I will be going incommunicado for a brief time. It's been coming on for a few weeks now.
As a previous version of me has said before, there are two sides to Will - the Creative Side and the Totally Kick Ass and Takes Names Intelligence Specialist Side. The wimpy, nice, creative side has been in charge now for a little over ten years. He's really done a number on this place while he's been in charge. Eeeuch!
Now, the other Will is in charge. And he doesn't like what he sees. And he's really not liking some of the things going on in his life. Therefore, I've stuffed Creative Will in a box for a while so that I can take care of some business.
Things are going to change around here. Rapidly. And then, I will return you to your regular... hippy... programming.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Preach the Gospel... use words if you must.
I think the worst thing that can happen to my brothers and sisters in Christ is to have a microphone, gavel, or TV camera shoved in their face. It seems that when a Christian is asked for their opinion on any issue, good or bad, they feel duty bound to answer the question with an authoritative response as if they speak for all Christians everywhere. Even in the rare case where these spokespeople do speak for all Christians, they seem to forget that they don't necessarily speak for God.
I say this because I have seen the struggles of faith firsthand in the churches and in larger regional bodies of church government over issues that divide the rest of the world as well. Abortion, Same Sex relationships, the Death Penalty, and on and on, these issues divide the church as easily as they divide the nation and the world. Yet if you turn on the TV there is always some Christian pundit ready to give an answer for the Church that is so authoritative, you would assume it was written in stone by the hand of God.
While I think every Christian ought to have the moral authority to speak their mind on these issues and to attempt to prayerfully discuss these issues with other believers and non-believers alike, I think this mind-set that some Christians have that their thoughts MUST be correct and that everyone else is wrong is starting to get out of hand.
It's one thing to say that you believe Same Sex relationships are wrong and that the Bible clearly spells that out. It's another thing to say that you should punch your children if they display same sex tendencies as one Baptist minister did a few weeks ago. That message flows from the outright conviction of the Baptist Minister that he is 100% correct in his thinking and that, therefore, the next logical step is to do whatever it takes to prevent such a horrible outcome for your children.
I read, too, of a conservative minister who has preached that extending the right to vote to women has been the cause of our great nation's demise. Now you might think that God does not want women to be deacons or elders in your church (and certainly not ministers), but to suggest that their ability to think and to vote their conscience has somehow caused this nation harm is taking your religious views and perverting them to the point where they no longer support your thoughts but undermine them. You not only sound like a loon when you say things like that, but it also speaks to the fact that the words you are speaking are coming out of your mouth and not your heart.
My biggest issue with a great deal of what is being said by Christians is that these words have taken on legalistic, exclusionary tones that damage not only the work of the Church but also the message of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that They will know we are Christians by our love. These things that are being said show no form of love that I would ever want to be associated with - and I'm a Christian. You can imagine how the rest of the world views us.
I do not know what the solution is. I would not muzzle my brothers and sisters or attempt to control WHAT they say, only the way that it is said. You are free to have your convictions in Christ. You are free to disagree with mine. You are free to argue with me, plead with me, and entreat me to come over to your view. But please, do not allow your views of Christianity to come before God's. Speak with your heart, not with your mouth, and that will make all the difference.
I say this because I have seen the struggles of faith firsthand in the churches and in larger regional bodies of church government over issues that divide the rest of the world as well. Abortion, Same Sex relationships, the Death Penalty, and on and on, these issues divide the church as easily as they divide the nation and the world. Yet if you turn on the TV there is always some Christian pundit ready to give an answer for the Church that is so authoritative, you would assume it was written in stone by the hand of God.
While I think every Christian ought to have the moral authority to speak their mind on these issues and to attempt to prayerfully discuss these issues with other believers and non-believers alike, I think this mind-set that some Christians have that their thoughts MUST be correct and that everyone else is wrong is starting to get out of hand.
It's one thing to say that you believe Same Sex relationships are wrong and that the Bible clearly spells that out. It's another thing to say that you should punch your children if they display same sex tendencies as one Baptist minister did a few weeks ago. That message flows from the outright conviction of the Baptist Minister that he is 100% correct in his thinking and that, therefore, the next logical step is to do whatever it takes to prevent such a horrible outcome for your children.
I read, too, of a conservative minister who has preached that extending the right to vote to women has been the cause of our great nation's demise. Now you might think that God does not want women to be deacons or elders in your church (and certainly not ministers), but to suggest that their ability to think and to vote their conscience has somehow caused this nation harm is taking your religious views and perverting them to the point where they no longer support your thoughts but undermine them. You not only sound like a loon when you say things like that, but it also speaks to the fact that the words you are speaking are coming out of your mouth and not your heart.
