shookfoil

April

2009-04-24T13:15:00.009-04:00

1. Central Park Zoo
2. Yard Work
3. Rye Candy
4. Reading Capon
5. Kayaks

Ethiopia Pictures

2009-03-11T12:49:00.003-04:00

More to come soon...

Off to Africa

2009-02-05T10:03:00.002-05:00

I'll be in Ethiopia from February 6-22 as part of a medical missions trip to minister to those with HIV and AIDS. Please pray for my family, our team, and the good people of Ethiopia. Thanks.

One heck of a disc coming out

2009-02-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn Church Project Teaser Video

2009-01-10T12:37:00.003-05:00

We're working on a longer video, but click here for now to get a teaser glimpse of our church planting network here in Brooklyn.

"No One Knowed": A Christmas song

2009-01-01T01:00:00.006-05:00

Click here to listen to a Christmas composition by my four-year-old daughter. We hope you enjoy. And merry Christmas and happy New Year to you all.

A Rick Moody Christmas Meditation

2008-12-23T11:29:00.000-05:00

"Why is it that the worse the Christmas service, the closer we get to the idea of Christmas? Children's services, with children running aimlessly in the aisles in lamb costumes or dressed as wise men, neglecting or refusing to say their lines, why so much closer to the idea of Christmas? What is this thing about Christmas, the paradoxical tendency of Christmas, that the more heartbreaking it is the closer it seems to get to the point? Why is failure and awkwardness so human and so natural at Christmas?... Why is it that desperation is closer to God?... At the same time, what about the Mean Estate stuff, what about Mary lying in bad circumstances? Why is it that the no-room-at-the-inn part is inevitably moving, even when you are skeptical about the whole thing?... And why an ideology of the neglected and left out and miserable and disinherited and lonely and poor and ill and exiled, anyway?... And why is it, meanwhile, that singing is the thing that enables me to understand this, why is it that singing makes the Christmas holiday what it is, what it can be, what it ought to be?" -- Rick Moody

Rockettes

2008-12-04T19:03:00.008-05:00

A friend from church is a Rockette, so we got to be part of the tourist holiday madness this year. Except that we also got to go backstage afterwards. It was one of the best days we've had as a family in a long time: the kids were agog. (Oh, and sorry, but I ran out the door without my camera so all we had was my phone.)

The Welcome Wagon in Paste

2008-12-02T20:24:00.004-05:00

Really nice article, and true. With some added insight into one of our Brooklyn network churches and its pastor. Enjoy.

The Welcome Wagon: Keepers of the Faith Thrive in the Hipster's Den

photo by Denny Renshaw, of Brooklyn

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T12:30:00.003-05:00

Here is a transcript of Abraham Lincoln's implementation of the Thanksgiving holiday. Pretty amazing. Hat Tip: David Cassidy

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

Beautiful Grassroots Website

2008-11-25T22:58:00.001-05:00

My good friend Brent Palmer is an absolute internet wiz!

Click here and check it out. Get involved. Make a difference. Vote for Change!

Norway welcomes Brooklyn's The Welcome Wagon

2008-11-13T17:11:00.001-05:00

Fall Family

2008-11-11T13:17:00.003-05:00

Dark Dark Story

2008-10-28T18:19:00.000-04:00

Dark, Dark Story from shookfoil on Vimeo.

English Major-y Geek-Out Experiment

2008-10-22T14:55:00.002-04:00

First read Hemingway's magisterial "Hills Like White Elephants," required reading in nearly every college creative writing class.

Then read the late David Foster Wallace's gorgeous and meditative "Good People" which seems to me obviously intended as a riff on Hemingway's much earlier story.

Which is better? They cover the same ground. Hemingway's story was always held up in my classes as the ideal form of writing: conveying iceberg depths with minimum surface language and description. And Hemingway's story is certainly a model of that approach. But Wallace's story tackles the interior life with a power and skill that is more deeply moving (to me, at least) than Hemingway's. A fun experiment, either way.

My 'hood

2008-10-01T11:53:00.001-04:00

This video has a few of my favorite places in the blocks around my house.

Forum on Denominational Renewal Conference

2008-09-15T12:59:00.001-04:00

If you haven't yet heard, you should read this and get over there to discuss. My prayer, if not hope, is that commenters will interact with the substance of the DR lectures and steer clear of identity politics and polemics. We'll see...

Greatest. Video. Ever.

2008-09-05T15:17:00.002-04:00

vaguely orthopedic

2008-08-24T08:32:00.002-04:00

Arthur's Lullaby

2008-08-09T13:38:00.005-04:00

Click here to listen to a new song I laid down last night. And don't worry, as soon as I have another night free I'm going to record Adaline's Lullaby. No favoritism here! I've already written it; I just need some free time. Also, remember that you can goof around elsewhere on my "shining!" site. I hope to be adding lots more media this year.

Running, Raising Money

2008-08-01T14:07:00.000-04:00

hypnotic beauty on all fronts

2008-07-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

On Denominational Truth & Unity

2008-07-16T12:47:00.001-04:00

In the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel according to John, Jesus, as part of his High Priestly Prayer just before his crucifixion, prays the following for his church, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world…I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

_______

In this passage Jesus prays to the Father for the continuation of his own mission in and through the church. He states first that, just as he is sent from heaven (he is not “from the world”), so the church originates in the heaven-sent work of the Spirit in the mission of the Trinity: the church is not “from this world,” but is born of God and is enlivened by and in God’s mission to the world. So the origin of the church is God himself, Father, Son, and Spirit, and because the church is united to Jesus, it is sent into the world on mission even as Jesus was sent into the world by the Father.

And what is that mission? In this passage, at least, the mission is that the world might know that God the Father sent Jesus into the world on mission. (How very circular!) In other words, the mission is that the world might know that Jesus is who he says he is: God’s Son. In that knowledge the world will know that God loves them. And here is the crux of the issue. The world, it is said twice by Jesus, will know this in so far as it is able to discern the unity of the church. It is precisely the one-ness of the church (with one another, with the Triune God) that is the glory God has given to Jesus and his body. And ‘glory’ in the Bible is that manifestation of God himself that is occasionally given to ordinary mortals that they might have knowledge of God and experience his presence, that they might see him.

So then, it follows that the world will see God on mission in Jesus in so far as it is able to see the church dwelling together in him as one. The visible unity of the church is so important to God’s mission that Jesus prays for it repeatedly in the hours before his crucifixion! Church unity is given so that the world might believe in Jesus. And of course Jesus also prays that the church will be sanctified by God’s word, which is the truth. Because Jesus is the Truth and the incarnate Word, and because the Holy Scriptures are the Spirit-inspired words of God, the church that is united to Jesus the Word must of necessity be more and more sanctified by that truth. This is one reason why the Presbyterian vows to ‘protect the peace and purity of the church’ are so wise and biblical. It is in protecting and pursuing the peace and unity, the truth and purity, of the church that the world will see it and know that Jesus is who he says he is.

So we must never pit purity against peace, or unity against truth. Rather, we must engage in God’s mission to the world by praying for and promoting truth and unity. This is our mission, in our congregations, denominations, the broader church, and in the world. John Stott was certainly correct when he reportedly said the following to the Anglican church in Australia many years ago as it wrestled with this very tension:

“Here then are the three options. Secession is to pursue truth at the expense of unity. Compromise is to pursue unity at the expense of truth. Witness is to pursue truth and unity simultaneously. This seems to be the biblical way. We are to ‘maintain the truth in love’ (Ephesians 4:15).”

youth, age, & wisdom

2008-07-11T15:32:00.003-04:00

Wisdom is inseparable from the wise person. It is not some objective system or separable greatness. When the wise person has been forgotten, nothing remains of what he thought, said, or demonstrated. This issue concerns our era more concretely than any other, since we live in an age of incessant change, constant innovation, and proliferation of fascinating objects one after another. How can we transmit from one generation to the next the wisdom acquired by the kind of experience Solomon talks about? This problem has always existed. Nevertheless, how many times have we heard it said that in traditional societies people listened to the elderly, took them seriously because they had lived and remembered so much?

Today we live in the opposite situation. No one asks anymore: "Would you like to hear the advice of wisdom as seen in the experience of the elderly?" Our constant question is rather: "Do you understand young people? Are you "with it?" Here we have the opposite of wisdom. Only the young are in touch with the latest machines.

Imbeciles try to plunge us into the fake culture called "technological culture." In it the only people with something "useful" to offer will be those who can pilot a plane, use a VCR, or run a computer. The elderly, with their utterly useless experience, will have to learn all over again. --Jacques Ellul, Reason for Being

cars & community

2008-07-10T11:31:00.002-04:00

"Americans, given the choice between civilizing their cities through public works, and using the car to escape the demands of civility, chose the car." --James Howard Kunstler, Home from Nowhere

summer sweets

2008-07-05T08:15:00.002-04:00

2008-06-15T20:22:00.001-04:00

miscellany

2008-06-05T14:48:00.005-04:00

...with apologies to Jon Barlow...

