Welcome To Looking For The Long Ride
http://blog.lookingforthelongride.com
Terry Henry's Blog
One of my happiest times is with my wife in Brookgreen Gardens at Murrells Inlet, SC. This is me last year. I am in still in process. Visit my website at: Looking For The Long Ride
Also: Reluctant Servant
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I think of the song that we used to sing, "Give thanks with a grateful heart" and wonder if this is not what the author meant. The moments we spend around a dining room table in conversation and the encouragement we feel upon leaving—which in and of itself brings to mind another sermon I once heard about putting courage into one another.
Many of our poems are written on our hearts and whether we are aware of them or not they help smooth some of the rough spots we sometimes find ourselves in.
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Thanks Terry and Carey for gentle poetry to wash these tired eyes.
And the encouragement to recognize the moment for what is, rich and full...there is a holiness there from God which brings reverence welling up within.
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My point exactly..bravo.
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All our life,
we slept beneath a patchwork quilt
upon the cozy life we’d built.
Three children
made our patchwork warm,
but also frayed, sometimes torn.
Later on,when
they had moved across the mountains’ rolling green,
beyond the blue sky and the dream,
we washed the old quilt, made it clean.
We threw
it o’er the line to dry;
It flapped and snapped a sad goodbye.
Then we laid it on the bed again,
where we dream about them now and then.
C
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Thanks. I don't think I did the subject much justice however. My frustration lays in the fact that people seem to believe that we are making headway by having a women or an African American participate in a presidential primary process. I think that is great but the point still remains that that, in and of itself, is not going to fix anything.
What we need is a radical shift in thinking. We need national goals and MO's that we can all get behind. And this is making the assumption that our world is not going to overheat in the near future and burn us all up.
It is the balance of power between free will and puppets on a string—we need to live our lives as if what we do on an individual basis makes a difference. If one or two companies control our corn and the rest of what we eat and centralized farming, etc. continues, then any natural disaster is going to throw the rest of the equation out of kilter.
Dylan also said in the late 60's: You have thrown the worst fear that can ever be hurled, the fear to bring children into this world.
In these uncertain times, we need to have our focus on spiritual things, not things on earth. And that is certainly a challenge for me but one that I know I need to take.
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This observation that you wrote is the crux of the matter: "... we have become used to having most anything that we have desired and this has brought us to a time in history where our options are about to be defined for us rather than us setting our own course."
This condition is what our parent's generation called "spoiled."
It's a hard, hard, hard rain's a gonna fall.
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this line pretty much says it all, this is where true unity will come...my prayer for the universal church is just that...transparency...we can talk it, but more is required than that..we must 'do'it...good stuff..."When a group of people trust God and one another enough to be transparent and real, healing will take place, love will happen and change will not be something we avoid but rather embrace."
melody
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I see the essence of what we have sought all these years in this sentence which you have written: "When a group of people trust God and one another enough to be transparent and real, healing will take place, love will happen and change will not be something we avoid but rather embrace."
Yes, we have sought that. In some ways, we approach its fulfillment. In other ways, we have fallen short. But I can tell you this: the Kingdom that Christ hath founded is much greater than that. You and I could go today to Tanzania, or China, or Ecuador, or Romania, or Myrtle Beach, or most any place on earth, and we would find there believers in the Lord Jesus whose faith originated with those first seeds sown by Peter, Paul, etc. This thing is far, far bigger than what happens between "two or more of you." He also manifests wherever "two or more (hundreds, thousands, millions)agree. The Kingdom of God is destined to occupy all the earth.
What you have observed about the cell(group) is also true of the entire organism (Body of Christ) and is much more awesome that we can comprehend.
C
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I'm glad we're on the ride together!
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That's the Spirit! Stretch those wings.
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Oh yeah!
Taste and see...
the Lord is good!
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I look forward to the more that is to come.
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Thanks for the update. Flying lifts one above the dust and soot close to the earth. Enjoy the fresh air!!
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We're awaiting the "more to come," but hey, take your time. We know you're gardening heavily in the spring.
C
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It would be interesting to here what you have to say. I myself have not delved into much discussion around the book but have downloaded a few pod casts from thegodjourney.com hosted by one of the writers of the Shack and also the Jake Book (So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore).
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I read "The Shack" in July last year. It had an enormous impact. I am familiar with the background to the book and it has been exciting to see how it has developed.
I walked away from Sunday school when I was 14 because of what I saw as the ridiculous teaching of the trinity. I have never doubted the existence of God but until now (57 years later) I've never had a faith to share.
I've had the chance to read the reactions of hundreds of people to the book (both positive and negative).
I would appreciate the opportunity of sharing thoughts with anyone who might be interested.
Pete
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Wit and wonder are apt and well worth contending for any day.
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Good stuff Terry. I am an enormous fan of "The Shack". I do not recall ever reading another book that so aptly illustrated the wit and wonder of my journey with God. I barely made it through a couple of pages without tears streaming down my cheeks. It is wonderful to just rest in relationship and enjoy the long ride.
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Just after I posted my first comment, Freida and I left for a day trip to Asheville. Have just returned home and it is much past your departure time. Thanks and maybe next time.
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I am leaving here at 4 today for music sound check at 5. Meeting is at 6:30. You are welcome to come.
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I rejoice, as well. The tone and content here resonate with me deeply. I want to go to a mmeting with your farmer friend, Alan. Let us know when you are making the trip. As I have pondered the responsibility of someone at the front, I have imagined it would be most fruitful when, "...he is much like a conductor in his approach to seeing a group of people come together and get something out of it."
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I rejoice with you in hearing about all of these developments, except maybe the stuck-in-traffic predicament, although you seem to have made your peace with that one as well. It all comes down to abounding in God's grace every minute of every day, regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes, I believe, the character of Christ in us is seen by others more in our tribulations than in our prosperities. That is why the Gospel is the most potent message on earth. Even crucifixion cannot kill it!
I especially like this part of what you wrote: "Miracles of all kinds are all around us, we just have to have eyes to see them for them to become a reality in our time and space."
Thanks for the update. Your testimonies inspire us. May the Lord be with you.
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Thanks man...I needed that. I can remember getting into some "heavenly realm" stuff with you as we practiced music for this or that event—in the past yes, but duly noted as a footnote for today.
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Wow!
If you were "stuck" before, you certainly are not stuck now. Your wife is, as usual, right. The preoccupation with "past" is a characteristic that we have noticed over the years, but it is, if it is not allowed to fall into to obsession, the very basis of what you so-accurately call "using the past as a literary vehicle to move into and explain today and the future." What you are doing now is the stuff of blogging greatness. Our generation awaits your perspective. Write on!
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Well said, world traveler. It is indeed amazing to have lived through all that stuff and the perspective we have have gained. He has never left us or forsaken us, that is one thing we can be sure of. And the music continues to lead us.
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As Uncle Walt Cronkite might say, "That's the way it was..." although I only heard about it later through a few spoken words and vibes that traveled across the continent, but mostly from the pages of Life magazine. That little acre or two adjoining the panhandle park certainly captured the imagination of a generation. Thanks for the memory, especially since it was an eyewitness report. But here's the straight scoop: our generation of dreamers were trying to find heaven on earth; I was among them in "spirtit"; you were among them in body and spirit. Thank God our paths later converged under the influence of, not lysergics and cannabis, but the awesome power of a Holy Spirit who showed by the Son the true path of enlightenment and brotherhood. Praise Jesus! the original flower child, non-violent countercultural hero, Prince of Peace and Love, man.
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I do remember that "jam session". I also remember putting your speakers in the front window and turning the Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore concert all the way up—I don't think we stopped any traffic but did have a good time in the front yard.
I went to the Newport Jazz Festival in 1971 in order to see Miles and that was the year that the crowd broke down the fence and tore the place up and George Wein cancelled it. We were able to pick up Muddy Waters in Boston and Charlie Mingus in New York on the way back (the long way) to Port Huron but I never did get to see Miles. I am glad that you did.
I also remember a brother playing "air drums" to "in a gada da vida" in that white-carpet living room as well. I think he go pretty good at them too.
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Where has the time gone?I'm sitting here writing and listening to the best of the James Gang and remembering the family that I have ignored for way to long.I remember an older brother that I shared a bottle of Galiano with listening to Miles Davis "Bitches Brew" I don't know if I erver told him,but I finaaly saw him in 1988 and I probably cried thru the whole concert,it was that emotional.It brouht back memories of Mom and Dad.Reading what you wrote it reminded me of a jam session inthe living room with a teenage boy and his audio toys and recording his brother and friends.What ever happened to that tape? My ride has not always been a good one,but I have had the love of a woman who has stayed with me for good or bad.there's a lot more that I could write,but that will be for another time.I'll just end this with I love my family,I've always had a hard time showing it.
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I was a free man in Paris, I felt unfettered and alive.
Stay the course, have a little wine for your stomach, and take it easy.
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Pat told me last night that I ought to blog, but I just like responding to others', especially yours, which always strikes my heart strings.
1. Don't know who Kevin is, but hope to sing the song with ya sometime. What we do in real space and time is reaally the best "love of music." You know, Eliezar etc.
2. Here's something very current for us because it's a thought I had yesterday. It's off topic, but I know you don't mind. We were walking through the old building, the Capitol of British Columbia, yesterday. In a long hallway, posted on the walls, were pictures of their governors/premieres since the early 1800s. I looked at the every picture, every face from way back in the past over 150 years ago until the present. And I noticed this: EVERY man's face was stern and serious prior to the the 1940s. The two men who were pictured as premieres in the 40s had an almost perceptible (perhaps I imagined) smile. Then, from the 1950's onward till now, every man's (and one woman) face had a big, slappin' smile! I walked away wondering: Why is that? Did people get happier in the 1950's? Or maybe it was the Nazis had been defeated? Or perhaps at last the human race (or Homo North Americus) had progressed beyond mere survival mode, into the modern existence of comforts, cars, and carefree leisure with the Price Is Right and American Idol? Go figure.
Oh, and btw, our soundtrack is, I suppose, the occasional streetsingers, and the birds finding their voices amidst this Pacific Coast spring, and the heavenly songs in our heads. . ."You are my light and my salvation." C Am F G
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It appears that you and Pat are in the middle of writing your own soundtrack. My current soundtrack comes from a conference I saw on DVD where Kevin Prosch sang: "You are my light and my salvation, Whom shall I fear. You are the stronghold of my life, Whom shall I fear!" I re-created it in C, G, Am and F and it can go on for a long time. Keep safe.
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The line I remember most from that Sly song is: "I'm gonna add a little guitar to make it easy to move your feet..." Then the guitar with the little riff...diddle didddle diddd....
But I'm also appreciating the one about the guy on the Boston subway. I listened to the song many times, not from the Kingston Trio, but from the lips and fingers of my old friend Larry Cassanova, buddy at LSU in early 70s. What I DO remember from the Kingston Trio was "Greenfields..." "Once there were green fields, kissed by the sun. Once there were valleys, where rivers used to run..." I guess they were "green" before most others were. They also did the Tom Dooley song, about an event that happened, sadly enough, just a few miles from our North Carolina home. Any way all of that is thousands of miles away now, since I post this from the cool mists of Victoria, British Columbia, where Pat and I have taken a detour from our roots back east. It's nice to have a change of scenery now an then and while I'm at it have to namedrop this...visited the original Starbucks in Seattle, and a few days before that walked right past the City Lights bookstore in SF, didn't even go in, because looking back on that long ride ago something terribly wrong started there. I'm glad our paths were later diverted to Jesus but I suppose it's all part of the long ride, and now that I know how it will end up with the King of Kings, I've got to rejoice. Pardon me while I rejoice in Him, or pardon me while I kiss the Sky? Thanks for sharing your ride and thanks for offering us commentors the opportunity to add a little bit about our long ride too. Catch ya on the flipflop goodbuddy
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You are welcome...thanks for dropping by. It is always nice to hear from someone off the regular path that I travel. I certainly remember several times getting together with friends and turning the music all the way up and fully enjoying Sly. My memory is that his band had a lot more going for it musically than many give him credit for—in terms of sound layering and catching that jazzy R & B type rhythm...almost psychedelic in fact before anybody knew what that was. I know that Miles Davis took off on some of his stuff as well.
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Thanks for mentioing Sly and the the Family Stone's "Dance to the Music" in your piece. I couldn't think of a better song to have in the background as I move through life. Sly had a trememdous impact on music and society. I write about this and more in my book about Sly. Check it out at http://www.lulu.com/content/1412956
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Being prudent is not about storing up treasure that will be burned up and has our heart captive. I am beginning to think that this is a period of "creative challenge" that we are entering into...a period where our faith will go deeper in an around the things that we do.
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...don't think about it as being worried about tomorrow's meal. It is prudent management of God's money. Keeping stored food on some shelves as a hedge against hunger is a foolish lack of faith, yes. Being able to lay out a table full of food for someone or many someones who are hungry is an act of love. Joseph was used by God to store seven years worth of food for an entire nation.
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The world system organized as it is around greed has always been unstable if you took the time to scratch the surface. It appears the need to scratch to look has long past.
Steve,you mention storing food...hmmmm. Yup, we're still eating wheat grown in 1999. (Carey, the electric grinder was worth it!) According to what we read back then, wheat kept dry and safe from hungry pests with six legs or those with long tails keeps twenty years or more without any other means of extension. Canned meat keeps for years, much longer than veggies. Food stuffs that have the nutrition removed keep long periods of time as well. White rice instead of brown and white flour instead of whole wheat. But who wants less nutrition? And of course, dry beans keep years and are nutritious. A good pressure cooker turns the preparation of these into a matter of minutes instead of hours of soaking before hours of boiling.
Buying oatmeal and brown rice in small bulk amounts makes sense. Brown rice lasts about six months and oatmeal a year. The benefits are reduced cost, high in nutrition and fiber, and there is some amount of supply on hand except when you are near the bottom of the last order. You just have to be disciplined about eating these regularly to prevent loss due to spoilage. Of course, as long as there is electricity, when frozen these two last much longer.
Always buy multiples of items on sale that have a shelf life of a year or two.
Keep these products rotated and you always have a supply of something. Oh, and buy toilet paper by the case. It is much cheaper that way and good to have on hand! (snicker)
I determined a while back that even though Y2K turned out flat compared to the hype, we learned many good lessons from the experience. I even think our attitudes about community have been shaped for the better.
Next, I want to develop a way to catch and hold rain water, at least for watering my flowers and tomatoes without paying the town of Boone. Do any of you know how to proceed on that one? An easy to understand book maybe.
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We've got several buckets of it left as well—never been opened and I think I know where the hand grinder is also. We have an attachment for our juicer that will grind wheat up pretty fine and have used that. I even have two cans of garden seeds left that are nitrogen packed—cool, eh!
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Ha, ha, Tonto.
See if you can believe this: We've still got 20 gallons of red wheat left over from Y2K! It was packed in nitrogen. I checked one bucket recently and it's still good as new.
We went back to buying wheat from the store when our "Y2K" hand-grinder broke. I was too lazy to keep grinding, and we didn't want to shell out the $ for an electric one. So we quit grinding, and the stuff has been sitting ever since. Must have been about 2002. I told Pat we'd just save it in case Y2K decided to show up late. Maybe you're onto sump'n. I do remember, though, several of us thought the financial meltdown would come in '96, but of course...well, you know.
C
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Who is that masked man living his life out as Carey? That's what I am saying: we need to be on the mark this year and not just a little behind. I need to keep the deer from eating my beans and corn as well.
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If you have a bumper crop of corn or veggies this year maybe I'll buy some from you. And maybe this summer it would be prudent to replace our autos with bicycles?
Carey
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Without too much thought (and admitting that I have given it some thought) I think it will equal out. To be wise as serpents and harmless as doves is what comes to mind. There is no hysteria here: just a well informed decision to increase the size of your pantry. To fellowship more, not less. To build a community that will take care of you if you were in the process of storing up songs instead of food, etc.
Will some of us find bread in the forest as our daily provision—Yes!
We are communicating here because someone, somewhere dug the coal to fuel the furnace that made the electricity that allows us to surf and connect.
But being in the room that has a live piano being played by a live person is so much better than a recording any day.
As I look around me I know that I have accumulated way to much stuff that I have to work hard to keep under a roof to keep it from getting wet and so on.
According to your faith, so be it unto you. Out faith certainly has room to get a few dollars of canned goods every week in order to prepare for the future.
Thanks for stopping by...I am sure that is not all we can say but it is a beginning at least.
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I think you hit it right on the head here. I may need to get some tips from you and DED about how to stock up on stuff. Because I think you're absolutely right.
My one question (not that you have to answer it, but it's in my own mind) is whether or not Jesus' injunction not to worry about what we would eat tomorrow has any impact on this topic.
I'm trying to figure that out...
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Yep, I'm spring-hungry, too.
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Amen.
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My pleasure entirely....it was one of those "moments" that passes to quickly.
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Thanks so much for coming! It was nice to have you there and to know that you enjoyed it.
...you move on to the next song and don't wait around until something from someplace else just happens to show up in front of you...
This is good. I have known too many people (and I was once there, too!) who keep waiting for God to do something or keep waiting for the "next wave", instead of living out what they already have and letting the Spirit move through that.
I have a hunch that if we do what we're saying, we'll find all the fulfillment that we otherwise try to seek.
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The Port Huron Statement was written at the SDS convention in Port Huron on June 15th, 1962. I would have been in the 7th grade and don't remember hearing about it until the late sixties. Tom Hayden was one of the writers and wrote:
We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit...
I did meet John Sinclair however, who was the band manager for the MC5 and the re-organizer of the underground newspaper The Fifth Estate, which is still being published today. He was a part of the White Panther Party and now travels around and of course blogs.
As an afterthought: I seem to remember that the piano in question had ivory keys so there was no black and white as they had yellowed from age.
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isnt it good black and white wood.
please tell us about the Port Huron statement.
C
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Politicians cannot address the sin which plagues humanity. There is no political compromise that will establish truth in the hearts of the general population.
Individuals, on the other hand, submitted to God are able to infuse the moment and the hearts around them with love that brings order to the soul.
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Obama appears to be one of those 20 year candidates. The 40's had Rosevelt, the 60's had Kennedy, the 80's had Regan. Now Obama is on the scene for the "00" decade. It seems that about every 20 years we get someone eloquent and inspirational. For better or worse they change the trajectory of the American political machine. Change is at least a possibility under such circumstances. We certainly are due a bit of motivation after the last 16 years of "bubba" and "w". I find politics to be fascinating - the human experiment still running on...more interconnected now than we have been since the Tower of Babel..
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As in a "pre", "mid" or "post" sense?
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we're in for a rough ride and i don't think politics has much to do with the outcome, but the Lord will see us through.
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His optimism is almost irresistable. Maybe if I was 30 years younger...Certainly more inspiring than Goerge McGovern... Wonder what a meeting between him and Putin would be like, or Kim Jong Il?... I guess that a choice between him and McCain would be a heart vs. head dilemma. Since I'm 56, I suppose I'd go with the head, because the heart is for personal decisions, not political ones involving a commander in chief. These are perilous times. But of course human experience has always been perilous, it's just that now we are so much more capable of annihilating ourselves.{?}
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I am definitely apolitical. The system is more than corrupt; the blind are leading the blind for profit.
I voted in protest last time by writing a candidate that was not on the ballot in NC. Though he was running, he didn't "qualify" in NC. I knew I was voting emotionally, as a reactionary, and with no impact whatsoever. That didn't matter, because I don't believe my vote matters. The system will have its way no matter who is elected. That way is not Christ's way, and it never could be or will be until He returns.
I smile nonetheless and still desire to be a good citizen. I pick up litter and vote.
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Carey: You bring such joy to my life with your friendship and replies. Be doubly blessed my brother.
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1. Your silver thread sews up our joy with patches of God's grace; thus he covers us with his love.
2. It could be that global warming has afforded us special February favors. If so, aren't you glad we moved to the mountains!
C
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I am reminded that unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain. Yet in this statement I don't see that we never pick up a hammer and some nails. And unless the Lord shows us, we can't even see our own hearts or motivations.
Hopefully our ride today will be one of thankfulness and appreciation for His strength made perfect in our weakness—and that what we say and think will truly be how we live out our lives with each other. I do see in this community being built—as you do—an approach being made to create a friendly landing strip for all types of planes.
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Maybe recognizing and honoring such spiritual connectedness is a missing dynamic in much religious rhetoric. It is more than a loss for the whole of the brethren; it is a loss of being brethren and explains why Christendom has allowed itself to become so badly splintered.
What a huge blessing to be in a community of brethren that is beginning to understand such!
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I think it is as you have always thought—we each carry a part of who the other is—in HIM.
In some mysterious way, we each complete a part of who the other is. It definitely transcends what we normally think of what relationship means—it is not sexual but intimate in the same way we are the bride and Jesus is the groom. I don't have any more insight than that tonight. Thanks for the ride.
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I am connected to the way you write about my world. It is hard to describe how your words make me feel...I'm at a loss, but somehow your post capped a "perfect" day for me.
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Carey: It is great having you as a "biking buddy" even though we have never been on two wheels together.
However, I will always remember the trip to DC and how sore my fingers were after playing mandolin to your guitar for hours and hours.
Even though the miles we log together now are more cerebral...I will take what I can get.
Also: I will see what I can do about the "artful" picture.
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You've given us some great imagery, with the writing and the picture. It' funny that those were the days my friend memories are so pleasant, even though they happened in the midst of relatively adverse and uncomfortable circumstances, compared to our warm, convenient environment today. I think your sharing indicates an intrinsically optimistic (faith-anchored)perspective on life. That's what I like about your blog. And you always work it back to the Enjoy your ride!
In that great picture, however, my mind wanders to the background (since I know what is back there) and my imagination wants to see that 3/8" ice on arbutus leaves or juniper, next to artfully arranged stones.
Thanks for the lift.
C
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The one thing that comes to mind as you speak on friendship is the fact that in order to go to higher levels you must be humble. In order to have the confidence in ourselves that we need, we are asked to not think more highly of ourselves than we should.
I other words, friendship to me means being open to discussion but at the same time not waiting for everything to be approved before you move forward.
When various levels of and understanding of authority come into play within a friendship, it has been my experience that complete openness is hard to maintain. As human beings I guess we get to a point where we really don't think we need to hear from a multitude of counselors. Or to let every fact be established out of the mouth of two or three witnesses.
I haven't totally said what I wanted to say, but I hope you get my drift. Thanks for riding with me.
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Friends are what has gotten me through it all. Interestingly enough, friendship is the one human relationship that transcends the usual age, gender, family, race, belief, etc barriers that frame our other relationships (or lack thereof). No greater love has anyone than this - that a man lay his life down for his friends. To think that not only did Jesus establish friendship as the pinnacle of human relationship, but brought us into friendship with God... (methinks it might be time for a bit of contemplation - and perhaps a wee dram of single malt) Cheers to the long ride.
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What would my world be without a Carey to meet me at those places that most people never discover. Thanks and be blessed.
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1. The dream scenario, especially with the most recent installment in which you get to the airport with time to spare, is a picture of God's Grace.
2. As for going to Africa--I can almost assure you, based on what you write--that you will go again one day. As to how that will happen, here are a couple of possibilities:
a. Get Cheap Joe to send you, to develop the markets there. Get Joe to cover your expenses, and then your family springs for their half.
b. Or, Take a look at what Samaritan's Purse has got going there (and it is a lot going on). Maybe they could use some volunteer help in the realm of gardening or graphic arts.
3. "Your young men shall dream dreams..." I guess this means you're still young.
4. I still treasure, and display in my kitchen, the two wooden spoons you gave me the last time you went to Tanzania.
5. Thanks for sharin'.
C
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I would say that the song you are writing with your group of friends (me included) is one of love, hope and understanding. It is my hope that we can begin to hear the song before to long a time has passed and we get to enjoy it for a long, long time.
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Enjoyed reading this, Terry.
It has been colder this winter than any of the last four or five winters it seems. Maybe since back in the nineties? Certainly much colder than last. Except for the lack of moisture, it is winter as I think of it in the mountains.
Have we made the most of life? I have thoughts like that, usually coupled with some reading of Scripture that reminds me my days in this body are a very small and finite number, and I will stand before a holy Father. Praise Jesus for His work on the Cross!
Then I think one either has to see the moment filled with gratefulness and joy over the living of life or be eaten up with fear, ungratefulness and regret. The joy angle is clearly the better view--a long vista of beauty from the top of the ridge, eh?
I really liked your line about every vibration and bump being a poem written just to you. I've stopped blogging for now, but want to keep writing. You inspire me. Thanks!
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I may have misplaced that page somewhere and I will go looking for it...it the meantime I will feed the stove and go watch "House".
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Yes, it is pure joy to live when we are in touch with the one who authored life itself.
The line (or the ride)seems to end somewhere off the page, but it only appears to end because we can't see where. So we should believe that it continues infinitely in space, for we have the testimony of Him who draws it.
Thanks for your thoughts.
C
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Thanks...I miss you as well. There's a lot brewing and hopefully I can keep it on the burner long enough to get to it all.
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Terry.
One of your best blogs ever. Keep it up. I miss you.
C
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I would have to say that a part of the whole dynamic is that Jesus is a friend to us who sticks closer than a brother. If we could but cultivate that sense of presence on a moment by moment level we'd all be better off for sure.
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Ah Alas...the journey we find ourselves on...the journey of friendship, relationship, vulnerability, patience, longsuffering, kindness, and ultimately, love...thus comes joy in the fulfillment of it all. Without friendship we are as a ship sailing alone on a vast ocean...friends, there a good thing :0)
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Thanks yourself....and I didn't mention getting a cigar and lots of other things.
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Terry,
Thanks for stopping in! I'm glad to see you enjoyed yourself.
Have Fun!
Phill Adams
Director of Development
Jungle Jim's International Market, Inc.
Fairfield, Ohio 45014
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That's right...no matter what they do "down" there, we always come back.
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They are linked in the sense that God gave gifts to man without repentance—JM & MD never acknowledged the gift giver for their gift.
What time?
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Amazing! what they've done done down the mountain while we've been up here in the Boonies these last 25 years. Yee haw!
C
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Thank you for that beautiful gift through M. Edwards, although I don't see the relation to Joni M. or M. Davis, since they are in different universes. I don't seem JM or MD as linked to the ONE whom M. Edwards exalts.
In other news, I'll be leading worship this Friday night at Celebrate Recovery, at Alliance, if you care to join us.
Love C
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Yeah...we missed you as well. I guess it really is FATT instead of FAT. I am sure it is not PHAT.
Next time maybe.
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Yeah, I understand the one week we're not able to be there, y'all show up.
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We can live FAT without overeating. Thanks for the Fellowship Around the Table.
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Enjoyed reading this, and I was encouraged to live well and be well today!
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Yes, I do think it! and I love your strong ending on this one, Terry. Your travels always produce very rich, edifying observations. Thanks for sharing.
And we will not let the slobbing of America overtake us!
C
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That is a scenario for sure. Which makes the eating of the fruit even more significant in terms of blaming Eve for enticing him. I know I didn't do the subject justice (I am on the road on a business trip) but there is a lot of food for some great poetic thought. Thanks
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Great post Terry! We know Adam spent time with God in the garden. Perhaps that time was vital to Adam's development as a human being (so that he wasn't created knowing language but learned it in a way similar to how we learn to speak). There's much to think about here.
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It always amuses me that our understanding is line upon line....not one big volcano of information overload. Thanks for being a person with whom I can continue to learn how to love.
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Thanks for sharing the second photograph. So much of human existence seems to be about establishing some sense of permanence, of having made our mark. The truth is we are like flowers, blooming and passing into oblivion.
So what matters about us is obviously the eternity we find in the Father, nothing else. Interesting how your rusting Model T speaks to me of the need to be learning to love and not to bother too much with money.
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Your pictures speak 2000 words, and provide thoughtful incentive to store treasure in heaven.
C
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Thanks for the advice...I am sure that even given my current bent toward cleaning up, there will be plenty to sift through later on. I still have a lot of "cool" stuff.
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Here's what I wrote on your Facebook site: LINK
Good morning, Terry. I read your blog yesterday, about surveying your dad's stuff. I've recently had a similar experience. Just before Christmas, I went back to Louisiana to assist my brother and sisters in ordering my mother's estate. NOw listen to this: Boxes and boxes of memorobilia that extend back into my family history for several generations, I suddenly found very interesting. This was stuff that I had ignored and overlooked for decades. Suddenly, after my mother's death, it all seemed so interesting, especially papers/photos from my grandfather Carey's tenure as Assistant Sec. of State under four Louisiana governors, including Huey Long.
Bottom line: Save anything that will afford your progeny a glimpse into what your life was really about. They may be too busy now to take a look, but the day will come when they will find interest. That day came for me just a few weeks ago.
See ya. Carey
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I have some more loaded on the Facebook site. Feel free to use whatever.
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Gaining ground in some areas and losing it in others...that's what I like about life....always the see-saw and never the same.
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The photos were terrific. Got any you want to give away, that would an interesting canvas?
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...and best wishes to you in all your endeavors in the New Year! It could be worse. You might have a bigger house!! I have never brought my "rat-pack" self into balance with the guy who appreciates clean, simple, useful.
Ah, so be it...
Your aspirations are commendable. I am rooting for you to achieve all your heart desires!
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The ever-present tension that we have in life between passivity and activism (which you have so poignantly described) may best be resolved by the Spirit's leading...in some situations, one way; in other situations, the other way. We believe we will fully understand this paradox when we meet face to face with the One who is the Lion and the Lamb, crucified and yet living within us. Then we shall see clearly, not through the glass darkly.
Thanks for your thoughtful postings.
Carey
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Here's to hoping that we can do more of it in the future.
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It is not our job to make sure that God is represented in a legislative way in the earth—but rather in a relational way.
Amen!! I couldn't have said it better. Have a blessed Christmas, my brother.
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Since writing I have listened to the tribute album several times and am once again impressed by his poetic understanding of life. The video is great. Thanks for stopping by.
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You are so right on, my brother!!
Blessings on you and yours!
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If you would like to watch a music video of Pierce Pettis performing Nod Over Coffee, you can see it my blog. I also posted the full lyrics to the song.
I appreciate you keeping Mark's music alive.
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Same to you my friend....same to you.
Those many years at the prison on Thursday night were "...faith expressing itself through love".
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Let's just believe, as the old carol says in "Jesus, Lord at thy birth." At his birth, he was already Lord. He didn't evolve into that role.
We believe that, and the Spirit of Peace will take care of the rest, which includes defining what Christianity is.
Remember, too, He won't be asking me about what someone else did or believed. Nor will He be asking you about you. He'll be asking you what did Terry believe about that baby in the manger who was later crucified. And he'll ask what did you do with that belief.
Merry Christmas
C
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Although I do watch limited TV, I refuse to subscribe to a cable or satellite service. I am amazed that people pay over $350 per year for TV. If I tried to sell you something for $350 that you knew would only last a year before you had to replace it, you probably wouldn't buy it. With the contractual obligation required by cable and satellite providers, that is essentially what they are doing. Sorry, I can buy much better things with which to entertain myself.
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Thanks, I needed that.
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There is really wisdom in what you speak. Why do we pigeon hole everything and then try and duplicate it as if repetition is the way into the kingdom of God. Not that the wheel has to be re-invented every day (every Sunday) but somehow our patterns have defined us rather than us defining the things around us.
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Dance away, my brother, even as we carry the responsibilities of our given jobs, the "burden" of the love God rests easy upon our souls. We are completed in Him.
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There is a time to laugh at circumstances and continue. There's also a time to weep. There's a time to dance in worship. Blessed are those who mourn. I was moved by the worship video and enjoyed it. I think the only danger (forgive my analytical nature) is thinking worship always looks a certain way.
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Good point...you are not a mind reader. The post was in haste and I probably did not let you in on my thought process which is....
One minute the weight of the world is on that guy and the next moment he is dancing as if in the spirit. It seems all his problems have been washed away.
Reality says they are still there and he will have to deal with them tomorrow or some other time.
Yet at the same time I fully believe that we can walk victoriously in the midst of our enemies.
Maybe it is just that I haven't allowed myself that space in a while and need to find the time (after the catalog goes to the printer) to dance a little myself.
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I think it is easy, but that depends on to what exactly "it" refers!
8^)
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Amen!
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Here here! I'm with ya.
Thought you might like this from Wired. Very funny.
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/commentary/alttext/2006/02/70220
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Yes, it is interesting what comes out in the form of a blog. Mark was much like another "inside/outsider" musician Rich Mullins in the sense that he really kept asking the hard questions and left the scene much to soon. Keith Green also comes to mind. Thanks for your input.
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I guess "being real" means different things to different people. My sense, like yours in a way, is that the cry comes from knowing that life is short and we don't always tell the truth even to ourselves. That we live in a system that doesn't value "biblical reality" but is rather a make it up as you go along culture. I longed to be real with my mother but lived with the frustration while she was alive that she couldn't "go there" for some reason. She wanted a son on her terms and that is pretty much what she got. All the answers I had found in living my life and wanted to share were somehow not within her realm to accept. I am really still working on what "being real" means. Thanks.
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Thanks Terry for this tribute to Mark Heard. My favorite story about Mark Heard is when he got a bunch of musicians together with the instructions to play stupid. As the session went on he would interrupt and say, "Play it stupider". By the end of the session they had created a piece of sentimental Christian junk. Sadly, according to the story, the piece was a hit.
Though I'm not positive on the details I'm sure the basic story is true as it was told to me by someone who was at the session.
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I read the line,
"I just wanna be real"
and know this is the heart cry of many brothers and sisters. When our attempts to be whole and in the spirit come up leaving us feeling unsatisfied, we are reduced to cries such as this. The lack we sense may have its source in a variety of fallen problems, but we are all desiring to be able to say, "We love God," and have that be an authentic statement of our experience internally. Authenticity of love is the motivation. It is the real "right" one!
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Sign me up! I've bailed on TV like caffeine. Once I got it out of my system I found I didn't need it that much. I still watch occasional cartoons with the kids or a history special, but everything else is just in 30 second commercial sized bites. For now I've dropped the obsession to see every episode of my 2 or 3 favorite shows.
Still there is that hope in me that a reasonably pure, well-written show will come along wherein I'll feel the tug of eternal analogies - seeing truth unwittingly mirrored (about the Bride of Christ in great love stories for instance).
But, for now, consider me part of the boycott.
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Not sure what to say on this one. I checked out on TV a while ago, though since we have one will watch something occasionally. I really like Lydia's Cooking on the public broadcast station.
I never watch a show all the way through. Nothing captivates me.
I like old movies, though. I am really captivated by the new technology. I look at TV's costing way over what I can spend and think about buying one. Can I justify such to watch a selected set of old movies?
Funny how I find myself in both world's at once. I am not entertained by what is called entertainment, but I really want to own the stuff that delivers the entertainment.
At this minute, my watching some special that includes includes the latest "greatest pianist in the world."
Should she not be doing so? Should she be able to do so on the latest version of TV's because it would allow her a greater sense of being present in his concert?
How is what she does in her down time different from me enjoying blogs?
Just rambling.
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It is really not so much about TV as it is about buying and selling. Hollywood sells via cable and I buy. They control the whole relationship. I really don't have a say. The internet has changed the way we do business. It is all about CSR (Customer Relationship Management).
What I guess I am saying is that I don't like the way they are controlling my relationship with them. I like the freedom of choosing (so do you) what level I relate to them (having a TV or not). I don't factor into their metrics anymore.
This is not rocket science. There are imperfections in the relationship. I would like them to take my views into consideration and not just look at the bottom line at every turn.
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I haven't had a TV since the '80's so don't really know what you're talking about(though we do watch 24 on dvd) but it sounds like you're trying to bail the Titanic with a coffee can. I did happen to be viewing one this weekend as I was watching my alma mater LSU win the SEC championship, and I noticed that this week's fare included a "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show." So glad I checked out years ago. If I was young an single, don't think I could pass that one up. What's the world coming to?
C
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I used to be involved in many activist activities. I did a lot of work in the pro life movement and I was also fighting for the rights of those with disabilities living in Los Angeles. I've lost my passion for activism. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I'm just tired of conflict. Perhaps I'm discouraged by the sin in our own camp. We should not, however, tire of doing good, so a TV boycott sounds like a good start.
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I can't help but think (all the contrary evidence notwithstanding) that a couple of days of a "nation-wide" TV blackout would benefit us all. I am sometimes caught between the "...that's the way it is and it won't change until Jesus comes back" or the Christian activism type profile. I think the Frances Shaffer model would suit us better. He said in one of his books that if there had been more Christian lawyers, Roe v Wade would have turned out different.
(a huge leap but somehow connected to activism) At this point in history, most blacks are living in a self-genocide mode are are having more abortions done than whites percentage wise.
Bishop Wellington Boone said that if things in the black community continue at present course they will only have half as many people in just a few years.
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That sounds like a great idea to me. When my wife and I were first married we didn't have a TV. I don't think we really missed it, but it bothered friends and relatives that we didn't have one. For the next twenty years or so, someone would give us a TV, we'd have it for several years until it broke, we'd be without a TV, this would bother friends and relatives and someone would give us a new TV.
I'm not anti TV, but I don't see that it adds much to our household. Asking the networks to do better and finding alternatives is, I think, a constructive approach.
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I agree..all is His, and His Truth is written on everyone's heart. The rebellion has muddied much, and hearts that love the darkness will attack God's Truth even as they hear it within themselves.
When artists of any field explore their depths in an effort to know, as this is what drives them innately, how could they not stumble across nuggets of Him and express it?
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Like life itself, his paintings were layer upon layer of paint that seemed directed with precise brush-strokes—not tentative stabs at a canvas that was destined to end up in a closet. Like Dylan, Van Gogh took what he had and fashioned a place for himself not fully understanding the impact he would have on culture.
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I would love to get you started on Theo. I've had the great joy of seeing some of Van Gogh's paintings up close as well. I'm not an art expert, or even very knowledgeable about art, but I can say that seeing those paintings changed the way I look at the world. They revealed a beauty I didn't see before.
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Don't even get me started on Theo—a man who basically provided his brother with art supplies that kept him painting. I have seen VanGogh up close and personal at the Met or MOMA and his detail is without a doubt incredible and God given. That he would persevere all those years is a testament to God's faithfulness.
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I was just kidding about rap. For some reason the chuckle under my breath and the twinkle in my eye didn't make it on to the printed page. I guess there are limitations in this virtual world.
I'm suggesting that the relationships amongst artist, art and God are more intimate than we might think. In his Letters to Theo, Van Gogh writes of works of art being on a par with preaching. I probably wouldn't go that far, but I do think there's a truth there worth exploring.
The rapper lives and moves and has his or her being in God.
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Based solely on being a Christian for many years and a sense that I have and biblical stuff about the subject I have gleaned along the way which I can't chapter and verse right this minute—yes, music was created by God but some has been subverted. I think that rap is a form of music which has been filtered through a black genocide culture. However some of the technology and sampling and so forth is pretty cool. Even Reggae music. If Bob Marley had just had some of the right influences in his life things would have been way different. And can you imagine if Fleetwood Mac had been Christian.
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It's interesting that you relate all having an immediate relationship with God with creation. I suspect that's very profound.
The other connection that comes to mind is "in him we live and move and have our being". Paul is quoting a pagan!
Is it going to far to say that all music is God's music (perhaps all but rap)?
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John 3 would attest to this: All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
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There's an old teaching that all of us, as humans, have an immediate relationship with God. This teaching has fallen on hard times out of fear that it undermines Scriptural teachings about the fall and salvation. Perhaps we should reconsider. It does give us a way of understanding how all truth is God's truth, all beauty is God's beauty and all goodness is God's goodness.
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Amen!...and if such is not our experience, how can we say that Christ in us is the hope of glory?
I rejoice with you in this insight.
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It was just this morning that I was granted an insight into what "....having a heart after God's own." really meant. There is something deep in us that only resonates when we are in that union with Him. So despite the flaws and wrong turns I have made in my life, God sees that seed of hope buried deep within and is in the process of pulling it to the surface of who I am.
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I appreciate your willingness to hear the soul of someone cry against or in the truth of their lives, and thus they strike a resonant chord with our humanity, even though we are Christians who have a hope.
I think there is a certain compassion in recognizing the humanity of these who know not Christ, yet artfully express themselves within the human condition. That is, in being a Christian, we have not forgotten what it means to be human without hope. There is a relatability there, which we can use to speak of the hope we have.
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I parted ways with Joni 'long about the time of LA Express. She had had, by that time, too many lovers for her own good. Her later work took a turn toward cynicism that did not agree with my salvatory direction in early 80's.
But you're certainly right about the early stuff. She resonated with the heart and soul of the poets. My favorite lines of hers are:
Sisotobelle Lane,
anywhere else now would seem very strange. The seasons are changing;
they always do
they always do...
...eating muffin buns and berries by the steamy kitchen window, we always do...
we like the view.
C.
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If you are interested, I think I finished this thought at:
Reluctant Servant
Enjoy the ride.
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