Symposium on Worship and The Arts

I attended and spoke at the Symposium on Worship and The Arts this week and had a good time. I actually had a bit of an inspiration for my next project. My book is sort-of done. I met with an editor from a publishing house to be named later and he sent my book out for reviews. What happens next depends on the reviews but he's "hopeful." So I now have to do one of my non-favorite things: wait.

So, what's next? I'm thinking that this whole inter-generational worship thing that I've been working on needs some juice. I've been talking about this a lot and giving general type suggestions when I speak to church groups and at conferences but I'm thinking that I need to perhaps spend some time making resources that churches can use. Stuff that allows them to actually try a few specific things that will get them on their way.

What do you think?

snow storm

We have a lot of snow and my snowblower won't start. This is especially irritating because a) we just paid $70 to get it fixed and b) it wouldn't start when I was in England and my wife and son had to shovel thus no longer allowing me to hold any moral high ground this season with regard to the snowblower.

It is possible that I am merely out of gas but I know there is at lease SOME gas in the machine because I poured some more into it before the can ran out. If this is indeed the problem refer to the loss of moral high ground argument above. Unfortunately we have about a foot of snow and I can't get the car out to go get more gas until I clear the driveway.

It's a good thing I don't have to go anywhere today.

catapult magazine and U2

This catapult magazine article by by Kate Bowman is really good. I love the quote at the end: Do we not know by now that, as Madeleine L’Engle writes, “God chooses his artists with as calm a disregard for surface moral qualifications as he chooses his saints”?

I got this from the U2 blog I often read so I want to make sure that I give yet another shout-out to Beth and the U2 Sermons blog.

Calvin Prof's Book Wins Newbery Honor

Calvin College - News - Calvin Prof's Book Wins Newbery Honor

Congrats to Gary Schmidt on his Newbery award. Pretty impressive.

I like to write about things I'm listening to, partly because I like to do that, but also because I can write about things that I think and I'm not giving away too much info about my personal life. I have an aversion to people who use their weblogs as a personal diary. Too much information and, frankly, I've seen examples of people writing things that have been hurtful to others. This just isn't appropriate in a public forum. Would you ever stand up in public and say these things out loud? If not, your weblog is at least as public - probably more so.

So why am I not writing about what I'm listening to? Because I have been listening to very little lately. On my trip to Ireland and England I listened very little and since we're doing remodeling at home my stereo is out of commission (the horror!). Plus, I've been working from home a bit more so even my commute listening has been limited.

Soon, though, I'll be back to my normal bloggery.

Back in the US

After a whirlwind trip to Dublin and the UK (including Liverpool) I am safe and sound back home. I did a lot of sightseeing on the day and a half I had aside from the Christian Educator's Conference at which I presented a paper with my good friend and Colleague Ron Sjoerdsma. Highlights of the trip include the Guiness Storehouse, Trinity College (home of the Book of Kells), crossingthe Ha'Penny Bridge and buying a U2 CD at the Celtic Note in Dublin, Penny Lane and the Beatles Museum in Liverpool, the Stamford Arms, a pub in a small village just southwest of Manchester where I had dinner.

The conference was very good and I met some wonderful people with great British names - like Rupert and Felicity. So all in all, a great time - I covered a lot of miles and a lot of ground in five and a half days!