All weepy today and yesterday because I finally broke down and bought Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago" and have been listening to it too much. Melancholy stuff.
***
I just read these terrific articles on inter-racial adoption by Rusell Moore. They're probably the most thoroughly theological I've come across, and while I disagree with some of his applications (e.g. the whole bent of his argument should actually lead him to favor teaching his kids and himself about Russian culture and making his family's situated American culture more diverse)they are well worth a read: The Brotherhood of Sons and Transracial Adoption, The Gospel, and You
***
Heading to Texas tomorrow for the annual General Assembly of my denomination and a week of vacation afterward. Looking forward mostly to staying with my parents (which is why Laura and the kids are coming, too), seeing old friends and fellow pastors from around the country during the Assembly, and eating good Mexican food. Oh, and the papers by Jeff Meyers and Rob Rayburn at the pre-G.A. Colloquium on the Sacraments.
***
My birthday is this Sunday, June 8th. After my 17th and 22nd birthdays, this feels like the most meaningless one I've had: I turn 31.
***
I want to buy some of this Ethiopian-American and Brooklynite's art: Ezra Wube.
***
The sad (necessary?) existence of this website makes me wish that more Protestant pastors still offered private confessionals: PostSecret.
***
I've been sad about my kids a lot lately, about them growing up fast and not getting enough quality time with them. They visited their (likely) pre-K school yesterday and I just can't imagine 4-yr-olds going to school from 8-3 everyday. Plus, Arthur's been pretty needy lately. So Monday--my day off--he and I had a "boys' date" and spent most of the day goofing around together in SoHo; it was great. So I'm very ready to get on a plane and head to Dallas with them for a few days of solid time together before G.A.
***
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was an amazing movie, especially in direction and cinematography. I actually feel like I have an inkling of what it might be like to exist without the powers of movement and speech. And the true-life story is almost unbelievable.
***
Ummm, I guess that's all for now. I sort of like this approach to blogging; it might suit me. I never have a chance to compose pseudo-profound thoughts, so maybe these brief and random reports are preferable to silence...And here's a random recent pic I like. I'll include one of Arthur next time; hopefully of him in a Texas pool: his one and only want in life right now.

1st Baptism and Ordination

2008-05-28T11:34:00.003-04:00

2008-05-28T11:30:00.000-04:00

In the post above (or after, time-wise) are pictures from my first performance of a baptism and ordination, both in the same service last weekend at Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New Orleans. Redeemer is one of the mission churches that we support financially and by sending yearly teams to engage in disaster relief work. It is also where my oldest friend, Shane Gibson, is now Assistant Pastor. It was such a beautiful privilege to baptize his 6-day-old son, George Owen, and to help officiate and to lay on hands during his ordination service. The bottom picture is me giving him an ordination charge. You can watch a video and see many more pictures (and much better ones!...the first pic above is his) over on Jeff Meyers' blog here.

we love our mom

2008-05-09T10:25:00.003-04:00

Pictures by BRENT PALMER

Existentialism on Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-05T18:38:00.004-04:00

So my mother-in-law is in town and we went to the main hispanic section of Brooklyn, Sunset Park, today for a Cinco de Mayo lunch. In the middle of a normal lunch my daughter made a funny statement that I like the more I think about it. To me it perfectly captures the existential malaise in the work of the author Walker Percy, amongst authors. A little more pithily, of course, coming as it does from a three-year-old.

Laura: "Adaline, eat your chicken."
Adaline wistfully ignores her mom.
Laura: "Adaline, how about some rice or beans? Which do you want, rice or beans?"
Adaline: "Mom, I just want to fly away to Neverland."

I couldn't have written it better myself. She is definitely my child.

2008-04-18T15:26:00.002-04:00

This weekend in NYC

2008-04-17T10:45:00.002-04:00

from Animal New York

Denominational Renewal

2008-04-02T11:19:00.003-04:00

The talks from the recent conversation in St. Louis are now available on-line here. Jeff White's was unfortunately not recorded properly, but you can listen to the beta version from Baltimore (and the other St. Louis talks, as well) if you scroll down this page, to "Denominational Renewal". If you're unfamiliar, a description of the purpose of this conversation can be found on the Denominational Renewal home page (from the first link above). These talks are attempts to articulate what it means to be a healthy, catholic, and missional denomination in a faithfully confessional and Reformed context. That being said, I think, with a little personal 'translation', they will prove to be immensely helpful to any Christian hoping to be more catholic, missional, and faithful in their own confessional tradition.

Spring Cleaning

2008-03-28T09:32:00.003-04:00

La Blogotheque's Take-Away Shows

2008-03-26T11:26:00.005-04:00

I've never blogged about the French website La Blogotheque because I always kind of assumed anyone who liked independent music already knew about it. A couple of recent conversations taught me otherwise, so here's a post. Click on the link above to see almost one hundred of the most wonderful videos, called "Take-Away Shows". They're beautifully filmed and capture some of today's best independent musicians playing stripped-down and live in natural settings. I sat next to the brain behind the site on a flight from NYC to Austin last Fall for the ACL fest and watched him edit a video on his laptop, which is when I was reminded of the site after it had been lost in my bookmarks tab forever. I haven't watched even 1/4 of them, but here are my favorites so far. (Oh, and in case you're counting, I'm pretty sure Brooklyn has more bands on there than any other locale. I'm just sayin'...)

Brooklyn band The National performing at a dinner party:

#40.3 - The National - Start a war
by lablogotheque

Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear harmonizing in a shower:

#10.1 - Grizzly bear - Shift
by lablogotheque

Brooklynite My Brightest Diamond a couple blocks from my house in Prospect Park:

#16.1 - My Brightest Diamond - Disappear
by lablogotheque

(Some) Texans The Arcade Fire in an elevator:

#41 - Arcade Fire - Neon Bible & Wake Up
by lablogotheque

Non-Brooklynites and non-Texans Menomena in Paris, with dancing Parisian kids:

#62.3 - Menomena - Wet and Rusting
by lablogotheque

The most eclectic, beautiful, and fascinating (includes Brooklynite Sufjan Stevens):

#50 - The Take Away Shows @ MusicNOW Festival
by lablogotheque

And I didn't link one-half of the Brooklyn bands. Get the idea? Anyways, these are my favorites so far. Feel free to share your favorites here so I can skip to the best ones. Enjoy!

Christian Worship, pt 5

2008-02-23T15:00:00.002-05:00

The Power of Worship

"One reason why we Christians argue so much about which hymn to sing, which liturgy to follow, which way to worship is that the commandments teach us to believe that bad liturgy eventually leads to bad ethics. You begin by singing some sappy, sentimental hymn, then you pray some pointless prayer, and the next thing you know you have murdered your best friend." –Stanley Hauerwas

In this final section our aim is to begin thinking together about the specific ways in which the liturgy has the power to shape the hearts, habits, and hopes of God’s people as they live in the world outside of corporate worship. As modern people living after the Enlightenment we are often guilty of believing that it is only the cognitive that gives shape to how we live in the world. Certainly the cognitive beliefs and hopes that we harbor do radically affect and undergird all that we do. However, we have not always given sufficient attention to the way in which stories, habits, shared practices and symbols shape who we are and what we do. This biblical truth about how our identities are formed can be summed up in the phrase lex orandi, lex credendi. This Latin phrase, which literally means “the law of prayer is the law of belief”, addresses how crucial worship is in the life, identity and mission of the Church. The phrase is sometimes extended to lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi, further extending the implications of this truth: how we worship shapes what we believe, which in turn shapes how we will live. In other words, as we worship, so will we live, and as we worship, so will we become.

It would be foolish to attempt to reduce God’s work of shaping people in worship for life in the world to mere cause and effect, or to reduce God's shaping of us to what we can describe and pinpoint, but we can nevertheless describe some basic practices that God intends to shape his people into through the liturgy. So in what particular ways is this diverse body shaped into a unity by the gospel story in worship? Recalling the description of the movement of our liturgy, let us close by listing a few of the ramifications for each of those movements:

Calling- God freely calls all the peoples of the earth to come into his presence to worship him. He takes the initiative, and his invitation is a free offer to all. By this we are taught that God is the author of all things, especially of salvation. Every effort we make to relate to God is a response to his sovereign and gracious initiative. Furthermore, God’s call goes out to all people. This means that the invitation is not just to those with whom we share affinity; all must be invited to worship the Triune God with us.
Finally, in order to live out the gospel in the world according to God’s story, we must be calling people to worship him. We must make the effort; we must actually and verbally call people to worship him; we must invite all sorts of neighbors and strangers to join us in worshipping him.

Cleansing- As soon as we respond to God’s invitation to worship by entering his presence with songs of praise, we are struck by his holiness and our sinfulness. Throughout the Bible when anyone encounters God the Father or Jesus in the flesh they often immediately fall on their faces and confess how far they have fallen short of the glory of God. We are called to do the same. This is a precursor to a healthy relationship to God; we must do it up front in the service before we move on. This reminds us to be honest about ourselves, and not to presume upon God’s grace and presence with us in worship. It also teaches us to be humble. To live out the gospel in the world, we must be humble and honest people: honest about our own shortcomings and the shortcomings of the Christian church. We must be quick to say we’re sorry to our neighbors and neighborhood. We must quickly forgive others, as we ourselves have been forgiven in the weekly declaration of pardon. Also, as God requires us to confess our sin precisely because such confession does not come naturally, we must similarly encourage our friends and neighbors to repent of their sins, by seeing themselves more humbly and honestly and confessing their shortcomings and need to God and to others.

