gavoweb

spiritual | cultural | technological life

Personal

Fairwell Father Matthew Kelty

By

Saddened to hear of the passing of Father Matthew Kelty, one of the monks of Abbey of Gethsemani. He was a real treat to those of us who visited the monastery because often he would spend evenings with guests doing homilies, reading stories, poetry, and other conversations. They even video taped some of his talks for a dvd because so many people appreciated those times so much and yearned for a little more.

The community of Gethsemani is saddened today by the loss of its eldest member. Fr. Matthew Kelty died after a brief illness. He spent the morning talking with community members who dropped in to see him. He was lucid and interested up to the last. He passed away during a nap, near noon. Several community members, including Abbot Elias, were with him when he died.

Fr. Matthew was one of the community’s most prominent members, who touched many retreatants over the years with his compline talks, and many more people around the world with his writings.

I have some great memories of times at Abbey of Gethsemani on retreat and look forward to some more in the future. It will be a little different knowing that one of the keystones of the monastery for us visitors is no longer with us in physical presence gracing prayer times, but part of the cloud of witnesses that surrounds the hills of Kentucky.

thanks Lilly for the news. Some of my photos from a retreat a number of years back

What does Julia Roberts Have to Do with Raising My Kid?

By

**This was highlighted in last month’s reflection newsletter. Sign up to get upcoming months.

I’ve been thinking

Lately I’ve been feeling totally consumed in raising our son Brooks. He’s hit that 16 month mark now and is into all kinds of things, completely responsive to interactions, saying a number of words and laughing a ton. It is more of a work out chasing the lil’ man around the house, but I’ll definitely take it.

In the midst of this fun Erin & I have talked up what are the hopes & dreams we have for him and some of the aspirations we seek to instill in him. Some big questions to ponder

So then I travel back in time to 1990 to a scene of Julia Roberts & Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, maybe you remember it.

Roberts: You don’t actually have a billion dollars, huh?
Gere: No. I get some of it from banks, investors… it’s not an easy thing to do.
Roberts: And you don’t make anything…
Gere: No.
Roberts: … and you don’t build anything.
Gere: No.
Roberts: So whadda ya do with the companies once you buy ’em?
Gere: I sell them.

So this wasn’t one of the talks surrounding sex in the movie.. It’s about business, but more importantly, about the creating and there is a grand soul to creating.

If you remember the scene, or go watch it again, Roberts character puts on this innocent face that looks at Gere’s character with a puzzled, “but why?” Why doesn’t he make something? To her, in her childish innocence to business, creating something is the ultimate goal & endeavor.

I love the creation story found in the book of Genesis. Many folks read it & take some literal reading to and move on. But how cool to think about this being ‘the beginning’ of a story of people in a relationship with God. But in “Pretty Woman” ideas, God spends a lot of time imagining and creating. Really like to that we were created in his image, an image that can imagine & create. We are like that, we can do it.

I hope to raise a son that is not afraid to imagine and to create. So many of us give up our creative selves to critics or forms that define what good art or a good idea is. My hope for Brooks is that whether it is music, art, design, community building, faith, mission, management, whatever it is he does he is confident in self to creatively make and approach all situations. Hope I am able to un-build myself to live that way as well & maybe that will help.

Gere’s character, in his transformation during Pretty Woman, makes his big step when he breaks from his business model to state with the old business ower, ‘We are going to make something.’ Does not matter what it is, but he knows it saves him to re-associate with his creative soul.

How do we get there?

I really do not know. But I’m trying some things out and getting inspired by a few people. Some of you might have seen Sir Ken Robinson give his TED Talk, it has gotten its share of views. He challenges the killing machine that is the education system. His talk is 20 minutes that has change my approach to ministry and teaching. There is a new endeavor that he’s a part of that has some great videos with a like minded message.

shalom
-gavin

Evening with the Oak Ridge Boys

By

When I moved to Nashville there was some knowledge that country music resided here, but coming out of the Philadelphia area of New Jersey there wasn’t much country music in my background. So the run ins with an Alan Jackson, Brooks or Dunn (still not sure it was), and a few others I was told were country stars which was news to me has always been odd to me.

