July 2004 Archives

well, our warmup hike never led to the longer hike we had planned, mostly because we've been taking opportunities to explore vancouver. we found an amazing record store, zulu records, that had more independent music than any store i've ever visited. we also dropped by (several times) the regent college bookstore; if you're ever in the vancouver area, we highly recommend it.

just for the fun of it, here's a list of what we've picked up whilst on this trip:

music

• iron and wine: our endless numbered days




• jolie holland: escondida




• 16 horsepower: sackcloth 'n' ashes




• sarah harmer: songs for clem

books

• the fabric of this world: inquiries into calling, career choice, and the design of human work by lee hardy




• the rise of the creative class by richard florida




• the cost of discipleship by dietrich bonhoeffer




• work in the spirit: toward a theology of work by miroslav volf




• the no-nonsense guide to fair trade by david ransom




• the politics of jesus by john howard yoder




• following jesus: biblical reflections on discipleship by n.t. wright




• life of pi by yann martel




• pride and prejudice by jane austen




• caramelo by sandra cisneros

i would have attempted to link all of those books, but it would have taken forever. if you're interested, visit powell's and do a search.

last saturday, we went on a warmup hike on the lower falls trail at golden ears provincial park:

we ended our hike halfway up the mountain, swimming in a frigid pool formed by a glacier-fed stream as it flowed down the mountain. places like these absolutely blow my mind; it's simply hard to believe such beauty exists.

here are our wonderful friends, ryan and steph vande kraats, with whom we have been visiting:

we hadn't seen ryan and steph for two years before arriving, and it's wonderful to swing right back into such a delightful friendship. good friends are like that, aren't they?

rest is a strange thing. we work and work, looking forward to rest with desperation and when the time to rest arrives, we're not sure what to do with ourselves. i just picked up Work in the Spirit: Toward a Theology of Work by Miroslav Volf yesterday at the Regent College bookstore and something he said right off in the introduction rang true:

Work has come to pervade and rule the lives of men and women, be it in the form of indefatigable or cruelly enforced industriousness, pure and simple, in the initial stages of the industrial nations' development; be it in combination with frantically pursued leisure at later stages.

admittedly, i've spent too much time on this vacation feeling hopeless, overwhelmed by the weight of future work and decisions. fortunately, i was called to accountability by an interview that was reprinted in the Utne Reader. Tony Kushner, a playwright who's most well known for his ambitious two-part play Angels in America, says that in this climate of privilege, despair (at least for those who don't suffer from a chemical imbalance or horrible personal circumstances) is a luxury and it's our ethical obligation to find hope because the things we despair of are not irreversible. Kushner says this in a political context, but the same can be true in a personal context.

on a large scale, all of these realizations make me understand that when we go back to the real world in Three Rivers, Michigan, our lives must include room for dedicated study. we're searching for grad schools in part because we feel like we need a two-year compartment of time in which to cram all of the reading and learning we wish to do. but we may already be committed to learning by doing in our small, yet promising town. we'll see.

we're going for a short warm-up hike today (and perhaps a swim in a glacial lake) in anticipation of a day hike tomorrow on Panorama Ridge. one of us will be back soon with pictures, i'm sure.

k.

stuck in rush hour traffic outside of Seattle, rob commented how strange it is that we manage to see Steve and Amanda so often, even though they live on the West Coast. it is strange, but good.

we arrived on Monday afternoon and stayed until early Tuesday afternoon and in that time, enjoyed wonderful food and conversation, even though we were still adjusting to the time change (it's hard to convince your body that it's NOT 4 in the morning after driving over 30 hours in three days). steve showed off (to our benefit) some of the skills he's learned in his cooking classes and we enjoyed salmon, homemade bread, hummus with red peppers and other deliciousness.

we also had the opportunity to visit their church in it's weekday coffeehouse mode. the atmostphere was very relaxing and artistic and of course, the coffee was better than most of what we can get in the midwest. we left later than we intended thanks to a welcoming space and good exchange of thoughts and ideas. it's great to have people with whom to discuss life's big questions in engaging and productive ways.

after trekking across the united states, we entered into canada via the peace bridge (north of seattle, south of vancouver) and arrived safely at our destination in surrey, british columbia. our loving friends and family can rest easier knowing we didn't drive off a cliff or get into a head-on collision with a semi.

we did reach a milestone shortly before arriving in seattle:

we have now officially driven this car 100,000 miles and, if we keep spending as much money on repairs as we have for the last four years, we should be able to get at least another 300,000 (at least!) miles out of bora, our diesel volkswagen jetta.

more about the trip later ...

day one: northwest indiana to western minnesota

drive time: 10 hours

our first night of camping, in minnesota (near fargo, north dakota), went photographically undocumented due to severe weather and malicious mosquitoes. we slept somewhat soundly as tornado-watch winds and rain whipped about our nylon house, proving, once again, that we really have a great tent. probably not the most ideal camping experience, but still cheaper than a hotel.

day two: western minnesota to western montana

drive time: 14 hours

the second night, in montana, we visited a beautiful (and free!) state park just outside of butte. tall pine forests are situated between two hundred foot cliffs with a stream running along one side.

the only amenities provided in the park are an outhouse and a drinking water pump, but the amazing scenery more than makes up for lack of creature comforts. we aren't very picky campers anyway, so these are pretty much sufficient in most cases. we had an amazing meal comprised of modified veggie kapow--vegetables, sausage (the modification), spices and butter or olive oil wrapped in foil and cooked over fire--and dessert kapow--apples, cherries, butter and sugar. sometimes, as a good friend likes to say, i can't believe we eat so well.

