Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Tuesday Tome - The American Soul

I enjoy listening to American Public Media's On Being podcast. Recently, I was able to listen to Krista Tippett's interview with American philosopher, Jacob Needleman on a program titled The Inward Work of Democracy.

After listening to the program, I decided to purchase and read Needleman's book, The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders. I'm even entertaining the possibility of using this thoughtful book as a Valley Book Club selection this fall. Some deeper reflection about American history, values, beliefs, and principles will surely be a welcome counterbalance to the flood of soundbites and polarized propaganda we'll all be drowning in this fall.
From Krista Tippett's Journal for that program:
It's easy to forget, especially around U.S. Independence Day, how much trial and error went into the creation of American democracy, how much of what Americans now take for granted wasn't fully formed for decades after 1776.

The warm and wise philosopher Jacob Needleman looked back at the American founders with this in mind for his book The American Soul. He took apart the ingredients that grew up our democracy. And he found that every iconic institution, every political value, had "inward work" of conscience behind it. Every hard-won right had a corresponding responsibility. 
Author: Jacob Needleman
Publisher: Tarcher (2003)
Binding: Paperback, 400 pages
From Krita Tippett's Book Recommendation:
This is a lovely book, rich in history and ideas. I knew immediately when I read it that I wanted to interview Jacob Needleman. What makes this work sing is the passion Needleman brings to his loftiest thoughts — such as his unique exploration of the "mystical" bent in American history, via the Quakers and early Utopians.

I read with a sense of discovery, heightened by the way in which Needleman's own sense of surprise never flags. "I was astonished and strangely joyous," he writes in the book's opening chapter, "when I finally turned directly to studying the history of America and found almost everywhere that the men and women who carved out the ideals of America were driven by the same transcendent questions that had always been my own as well. I began to see that for many of these men and women America meant the struggle for conditions of life under which these ultimate questions could be freely pursued."

Monday, July 30, 2012

Monday Music - Sawtooth Music Festival

The Cactus Blossoms, featuring my sons, Page & Jack, performed at the Sawtooth Music Festival in Stanley, Idaho on Saturday, July 28. Wish I could have been there!

This week they're playing a couple of shows in the Portland area. They're putting a lot of miles on that little rental car.

All the Burkum boys are on the road today. I'm on the way to Nashville with my grandsons and their mommy. Tyler is in touring in Australia. And Page and Jack are driving around the beautiful northwest. We're doing well, but I'll be glad when we all get home.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sunday Supplication - That We Might Not Lose Sight

O God, we trust you and we ask you to protect us.

We are weak, and we look to you for strength. We struggle with sin, and we look to you for holiness and transformation. Pour out your mercy on us. Guide us and rule over us so that we will not lose sight of what is eternal in a world where so much passes away. That we might not lose sight of what is true in a world where so much is deceptive and false.

O God, we humbly recognize our need for forgiveness and restoration. In our weakness and selfishness, we often fail each other, fail ourselves, and fail you.  We also recognize the hope and power we have in Christ.  Raise us and transform us by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. Forgive us our sins, and make us ready and able and quick to forgive others, even as you forgive us.

O God, we are sinners. Have mercy us. You see our hidden faults and know our secret sins. Thank you for loving us where we are and for giving us the grace and guidance to rise above our weaknesses. Help us to love you with heart, soul, mind, and strength. Grant us integrity that our lives might be a proof and testimony of our devotion to you.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Friday Family - On the Road Again

A very large moving truck is parked in front of my house. My son, Tyler, and his family are making the big move Nashville. In just a few days, we'll be loading up that truck and heading south.

Our grandkids start school in Tennessee on Wednesday, August 1. Tyler is working in Australia right now, so he'll miss the long trip with the truck and join his family in Nashville when he makes his return flight to the States. It's nice to miss the road trip, but that's gonna feel weird for him!

I sure would appreciate your prayers for a safe trip and a smooth transition for Tyler and family. I'd also appreciate your prayers for my other sons, Jack and Page, as The Cactus Blossoms are currently on tour in the northwest playing the Sawtooth Music Festival in Idaho and a few shows in Portland. We hope they have safe trip, meet some great people, and have a wonderful time.

