Where's the Love?

I don't get it. Why does Hanson seem to have such a bad reputation. I mean... sure they looked like teenage girls when they first appeared on the scene, and they had a radio hit that ended up on repeat... and my sister liked them... Okay so I didn't like Hanson at first either. I guess I didn't really start to appreciate them until a few years ago at easter when I went for a Tim Horton's run with a car full of guys, and one girl, and she was the only one who wasn't having an incredible time singing Hanson at the top of her lungs while driving down the street. That song is still one of my favourites for nostalgia, but my appreciation didn't end there. My friend Michelle listened to Hanson. Their new stuff. Then I met Sam and she listened to them also. Then I was at Silas's house and he had one of their newer cd's...
Regardless of how they started out, I really enjoy listening to Hanson these days. There's something incredibly catchy and, in some cases, moving about their music. It also doesn't hurt that they support one of my favourite companies, TOMS Shoes. You may have seen the at&t commercial, the guy who gives away shoes? Hanson went with TOMS to South Africa to give shoes away.
It's been a while since the mmmbop days. They have grown up, gotten haircuts, gotten married, and had children, and their music has done the same.
That may sound like a ridiculous thing to say, yet I can't help but feel like it's accurate. You can check out Taylor Hanson's new side project with members of Cheap Trick, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Fountains of Wayne here.
So in conclusion... I love Hanson. Whether this qualifies as loving them again, still, or for the first time, I can't decide, but give them a chance, listen to Tinted Windows also, and then you can decide as well.

Rescue

So I had an incredible weekend that was a fusion of all things wonderful. There was an epic thunderstorm, a few adventures, some really good, really important discussions, and just a lot of good memories.

Unfortunately some of the memories are a little tainted. I spent Saturday evening, and overnight in Queen's Park with an amazing group of people as part of a rally for Invisible Children. In over 80 cities across the world people came together to wait for their rescuers to arrive. In Toronto we were rescued by Olivia Chow, and had shows of support from Jack Layton, Rick Mercer, and Rob Dyer as well... last I heard they were still waiting to be rescued in Chicago.

In much the same way there are children in Uganda who have been abducted by the Lords Resistance Army lead by Joseph Kony, he trains them to fight. The idea behind the Rescue was to motivate governments to do something, to go rescue these children who have been forced to grow up too quickly, and to commit attrocities that are alien to us in our safe protected culture.
Check out some websites, and write some letters.
Invisible Children

Pictured: Lynn, A Statue of a Man on a Horse, Rick Mercer's forehead

You found me, alive but unworthy, broken and empty, you don't care. Because you are my rapture, you are my saviour. When all my hope is gone I reach for you. You are my rescue.
Rescue - Seabird

Tests on my Heart

Last week I had a word stuck in my head and I couldn't remember what it meant. I could have solved that problem pretty easily by just grabbing my text book, or looking in my dictionary, but I didn't want to. Maybe I was lazy, or maybe I was just enjoying the sound removed from its meaning. Thlipsis. It's a greek word. I think it sounds fantastic.
Anyways, at this point I should apologize to Professor Thomson if he's reading this. I don't know why he would be, but I do feel bad for the next part.
I was sitting in my last New Testament class of the semester and I wasn't paying attention at all. It was mid afternoon, the sun was shining, I had just come from a meeting and I wasn't ready to focus. It didn't help that I didn't have my laptop to try and make notes either. Anyways, as I was sitting there, not paying attention, and reading a graphic novel I tuned in to his lecture just in time to hear him say, "The one word you will want to remember from this, is thlipsis"
It means tribulation.
trial: an annoying or frustrating or catastrophic event; "his mother-in-law's visits were a great trial for him"; "life is full of tribulations ...
I don't know the significance. I just think it's too coincidental for there to not be any more meaning to it.

I Don't Want To Change The World I Just Want To Change Your Mind

Or maybe I do want to change the world... okay maybe I definitely want to do that. Today was the Spring Arts Festival at Tyndale. I was thinking about my favourite art, the best photography I've seen, the best paintings I've had a chance to look at, and that sort of thing. I started talking to a friend about my favourite art and I thought it would be good to reflect on it here. In 2006 I had a chance to go to New York City with my dad and it was an incredible trip, and while we were there I fell in love with some paintings I saw on display. 30 paintings to be specific. It wasn't anything I saw at the MoMA, or any gallery in SoHo, it was at the United Nations.
A Brazilian artist named Octavio Roth created a piece for each of the 30 Articles outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and I can't help but think they are some of the most important pieces of art I have ever come in to contact with. They say something about how the world should be, and are presented with an almost hopeful simplicity.
In 2007 after spending a couple days trying to find decent sized copies of the images online I found them on the UN's website. I then noticed that I could request high resolution copies of any of the images they had online. They listed all the criteria for accepting requests and what the images could and couldn't be used for. I sent them an e-mail, they sent me 30 high resolution pictures.
This is the kind of art I want to decorate my home with one day.

how shall we then vote?

So last night I went to Missionfest and I got to see Tony Campolo speak. It was a great message, just like I expected it to be. At one point he talked about Matthew 4 and suggested that when Satan showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world it was all the kingdoms... past, present and future. So what are the implications of that? What if it's true? I don't see any support for that in the Bible, it doesn't lead me to believe that He saw anything more than the kingdoms around at the time. But what if He did? That would mean that he turned down political power across time. Maybe I'm blowing this idea out of proportion but to me that seems to imply that groups like the Religious Right would be acting against this narrative. Tony addressed this in the context of Jesus having all kinds of authority, and not desiring power, not even needing it. I can see that, I agree with that. So why do so many Christians seek power? I don't think Christians should be trying to turn the world in to a big Christian ball of politics and morality, they should keep being Christians, and try to live that out, but I don't think that means enforcing our beliefs on other people.
I know I'm on a touchy subject right now. I don't really want to get too deep in to it. There's a balance, I just don't know what it is. I think Christians should be involved in politics, to the same extent everyone else is. I think they should vote for the issues that are important to them, just like everyone else should. I think they should determine on their own what issues are important to them instead of being told what they are, just like everyone else. Politics is confusing enough on its own without bringing faith into it... but sometimes it's just that hard to separate them.

NAILED IT!

So I intended to blog yesterday, I really did, I was just a little busy. Last night was RA Appreciation Night here at Tyndale and I was trying to pull things together and give the right people the information they needed. Alex and I wrote a musical for our RA's Matt and Allan and it went fantastically. Not perfectly... but fantastically. It was so much fun to get up there and perform it. Perhaps pictures will be forthcoming, maybe a link to a video... I'm not sure. I didn't personally get to take any photos, so I can't put a time frame on when some will be available. Have a fantastic day and hopefully I'll have something more substantial up soon.

Blood & Wine

I was at the Good Fiday Youth Rally at Bayview Glen this weekend, and towards the end of it I found myself at the back of the church praying and talking to my friend Curtis. The reason Curtis and I were at the back is because communion was being served. He didn't know if it was alright to have it twice in a day, and I thought it was being presented as a tradition removed from it's significance. It's interesting how many different thoughts and perspectives there are on a simple partaking of bread and grape juice.
It's something I've thought about a lot recently. I think the bread and wine are important symbolically, though I don't think they are necessary to have "communion". I think the most important part is what's going on inside.
I took some time this week to study Salvation Army doctrine. They don't participate in communion because, among other reasons, they believe the inward reality is more important than the symbolic expression. I think that's why I walked away from the table on Friday. They seemed to ignore the inward.
I would rather take communion with Ms.Vickies and V8 and mean it, instead of bread and wine just because.
I did take communion that night. On my way to the back another Tyndalian asked if I would take communion with him, and that seemed right. Eating and drinking with someone else, talking, praying, reflecting on the cross, remembering the body, and remembering the blood.

Let The Journey Begin

I'm back blogging once again. This time it's a little different. This time I'm going more for a journal approach than a blog. I guess recently I've been thinking a lot about what it means to journal. This week there have been a few times where I have written things down to reflect on later, either on paper, or on my hand. I could copy these thoughts down in a book that no one will ever see, and part of me would prefer that, but as long as these thoughts are private they are incomplete. As long as it's only my voice it's a monologue and there is so much more opportunity for development in a dialogue. So if you're one of the two people who follow this blog, interact, write back, send an e-mail, whatever. And if I'm not blogging yell at me. Let the journey begin.