When starting work at Hendersonville First I got to know the Sterban family. Lauren was an older youth and had plugged into the theater happenings more than the youth group, but she was around a bunch & eventually came back as young adult to volunteer in ministry. Tori, the youngest started out in VBS with me. She always gave me this look of “really” and “I can’t believe I’m associating with you” which I always thought was cute. Many times I probably deserved those looks. Turns out their dad is Rich Sterban, the bass voice to the Oak Ridge Boys, who knew.. I certainly didn’t for the longest time.

Anyways, Donna, Rich’s wife, was super generous & invited us to the Christmas tour concert of the Oak Ridge Boys in Nashville. I still don’t know all the ORB’s songs, but I’m learning. A favorite moment was seeing the girls & some of the Sterban grandkids on stage at the end of ‘Thank God for Kids.’

Titans Win!

By

Pretty stoked to actually brave some of the cold and catch the Titans actually win a game. They’d been on a 9 game loosing streak, which even though it was a win, probably led this game to be Jeff Fisher’s last home game as Titans head coach. I just don’t see him coming back. Now let’s hope my fantasy team falls in line to bring me a win. Otherwise I’m giving the lone team without a win its first win.. Not acceptable.

It has been nice to be able to accept tickets to the Titans games this season. Usually I’ve only been able to take the offers for preseason HOT or late in the season Thursday night games COLD. It has been a good family time for Erin & myself to get away for a few hours. Not something available to us during the weekends prior.

The photo is of Chris Johnson breaking a long run to set up the lone touchdown of the 3rd quarter. More photos on my flickr pages.

@samdavidson on One Thing I don’t need

By

Sam Davidson & his wife Lynnette have been good friends of mine for almost a decade. In what started out as a coffee house conversation on church & ministry has led to family traditions, ministry sharing, taking on the world, & now building a business. So when Sam offered to share what I didn’t need in my life, as part of his book on 50 Things Your Life Doesn’t Need, I was in.

For those not familiar with Sam, he’s a is a writer, entrepreneur, and dreamer who believes that the world needs more passionate people. To help people find and live their passion. He is the co-founder of Cool People Care and now Proof Branding, and lives in Nashville with Lynnette and daughter Lindley (who is just the cutest thing ever).

So what don’t I need?

One Thing Gavin Richardson Doesn’t Need: Pointless Technology

If you’ve read Gavin’s blog – or spent any time with him in the last half-decade – you’ll know that he stays up on current trends and toys in the technological realm. But what’s really refreshing about him is that he’s always searching for a focus, for the “so what” behind all of our newfangled advancements.

This was confirmed for me as he and I recently led a workshop together for church leaders. We discussed social media and online marketing for congregations. Gavin didn’t simply wade through what’s available when it comes to platforms and tools; he made sure to stress the need to use these features to build community, do justice, and accomplish something worthwhile.

I think the same is true when it comes to finding and living our passion. We’ve got to have a “so what” moment.

I firmly believe the world needs more passionate people. This is why I wrote 50 Things Your Life Doesn’t Need. It’s a guide – a field manual of sorts – to getting rid of what doesn’t matter so you can focus on what does.

But when you find your passion, make sure to ask yourself why it is you’re passionate. You like music? Love art or sports? Crazy about a certain author or food? Big deal. Keep digging deeper to find out what it means.

Passions are good, but using them to accomplish something meaningful is great.

Other things (actually in the book) that Gavin Richardson doesn’t need:
#13 – Unpassionate activism
#22 – Analog versions of digital stuff
#28 – Gadgets that only do one thing
#34 – Shiny tennis shoes

The shoes is a really funny one!.. I do like my thank you cards. Still figuring out #13..