upon waking the next morning, we were able to wash up a bit in the frigid creek about 10 feet away from our tent. we were refreshed and ready to drive another 8 hours to seattle, washington.

in one hour, we will finish packing the car and depart on the three-days journey from three rivers, michigan, to surrey, british columbia. we will spend three weeks there, housesitting for friends of friends, visiting the aforementioned friends, studying books we've been meaning to read for years, brainstorming the future and relaxing (at least a little).

and we'll keep this thing updated along the way.

i'm stealing ideas for this entry directly from a different (but certainly related) discussion on gideon strauss' blog because it applies to my cornerstone post from earlier in the week.

calvin seerveld, in his book rainbows for the fallen world (which, i'm somewhat ashamed to admit, i have not read fully--yet), gives five directives to christian artists.

the first is as follows:

First, for those who want to be christian artists, that is, musicians, painters, poets, novelists, graphic designers, dramatists, cinematographers, distinguished in their artistry by the holy spirit of compassionate judgment proclaiming the Rule of Jesus Christ: (1) Become filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Unless one's vision is full-orbed and one's discernment of what God wants done is sure, one will be weak in artistic leadership and uncertain in testing the spirit of the art facing you and your neighbour. One's roots have to be deep in Jesus Christ and one's sensitivity to creation has to be uncommonly rich, if you mean to be vitally redemptive in doing anything with christian identity in this secular age. Christian artistry cannot be done by formula - choose these topics, refrain from that, add a prayer, and give a double tithe of the proceeds - no! It will take a prayer and fasting habit to exorcise secularism from our artistic deed (cf. Matthew 17: 14-21); so, like making a vow, one has to decide whether to suffer such a level of commitment (cf. Ecclesiastes 5: 1-7, Philippians 1: 27-30), and then plead with the Lord to use oneself for establishing his Rule. Without the working presence of the Holy Spirit in the product of our hands, mouth, feet or body, the "christian art" will be a sham, in vain. Unless the river bed of our consciousness is as deep as the living Spirit of God, no matter how fast the water flows or sparkling it seems, it is christianly shallow.

i think i'll be spending some more time with seerveld's work over the next six months; he has spent more time than most working with the responsibilities of christian artists and i'm sure his insights would be helpful when critiquing an event like cornerstone. in fact, grant (of OVERHANG fame) was bringing up seerveld throughout the festival.

gideon will be working his way through seerveld's other four directives on his blog over the next several days, so stay tuned.

david koyzis mentioned american beer in his blog post today:

I was never a fan of American beer for reasons which should be obvious to anyone who's had the misfortune to taste it. On the other hand, there are a number of local microbreweries in the US whose products rank with the best of the European brews.

i'd like to take this opportunity to recommend our local microbrewery, kalamazoo brewing company, makers of bell's beer. if you get the chance next time you're in grand rapids, you should drop by. it's worth the trip!

for once i have a legitimate reason for not having blogged in a week: a generous donor paid for us to attend the annual cornerstone festival in bushnell, illinois. we left last wednesday night to camp on a former farm with 30,000 other people and to experience what is widely considered the best christian music festival going.

unfortunately, if this is the best we've got to offer, we have a lot of work to do. don't get me wrong, i think cornerstone is a valuable experience for a lot of people; for many, this can be the first step into a christianity they have yet to experience. and i think the people behind it (Jesus People USA (JPUSA)) are doing amazing work; i can't imagine all of the work required to pull off a festival of this magnitude and, when placed alongside their other work, the accomplishment is nothing short of incredible.

but ...

while the jpusa folks are certainly conscience of living a fully integrated christian life, the preponderance of artists and festival attendees didn't seem to "get it" yet. i realize, of course, that each of us struggles with living a life fully informed by our faith and that there are areas in each of our lives that we neglect in this regard, willfully or not. many cornerstone participants, however, don't seem to have even started the journey.

exhibit a: t-shirts. it would be one thing if festival attendees were wearing stupid and thoughtless t-shirts (and many were), but it's an entirely different thing when vendors are promoting such laziness. selling shirts printed with phrases such as "boyfriends make good pets" or "stalking isn't a sin" might be funny if considered completely outside of a faith perspective (though the latter would still be questionable), but i'm certain they are nothing but absurd inside. they do nothing to encourage an integrated life.

exhibit b: trash. i still can't believe how many campsites looked like garbage dumps throughout the event. though the festival encouraged recycling, it seemed most people were having a hard enough time merely finding a garbage can at all. many campers purchased sofas and chairs for the festival and then left them afterwards for someone else to pick up. if this were a microcosm of how christians treat the earth (and i'm still praying it's not), we are shameful stewards of one of the most amazing gifts God has given us.

finally, and perhaps most importantly when discussing a music festival, exhibit c: the music. a lot of the bands at the festival were simply churning out thoughtless drivel with a Jesus veneer lacquered on top. perhaps in the often idolatrous quest to be relevant or perhaps in sheer ignorance, the christian music industry has pushed and promoted artists running the genre gamut who have little to contribute artistically. i can't believe the lack of excellence we allow in the music arena; musicians are given a responsibility to be the best possible artists in their fields and few are meeting the stringent demand. i think many artists are in the business for reasons that have little to do with faith.

i think all of this fits into a much larger problem within christianity: confusing conversion with discipleship. but i'll have to write about that another time; this post is long enough.

after some difficulties receiving pictures (i accidentally deleted them the first go around because the message was mixed in with hundreds of spam messages ... grrr), i am proud to present my newest niece: Chloe Alena.

isn't she beautiful?