Counseling- We continue the dialogue by hearing God’s word in Scripture readings and the sermon, by offering to him our prayers for the church and the world, and by confessing our faith to him. This is where we hear God’s promises and we commit ourselves to him. Here is where we receive instructions for him. Here is where we sit at the feet of our father and listen to him teach his family what life is like in his house, his world. We respond by giving him our requests, asking for his gifts, and by promising our loyalty in the Creed. To be shaped by this part of the service for life in the world is to ‘go out’ and put in practice what we’ve heard, to be doers of the word and not hearers only. It is to become a counter-cultural, life-giving community in the communities of the world. It is to live out his word together. It is to take sides with him, giving him our allegiance against all the idols and identities that pull us from him. It is to constantly be dependent on him in prayer for our selves and for the world. As God shapes us in this way our neighbors will see our good deeds and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

Communing- Just as in a natural family, the conversation always and inevitably moves to the dinner table. God always sits down to feast with his people; we respond to his gifts by feeding upon him for life, health, and salvation. We acknowledge our need for his life, given in bread and wine, for any spiritual strength in this world. We eat and are knit into one loaf. We drink and find strength to pour ourselves out in sacrifice for our neighbors. Faithfully living out this part of the story means that we must be a hospitable people. We must have people in our homes regularly for meals, especially the undeserving or those we would not normally have over for a dinner party. We must do this in sacrificial ways. We must also be known as a joyous, feasting community. This is the culmination of God’s story, so we must truly leave people with the taste of joy and satisfaction in their mouths after they’ve enjoyed our company. This will happen as we are generous, as we have happy hearts, and as we share life and meals with those who are outside our ‘natural’ circles.

Commissioning- God sends us out into the world with his blessing, his strength, and his commission to make disciples of all nations. It is good to be in God’s presence, but it is necessary that we carry out his presence and influence into the world. Until he comes to set all things right at the end of time, we must descend the mountain week by week and spread his gospel in our lives, work out his dominion in our various callings, before returning to him again on the first day of the week. So to live out the story we must be a people who go. We must go into the lives of our neighbors and work with them and for them on their behalf. More than simply going, though, we must go in such a way that we are actually bringing God’s worship with us into the world. So we must be carrying forth the gospel; we must be living out the story of worship in our lives during the week. This is what it means to be sent forth. In this sense, the story is not yet complete, but is renewed and re-issued week after week.

So these are just a few of the ways in which worship should form the disparate individuals our churches into One Body that reflects the Triune God and embodies the gospel story. We hope you will see that gathered worship is not opposed to “all of life” worship, but is actually meant to inform and invigorate life in the world. Life and corporate worship are meant to be different but mutually informative and dependent. We will be best prepared to live gospel-shaped lives in the world when we remember the centrality, the shape, and the power of Christian worship.

Questions for Discussion

1. Have you felt the transformative power of worship for life in the world? Describe. How does the specific content and order of worship shape the way in which you live?
2. If this is true how does being late to the service and missing the call or cleansing, for example, diminish us?
3. What are some other practices in life that flow out of the gospel story of worship?

Christian Worship, pt 4

2008-02-22T14:19:00.003-05:00

Excursus: Christian Worship is Trinitarian Worship

Before we look at the details of the liturgical story and their effect on God’s people, we must say a few things about the most all-encompassing and important aspect of worship in shaping us. And that is primarily this: that true Christian worship is ineradicably Trinitarian. This means at least a few things.

a. Christian worship should be explicitly Trinitarian in content. The true God has revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, so true Christian worship should be directed to God as he has revealed himself. This is why we often start with the greeting “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is why we end with prayers of thanksgiving and benedictions that specifically name the persons of the Godhead. It is why you will hear “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” throughout the service.

b. Christian worship actually is enabled by and takes place in the presence of the Trinity. Jeff Meyers puts it this way:

"In the traditional liturgy the service of God on our behalf has a very definite Trinitarian shape to it. God’s service to us is to graciously draw us into the presence of the Father in Spiritual union with the God-man Jesus Christ. The man Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. He is the priest. He offers himself as man before the Father and he does so as the Representative Man, the High Priest of Redeemed humanity. He assists us in our approach to God. That's what priests do. John Thompson says it like this: “Jesus Christ is thus the one true worshipper. . . By the Holy Spirit we are drawn into the worship and response Christ offers to the Father. Ours is a response to a response. The Spirit enables this and so gives what he demands, the worship of our hearts and lives.” What this means is that "worship" is not foundationally what we do. Rather it is what we are graciously given as well as what we are given to do in Christ. Worship is the service of the Triune God to the congregation, the exclusive purpose for our gathering together on the Lord’s Day."

c. Because Christian worship is Trinitarian it remolds God’s people in his Triune image. Books might be written throughout all eternity meditating on the mystery of God’s existence as Father, Son, and Spirit, but we can say at least the following: God as Father, Son, and Spirit is uniquely three persons—three identities, roles, and giftings—dwelling together as one Being in perfect and mutual harmony. In other words, the Trinity is a perfect community. So when this Triune God gathers his people together for worship he reshapes them in his image, making unique persons from every tribe, tongue, nation, age, and gifting into one Body working together in mutual harmony: the Bride of Christ, the Christian church. When we gather together to live out and into the gospel story together as his people, in the presence of Father, Son, and Spirit, we become more and more a gospel shaped body, working together in perfect unity and diversity.

This understanding of worship as fundamentally Trinitarian well prepares us to understand the life- and world-changing power of worship. In our next and final section we will look at some of the practical ways in which God changes us through the privilege of worshipping him in Spirit and in Truth.

Christian Worship, pt 3

2008-02-21T14:20:00.003-05:00

The Shape of Worship

Stories have a beginning, middle, and end; they are usually characterized by a story arc in which the stage is set, a conflict arises, then comes a resolution of some sort. This story framework can be seen throughout the Bible. God is the author of the world and of salvation, and we are participants in his story. Even the word “gospel” conveys this paradigm, as it means literally “the good news”—the Gospel is a story.

To recognize the narrative structure of the Christian faith is important because we desire our lives to have coherence and meaning that can only be found through seeing ourselves as part of a story. Thus, while the Christian faith presents us with the one, true story of God’s love and care for the world in creation, the fall, redemption and glorification, there are many other stories that will vie for our interest and affection. As fallen human beings we are tempted inevitably to live by alternate false and destructive stories, to conform our lives and communities to lies. Throughout the Scriptures, we see God calling people to submit to his true story for them and for the world, where they find life and joy and salvation. How do we discover this story? How does it find a home at the center of our hearts and lives? One of the central answers is worship.

In the Bible, God writes his story in the narrative flow of worship done according to his directions. In other words, biblical worship tells a story, embodies it, and shapes its participants in its life-giving, truthful ways. Another word for the movement of worship and the story it tells is liturgy. Every church has a liturgy; it is simply the shape of the service, whether it be “free” or “fixed”, “high” or “low". The question for Christians should be: Does the story told in our service accurately reflect God’s story for the world and salvation? Does our liturgy conform to the order and directions God gives for his story as prescribed for worship? The reason this question is important is that humanity is, since the Fall, by nature sinful. The one thing we do not know how to do “naturally” is to worship the true God of the universe. Think of how central the details and commands regarding worship are in the Old Testament, and think of how easily and often God’s people fell into idolatrous worship practices or otherwise perverted the true, given worship of God even in light of such perspicuity. Again, we should realize that we are constantly tempted, in worship, to live by false stories. Therefore, God is particularly concerned that we submit to and live out his true story in our gathered worship service. So, what is the story given to us by God in our worship service? What are its primary elements and order?

Throughout the Old and New Testaments a basic order can be seen in Christian worship. These main elements and basic order can also be seen in extant liturgies throughout the history of the church and in nearly all major traditions. The elements and movement can be described in any number of ways, but here are some serviceable definitions only slightly altered from a list by Presbyterian minister and author Jeffrey J. Meyers:

• Calling: God gathers us into his presence and calls us into his life and mission; we respond with prayer, praise and doxology.

• Cleansing: God’s presence compels us to confess sin and he grants his cleansing pardon; we respond with thanksgiving and praise for his great mercy and grace.

• Counseling: God speaks to us through his word in the Scripture readings and sermon; we respond in faith by confessing his story as our own and offering ourselves to his service through intercessory prayer and through offerings.

• Communing: God accepts our offerings betokened by bread and wine and feeds us with his own life to strengthen us for mission; we respond by receiving his communion and by offering thanksgiving and praise.

• Commissioning: God grants us his blessing and sends us into the world to carry forward the gospel story; we respond in thanks and go out in peace.

The emphasis throughout this narrative is upon God’s action and then, within that, our response, celebrating God’s great acts of redemption and renewal. This is the great dialogue of God with his people as they gather together for worship, reenacting his gospel story, living it out and being shaped by it for communion with him and with one another, and being shaped for gospel service in the world. These main elements and order are either legislated by God or observed in practice in both the Old and New Testaments. This particular embodied story is seen in most major traditions throughout church history and across the world today. Furthermore, it is necessary that these elements be arranged in this order for the story of the gospel to maintain its coherence. Anything less is to tell a diminished or even potentially perverted story about God’s work in individuals and in the world.

Questions for Discussion

1. What is the gospel story? What are its most salient features and what is its basic order? Do you see that story in your liturgy?
2. Try omitting any one of the points in the story as delineated above, or changing their order. How is the gospel story reduced or changed? How might such diminishment or lack of clarity in worship affect God’s people over time?
3. What questions do you have about any specific element (e.g. Declaration of Pardon, the Creed, the Offering, etc.) in your worship services? Why have the leaders placed any of these elements in their service? What is the meaning? Why in this place in God’s story and not another?

Christian Worship, pt 2

2008-02-20T13:11:00.003-05:00

The Centrality of Worship

We use the English term worship to translate a number of different terms from the original Biblical languages, and it is at least possible that our limited terminology has contributed to misunderstandings and disagreements between Christians over the role of corporate worship in the Christian life. If, after all, “all of life is worship”—for God is omnipresent and everything we do can bring him glory—then what ultimate centrality can corporate worship claim over the rest of life? Conversely, if corporate worship is fundamentally more special than, and disconnected from, everyday life, might it merely become a sacred break from normal, secular life?

Both those who insist that all of life is worship and those who insist that corporate worship is unique and preeminent are correct as far as they go. We have already seen that all of life is conducted in God’s general presence and for his glory. But it’s also true that God reveals his special presence in a unique manner when his people gather together as a body (cf. Exodus 40:34-38; 1 Kings 8:1-12). And this is as true in the New Testament as it is in the Old. We see this when considering two of the Greek words that are translated in the New Testament for us as worship: proskuneo and latreia. Proskuneo means literally “to bow down”. It is a physical posture of obeisance and would have often connoted to its original hearers worship in its more specific sense. This is the term used in John chapter 4 when Jesus and the woman of Samaria are debating the location where worship should take place. It is obvious from that context that it is the public, sanctioned, corporate worship of God’s people at the temple that is under dispute. Jesus is saying that there is a time coming when God’s people will gather in God’s special presence no longer at the temple, but in any location where he (the Truth) and the Holy Spirit manifest themselves. Latreia means “service” and in context often refers to "the worship service," as we would put it colloquially. Consider then a passage such as this one that actually refers to the corporate worship service of the church in Romans 12:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Here Paul both compares and contrasts Christian worship with Old Testament worship at the temple. They are similar in that God’s people are commanded to present themselves at worship and can expect to experience God’s special presence in holiness and mercy there. Yet in the New Covenant Christians offer their own bodies as living sacrifices, as opposed to the slaughtered bodies of the sacrifices in the Old Testament. Nevertheless, Paul is challenging Christians to see their corporate worship as a fulfillment and transformed continuation of Old Testament public worship.

What do we learn from this? Simply that the New Testament is especially concerned with corporate worship. In fact, the New Testament takes the public worship service of God’s people at least as seriously as did the Old Testament. There have been changes in content, form and experience after the coming of Christ, to be sure, but the New Testament is no less interested with our corporate worship than was the Old Testament. And remember, a very large portion of the Old Testament was concerned to promote and legislate the nature of the worship of God’s people. God is no less concerned with our worship today. Hebrews 10:23-25:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Questions for Discussion

1. Do you think corporate worship on the Lord’s Day is the most important act of your Christian life? If so, explain. If not, why not?
2. Why do you think people are so quick to minimize the importance of worship for their lives?
3. What happens in corporate worship that is unique from “all of life” worship?

Christian Worship, pt 1

2008-02-19T12:20:00.002-05:00

Worship is the most important act of human life. God originally created mankind for worship, and worship will characterize the life of redeemed humanity throughout eternity. Thus it is still today, in this broken and alienated world, the most important and necessary task of individuals and communities. If true, these statements carry potentially world- and life-changing ramifications and demands. So what is “worship”?

Our word worship comes from the Anglo-Saxon worth-ship and denotes the showing of reverence to an entity by ascribing to it the proper honor and worth. This is an action that is commanded of all human beings towards their Creator: “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of Holiness” (Psalm 29:2). Throughout the scriptures these kinds of exhortations are made to the people of God and to the nations to worship the Lord, ascribing to him the glory and honor that he deserves in all areas of life. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31).

In this sense, worship comprehends all of life, and includes every activity of which we are capable. But the Bible also speaks of the priority and power of worship in a more specific sense. In the Old Testament we are told that God’s presence comes to his people in a special way at the tent of meeting and in the tabernacle, the site of Israel’s corporate worship (Exodus 40:34-38). In the New Testament, corporate worship is regarded as so important that it is commanded of God’s people (Hebrews 10:25). What about corporate worship is so vital to the Christian life?

In the next few posts on this subject I plan to focus our attention on the general contours of the biblical teaching on corporate Christian worship, noting how through worship we not only are able to give God his due reverence and glory, but how we are transformed and equipped by God to be faithful and wholesome human beings and communities throughout our daily life in the world.

The Handsome Dickies

2008-02-14T15:45:00.003-05:00

A few posts ago I advertised our Ethiopia fundraiser. One of our community groups got together ahead of time and created an impromptu band called The Handsome Dickies. Their finale was this sing-along. Ahhhh, gospel in the local bar, baby. This video was quite discernable on my computer but turned black as death once uploaded. No worries. It will protect their identities, allow you to focus on the harmonies, and provide some delicious irony. Enjoy.

The Handsome Dickies from shookfoil on Vimeo.

In Praise of Spielberg

2008-02-14T11:32:00.008-05:00

The last few Spielberg movies I've seen haven't been that good, but this dramatic act of his is really laudable. I hope that potential attendees, participants, and television viewers will consider following his lead in boycotting. I plan to. Need better company? How about Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, and a number of other Nobel Laureates, athletes, government officials, and business and religious leaders, who've signed this letter?
And if you'd like some context, you could do no better than the documentary The Devil Came on Horseback. It's a really well done movie: very informative, visually stimulating, a clear storyline, morally persuasive, and for all these reasons very difficult to watch. Pray for Saudan, pray for the leaders of China, pray for consumers to make wise choices as we approach the summer. This is what it means to live in a globally connected world.

kickin' out shouts to the Lawd!

2008-01-30T14:37:00.001-05:00

Harlem Gospel Choir from shookfoil on Vimeo.

On MLK day we took the kids to the Children's Museum of Manhattan. We bumped into some church friends there and the father (pictured in video) took our kids up on the stage with the Harlem Gospel Choir, who were doing a free mid-day concert there. Just a lil' somethin'.

Ethiopia Fundraiser

2008-01-17T16:12:00.000-05:00

To all my Brooklynite friends: Come join us at this party and bring your checkbook with you. All the information you need is on the flyer above. [Credit: This eye-popping flyer was designed by Tom Eaton. Go check out his other work at Good Eaton. Lots of fun stuff over there]

So Come. Drink. Sing. Pray. Laugh. Give Money. Be cheerful.

Brooklyn Was Mine

2008-01-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

What is it then between us?
What is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us?
Whatever it is, it avails not--distance avails not, and place avails not,
I too lived, Brooklyn of ample hills was mine...
-Walt Whitman, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

I just picked up an autographed copy of this book about Brooklyn and by Brooklyn authors for fifteen bucks. It looks great and I can't wait to read it. A year ago I started a Brooklyn Authors Book Club--dedicated to reading books by Brooklyn authors--after noticing just how many former and current writers are from Brooklyn. (We're reading Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake this month if you want to join us.) Now I've got a few new names to add to my list!

From the back of the book:

A tribute to New York City's most literary borough-featuring original nonfiction pieces by today's most celebrated writers.

Of all the urban landscapes in America, perhaps none has so thoroughly infused and nurtured modern literature as Brooklyn. Though its literary history runs deep-Walt Whitman, Truman Capote, and Norman Mailer are just a few of its storied inhabitants-in recent years the borough has seen a growing concentration of bestselling novelists, memoirists, poets, and journalists. It has become what Greenwich Village once was for an earlier generation: a wellspring of inspiration and artistic expression.

Brooklyn Was Mine celebrates this phenomenon through original essays that capture the beautiful, varied, and surprisingly intimate qualities of Brooklyn's neighborhood life, while paying tribute to its quietly vanishing past. "Who is to say what will become of the place, or whether Brooklyn will retain its soul?" asks Phillip Lopate in his poignant introduction. "Whatever happens to Brooklyn," he answers, "its literary soul is sound and robust, and its writers fiercely loyal."

Tim Keller's New Book a Defense of Christianity

2008-01-15T13:43:00.001-05:00

The Reverend Timothy Keller of our sister church in Manhattan, Redeemer Presbyterian, is having a new book released on Valentine's Day this year. It's called The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism and you can pre-order it now on Amazon here. As some of you may know, Keller 'planted' a new Presbyterian church in Manhattan in the late 1980's, beginning with about 50 people or so. That church has since grown to over 5,000 and a large part of its growth over the years has come through people coming to the church who were previously either non-Christian or at the time un-churched. Most of this phenomenon must be attributed to Keller's unique giftedness as (what the historic church has called) an Apologist; that is, a person who makes a defense of Christianity against its cultured despisers. At long last he has put down his many cogent arguments for Christianity in book form. It will be in the vein of C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, but for our post-modern milieu. Rumor is that the publishers are expecting Keller's book to make a big splash, along the lines of and as one answer to recent books by Dawkins and Hitchens. Already Newsweek has published a blurb on Keller's book, and it's possible that Keller will be making the 'Good Morning America' rounds, for example. We'll see. I, for one, am glad for Keller to potentially get this attention; I can think of few people I'd rather represent me and my faith to those with objections and questions.

