overthought just honest reflection and emotion.. maybe i'm feeling down now and a bit beaten so it works for me. today i'm sharing this poem from hughes call "as i grow older." i know contextually we're not in the same place, but it feels the same.. that's the beauty of art.
As I Grow Older
It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun–
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my
dream.
Rose until it touched the sky–
The wall.
Shadow.
I
am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my
dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the
shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find
my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To
break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand
whirling dreams
Of sun!
chris brogan & trust agents : stories & philosophy of social media
today i spent my morning (and greater part of the rest of the day) with chris brogan. if you do not know who chris is, my quick description would be that he is the mayor of twitter & one of the most recognized people in the world of social media 'who gets it.' i stumbled across his blog some years ago and have been a constant reader since, many times sharing his postings via google reader or twitter. he's good stuff. so good, i even payed a decent penny to attending this sucker.
anyways, he has a new book out called 'trust agents' and was in nashville as per a promise in a psuedo book tour live web event. a crew of local tech geeks & other business types showed up to hear from the guru for a special 1 hour pre-web conversation with chris & then got to be front and center for the rest of the web event (which was an interesting thing to be a part of).
here is the footage i took from that 1st hour with chris. its on my mini tripod, so the angle is something you might have to get used to, but its doable. with that said, he's tall, but not nearly as gigantic as he looks in video.
Chris Brogan : Trust Agents conversation : Nashville 2009 from Gavin Richardson on Vimeo.
you can follow the twitter stream of thoughts and conversation by visiting #cbnash at twitter search. check in next week for some expanded thoughts off some of the footage i have from his live web session.
Your Jesus is too Safe : Jared C Wilson names ’em for Us
i've known jared c wilson for around 3 or so years now via the blogosphere and the nashville faith communities. corresponding over the blog postings & lately over twitter. so when he asked about reviewing his upcoming book "your Jesus is too safe" as part of a greater blog tour, i was quite honored to jump into it.
to be honest, i wasn't quite sure what to think of "your Jesus is too safe" before i opened up the book. so much is written about Christ you wonder what else there is to say some days. it did not take long for me to really get into the concept of the book. jared owns up to the many faces/ideas/concept/perceptions of Jesus that pervade our culture & theology today. granted, not all Jesus's i was familiar with, but hippie Jesus & 'get out of hell free' Jesus i've come across before. and as a youth pastor for so many years its been hard to break people out of those simple/cliche caged mindsets… and that was just the introduction
so diving into the book i found the greatest gift for where i am today in spiritual formation & teaching. jared really goes through and names, and claims, many of the personifications of Christ that we know & feel about this man, but we have not the reflection or words to say often enough. it was also a great gift to look over the whole book and say, 'here is why Christ is so complex' in that he has so many dimensions to his being. in my own self, and my observations of others, many times we cannot sufficiently express what we feel in emotionally or spiritually. whatever the reason, hyper technology, over programmed life, lack of vocabulary, etc. its a gift when we can 'name' for ourselves (or have help from others) in expressing the richness that is bound within us. so, in my humble opinion, jared has done a great gift in reflecting upon the many depths of a Christ many of us know.
not being an academic, i can appreciate not feeling like i have to translate every word/phrasing or looking up historic accounts that are code words for the academy. in my world, those things have little meaning except to establish some heirarchy system. so, in personal reading preference, i appreciate "your Jesus is too safe" being a thorough book in exploration & having some real connections to history & theological discourse, but not being presented in an academy format. i'm just not smart enough for that.
in strange observation notes. i carried this book with me for much of the summer to youth events and personal retreats/vacations and the book with title and cover always seem to get some interesting reviews and commentary. 'what is that about?' 'what kind of Jesus are they talking about?' which would start some conversations over the Jesus i am naming for myself, and how i've found patterns in my life in pilgrimage for Chris. those times, are priceless. which would inevitably lead to the last question 'can i borrow that copy when you are done with it?'