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Poetry

Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl

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Was given a preview copy of “Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl” which I had never heard of before. It was a dvd series which made the consumption of it a little more palatable than a book review, being honest here I keep falling asleep when reading, call it a two year old joy/disease. N.D. Wilson isn’t someone who was on my radar till now, so I had no clue what to expect. So here is a bit of my experience with “Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl.”

  • The cinematography of the whole thing is quite good. If you watch it beginning to end as a I did you might pick up on some of the similar looped videos from chapter/segment to segment but as someone who has produced and edited a video 1. I see that stuff easily 2. I forgive that stuff as long as it isn’t overwhelming. The audio is equally good. This makes for an enjoyable watching experience if nothing else.
  • Wilson (sorry, just can’t do the referencing as N.D.) is fusing together a whole lot of philosophy, science and religion. I immediately thought of Rob Bell in this way of teaching. These are not Nooma videos, but I did think of that to. The videos speed through through Wilson’s thoughts so I’m sure I missed a thing of two, which will probably be most people’s experience. But there always was some takeaway idea that I heard in there.
  • Wilson also has some video that are poetry mixed to a video element. Watching the whole thing through those took me a minute to realize that is what this segment was, but I actually would skip back at that point to listen/watch again. Poetry is really cool when read by the authors, you get some of their original emotion & intent when you can experience that. As an art fanboy I was in to those segments.
  • Wilson grew on me. I was skeptical of the whole thing at first. In part because I wasn’t familiar with him or this at all. Towards the middle to end of the whole thing I found myself in the rhythm of him and a bit about his message. Seems like a pretty cool guy I wouldn’t mind having a drink with.
  • I imagine everything through the lens of “Is this a teachable element for youth?” For the sake of this being video and the whole collision of philosophy, science & religion it’d be a great discussion starter for the guys. Not sure the girls would get into it as much, but maybe. I haven’t done any control and test groups there, just my suspicion. All our kids are in some level of educational science and that is part of what they wrestle with in their spiritual formation. Not sure the level of philosophy for a middle schooler..
  • Wilson’s theology I wouldn’t necessarily agree with in all points. The core stuff seemed to be there, the more nuanced things I might switch up. A few times I had that feeling, “I’m not sure why, but that just doesn’t jive.” It is more of an apologetics type creation so that is probably where a little bit of that comes from.
  • There is a study guide, if you want to teach into this. I didn’t go there as of yet, so I have not perused it as of yet.
  • Will I go through this myself with my teenagers? It is possible. We have our outlines and things set for the foreseeable future at the moment so it probably won’t happen soon, but it could make an appearance. I think if nothing else it would be a good discussion starter for many of my teens to give words to their own faith. That would be what we would use it for.

 

ReDiscover Wonder

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I am constantly amazed by the human imaginative capacity. It really is remarkable. I’m floored almost equally how we squash that imagination capacity for those things are ‘real’ ‘achievable’ ‘sustainable’ ‘practical’ and so on. Why?

What I find captivating in this is not just the art creations, those are unbelievably remarkable. But that it took some crisis to have to challenge the norm to go deeper into the self and reflect upon the world to imagine a whole new way. Once that way was visualize it was then another endeavor to make something that had never before been seen or done become a something.

Do we give ourselves a chance to imagine what is before us and what can be? If we don’t, and do not care either, do the rest of society a favor and just get out of the way of those who do. Those are the people who will creatively re-imagine the many practical and sustainable systems that are no longer practical or sustainable. We need to rediscover wonder again..

Fairwell Father Matthew Kelty

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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

Waking Up Our Young People

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Ken Robinson first caught my radar some years back when TED started putting their talks online. Mitch Joel suggested Ken’s talk. I’ve used his talk in many teaching environments for youth, adults & other educations.

This RSA video is a great fusion of the visual with the oratory. It is also a different talk than what Ken gave at his TED talk, which was great to digest. The video is just over 10 mins long, but totally worth it!

Definite tip of the hat for this video to Mark Riddle.

How are we engaging the soulful creative character that is within the young people? It appears we are not doing it very well.