We're glad for all the good things are kids are doing, but we sure miss them when they're far away. Pray for Cheri and me as we'll be adjusting and missing our kiddos.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Thursday Thinking - Guns and Common Sense

From Twitchy.com: 
James Holmes has no known criminal record and previously lived in San Diego, CBS News reported. Oates said his only previous run-in with the law in Aurora was a traffic ticket for speeding.

He was a student at the University of Colorado in Denver until last month, said school spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery. She said he enrolled in the program in June 2011 and was in the process of withdrawing.

Montgomery said Holmes was studying neuroscience in a Ph.D. program at the university’s graduate school.
I'm not trying to be politically provocative or argumentative in this post; I'm just thinking. I do not have a well-formulated position on gun control, but I think a common sense approach to public policy should take us somewhere other than where we are right now. There must be a better position between too much and too little regulation.

Is there a common sense way to make it harder for mentally unstable people to acquire weapons? Is it possible to at least reduce the amount of gun violence in our country? I'd like to know what you think.

I'll be monitoring comments closely. Stay on topic. Just answer the questions I've posed, or respond to Bob Schieffer's editoral commentary in the video below.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Wednesday Words - Show the Way

You say you see no hope,
You say you see no reason we should dream
That the world would ever change;
You're saying love is foolish to believe
'Cause there'll always be some crazy
With an Army or a knife
To wake you from your day dream,
Put the fear back in your life...

Look, if someone wrote a play
Just to glorify what's stronger than hate,
Would they not arrange the stage
To look as if the hero came too late?
He's almost in defeat;
It's looking like the Evil side will win--
So on the Edge of every seat,
From the moment that the whole thing begins...

It is Love that mixed the mortar,
And it's Love who stacked these stones,
And it's Love who made the stage here,
Although it looks like we're alone.
In this scene set in shadows
Like the night is here to stay,
There is evil cast around us
But it's Love that wrote this play...

For in this darkness Love can show the way.

So now the stage is set.
You feel your own heart beating
In your chest.
This life's not over yet.
So we get up on our feet and do our best.
We play against the Fear.
We play against the reasons not to try.
We're playing for the tears
Burning in the happy angel's eyes...

For it's Love that mixed the mortar,
And it's Love who stacked these stones,
And it's Love who made the stage here,
Although it looks like we're alone.
In this scene set in shadows
Like the night is here to stay,
There is evil cast around us
But it's Love that wrote this play...

And in this darkness Love can show the way.


SHOW THE WAY
Words and Music
by David Wilcox.

from BIG HORIZON
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Tuesday Tome - Reading on a Rainy Day

I finally have a day with some good time for uninterrupted reading. When life is in balance and going well, every day has time for uninterrupted reading, but that hasn't been the case for me the last couple of months. I'm really trying to get back on track with my reading priorities, and today, I should be finishing or getting pretty close to completing N. T. Wright's Simply Jesus.

Simply Jesus is a good compliment to my current Sunday teaching series at Valley Christian Church – JESUS 3D. In fact, the subtitle of Wright's book is what inspired the three dimensional approach I'm taking in this series about Jesus.

Simply Jesus (N. T. Wright)
From Amazon's Book Description:
Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author N. T. Wright summarizes a lifetime of study of Jesus and the New Testament in order to present for a general audience who Jesus was and is. In Simply Jesus, we are invited to hear one of our leading scholars introduce the story of the carpenter’s son from Nazareth as if we were hearing it for the first time.

“Jesus—the Jesus we might discover if we really looked,” explains Wright, “is larger, more disturbing, more urgent than we had ever imagined. We have successfully managed to hide behind other questions and to avoid the huge, world-shaking challenge of Jesus’s central claim and achievement. It is we, the churches, who have been the real reductionists. We have reduced the kingdom of God to private piety; the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience; Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark tale. Piety, conscience, and ultimate happiness are important, but not nearly as important as Jesus himself.”

As the church faces the many challenges of the twenty-first century, Wright has presented a vision of Jesus that more than meets them.

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Monday, July 23, 2012

Monday Music - Tyler with Missy Higgins

My son, Tyler, performed with Missy Higgins on the Tonight Show last Friday night. He's headed to Australia later today for a couple weeks of shows. They sound pretty great.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sunday Supplication - You Are the Source

O God, we believe you are the source of all truth and wisdom. We believe that you know all our needs before we ask, and that you know the needs we are unable to know and, therefore, cannot ask. We look to you for compassion and provision and direction.

We confess our sins and weaknesses, Lord. We repent of the ways we have disobeyed and turned from you. Hear us now as we confess our sin and look to you for forgiveness.

Forgive us and help us to turn away from wrong.  Transform us and give us the faith to press toward life, healing, restoration, holiness, and good deeds. We are thankful that you are so gracious to us, and we ask you to make us able and quick to be gracious toward others.

O God, give us hearts and eyes to look beyond our own needs and to see the needs of others. Bless and multiply our meager resources so that we can bless and help others. When we feel too empty or weak to share, fill our hearts and hands with good things to give.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Saturday Smile - Mr. Rogers Remixed

I came across this song and video through a link my brother, Jason, posted on Facebook. Musically, it's a lot of fun, and remixing Mr. Rogers' words, voice, and ideas is a brilliant way to make me smile.

I'm a big fan of Fred Rogers. What an amazing man he was! His simplicity, authenticity, and just plain goodness was a beautiful thing.

Did you ever grow anything in the garden of your mind?
You can grow ideas in the garden of your mind.
It's good to be curious about many things--
You can think about things and make believe--
All you have to do is think, and they'll grow

Do you know anyone who has the potential of being a "Fred Rogers" for children today?

Friday, July 20, 2012

Friday Food - Swiss Chard

This is the first year that we have grown Swiss chard in our garden. Our kale and chard crops are very abundant even though we have a relatively small number of plants (maybe a half-dozen). We have more leaves than we'll be able to eat fresh, so we'll be experimenting with freezing.

The chard we're growing is every bit as beautiful as the chard in the video below. I've been putting it in fresh salads and wraps, but I can use up more of it by wilting it into stir-fries, sauces, and soups.

I think I'll head out to the garden and bring in a leaf or two right now!

"Chard 101" from the Clean and Delicious website:

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Thursday Thinking - Faith, Sexuality, and Identity

Josh Weed, a marriage and family therapist in Auburn, Washington, writes a blog called, The Weed. I wasn't familiar with Josh or his blog until he published a lengthy post in early June 2012 about being gay, and Mormon, and married to woman, and raising a family, and being happy, and being madly in love.

The bottom line is that Josh Weed is honest about his same-sex attraction, but he is genuinely committed to not letting this be what defines him as a person. He has chosen to be defined by his beliefs and convictions, rather than by sexual attraction.
Deciding not to give this up--these profound spiritual beliefs that I feel in the deepest parts of my soul to be true--in favor of my sexual orientation required a great deal of faith, but I can honestly say that, for me, it has been completely worth it. I have not regretted the decision one day of my life. My life is filled with so much genuine, real, vibrant joy that I would be remiss if I didn’t thank God for blessing me for my obedience and adherence to His guidelines as I understand them.
READ THE COMPLETE STORY HERE 

The complexities of human sexuality and personal identity are immense. Weed has important things to say and his story deserves to be heard.

A Word about Comments: I'm not looking to stir up attack or advocacy arguments here, so comments will be screened carefully. Please make your comments a specific response or reflection on Weed's post, not a general reaction or opinion on the topic.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Wednesday Words - Superior Horizon


I had a wonderful time with family up on the North Shore a couple weeks ago. I'm looking forward to speding a few more days up north in August with friends from church.


Superior Horizon
Old 61 I can feel your North Shore callin'
I can feel you callin'
I feel you callin'.
I can smell the pines;
I can hear the Cascade fallin'.
Can’t you hear it fallin'?
The Cascade is fallin’—
Superior Horizon.
The Morning Star is risin'
On Superior Horizon.

Down along Split Rock the big waves are poundin'.
The big waves are poundin'—
They just keep on poundin'.
Back in the Boundaries the magic loon is soundin'.
Can’t you hear it sounding?
The magic loon is soundin'—
Superior Horizon.
The golden sun is shinin'
On Superior Horizon.

Let my eyes rest easy in your northern light;
Let me fill my lungs with misty morning;
Let me find my spirit in the sea bird's flight
Soaring over the horizon—
Superior Horizon.

Give a j-stroke push out across the glassy Gunflint—
Glidin’ on the Gunflint, the glassy Gunflint.
Walk a woodland mile where the Devil Track is runnin’.
Can’t you hear it runnin’?
The Devil Track is runnin’.
Superior Horizon—
The silver moon is smilin’
On Superior Horizon.

Let my eyes rest easy in your northern light;
Let me fill my lungs with misty morning;
Let me find my spirit in the sea bird's flight
Soaring over the horizon—
Superior Horizon.

Words and Music by Dave Burkum. 
© Copyright 1994 by Dave Burkum.

Written in December of 1994, this is the first song I ever wrote about a place or region.  Although I've seen oceans, mountain ranges, and natural wonders all around the USA, the beautiful Lake Superior Region (particularly the Minnesota North Shore and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area) is the first to move me to song.  The unspoiled beauty, natural diversity and abundant mystery has enchanted me like no other place.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Monday Music - Woody Guthrie

I'm back from a much-needed vacation. We spent a few days up on the North Shore of Lake Superior and then headed back home to spend a week catching up on home projects. It wasn't exactly a get-off-your-feet-and-rest sort of vacation, but it felt great to get some stuff done at home and to have a complete break from regular responsibilities.

Last week marked the 100th year since Woody Guthrie's birth. There were many articles and podcasts celebrating the legendary American folk artist. Here are a few I'd recommend.

Fresh Air Celebrates Woody Guthrie at 100


Woody Guthrie's Indelible Mark on American Culture 
(Talk of the Nation)


The Story of "This Land Is Your Land" by Nick Spitzer


Going Down the Road with Woody Guthrie
(American Routes)

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Thursday Thinking - Vacation

I'm on vacation, so I think I'll take a break from writing Altered Faces. I'll be back on July 16 or 17. See you then.



Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Wednesday Words - Send These to Me

The New Colossus
By Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Source: Emma Lazarus: Selected Poems and Other Writings (2002).

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Tuesday Tome - Vacation Reading

We're doing a few days of vacation on the North Shore of Lake Superior, and then we'll take a few more days of staycation on the north shore of Lake Johanna. Here's what is on the vacation reading list.

Gilead: A Novel (Marilyn Robinson)
From Publisher's Weekly:
Fans of Robinson's acclaimed debut Housekeeping (1981) will find that the long wait has been worth it. From the first page of her second novel, the voice of Rev. John Ames mesmerizes with his account of his life—and that of his father and grandfather. Ames is 77 years old in 1956, in failing health, with a much younger wife and six-year-old son; as a preacher in the small Iowa town where he spent his entire life, he has produced volumes and volumes of sermons and prayers, "[t]rying to say what was true." But it is in this mesmerizing account—in the form of a letter to his young son, who he imagines reading it when he is grown—that his meditations on creation and existence are fully illumined.
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Simply Jesus (N. T. Wright)
From Amazon's Book Description:
Bible scholar, Anglican bishop, and bestselling author N. T. Wright summarizes a lifetime of study of Jesus and the New Testament in order to present for a general audience who Jesus was and is. In Simply Jesus, we are invited to hear one of our leading scholars introduce the story of the carpenter’s son from Nazareth as if we were hearing it for the first time.
“Jesus—the Jesus we might discover if we really looked,” explains Wright, “is larger, more disturbing, more urgent than we had ever imagined. We have successfully managed to hide behind other questions and to avoid the huge, world-shaking challenge of Jesus’s central claim and achievement. It is we, the churches, who have been the real reductionists. We have reduced the kingdom of God to private piety; the victory of the cross to comfort for the conscience; Easter itself to a happy, escapist ending after a sad, dark tale. Piety, conscience, and ultimate happiness are important, but not nearly as important as Jesus himself.” As the church faces the many challenges of the twenty-first century, Wright has presented a vision of Jesus that more than meets them.
BUY ON AMAZON

The Best News You Will Ever Hear 
(Thomas Jay Oord & