I finished In It for the Long Haul, and my feelings about it can pretty well be summed up in what I posted earlier this week. A lot of the material was familiar to me, such that I wound up thinking, "Really? This is what it takes?" Interestingly enough, the book says little to nothing about how to keep the creative energy going after the first few years; how to keep things fresh and vibrant. In various ways it dances around this subject, i.e., making sure that one take time off for renewal, evaluating programs rather than just the pastor, but that's it. That's what I found disappointing about this book.I also finished Walden this week. This quote from the end sums up the whole book in a sense: "There is an incessant influx of novelty into the world, and yet we tolerate incredible dulness." Thoreau spends quite a bit of time appreciating the natural beauty around him; on living in simplicity and seeing life through alert senses uninhibited by what most people concern themselves with. For him, the self-preservation and over-cautionary ways with which we conduct our day-to-day lives have dulled our minds to wonder and awe; to fully living. This book became a great unintentional aid to this time off.
I picked up the new Dead Weather album this week, entitled Sea of Cowards. This is a more bluesy, more mellow album than the last. It isn't as crunchy. That's not to say that it isn't good, though. It's just different.
Pomomusings has been added to the blog list.
Here's a guy doing a poem entitled, "I'm Sorry I'm a Christian:"
And here's a video noting that "contemporary/relevant" worship has a few recognizable features:
"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.
And here's Jose Feliciano singing the National Anthem as part of a tribute to late Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell: