Totally Looks Like

I am totally addicted to totallylookslike.com.

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Book Review: The War of Art

An old friend recommended The War of Art on Facebook. Our library had it, so I checked it out ... and barely could put it down.

In this book, Steven Pressfield describes the challenges people face whenever they begin a creative endeavor. Drawing from his own experience as an author and extrapolating it into other artistic fields, Pressfield aptly names the Resistance artists face.

The Resistance takes many forms - procrastination, perfectionism, fear of failure, fear of success, distraction, self-talk - but it always conspires to keep us from our genius, the inner calling of our soul and the seat of our happiness. If, for instance, you have some inner calling to write a book, the Resistance will throw everything you've got at you to keep you from writing, which will ultimately lead to deep unhappiness and depression.

Pressfield's ultimate encouragement is that artists need to be professional about their art, seeing it as work. Work that must be done. Work that doesn't have to be all-consuming. Work that is deeply satisfying and fulfilling. To help us with our work, Pressfield believes the heavens have sent Muses to guide us. While he describes these Muses very literally, I prefer to think of them in the abstract, as vision, mission, values - the inspiration that sustains our projects.

I don't think it's any secret that I have always wanted to write a book. I think I've got a couple of pretty decent ideas. I've got a skeletal outline for one, and I've discussed with Vanessa how we could write another together. Pressfield has given me a new way to think about these endeavors. Now I'm ready to go to work, entering the fray of the war.

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Ain't No Sunshine

Apps: I Heart Radio

I love listening to the radio. I am a fan of talk radio - political, sports, finance, aliens. If someone is talking about it, I love to listen to it. I think my affinity for talk radio stems from the fact that I am an auditory learner. In college, I figured out that if I just listened in class - not slept - I wouldn't have to take notes. I would be ok. For me, listening is where it is at.

The I Heart Radio app for the iPhone gives me access to several hundred radio stations across the country. I can listen to them live, at my desk. The quality is good - very clear. The formatting is nice, allowing me to choose between by style. I can also favorite the stations I listen to frequently. If I'm listening to music, I can tag a song so I can check the artist, title, lyrics - and even buy it on iTunes.

My only complaint is that occasionaly the app will crash. A simply restart of it usually fixes the hangup.

Currently in my favorited stations:

WTAM - Cleveland
KFI - Los Angels
WNDE - Sports Talk (for Dan Patrick and Jim Rome)
New! Discover & Uncover - new music

I am hoping that when(!) Tony Kornheiser returns to radio, I Heart Radio will allow me to listen live rather than being a day behind on the podcast.

The I Heart Radio app is highly recommended!

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Movie Review: Confessions of a Superhero

The other night Vanessa and I watched the indie documentary Confessions of a Superhero. It tells the story of four people struggling to break into the acting business. Rather than working at the Cheesecake Factory to pay the bills, these individuals dress up like superheros and have their pictures taken (for tips) with tourists on Hollywood Boulevard in front of Ming's Chinese Theater.

Superman - the uber-serious, memorabilia-collecting alleged son of an Oscar winning actress

Batman - the self-described George Clooney lookalike with quite a story of his mob-connected past

Wonder Woman - the daughter of a Baptist pastor who suddenly found that she is no longer the proverbial big fish

The Hulk - formerly homeless man who is convinced that his mis-sized teeth are keeping him from hitting it big

Watching these stories unfold, I was struck by several things. First, I am amazed at the lengths we go to to support ourselves. We live in quite a country where people can make somewhat of a living by panhandling for tips as makebelieve characters to tourists who must have more disposable income than I have.

Second, I am amazed at our cultural obsession with being famous. We really are addicted to making a name for ourselves. As the movie unfolds, you watch these individuals relish attention from media outlets such as Jimmy Kimmel, the local news, and various magazines. There is a pervasive desperation to get noticed in these stories that makes me wonder about how well our families, churches, and neighborhoods are doing at accepting and loving people. Maybe we have created this crisis.

Third, I am amazed at the delusion some people operate under. I don't mean to pick on these four people, but I was flat out dubious about some aspects of the stories they told. Was your mom really an actress? Did you really work for the mob? Did you really watch the riots from that mountain? Maybe it's me, or maybe it's that I'm pretty sure that people who wear masks for a living are hiding something.

Ultimately, Confessions of a Superhero left me sad. Sad for these four people. And sad for our culture that has created them.

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Dreaming of Community

He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer


I have been thinking a lot lately about community. It is word we use often in our emerging conversation. But maybe for all of our talking about the need for community, we haven’t reflected enough on how it is actually experienced. My thinking lately has coalesced around three ideas: community takes actual relationships, a heavy dose of reality, and a good bit of resilience.

I am always amazed by people who speak of community but don’t invest themselves in actual relationships. I’ve seen this as a pastor when people talk about how they love church community but they don’t talk to people at worship gatherings (if they attend at all) and don’t join small groups when they are offered. It reminds me a little bit of the young woman who has every detail of her wedding planned and is only missing the groom. What is community without relationships? Community is not some mystical or magical thing that happens outside of ourselves. Community only takes places where relationships exist, where friendships are growing, where people are connecting.

Relationships require investment. If I am going to be in community with a group of people, I need to invest myself in them and be prepared for them to invest themselves in me. Investment takes time, emotion, energy, even money – all of my precious resources that are already scarce. I need to listen and not just talk. I need to give and not just take. I need to initiate and not just respond.