There Will Be Blood

2008-01-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, quick, impressionistic post on this movie. With no spoilers, I think. First thing to say, Go, see it! In the theater! It's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I liked it as the credits were rolling and I'm liking it more and more as I continue to think about it and talk with others who've seen it. It's very rich and nuanced, providing much by way of reflection. The visual style seemed to this layman very different from Paul Tomas Anderson's previous movies like Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia. Though those movies had deep stories, too, the directorial style was more punchy-hipster than There Will Be Blood. From the first scenes of this movie the audience knows they're in for a measured, methodical, and meditative epic. I was put in mind of Kubrick, stylistically. I'm sure P.T. Anderson will receive a nomination for Best Director and will be a good shot to win. Daniel Day-Lewis contributed one of the best performances I've ever seen. He'll win Best Actor for sure. No doubt. Take it to the bank. Every twitch and look and line was spot-on: powerful and usually nuanced, even ambiguous. And his movie son might get a nod for Best Supporting Actor, as well. The score by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood was terrifically unnerving and appropriate. I'm not sure how often Rock musicians get nods for an Oscar, but Greenwood has a good shot. This is due to the fact, in my opinion, that the score is one of the elements most integral to the success of this film. Fact is, there are a ton of meandering wide-angle scans of the California desert landscape that, coupled with a more lush score, might have put the audience in mind of The English Patient. Instead, Greenwood's ominous guitar feedback and swelling reverb paired with staccato strings and piano forced us into a taut, expectant posture with its foreboding tones. Lastly, Anderson should be nominated for Best Original Screenplay. This is where the movie keeps on giving, rewarding reflection and interaction; it's very layered and filled with transcendent themes. The story concerns an early-20th-century silver-and-oil entrepreneur turned oil-baron as a reward for his lawless, cut-throat competition. His chief antagonist in the story is a young Pentecostal evangelist who takes him on, competing for the town's loyalty...and money. It is an epic contest. Here the story puts me in mind of Cormac McCarthy: dark, death-cast, and Just. And as in Magnolia, Anderson fills his story with Biblical allusions, overt references, and Types. Elaborating on this score would give away too much, but if you know your Old Testament stay on your toes and look for any number of veiled narrative allusions and repetitions. So good! So go see it, enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Baptized into Conflict

2008-01-10T15:56:00.000-05:00

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." -Jesus

I'm reading back through Father Alexander Schmemann's masterful introduction to Orthodox cosmology and sacramental and liturgical theology: For the Life of the World. I also went last night to see P.T. Anderson's new movie There Will Be Blood (more on that next post). While reading this passage in Schmemann today I was struck by the thought that it could easily pose as a synopsis of at least one major theme in the movie. Here it is.

“Baptism is the forgiveness of sins, not their removal. It introduces the sword of Christ into our life and makes it the real conflict, the inescapable pain and suffering of growth. It is indeed after baptism and because of it, that the reality of sin can be recognized in all its sadness, and true repentance becomes possible. Therefore, the whole of the Church is at the same time the gift of forgiveness, the joy of the “world to come,” and also and inescapably a constant repentance. The feast is impossible without the fast, and the fast is precisely repentance and return, the saving experience of sadness and exile. The Church is the gift of the Kingdom—yet it is this very gift that makes obvious our absence from the Kingdom, our alienation from God. It is repentance that takes us again and again into the joy of the Paschal banquet, but it is the joy which reveals to us our sinfulness and puts us under judgment.”

My New Favorite Quote

2008-01-09T11:35:00.000-05:00

"Not a pope or even an angel from heaven can give you more than God does in your local parish church." —Martin Luther

Such an awesome quote! And certainly an explanation for why-on-earth I would raise all of my financial support in order to lend my life to the cause of forming neighborhood churches in Brooklyn. Only, to update the quote and recover its power I might change it to read: "Not the President or even the United Nations can do more for you and your neighborhood than God does through your local parish church."

Those are my words, and I'm stickin' to 'em!

And though the following quotes focus more on what God does for individuals in the local church than on what he does for neighborhoods, I'll include them as an addendum because they're so good, too.

"Whoever, having been cut off from the Church, is joined with an adulteress, is separated from the promises of the Church. Nor will he come to the rewards of Christ who leaves the Church of Christ. He is a stranger, a profane person, an enemy. None can have God for a father who has not the Church for a mother. If any had been able to escape outside the ark of Noah, there might have been a way of escape for him who is outside the Church. The Lord warns us and says: He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who gathereth not with Me scattereth. He who breaks the peace and concord of the Christ is against Christ and he who gathers outside the Church of Christ scatters the Church of Christ." —St. Cyprian of Carthage

"The church is God’s incarnation today. The church is Jesus’ body on earth. The church is the temple of the Spirit. The church is not a helpful thing for my individual spiritual journey. The church is the journey. The church is not a collection of 'soul-winners' all seeking to tell unbelievers 'the Way' to God. The church is the way. To be part of the church is to be part of God—to be part of God’s Communion and to be part of God’s ministry. To belong to the people of God is to enjoy relationship with God and live out the purposes of God. The church is God’s present-day word and witness to an unbelieving world. And, most importantly, the church is the only true means to be transformed into the likeness of God." —Tod E. Bolsinger

Africa

2008-01-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

During the last year-and-a-half I've developed a huge crush on Africa. What do I mean? Just that I've found Africa becoming a new area of increasing interest for me. You know how your ears suddenly begin to perk up at something which once barely registered? Kind of like that. So I've found myself reading tons of stuff about Africa, learning as much as I can about current happenings, praying for the continent regularly, etc.

[As an aside, what does "Africa" mean, really? I mean, "Africa" encompasses the history of colonialism and apartheid in places like the southern tip of the continent as well as the pyramids and mosques of Cairo! Certainly to speak nonchalantly of "Africa" is to engage in what I'll affectionately refer to as American geographical and historical ignorance and/or paternalism. And yet, as diverse and varied as are the various United States and even "the Americas" we do share some common space and mutually informing history so that we an speak meaningfully, if not completely, of those entities. So the descriptor "Africa" might serve some purpose beyond that of a mere rallying term or fad.]

At any rate, to narrow the circle, I've found myself reading Chinua Achebe, Dave Eggers w Valentino Achak Deng, Philip Jenkins, Ishmael Beah, while also following news reports on the Anglican brouhaha between African and American leaders and various political struggles and physical skirmishes. Also, one of the primary mission works our church supports is an holistic AIDS and poverty relief program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. So I just wanted to throw out this new area of interest for me as a blanket post. I hope to blog soon on many of the various aforementioned interactions with more detail in the weeks to come. Just sharing some context and impetus.

The Lights of Dyker Heights

2008-01-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

This neighborhood is famous for having a massive Clark Griswold following at Christmas.

"Grups" (i.e. not quite grown-ups)

2007-12-07T14:50:00.000-05:00

Okay, I realize this is just another link to a very long article from a year-and-a-half ago, but you really ought to read it nonetheless. It is very well-written, is extremely funny, and will teach you a lot about current dynamics that characterize a large number of young, urban parents. Did I mention that is was funny? And insightful? And fun to read? And a painfully accurate description of parents in Park Slope? Can't remember. Here is the intro to get you on the hook. You can read the whole thing here: "Up With Grups".

"Let’s start with a question. A few questions, actually: When did it become normal for your average 35-year-old New Yorker to (a) walk around with an iPod plugged into his ears at all times, listening to the latest from Bloc Party; (b) regularly buy his clothes at Urban Outfitters; (c) take her toddler to a Mommy’s Happy Hour at a Brooklyn bar; (d) stay out till 4 A.M. because he just can’t miss the latest New Pornographers show, because who knows when Neko Case will decide to stop touring with them, and everyone knows she’s the heart of the band; (e) spend $250 on a pair of jeans that are artfully shredded to look like they just fell through a wheat thresher and are designed, eventually, to artfully fall totally apart; (f) decide that Sufjan Stevens is the perfect music to play for her 2-year-old, because, let’s face it, 2-year-olds have lousy taste in music, and we will not listen to the Wiggles in this house; (g) wear sneakers as a fashion statement; (h) wear the same vintage New Balance sneakers that he wore on his first day of school in the seventh grade as a fashion statement; (i) wear said sneakers to the office; (j) quit the office job because—you know what?—screw the office and screw jockeying for that promotion to VP, because isn’t promotion just another word for “slavery”?; (k) and besides, now that she’s a freelancer, working on her own projects, on her own terms, it’s that much easier to kick off in the middle of the week for a quick snowboarding trip to Sugarbush, because she’s got to have some balance, right? And she can write it off, too, because who knows? She might bump into Spike Jonze on the slopes; (l) wear a Misfits T-shirt; (m) make his 2-year-old wear a Misfits T-shirt; (n) never shave; (o) take pride in never shaving; (p) take pride in never shaving while spending $200 on a bedhead haircut and $600 on a messenger bag, because, seriously, only his grandfather or some frat-boy Wall Street flunky still carries a briefcase; or (q) all of the above?

"This is an obituary for the generation gap. It is a story about 40-year-old men and women who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 22 years old. It’s not about a fad but about a phenomenon that looks to be permanent. It’s about the hedge-fund guy in Park Slope with the chunky square glasses, brown rock T-shirt, slight paunch, expensive jeans, Puma sneakers, and shoulder-slung messenger bag, with two kids squirming over his lap like itchy chimps at the Tea Lounge on Sunday morning. It’s about the mom in the low-slung Sevens and ankle boots and vaguely Berlin-art-scene blouse with the $800 stroller and the TV-screen-size Olsen-twins sunglasses perched on her head walking through Bryant Park listening to Death Cab for Cutie on her Nano." ...Read the rest here.

Friend in New York Times

2007-12-07T14:47:00.000-05:00

This is from a long time ago, but I just learned that one of my friends had an astute letter to the editor published in the NYTimes and that you can still find it online here: "The Fundamentals".

Raising Kids in the City

2007-11-28T11:46:00.000-05:00

"Here's what comprises the typical American dream: Getting married, having 2.5 kids, and buying the house with the white picket fence, two-car garage, and well-manicured lawn. Here's what it usually doesn't include: hauling groceries up a fourth-floor walkup; dodging taxis, harried pedestrians and street vendors during the morning commute; and paying a premium for an apartment considered a walk-in closet anywhere else.

For many New Yorkers, however, those inconveniences are a part of daily life–and are only amplified when they decide to start rearing little urbanites. Then their biggest issues run from minor logistics such as hauling a stroller up two flights of subway stairs, to major headaches like a preschool application process that rivals those of Ivy League schools. Despite these challenges, Christian parents in New York say that raising a family here provides as many opportunities as it does obstacles: They get to participate in the unique ways in which God works in an urban environment, a setting where community ministry plays a particularly important role." ...Read the rest here.

BQE Reports

2007-11-15T13:02:00.000-05:00

Okay, I realize the number of recent posts related to Sufjan's The BQE debut--particularly in proportion to my overall output of posts--is overkill, but here goes one last post anyway. (I mean, it was a Big Deal for Brooklynites!) And it's just a link, as I'm too lazy to write up my own review. Suffice it to say that the concert was really special and we had a terrific time. I was newly impressed by Sufjan's musical capabilities in light of the fact that he hasn't had much, or any, formal training in classical composition, to my knowledge. Plus, it was great to see so many familiar Brooklyn sights observed in film; I do wonder if that aspect will be as enjoyable to outsiders if the film is released. And it's also just an amazing and strange experience to have the first words coming out of the performer's mouth all night be the lyrics to Seven Swans, at the end of which he sings "He will take you. If you run, he will chase you. 'Cause he is the Lord," while the backdrop image of swans suddenly transforms into the body of a Man and then into an image of the New York City skyline. And there was much more of substance throughout the night. At any rate...this blogger reports in a more knowledgeable manner than me and, even better, conglomerates most of the reviews out there on the web (of which I like the NYTimes one the best). So this link will get you to them all!

Sufjan's The BQE review here.

My little members of the 'All Saints'

2007-11-01T12:20:00.001-04:00

More on The BQE; or, why hundreds of Brooklynites will now be eating Viennese bratwurst for the next three evenings

2007-10-31T09:35:00.001-04:00

Another interview with Sufjan about this weekend's debut of The BQE. I especially liked his thoughts about how sonically unlike the rest of Brooklyn is the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

And incidentally, happy All Saints' Eve.

New Pop

2007-10-26T16:10:00.000-04:00

Just saw that my brilliantly talented friend Jeremy Huggins has just had a piece called "New Pop" published in Comment Magazine. It is ostensibly about the best new music of 2007, but if you know Jeremy's writing you'll know that it's about oh-so-much-more than that. Do yourself a favor and go read it, unhurriedly. Congratulations, Jeremy, and thanks!

Don't hate me because I'm smarter than you...

2007-10-25T15:28:00.000-04:00

...and bought tickets to the world debut of The BQE back in June. I'm wondering what I could get for the tickets now on ebay, but I wouldn't part with them for anything anyway (besides, I'm not even sure that's legal). At any rate, for all of you who aren't going, the New York Magazine ran a rare interview and preview article last week entitled "Playing in Traffic". I'll report back on the concert in 9 days!

Want to Live in a Great Neighborhood?

2007-10-24T09:54:00.000-04:00

Start by loving the one you're in. Some very beautiful and profound words from that eminent thinker of the last century, G.K. Chesterton (from his Orthodoxy), concerning a particularly depressed and unlovely neighborhood in London called Pimlico:

It is not enough for a man to disapprove of Pimlico: in that case he will merely cut his throat or move to Chelsea. Nor, certainly, is it enough for a man to approve of Pimlico: for then it will remain Pimlico, which would be awful. The only way out of it seems to be for somebody to love Pimlico: to love it with a transcendental tie and without any earthly reason. If there arose a man who loved Pimlico, then Pimlico would rise into ivory towers and golden pinnacles; Pimlico would attire herself as a woman does when she is loved. For decoration is not given to hide horrible things: but to decorate things already adorable. A mother does not give her child a blue bow because he is so ugly without it. A lover does not give a girl a necklace to hide her neck. If men loved Pimlico as mothers love children, arbitrarily, because it is theirs, Pimlico in a year or two might be fairer than Florence. Some readers will say that this is a mere fantasy. I answer that this is the actual history of mankind. This, as a fact, is how cities did grow great. Go back to the darkest roots of civilization and you will find them knotted round some sacred stone or encircling some sacred well. People first paid honour to a spot and afterwards gained glory for it. Men did not love Rome because she was great. She was great because they had loved her.

Public Service Announcement

2007-10-19T14:21:00.000-04:00

from a fellow Park Sloper.

Enjoy!

Austin City Limits Report

2007-10-17T14:58:00.000-04:00

(This Holga photo was taken by Brent Palmer)

So I had a ton of fun a month ago at ACL; old, favorite friends in an old, favorite city to hear new, favorite bands is a winning combination. I was only glad I didn't actually pass out from heat exhaustion that weekend after coming precariously close the first day. Here are my picks.

Best Shows (in order)
1. Arcade Fire (15 feet from stage)
2. Andrew Bird
3. LCD Soundsystem

Honorable Mention: The National, and Wilco

Worst Shows
1. The White Stripes (didn't show)
2. Bob Dylan (shouldn't have shown)
3. Midlake

Dishonorable Mention: DeVotchka

All the Shows I chose to See
Friday
Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts
Peter Bjorn and John
Crowded House
LCD Soundsystem
Spoon
Kaiser Chiefs
Saturday
(I forget this slot...)
Cold War Kids
Andrew Bird
Arctic Monkeys
Arcade Fire
Sunday
The National
DeVotchka
Midlake
Bloc Party
Wilco
Ghostland Observatory
Bob Dylan & His Band

So Saturday was the best day of music for me. And every band was good that I saw unless they made my "worst" list.

Abolitionist Brooklyn

2007-10-12T12:44:00.001-04:00

Here is a New York Times article and video on Brooklyn's central role in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad. It seems Brooklyn's current high level of activism has a long pedigree. I've often enjoyed walking past the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims discussed in the article; it's located across the street from Laura's uncle's home, so we see it often.

Park Slope a Top-10 U.S. Neighborhood

2007-10-02T11:44:00.000-04:00

Park Slope was just named one of the top-10 neighborhoods in the U.S. by the American Planning Association. Here's the Daily News report. Here is the APA's top-10 list, which has next to it a list of the top-10 streets in America. And here is their write-up on Park Slope, which cites our architecture and activism, amongst other things.

Weekend Pictures

2007-10-01T20:47:00.001-04:00

Family in the City

2007-09-27T12:19:00.000-04:00

When we told friends and family members that we were moving to New York City with 2-yr old twins we received quite a number of strange looks. No doubt, many people were extremely supportive of us, but we also got lots of looks and comments that communicated something like, "You guys are crazy," or "That seems a little irresponsible and potentially harmful to your children," or "Well, New York sure does need more good people to fix what's wrong with it!" These sentiments, though well-meaning, were always quite troubling to us. Here is a video made my Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan that (very incompletely) communicates some of why it's good to raise families in the city and why our churches encourage people to stay here in order to serve New York.

p.s. Two of the songs on the video are recordings by Park Slope Presbyterian Church's music team.

p.s.s. Hey, we love kids here in New York! And children love the city! Just learned we've even got our own Park Slope neighborhood c.d. of songs for children that are city-centric and city-celebratory.

the Dodgers, and Brooklyn

2007-09-22T11:04:00.000-04:00

"Exorcising the Dodgers" in the New York Magazine

This is a really great article and a fascinating read. Check it out if you have any interest in baseball...or in Brooklyn. Or in diversity, hope, gentrification, community, basis for unity, etc. Quite a comprehensive scope for a little article on a bygone franchise, but I guess that's why baseball is still the most mythic of American sports, right?

to ATX for ACL

2007-09-12T19:40:00.000-04:00

As a belated 30th birthday present I head tomorrow to the best little city in the country to hear some of the best bands in the world. My son is jealous:

How to terrorize your children

2007-08-28T18:36:00.000-04:00

Lobstah, as promised

2007-08-28T18:31:00.001-04:00

North Toward...Crustaceans

2007-08-24T14:40:00.000-04:00

My family leaves for a week of vacation in Maine tomorrow. We're staying in a cottage on an island with Laura's mom and uncle. By the way, did you know Maine is pretty much next to Nova freakin' Scotia?! Crazy. At any rate, I hope to spend most of my time and energy gorging myself on acres of lobster while submerged in giant vats of melted butter.

Awesome. (Updates forthcoming...)

Want to live longer? Move to NYC.

2007-08-17T11:35:00.000-04:00

New York is the safest large city in the United States. Now it is also one of the healthiest. No wonder its denizens live longer than the rest of the country. Can't believe it? Read Why New Yorkers Last Longer. The article asks: "This city, once known as a capital of vice and self-destruction, is now a capital of longevity. What happened?"

In the course of seeking an answer to this question, the author raises some other very interesting questions about the particular shape of a community's life and habits, public policy, use of shared space, etc., and their inevitable effects on a city's residents. The author also brings the statistics into the suburban vs. urban debate. Worth a read. For my part, I'll simply say that I lost 10 to 12 pounds in the first 6 months I moved here without any changes to my diet; I simply walked more. So I'm slightly less rotund now, even if it remains to be seen whether or not I'll live longer than the rest of the country.

Brooklyn Authors

2007-08-16T13:49:00.000-04:00

Surely Brooklyn has a claim as one of the most literary locales in the West. Need convincing? See the following list. I started the Brooklyn Authors Book Club here in Park Slope last year. So far we've read Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn (soon to be an Ed Norton movie---yeah!), and Chaim Potok's My Name is Asher Lev. My only criteria for book choice is that the authors have at some point resided and written extensively in Brooklyn or, in a few select cases, have set the chosen novel in Brooklyn and accurately captured one of the sub-cultures here. Oh, and we're doing only fiction at this point.

Based on my fallible internet research, I've learned that I can keep this book club going for a very long time! Here's my working list now. Do I have any wrong? And who have I missed?

Brooklyn Authors (in no particular order)

Jonathan Safran Foer, Jonathan Lethem, Chaim Potok, Bernard Malamud, Nicole Krauss, Rick Moody, Jhumpa Lahiri, Colson Whitehead, Emily Barton, Paul Auster, Betty Smith, Hubert Selby, Jr., Pete Hamill, Walt Whitman, Richard Wright, Arthur Miller, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Paule Marshall, Phillip Lopate, Dara Horn, Lisa Dierbeck, Kate Christensen, Francine Prose, Jonathan Ames, Jonathan Baumbach, Joshua Ferris.

Merton on Mercy

2007-08-15T12:46:00.000-04:00

I'm currently reading Thomas Merton's autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain. At the same time I am reading through an interesting and ambitious biography--given to me by a friend--of Merton, Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, and Doris Day: The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage, by Paul Elie. (You may recall that Percy and O'Connor along with Dostoevsky make up my holy triumvirate of novelists.) In this biography Elie interweaves the lives and themes of these four great Post-War Catholic writers. It's also been fun to see how each of these four spent formative time in New York City. At any rate, I may have more to say about each of these books in the near future. For now I thought I'd share this quote from Merton concerning wars (World War II in particular) and belief in God.

"People seem to think that it is in some way a proof that no merciful God exists, if we have so many wars. On the contrary, consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men, the human race can still recover, each time, and can still produce men and women who overcome evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanctity. How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out His grace upon us? Can there be any doubt where wars come from and where peace comes from, when the children of this world, excluding God from their peace conferences, only manage to bring about greater and greater wars the more they talk about peace?

We have only to open our eyes and look about us to see what our sins are doing to the world, and have done. But we cannot see. We are the ones to whom it is said by the prophets of God: 'Hearing hear, and understand not; and see the vision and know it not.'

There is not a flower that opens, not a seed that falls into the ground, and not an ear of wheat that nods on the end of its stalk in the wind that does not preach and proclaim the greatness and the mercy of God to the whole world.

There is not an act of kindness or generosity, not an act of sacrifice done, or a word of peace and gentleness spoken, not a child's prayer uttered, that does not sing hymns to God before His throne, and in the eyes of men, before their faces.

How does it happen that in the thousands of generations of murderers since Cain, our dark bloodthirsty ancestor, that some of us can still be saints? The quietness and hiddenness and placidity of the truly good people in the world all proclaim the glory of God.

All these things, all creatures, every graceful movement, every ordered act of the human will, all are sent to us as prophets from God. But because of our stubbornness they come to us only to blind us further.

'Blind the heart of this people and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.'

We refuse to hear the million different voices through which God speaks to us, and every refusal hardens us more and more against His grace--and yet he coninues to speak to us: and we say He is without mercy!"

Letters at Midnight

2007-08-10T14:16:00.001-04:00

In keeping with the unpolished spirit of the species of communication known as blogging, I've decided to start posting rough recordings of song fragments and other such creations of mine here on shookfoil. The first is this verse and chorus from a song currently titled Letters at Midnight. Listen to it here. (You MUST use headphones! Your computer speakers will not be sufficient.) I have no aspirations of ever recording any of my songs at a more professional level, so my hope is simply that in sharing song sketches here I might have enough fun to stimulate myself to sit down and put some work into my many other song ideas.

Now for some explanation and caveats concerning Letters at Midnight. This particular song fragment is old; I doubt I'd write something in a similar vein today. Many years ago my brother Jesse wrote the bass line and I sat down to crank out lyrics and the rest of the music. This particular recording was my first experiment with my mac's garage band. I had no guitar slide so I used a flat-edged bottle-opener; I had no piano so I used the 'ASDFGHJKL' keys on my computer for the electronic piano sounds; I had no microphone so I used the built-in one on the mac; I also seem to have forgotten some of the lyrics. And I've not yet figured out how to properly add drum tracks to songs. Maybe on the next one. Any questions? (No, in spite of popular demand F.O.M. is not making a come-back...)

Tech Help! -- another shook site in the meantime

2007-08-10T14:04:00.000-04:00

I have been trying for a long while now to teach myself how to upload an mpeg file to blogger. All to no avail. I've tried free web hosting searches and such, but I still can not figure it out. Does anyone out there care to lend me a metaphorical hand?! What has worked for you? Specifically, I would like to be able to upload garage band creations and such to my blog here, using a trustworthy and free web host. I've used geocities for text files in the past, but my other media don't seem to work there. Let me know...

In the light of my ignorance on this count I've caved and signed up for my trial iWeb account that came with my mac. It's good for two months and I don't expect that I'll shell out the the money to sign-up when the trial runs out. Though maybe I'll love it enough to do so--we'll see. For now, I'm using it to share media that I create on my mac until I have another solution. You can check out the other, if not new-and-improved, shookfoil at this link. And I doubt you'll need to add a bookmark. Most likely if I post anything there I'll link it here.

Brooklyn Tornado

2007-08-09T13:20:00.000-04:00

The Galt family is perfectly fine. Just thought I'd let all of you know since we had so many phone calls from around the nation last night and this morning. Thanks to all of you for your love and concern. We were flying back from New Orleans yesterday at the end of a vacation when the storm hit so all we experienced was a delayed flight to JFK. I'm checking today with church members who live in Sunset Park and Bay Ridge to see if everyone is okay. So far no seriously bad news.

Motherland Afghanistan

2007-07-26T13:48:00.000-04:00

One of our close friends and neighbors was a producer of the documentary Motherland Afghanistan. We recently rented it from Netflix and recommend it. It's pretty heart-breaking, but passionate and thought-provoking as well.

Here's a brief synopsis:

When the United States invaded Afghanistan in October of 2001, Afghan hopes were high that democracy would bring enormous progress for Afghan women in the arena of health and education. But as of 2006 one of their most fundamental rights— adequate health care—has not been met.

In MOTHERLAND AFGHANISTAN, Afghan American filmmaker Sedika Mojadidi journeys to the heart of this medical tragedy by following her father's return to Afghanistan to battle one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Dr. Qudrat Mojadidi is an OB/GYN who was forced by political pressures to emigrate from Afghanistan to the U.S. in 1972. In 2003, nearly two years after the Taliban’s fall, he is invited by the U.S. government to help rehabilitate the largest women’s hospital in the country, Rabia Balkhi, now under U.S. sponsorship with a newly re-named Laura Bush Maternity Ward. He returns to his homeland with great hopes that with U.S. funding, he can help set in motion the large-scale changes necessary to stem the epidemic of maternal mortality in the country.

Set against the backdrop of a land in turmoil and transition, this inspiring film reveals the devastating stories behind a reproductive health crisis essentially neglected by the Western media and provides a rare glimpse into the heart of humanity through the quiet deeds of those who attempt to heal.

Multiplying Churches

2007-07-25T08:34:00.000-04:00

Wow! I just heard some very surprising news. Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan has just been ranked the #1 multiplying church in America. I'm not entirely sure of the value of such a poll or ranking report, but it was encouraging nonetheless to see Redeemer included in such a list. As those of you who know me are aware, I have just completed a year-long internship in Redeemer's church planting Fellows program. We hope in the near future to continue Redeemer's efforts through this church planting work in Brooklyn. The most recurring question from friends and family regarding our involvement in this work is the following: "Why plant churches?" Here is Redeemer's brief rationale.

A major part of Redeemer's "missional" emphasis is to start new churches. New York continues to be the single most influential city in the U.S. (and perhaps in the world.) In general, as this city goes, so goes U.S. society. A major wave of immigration is changing NYC from an Irish/Italian/Jewish city into a multi-ethnic city drawn mainly from the southern and eastern hemispheres where Christianity is growing the fastest. This could radically change NYC from a largely secular city at its core to a faith-filled city through church planting.

These are churches which will not live to simply accrue power and status for themselves but to serve the city (especially the poor) and renew the culture for Christ.

Redeemer Church Planting Center (RCPC) has been established to achieve this vision. Through its ministry it hopes to fill greater NY with new gospel-centered churches to truly renew our city and through it the world.

If you'd like to hear more go to this page and watch a video by Tim Keller or read some of his papers on the subject.

In Praise of Taste

2007-07-21T20:07:00.000-04:00

As an ordination gift one of my community groups at our church gave me a gift certificate to our favorite neighborhood restaurant: Applewood. Laura and I were able to cash in a week ago on the eve of the twins' birthday. So we celebrated having survived three years with them, as well as the first anniversary of our move to New York. Enjoying a transporting dinner was the perfect way for us to give thanks. The God-given faculty of mankind to truly taste, in distinction from all God's other lesser creatures, is a privilege for and with which we give thanks to God--and we do so in feasts on special occasions. So it is especially appropriate to increase our thanks by marveling at truly artistic taste-makers when the opportunity is available. It is at this point that one goes beyond thanking God for sustenance and begins to thank him for taste-buds! This evening was one of those awesome and sumptuous occasions. To set the scene, you ought to know that Applewood holds only fifty-some people, and they allowed us to sit there for 3 hours--a blessing usually only afforded in Europe. So here were some of the tastes we enjoyed, without commentary:

We started by sharing a sweet corn margarita made with cinnamon scented corn milk, jalapeno infused Sauza blanco tequila, Grand Marnier, and lime juice. We then decided to dine from the chef's tasting menu with wine pairings. (Unfortunately Applewood did not write down the names of the wines on this menu, so I only remember one.) As we were waiting they brought out some different specialty breads and provided a plate with some whipped and creamy butter, a goose pate, and a bean spread. While we were happily awaiting our first course our waiter brought to our table a surprise plate "compliments of the chef" for our slight wait. It was veal sweetbread on sauteed shallots with mint sauce, and gratis. Then the tasting menu proper began.

