A Path Drawn by Man, Soul-Audio Blog #3

I forgot to put up a link to another Soul-Audio blog that I wrote.

Read about a walk Oso and I took a couple weeks ago. Exciting, I know. But somewhere in there are the words earthquake, spike, and umm.... turtle? Did that make it more interesting or more strange?

Either way, read about it here if you'd like to. I've been impressed by Soul-Audio's content, be sure to check out the rest of their site if you have a chance.

Iowa Disasters

This past thursday I flew in to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, knowing full well that the floods were ravaging the state. Earlier that day I had heard my hometown of Cedar Falls, IA (same river flows through) mentioned on Fox News so I knew it was as bad as everyone was telling me. We drove right through downtown Cedar Rapids and saw familiar buildings like the Five Season Center and the Quaker Oats factory standing in the middle of a river. There were houses whose doorbells were well under water, tops of cars barely showing, childrens toys floating by the tops of street signs. It was a crazy sight to see.

When I planned to come to town this week, I had no idea I would be around witness this.

83 of Iowa's 99 counties have been declared disaster areas.

It's estimated that 20 percent of Iowa grain crops have been claimed by floods.

over 25,000 people in Cedar Rapids alone are displaced from their homes.

Since the beginning of 2008 my home state of Iowa has seen record snow fall, record tornado's and now, record flood waters.

The recovery efforts after a disaster like this will take years.

Please pray for Iowa!

A Great Puzzle (thoughts from Maurice Sendak)

I love these quotes from Maurice Sendak that I read today in an American Way Magazine. He is the illustrator of the children's book Where the Wild Things Are, and his work is being exhibited at the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia.

On being an illustrator:
"An illustrator, in my own mind... is someone who so falls in love with the writing that he wishes he had written it, and the closest thing he can get is to illustrate it."

On the illustrator’s subversive role:
"The next thing you learn is that you have to find something unique in this book, which perhaps not even the author was entirely aware of. And thats what you hold on to, and that’s what you add to the pictures, a whole other story that you believe in, that you think is there".

On the enigma of creativity:
"That will be the mystery that will haunt me until the day of my death: What is that thing that comes into the work that is not premeditated, that you didn’t think of, that actually belongs there but you don’t know how it got there?"

On the enigma wrapped in that enigma:
"it’s really about the spirit, and I find that hard to talk about because, you know, I’m a cynic. I don’t know from the spirit and yet I do. And that is a great puzzle of my life. ... Something deeper is involved, deeper in myself than I know what it is".

Iowa Flooding

It's flooding in the midwest right now, as you've probably seen on the news. This includes my hometown of Cedar Falls, IA, where all of my family live. The rain just keeps on coming, and parts of CF are preparing for evacuation.

"According to flood forecasts provided by the National Weather Service, the river level is expected to exceed the top of the flood levy. Sandbagging of the levy area will be taking place soon to protect the downtown area; however, merchants and residents in the downtown area need to prepare for possible evacuation later Tuesday.

Cedar Falls officials are urging downtown residents and merchants to prepare for evacuation by taking all steps necessary to safeguard their property. The area should be closed for business immediately. Cedar Falls police are blocking off downtown area immediately. There will be no one allowed in the area"

Here is a picture of an intersection not far from my parents house-

You may have also heard about the recent tornado in Parkersburg, IA which is about 20 miles from Cedar Falls. The tornado was a mile wide and destroyed most of the town. And now parkersburg is dealing with flooding on top of the damage done by the tornado. Here is a photo of what most of parkersburg looks like-


Lord, I pray you protect the people in the path of these storms and bring new life out of such destruction...

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Corinthians 5:1

Vassar Miller

This week I was introduced to a poet by the name of Vassar Miller. I am falling in love with her poetry and am completely inspired by her.

“A poem is a window that hangs between two or more human beings who otherwise live in darkened rooms.”
-Stephen Dobyns

Oh, I feel that. I think all art is a window.

This beautiful poem of Vassar's is actually the introduction to her collection called If I Could Sleep Deeply Enough,

Introduction to a Poetry Reading

I was born with my mod dress sewn onto my body,
stitched to my flesh,
basted into my bones.
I could never, somehow, take it all off
to wash the radical dirt out.
I even carry my own rock
hard in my mouth,
grinding it out bit by bit.
So, bear me
as I bear you,
high, in the grace of greeting.

10 years from now

In April I posted a game called 10 years ago. Today I'm gonna do 10 years from now. So here goes!

10 years from now I hope I will have

1. finally read Mere Christianity (I know...can you believe I call myself a Lewis fan? And a Christian?!)
2. learned how to sew. something. anything.
3. children
4. become an awesome piano player!
5. traveled to Asia
6. a better understanding of scripture
7. no debt
8. an herb garden
9. written songs I am proud of
10. learned to love better than I know how today

What about you? Come on, even you Mark. You don't have to do 10 if you don't want. :)

Weeding

The thing about owning a house is that weekends now come fully stocked with grass that needs mowing, weeds that need pulling, and other responsibilities that if ignored, would probably end up growing out of control in a kind of way that would defeat the purpose of having a house.

The thing about yard work is that sometimes in the moments when your fingernails are complete with a dirt manicure, your neck is sunburned, and you have stopped caring about the bug crawling across your left forearm, somewhere in there you think about that verse in the bible when God told man he would work the ground (with toil)

The thing about working with the ground is that there are all sorts of parables to be derived from insects that live under rocks and vines that grow over the fence.

Yesterday I noticed that what seems to overtake the established shrubs in our front yard are the small, shallow weeds. They curl up over the branches and leaves and grow like a web around the plant. It happens quietly and subtly, almost gently, like a hug they close in. Some of the ones I pulled last weekend were there again this weekend, taking their place, challenging me for the final word.

If my body is a dwelling of spirit and soul, maybe their needs to be a sabbath day of rest and a sabbath day of weeding.