True community also requires a substantial grip on reality. Bonhoeffer’s observation that people who love their dream of community more than the actual Christian community end up destroying the actual community is a profound one. How often has a person been so enamored by the prospect of being in love that they have driven their potential lover away by being too clingy and needy?

The same happens with churches. People come to church will all sorts of expectations (frequently unrealistic) and ideas and dreams. Many who have been hurt and burned by church are hopeful that their new community will finally live up to those dreams. Rarely can a church leap such a high bar. I get a little skittish when new folks at Vintage gush about how it’s the church they’ve been looking for. I know that if they invest themselves in relationships within our community that it’s only a matter of time before they experience reality. The reality is that churches are made up of weak, frail, and hurting people – and those who are pretending that they are not.

Weak, frail, and hurting people tend to hurt each other sometimes. Words are spoken out of turn. Memories fail. Priorities differ. Expectations are unmet. People are often selfish and immature and slow to do the right thing. The dream of community and the reality community are often far apart in our actual experience.

Does this mean that we should abandon the church whenever our feelings are hurt? Absolutely not. If we abandon anything, we should abandon our dream of community and embrace the reality of community. And this takes resilience. Community grows and develops over time. It is deepened and solidified by interpersonal conflicts.

Community is not a happily-ever-after fairy tale. Community is, to borrow another phrase from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, life together. It can only take place when we commit ourselves to experience the ups and downs, the joys and disappointments, the twists of turns of reality in relationships with one another.

This runs counter to our cultural inclination. We live in a disposable culture. Take the unfolding saga of Jon and Kate Gosselin of Jon & Kate + 8 fame. While it might be easy to join the crowd that is casting stones at them for disposing of their marriage and family. Maybe we ought to consider how we collectively have used up and disposed of them. Their story was entertaining for a while, and as it has taken a turn for the worst, we’ve been content to stand by and crack jokes. Soon, we’ll be on to voyeuristically enjoying some other celebrity’s crisis. When we haven’t invested much in them and when we weren’t realistic about them in the first place (even though they were on a “reality show”), it doesn’t cost us much to dispose of relationships.

We dispose of relationships far too easily. As Bob Dylan once sang, “But to remain as friends you need the time to make amends and stay behind.”

If we dispose of actual community too soon in hopes of finding our dream of community, we will end up never experiencing either. Community is experienced when we know each other well enough to be ourselves. Community is experienced when forgiveness is needed and extended. Community is experienced in the tears of disappointment and recommitment. Community is experienced in the joy and pain of reconciliation.

In Philippians, Paul spoke of the fellowship (relationships) of sharing (resilience) in the suffering (reality) of Jesus. That’s not a dream; that’s how actual community is experienced.

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Jon Arbuckle Rules

Man, Garfield Minus Garfield makes me laugh.

Disturbing Picture of the Day

Apps: Bible App

I thought I would share some of the apps I have on my iPhone that I use a lot and enjoy.

One of the first apps I downloaded was the Bible App from YouVersion. This is a very clean Bible reading app with lots of versions, including the TNIV that I most frequently use. The search functionality is good. So is the bookmarking ability. It also has a daily reading section for people who would like to read through the Bible in a year.

My favorite part of the Bible App, however, is that you can tap on a verse or passage and be connected to online commentary about that verse or passage. This feature links you to blogs, sermons, online commentaries, and even YouTube videos about whatever you're reading. This dynamic and networked commentary is something previous generations of Bible students never would have imagined.

The Bible App comes highly recommended.

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Book Review: The Unlikely Disciple

Kevin Roose strikes me as the kind of guy Jesus would be friends with.

In his fascinating book The Unlikely Disciple, Roose tells the story of living undercover as an evangelical for a semester at Liberty University. He describes with humor and compassion what it was like for an Ivy Leaguer to pretend to be a product of the evangelical subculture.

Oh the evangelical subculture! Do we really talk like that? Are we really concerned about those things? Are those really the arguments we are having?

Roose holds a mirror up to what we really look like. And I've got to admit - I cringed. I cringed at our thoughtless cliches that we substitute for really wrestling with problems. I cringed at our pat answers. I cringed at our hero worship.

More than that, though, I cringed at how we tolerate some sins while pouncing on others. The students at Liberty are probably a good labratory for understanding how evangelicals in general look at the world. And it's obvious that in the evangelical mind not all sins are created equal.

Why is homosexuality wrong but homophobia is ok?

Why is masturbation wrong but being judgmental is ok?

Why is evolution wrong but being mean is ok?

Roose's findings confirm what many of us have sensed for a long time, that the evangelical approach to both life and politics is too shallow. Followers of Jesus who care only about abortion and gay marriage are missing a big picture that includes things like the environment and poverty. Likewise, personal piety includes more than sexuality; it also impacts interpersonal relationship and and attitudes.

Roose is far kinder to evangelicalism than it deserves, and he's far kinder than some of us in the emergent conversation have been. And that is the charm of his story. He's fair, honest, and kind. He disagrees without being obnoxious. And he seeks to understand without assuming the stereotypes are true.

That reminds me of Jesus, which is why I think Kevin and Jesus would get along so well.

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Fascinating Video

Thoughts?

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Walk Like an Egyptian

Check out this picture I came across while checking out behind-the-scenes photos of the President's trip to Egypt on the White House's twitter feed. Did the ancient Egyptians know something ahead of time?