I just watched an incredible and insightful video on the oft-impossible weight of creativity from Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) at TED this year.
If you consider yourself to be a creative person, or know someone who does, please take 20 minutes to watch this video.
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I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Jim Wallis speak at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena last night. He just released a new book called "The Great Awakening," and has just started a book tour to promote it. (I haven't read it yet, but I will soon!)
I'm a regular reader of Jim's work, and almost always love what he has to say. But I gotta admit: he's even cooler in person. Or as my friend Jon said, "He's pretty badass."
We sat in the second row, about five feet in front of Brother Jim, amongst probably 150 grad students, and listened intently as he brought hope to an otherwise rather dismal Super Tuesday. As of right now, 7am "the morning after," we don't yet know what will shake out from yesterday's primaries, but priliminary reports are saying that Mr. Hundred Years in Iraq McCain is leading the GOP (seriously, do we have to still call it that? It ain't so Grand anymore, folks!), and Obama and Hillary are tied on the other side (does anyone else hate that we have sides?).
But Mr. Wallis gave us some hope last night. Hope that despite whatever madness may occur between now and November, the real winner this year is CHANGE. We hear it everywhere, from the mouths of every candidate, from Democrats and Republicans, from reporters and journalists. And the reason they're saying it is because they heard it from us, the American people, first.
There's a social movement going on, and no matter what happens on Capitol Hill, it is US, the true grassroots force for change, that will make the difference.
Jim said that he started his book tour last week at the Bagdad Theater in Portland, and they were showing a movie after his talk. Up on the marquee it said:
I'm a regular reader of Jim's work, and almost always love what he has to say. But I gotta admit: he's even cooler in person. Or as my friend Jon said, "He's pretty badass."
We sat in the second row, about five feet in front of Brother Jim, amongst probably 150 grad students, and listened intently as he brought hope to an otherwise rather dismal Super Tuesday. As of right now, 7am "the morning after," we don't yet know what will shake out from yesterday's primaries, but priliminary reports are saying that Mr. Hundred Years in Iraq McCain is leading the GOP (seriously, do we have to still call it that? It ain't so Grand anymore, folks!), and Obama and Hillary are tied on the other side (does anyone else hate that we have sides?).
But Mr. Wallis gave us some hope last night. Hope that despite whatever madness may occur between now and November, the real winner this year is CHANGE. We hear it everywhere, from the mouths of every candidate, from Democrats and Republicans, from reporters and journalists. And the reason they're saying it is because they heard it from us, the American people, first.
There's a social movement going on, and no matter what happens on Capitol Hill, it is US, the true grassroots force for change, that will make the difference.
Jim said that he started his book tour last week at the Bagdad Theater in Portland, and they were showing a movie after his talk. Up on the marquee it said:
J I M _ W A L L I S A M E R I C A N _ G A N G S T E R
Ah yes, I believe so. //I had coffee last week with my friend Greg, and, as always, we had some great conversations about church, life, and the meaning of basically everything.
In the Christian Bible, there's a story about a rich young man who, one day, approached Jesus, wanting the inside track to the Kingdom. Jesus responds by reciting a bunch of commandments to follow, and when the young man says he already does all those things, Jesus tells him that he has one more thing to do: go sell his stuff and give it to the poor. The man was rich; he couldn't do it. It's in this context where Jesus introduces that timeless sticky idea we've all heard about a camel trying to squeeze through a needle's eye, in reference to how difficult it will be for the wealthy to actually find his Kingdom.
If you grew up in the Christian world of "church," you've probably heard this story a million times (I know I have). And outside of painting a pretty cool picture in my head -- "As hard as that big 'ol camel tries to suck in his camel-fat, he can never fit! Haha!" -- I never take too much away from it, honestly.
But today, Greg turned me into the rich young man.
I typically don't think of myself as rich. I look around and notice the wealth of the world, and, honestly, I don't see me. I see a lot of other people, and strangely (or not), they're all probably the same people you see when you think "rich." But the fact is (and you probably already know where I'm going with this) that compared with the rest of the world, I'm pretty stinkin' wealthy.
Take a look at this clip from Rob Bell's NOOMA entitled "Rich":
The fact is, I think I often don't value truth very much.
I make comparisons all the time, but only when they're in my favor. I compare UP when it benefits me ("I'm nowhere near as wealthy as Mr. Gates!") and then compare DOWN when that works better ("I'm giving a full 10% of my income to my favorite charity. I'll bet they don't even give at all!"). But this is ignoring the whole truth; I'm disregarding most of the facts.
Once in awhile, I think it's good to compare in the direction I'd rather not -- UP to, say, a Mother Teresa. Or DOWN to kids in Rwanda. Might be good for me.
Otherwise I start to look at lot like that stupid, fat 'ol camel.
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The university professor challenged his students with this question: "Did God create everything that exists?"
A student bravely replied "Yes, he did!"
"God created everything?" the professor asked.
"Yes sir," the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."
The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that faith was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?"
"Of course," replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"
The professor replied "Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The students snickered at the young man's question.
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."
The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color, but you cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a
certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir -- or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The professor sat down.
The young man's name: Albert Einstein
(DISCLAIMER: I have no idea if this is for real, true, or if someone made it up. However, it's factuality doesn't have much to do with the point, does it?)
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UPDATE NOVEMBER 2014 — BRAND NEW VERSION!
Available on Spotify HERE, iTunes HERE
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In the spirt of Christmahanakwanzakuh (but mostly Christmas), I've just completed a brand new remix of my song "Mary."
If you aren't familiar with this song, it's a story I wrote for Dom & Jane's Warm and Fuzzy Christmas Show for Mix 100.3 FM in Denver. W&F is a special radio morning show D&J do every year where they bring in local Denver artists to sing holiday music live on the air. It's always a lot of fun, and a great event.
In 2004, my friend Dom asked me to write an original Christmas song for the event, and I wanted to do something from a different angle. I racked my brain for weeks, and finally came up with something I thought was unique. Most people know the nativity story, with Mary and Joseph (and Jesus, of course), and I know there have been a few really great songs written from Mary's perspective, but not any that I knew of from Joseph's.
No matter what day or time you live in, marrying a girl who's gotten pregnant by someone other than you is a pretty noble thing to do. I like to think that 'ol Joe must have been pretty smitten with Mary.
"Mary" by Josh Allan
Here in the cold Hardly alone Beautiful girl, dead to the world And I'm next to her Rise and you fall Watching it all Baby inside, always reminds Never was mine I don't suppose That anyone knows Why someone like you Would care about me, Mary Star through the clouds With white falling out Snow on the ground It's Christmastime now If just in this town Light of the world At least to this boy and girl We laughed and we cried This barnyard beside Our beautiful boy Don't look down, Mary I need you now, Mary I know even by now It's all tired out Gotta let go, I'm the luckiest Joe I knowIt's been a few years since I released this song, so I wanted to do a remix. You can download it here, if you like (right click, Save Linked File, etc.). Artwork here. Happy holidays! //