His Most Excellent Harmonies

Amplified:
For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].

Message:
Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
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December is finally here. The familiar chill of the season is back in the air. I'm still waiting for the snow though; waiting until the streets are flooded with the glorious white glow of a winter's day. I'm not used to waiting this long.

I've found myself very inspired lately by the actions of the people around me. I don't know if people are really being more active around me, or if I've just become more perceptive to it, but in any case, it's gotten to a point where I can no longer avoid becoming these people to some extent. When you read about or hear of people who live more purposed or meaningful lives, it can be inspiring just to get that sense that there actually is a better way to live. But to physically see these people around you; to interact with them, even to feel loved by them...that's another thing entirely. It's no longer just inspiring. I'm compelled to become someone worthy of their influence.

So I guess that's what the scripture is doing up there. It's Phillipians 4, by the way. Paul wrote it to his brothers in Philippi when they were watching him take all kinds of torture and abuse for what he was doing. The letter was telling them that they didn't need to worry about him; that there's gratitude to be found in any situation ("Rejoice always, give thanks in everything"), and this little passage was some insight into what they could dwell on in order to be actively representing Christ. Which is essentially where I stand right now. So thank you, Paul.

I'm going to have to find a way to keep these thoughts in my mind. Each of the bolded words can be individually dissected for meaning and meditated on for understanding, and I think this is what I have to do. And the better I get at finding and recognizing each word, the more I will take on at a time.

But here's the thing: not only am I learning to recognize these forms of excellence in the world around me, but in recognizing them I am dedicating myself to taking inspired action in their wake. If I see something worthy of reverence, instead of just accepting it or appreciating it, I will make sure whoever is responsible knows that their efforts aren't going unrecognized. If I see something that is lovely, or lovable (that is, 'able to be loved'), I will train myself to see this as an open door. This is where I bring love.

I guess it looks alright on paper, but I feel like there's some key element of practicality that's still missing from my goal.

Eh.

I suppose I'll find that practicality in the same place I found the drive to do this in the first place.
  Those I sing alongside. His excellent harmonies.

Cloud of Unknowing

"So he dropped the web of the spider of heaven down through the clouds
All the way into the pool of blood at the bottom of hell
Far above in heaven a bird flies through the terrible cloud of unknowing


Trust can make a man into a wood, trust can make a man green
An everything that longs to be
Broken and small enough to see
To be held in his hands
To be a part and yet alone
Here he is, reaching for the speed of light
Here he is, reaching for the sound of forgiveness

Now wounding around the waterfront
She listens for a voice
A sign of Mother God, a sign of God the Lad

I long to enter you
With gentleness and compassion
But sorrow is always the open door

I know many days go by and I forget to look up at the stars
I forget there are stars, I forget there is the rest
Thin threads of light follow you around
Through the pale blue, down your skin
Down your skin"


-Rickie Lee Jones

Black, White and Gray.

This is something I wrote out for the magazine team I work with, Cabbages and Kings. The next issue we put out is likely to have a theme if we can get enough submissions to match it. I actually wrote this in order to bring the subject some clarity, as we each had different ideas of what it meant. But this is one case where vaguery might help our situation, since your average submitter generally has an idea of what they want their piece to look like well before we get to see it.
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Every piece of visual art created within a black and white color scheme has a certain inherent appeal to it. Stripping all the color out of an image only seems to give it a new sense of clarity; as if the hidden underlying substance of the image has just been revealed. The artistic honesty found in that familiar monochrome palette will be this year’s theme for Cabbages and Kings magazine: Black, White, and Gray.

Now that’s not to say that color will be absent from this issue. Color is often just as honest a form of expression as grayscale, and to omit it would be to omit sincerity. What we’re looking for is a piece’s ability to take opposites and extremes (black and white) and use them to create a full, complete picture, with every new shade and contrast in between.

To truly understand what black, white, and gray represent, one must attempt to really understand his own way of seeing the world. Because essentially, that’s what the theme is: a person’s own beliefs, morals, perceptions, and where their world is clearly defined or left in a state of uncertainty. These are what make up the subjectivity of the human experience. This is what we mean by Black, White, and Gray.

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So I guess the layman writer/artist might have some trouble with this one. No worries. I'll try to come up with something matching this concept, and probably post a draft here when it comes to be. 

Waking Life

I've been having this recurring dream lately. I want to say I've had it for the past week or so, but it may have been longer. It's hard for one to be the judge of his own mind sometimes....

We're in a coffee shop or something. I'm sitting there having an in-depth conversation with someone very specific. This person changes in different instances of the dream, but it usually tends to be the same 2-3 people in my life. These people are people I'm incredibly close to; I feel their pains and joys as much as my own sometimes. But I guess I've been unable to speak what I really want to say to them as of late.

In the dreams, the conversation between us ranges between the mundane to life-and-death consideration. Whatever the topic, the key unchanging variable of this dream is that this conversation is in some way a form of unrestrained expression; there is a no-holds-barred honesty between us. Whatever social restraints from this honesty there are in the real world are removed from these dreams, and the two of us converse in complete isolation and freedom.

The dream is not over when the conversation ends. The two of us stand up. We come towards each other slowly. And then we embrace like it's the first and last time we ever will. That's when I wake up.

I suppose I have been finding it hard to open myself up lately.
Not to get anyone confused, though. There are some reasons why I wouldn't want to. But with a new need for release seeping into my unconscious mind, I'm starting to wonder if these reasons are good enough.