My biggest issue with a great deal of what is being said by Christians is that these words have taken on legalistic, exclusionary tones that damage not only the work of the Church but also the message of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that They will know we are Christians by our love. These things that are being said show no form of love that I would ever want to be associated with - and I'm a Christian. You can imagine how the rest of the world views us.
I do not know what the solution is. I would not muzzle my brothers and sisters or attempt to control WHAT they say, only the way that it is said. You are free to have your convictions in Christ. You are free to disagree with mine. You are free to argue with me, plead with me, and entreat me to come over to your view. But please, do not allow your views of Christianity to come before God's. Speak with your heart, not with your mouth, and that will make all the difference.
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
A Change of Direction
For an entire year I've been working on a little piece of animated anarchy that I am happy to see finally deposited on Youtube. While it didn't actually take me an entire year to do the animation, it took me an entire year to reach the point where it was animated. I had to buy a new computer. I had to learn several new programs. I had to write scripts, cast parts, record voices, shoot live footage, shoot green screen footage, and a host of other technical things, all so that I could take a thing out of my mind and bring it to reality on Youtube. It may not be Pixar, but I'm pretty happy with the results.
But I had a clear deadline of May 1st for a reason. I need to change direction now. While I'll still be animating the rest of the 11 episodes of my series, the hard work of figuring out how to do it is done. The rest is just going through the paces and using my creativity to do the work. My focus must change now to two new challenges - one immediate and the other pressing, but with a little more breathing room.
I have a sermon to deliver on Pentecost Sunday and I've been letting my mind mull over the topic even as I have been praying without ceasing about the challenges of preaching. God is definitely leading me on a path, but I keep stopping every time I find a pretty view (expecting it to suddenly dawn on me where it is that I am going). I know that I will reach the end of the path and will have plenty of time to write the sermon, I just kind of wish to have it done sooner rather than later.
I'm also actively starting to put together my story and my script for my Folk Music documentary. For longer than I've been alive, my Dad has been associated with a group of people that were either in his Folk Music group in the 1950's or were associated with his group. They get together annually to sing and share stories in a Hootenany that has been ongoing for at least 30 years now. Though none of them ever had the kind of fame that is reserved for the lucky recording artists, they were in and around all the groups that did have that kind of fame. They played in the same clubs, borrowed music from the same sources, and even, on occasion, sang together. So, collectively, they have a fascinating insight into a period of American music that is rarely discussed or talked about (with the exception of the excellent A Mighty Wind). Of course, at its heart my documentary has to be about the music and the friendships that have kept them together for 50 plus years. Right now, I'm mulling over the best way to tell that story.
So... my hands are busy animating. My mind is busy documenting. And my heart and soul are busy walking down a path of God-led discovery. If there is any other part of me not otherwise occupied, I hope it finds a nice hot tub to soak in until it's needed.
But I had a clear deadline of May 1st for a reason. I need to change direction now. While I'll still be animating the rest of the 11 episodes of my series, the hard work of figuring out how to do it is done. The rest is just going through the paces and using my creativity to do the work. My focus must change now to two new challenges - one immediate and the other pressing, but with a little more breathing room.
I have a sermon to deliver on Pentecost Sunday and I've been letting my mind mull over the topic even as I have been praying without ceasing about the challenges of preaching. God is definitely leading me on a path, but I keep stopping every time I find a pretty view (expecting it to suddenly dawn on me where it is that I am going). I know that I will reach the end of the path and will have plenty of time to write the sermon, I just kind of wish to have it done sooner rather than later.
I'm also actively starting to put together my story and my script for my Folk Music documentary. For longer than I've been alive, my Dad has been associated with a group of people that were either in his Folk Music group in the 1950's or were associated with his group. They get together annually to sing and share stories in a Hootenany that has been ongoing for at least 30 years now. Though none of them ever had the kind of fame that is reserved for the lucky recording artists, they were in and around all the groups that did have that kind of fame. They played in the same clubs, borrowed music from the same sources, and even, on occasion, sang together. So, collectively, they have a fascinating insight into a period of American music that is rarely discussed or talked about (with the exception of the excellent A Mighty Wind). Of course, at its heart my documentary has to be about the music and the friendships that have kept them together for 50 plus years. Right now, I'm mulling over the best way to tell that story.
So... my hands are busy animating. My mind is busy documenting. And my heart and soul are busy walking down a path of God-led discovery. If there is any other part of me not otherwise occupied, I hope it finds a nice hot tub to soak in until it's needed.
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