Without Shelter

Posted on Jan 25, 2010 | 0 comments

So, in the tradition of looking out for others and telling stories of the “Least of these”, I want to make you aware of a film project I am working on. It is called “Without Shelter” which is a documentary. Here is a rough draft of the opening scene…

The Fringe

Posted on Jan 20, 2010 | 0 comments

Blue Sky Art Center is giving voice to art-makers. We are a collaboration of artists that seek unity. Being on the fringe, on the outside, we are closer to the community. We are not locked up in ivory towers dictating to the masses… we are the masses. We see our society the from the ground, and the need for cultural change and confront it. We are compelled to speak out.

We have banished our artists to the fringe of society and tell them to eat cake. It is our artists who choose freedom over safety and use their talents to question and confront the culture — Peter Block

Straight to the Heart

Posted on Jan 12, 2010 | 0 comments

Thanks to Brother Will for pointing out this quote on his blog:

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them—words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you can make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought is was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear. ~Stephen King, The Body (which the movie Stand By Me was based on)

Like a dart… here’s truth that pierces to the heart of the matter. It is true that our secret heart is like a landmark to a treasure. If I don’t trust someone with the information, I usually just keep it guarded. When we… over and over and over… expose our heart to someone, only to be broken, criticized, misunderstood, bruised or laughed at, it is hard to keep going there with that person. But, sometimes, I just can’t help myself. I am compelled… driven to find common ground.

So, what does it take to find some of that common ground, a space where we can be open to our world? Also, a place where we can be human… generous… understanding… open. With some creativity, I know it can be done. Ready to take a ride?

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Posted on Jan 11, 2010 | 0 comments

Today, January 11, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and we want you to join us in the fight to eradicate child sex trafficking in America and around the world. At least 100,000 children are used in prostitution every year in the United States. Free for Life International is working tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of trafficking survivors that find love and compassion at the shelters we partner with – but awareness is essential and that means we need YOUR help!

Be visible on behalf of the invisible voices of enslaved children – help us raise awareness in America and around the world by taking a few minutes out of your day to spread the word – Children are NOT for Sale. Please take a moment and forward this to your friends. Together we can make a difference, and change the face of what has become a global epidemic.

I was thinking

Posted on Jan 9, 2010 | 0 comments

Where have your thoughts taken you today? What is it that motivates you to do what you do? How do we accomplish anything in life? What beautiful thing have you meditated on? How has God revealed something in your life?

Everything you do is guided by thought. What are the 7 thoughts that govern, shape and determine my life. What are those secret thoughts that you secretly keep coming back to? Every day you are using thought weather you realize it or not. The world you inhabit, and see is shaped by the way you see it. The way you see is shaped by the way you think. So if you really want to change your life, the best way to do it is to change the way you think. ~John O’Donohue, Greenbelt 2007

Later on in the talk he says that there was a beautiful young woman who lived her life by leading with her beauty… but with regard to her ability to have an intelligent conversation he said, “If there was a thought in her head, it would be in the loneliest place on earth.” LOL… How true that can sometimes be. I often have too much going on in my life and my brain just shuts down. It is like an old manual typewriter that has had a child press all of the keys at the same time, and not a single keystroke can hit the paper, because they are all jammed up in a cluster. I sometimes have clusters of thought, ideas that I wonder about. It can take a while to sort it all out, but in the end, something rises to the surface and becomes dominate.

I am finding that I enjoy being pushed by a deadline. I am motivated by constant pressure to produce. I thrive in a fast paced world where there are many things going on at the same time. I may not be able to multi-task and give my attention to more than one thing at a time, but I like to have a lot of options.

I also enjoy solitude when I can get it because it gives my mind an often needed break. It also provides a space for me to have those thoughts that can shape me… to hear from the creator and open my imagination to possibilities. As a creator, I am glad to know that we were created in God’s Image (Imago Dei) and have an endless stream of possibilities for creating today’s horizon. Do you know your future? Perhaps… What are you thinking right now?