The first course was hibiscus-coriander cured sea trout with jicama slaw and mint oil. They paired this with a dry white.

The second course was sauteed labelle farms foie gras with fresh peaches and pluots. This was paired with a very fruity and bold white, almost dessert, wine. Here I break my promise about no commentary. This was the most interesting course of the night. I've had foie gras once before and it was good, cooked in the style of a petite andouillette. But this foie gras put that one to shame. It was honestly one of the most lovely tastes I've ever experienced. It was a very small steak of foie gras, seared and scored. The warm juices of the liver immediately burst in your mouth. I made this three-biter stretch out into about eight. And the fruit on the plate and the sweet wine sent you palette to the other extreme. The sweet wine seemed to me like an odd choice at first, but it really held its own and made the course unique and interesting.

The third course was grilled and braised Vermont goat with with lacinata kale and blue cheese fondue. The wine with this was a heavenly Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc, North Coast 2005.

The fourth course was a selection of domestic artisanal cheeses, paired with dry red.

The dessert course was lemon shortbread with rum ice cream and caramel peaches, paired with a true dessert wine.

Thank you so much for this gift, Union Street community group! It was really special.

Tees!

2007-07-20T10:26:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine here in Brooklyn recently launched a new t-shirt company called Star76. Give them a look and throw them some business here. I've been told that they have a whole new line coming out in the next couple weeks, so check back on their site soon for more. And here's a blurb on their motivations for starting Star76:

As all good tales begin, ours started with a back-of-the envelope business plan, scribbled out on the 4th of July 2006. The plan became Star76: a creative collective dedicated to creating imaginative clothing and accessories through collaborations with local emerging artists. (This seemed way more interesting than our respective day jobs in non-profit consulting and publishing). Our passion for fresh art and ideas coupled with our desire to change the world (or at least make it a little more livable), also led us to create the Ad Astra Initiative, Star76's t-shirt driven program dedicated to raising public awareness of and supporting causes near and dear to our hearts. The way fashion and art inform and influence one another, tees discovered on trips across the globe, Sunkist orange soda in a can, Pedro Almodovar films, The Band That Saved The World, and doing the right thing are just some of our shared passions. We are blessed to add to this list the act of bringing together the coolest people we know to make amazing art, to create without restraint.

Random Summer Pictures

2007-07-19T08:38:00.001-04:00

#1- Hiking across the Brooklyn Bridge

#2- Irresistible pout

#3- My downstairs neighbor T-Bone, who is currently the tour-drummer for DMX, made these shades for me. They're being rocked by my friend 'Steady', as I don't have the requisite panache.

#4- Showing off his fly new wet-suit-ish swimming gear, with which he's hoping to soon woo back his old girlfriend Adison at the beach.

#5- Mi' pearly whites

Explosion in Manhattan

2007-07-19T06:43:00.001-04:00

Since I'm not sure how much national coverage this story is getting, I thought I'd point your attention to it here. There was a large explosion in Midtown last night which caused fears of another terrorist attack. You can read the story here.

The Road

2007-07-18T11:57:00.000-04:00

As a Texan I have long been interested in the work of Cormac McCarthy. I recently finished this novel and will now encourage friends to start with The Road if they intend to dive into McCarthy for the first time. Here's a brief, non-insightful snippet I wrote for my new Shelfari page. (Incidentally, you should all sign up for a free Shelfari account and add me as a friend so that I can read your book recommendations.)"Dark and apocalyptic as usual, this novel is also Cormac McCarthy's most personal and moving. I loved my children more when I finished. Up there with All The Pretty Horses as his best work to date that I've read."

As another argument for the use of Shelfari, I immediately received this interesting note from one "DonnaA" in response to my post on The Road: "I read your note on THE ROAD and found it insightful. Think about this: CM [Cormac McCarthy] is an elderly literature professor with a 7 year old son. He has written many books that leave the reader with no hope for the future. This is not one of them. The ending of this book is hopeful. Compare it to the last paragraphs of GATSBY. Both speak to the possibilities of time: that goodness has a chance. The boy is an allegorical figure not for the sacrificed Christ, but for the teaching and leading Christ. The allusions are overwhelming. He was anointed, he carried the fire, he was the good guy, he had the breath of God, he came out on the third day, he was responsible for all men. No literature professor would do this without intending to do it. I find it amazing that someone that has written as much darkness as CM still sees hope for this world...and that he sees it through love and goodness." An interesting take at any rate, and a reason to hope for some benefit from my new Shelfari account. Happy reading!

Twins wave 'bye to the Terrible Twos

2007-07-13T15:20:00.000-04:00

Today is Arthur and Adaline's third birthday. We're throwing them and their friends a small party tomorrow morning. So I may have more pictures soon. But here are some for now.

Hatin' the Slope

2007-07-13T14:52:00.000-04:00

A couple posts ago I linked an article entitled "The Park Slope Parent Trap" and mentioned that the woman in the lead photograph is a congregant at our church, Park Slope Presbyterian. Mildly interesting, until I heard that the woman in question was upset by some comments being directed at her and her children by complete strangers over here on Gawker. So I gave it a look to see what the fuss was about. (Warning: the comments following the editorial on gawker are filled with expletives and the most extreme display of vitriol.) Since I know the photographed woman I followed this heated display with more concern than I might otherwise have done. Observing such hate toward Park Slope and one particular segment of the Park Slope demographic is curious to me. I have some suspicions why 'Park Slope' as a symbol and certain Slopers are so threatening to many. But I've decided that I'm going to try to find time in the next week or two to write an article about this phenomenon. I'm going to call it "Hating Thy Neighbor; What's the big deal with Park Slope?" I may even try to shop it around. If I don't find time to write a polished version or no one is interested in publishing it I'll probably just end up posting it here on shookfoil.

And here's an article in The New York Observer called The New Victorians that describes another, potentially related, new breed of New Yorkers.

6 a.m. delirium

2007-07-12T07:21:00.000-04:00

slow to the punch

2007-07-11T14:57:00.000-04:00

I was going to blog and post pictures about our experience with this last night, but my feedreader just informed me that my wife just beat me to the punch. Oh well, she did better than I would have anyway. I'll only add that watching my kids watch their first fireworks was probably one of my most gratifying and joyful experiences as a parent so far.

Park Slope Parents Trap

2007-07-11T11:15:00.000-04:00

This New York Times article from last Sunday is worth a look if you non-Brooklynite readers are interested in the "feel" of (part of) our neighborhood. The article itself is not terrific as it seems to me to be in search of a point, but it shares some funny anecdotes of particular issues facing some who live in Park Slope. Oh, and that picture at the top is of one of our congregants and her children; I'm not even sure she knows. I'll have to tell her when I see her.

if you can't take the heat

2007-07-04T20:19:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of our kitchen (the largest in NYC, by the way!) taken by my friend Jeff Meyers. More of Jeff's nifty pictures from his visit to Brooklyn for my ordination can be here found at SmugMug.

June Post

2007-06-27T15:29:00.001-04:00

Wow! It's almost July and I just realized I haven't posted this month. It would be sad for a special June 2007 to be left off my archives sidebar (I did turn 30 this month after all!) so I've got to post something. So what happened in June? Well, I turned thirty-years-old on the 8th, then went to our annual nation-wide denominational meeting in Memphis for a week and ate lots of 'dry-rub' ribs, then took my first week off in a year at my parents' home in Dallas, and now I'm back in Brooklyn: busy as usual and preparing my first sermon on an assigned text, rather than one I've chosen. Should be fun. Maybe I'll be able to post more in July; I have lots of thoughts, but no time to jot them down. And a friend of mine started blogging her beautiful craft-work at Wren Handmade. Check it out and buy something. Til' July...

Ordination Pictures

2007-05-30T20:23:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures from my ordination last Sunday and from the festivities before and after. It was a wonderful weekend. Also, check the media page on our church website for video of the event to be uploaded some time in the next week.

Brooklyn Church Project

2007-05-17T09:30:00.000-04:00

"What are you actually doing in Brooklyn?" you inquire. Glad you asked. We've spelled out most of it over on our new website: the Brooklyn Church Project. Check it out. You can read about the team, our vision, our core values, our borough. And check back soon for news and website updates, as it's a work in progress. Also, I've linked the site permanently on my sidebar as "the call".

Why is everyone dancing?

2007-05-12T22:34:00.000-04:00

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Dad sustained his presbytery exam today and was approved for ordination.

My ordination will be on Pentecost Sunday, May 27th. We're all very happy!

crud

2007-04-30T13:03:00.000-04:00

Really sad to be missing out on this event. It's a great idea and would have been really fun. Unfortunately I already have two--count 'em TWO--church engagements that night. [sigh] Maybe next year. In the meantime I'll settle for all the scoop from the event's founder here.

Me if I survive my ordination exams:

2007-04-14T14:14:00.000-04:00

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

Really Magical Magic Flute

2007-04-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

For Christmas I bought Laura a gift certificate to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She used it to buy tickets to Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. We went last night. The story was pretty lame but the music was terrific. Best of all though was the modern aesthetic added in the art direction. The show was designed and directed by South African artist William Kentridge. He evidently does a lot of drawing in charcoal. So for The Magic Flute he created hundreds of drawings with motifs from the story and then had them transposed into light projections on the stage. It made the opera much more filmic than any other stage presentation I've ever seen. It added another narrative layer to the opera and a more modern one at that. Truly beautiful. You can watch a short promotional video here.

New York Gorilla

2007-04-14T10:35:00.000-04:00

I'm studying right now at my favorite coffee shop in Park Slope, Gorilla Coffee, and noticed that an artist rendered the front facade of the building for a recent New Yorker cover. Pretty cool.