The Highest Form of Hope

The following is from N.T. Wright's Evil and the Justice of God pges 126-128. Emphasis added.

"But the Christian imagination - shrunken and starved throught the long winter of secularism - needs to be awakenned, enlivenned and pointed in the right direction..

Christians needs to sense permission, from God and from one another, to excercise their imaginations in thinking ahead into God's new world and into such fresh forms of worship and service as will model and embody aspects of it. We need to have this imagination energized, fed and nourished, so that it is lively and inventive, not sluggishly going around in small circles of a few ideas learned long ago. And the Christian imagination must be disciplined, focused and directed, as with consciences itself, so that it doesn't simply rush madly about in all directions. It will not do to suppose that any old imaginative world will be as good as any other...

How can the Christian imagination be reeducated so that we can become conscious of living between the victory achieved by Jesus and the ulimate renewal of all things? At this point we must speak about art... To make sense of and to celebrate a beautiful world through the production of artifacts which are themselves beautiful is part of the call to be stewards of creation... Genuine art is thus itself a response to the beauty of creation, which itself is a pointer to the beauty of God.

But we don't live in the Garden of Eden. Art which attempts to do so quickly becomes flacid and trivial...

The beauty of creation, to which art responds and tries to express, imitate, and highlight, is not simply beauty which it possesses in itself but the beauty which it possesses in view of what is promised to it... If Christian artists can glimpse this truth, there is a way forward to celebrating beauty, to loving God with all the soul, without lasping into pantheism on the one hand or harsh, negative 'realism' on the other. Art at its best draws attention not only to the way things are, but to the way things are meant to be..."

Labels: aesthetics, art, faith

My brother (the one with the mohawk) had a blog and I didn't even know... It's really nice to finally hear about how Matt's day to day life - looks like my constant nagging and pressuring has paid off. Anyways, it's the latest greatest hottest blog - Paris Hilton, the "Donald" and Sisco have been known to comment on it. Matt's just started working with Urban Promise on Vancouver's east side. So check out what he's up to: matt-wall.blogspot.com.

Labels: family

Any of you out there lucky enough to know my son Sasha know that he's got a very active imagination. He is always pretending something - his days are filled with make believe camping trips, baking pretend cookies, being a puppy, being Bob the Builder, farming, having tea, playing with the Vancouver Canucks...

Recently something that has captured his imagination is a book called Children Around the World. In it are various stories about children and their day to day lives in different countries. Sadako, a little girl from Japan, talks about her favorite food - sushi. Sasha was intrigued by the sushi. He started to pretend to eat sushi - using pretend chopsticks, of course.

About a week ago, I decided to go to the city, just me and Sasha. I asked him what he would like for lunch. The answer was "sushi!" I happen to like sushi, so this was fine with me. I knew that Sasha had built up in his mind that the sushi was going to taste amazing - like pizza or something - so I prepared myself for his disapointment. On the other hand I wondered if his belief that sushi tasted good would actually make him like sushi. There was only one way to find out.

Sasha was practically vibrating with excitement as we entered the sushi bar. He excitely pointed at the one he thought looked the most appetizing - eal. I promptly ordered the Califonia rolls instead. I ordered three - because he is three years old. This logic seemed to work on him. I removed the wasabe and pickled ginger from his plate and handed him the chopsticks. With the chopsticks (one in each hand) he carefully raised the California roll to his mouth. He ate it - but with a disapointed look on his face. It was not what he expected.

After that first taste Sasha stalled on eating the other two rolls, though he insisted he liked it. Then he wanted to try some of the other rolls - thinking that they would taste better. Stalling soon gave way to tears as I packed up the leftover rolls and paid the bill. It was so sad how disapointed he was. He had worked himself up for this all day.

No worries. There was a McDonalds across the street. There's nothing that a small fries and a milkshake won't cure.

When we got home, I made Sasha my own special sushi recipe. Bread with tuna salad rolled and cut into slices. He likes my sushi much better!

Labels: books, family, food, humour

I just read a book over the weekend. It's kind of an anti-Martha Stewart hospitality/cook book. I read part of it while I was subbing and had a hard time keeping my laughter to myself!

I Like You; Hospitality Under the Influence by comedian Amy Sedaris contains tips for entertaining children, rich uncles, lumberjacks, the elderly, businessmen, recovering alcoholics, grieving relatives, the infirm and just about everyone in between. Now, I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. This book includes detailed information about feminine hygene and breast exams - so it's not geared toward a male audience. The humour (most of the time, very funny) is rather biting and crosses the line a couple of times - especially in jokes about alcohol and drug abuse. But overall, I found this book a very funny and educational read! Shannon - I highly recommend this book to YOU - you would find it hilarious!

If you look past all the jokes and sarcasm, this book has a very sweet heart. It stresses the importance of inviting people into your home and making them feel loved. Some other books and magazines end up making one feel like good entertaining is out of the ordinary persons reach with excessive materialism, expensive and time consuming recipes and extravagant decorations. I Like You contains entertaining advice that is practical, thoughtful, and easily attainable. Sedaris considers (with humour) taking care of those who are hurting - like the sick and the elderly. She also includes advice for being a good guest.

I Like You also contains some very funny photographs and illustrations. Being a visual person, I really appreciate a good illustration - like hospitality, illustration is a dying art.

So if you're sick of hospitality books and magazines that make you feel inadequate, read this book! It will make you want to throw a party!!

Labels: books, hospitality, humour

Dirk Skreber
It Rocks Us So Hard Ho Ho Ho 2
2002, Oil on canvas

Here's a really great art site. It's new to my links and definately worth a look. I think it's one of the best gallery sites out there.

Labels: aesthetics, art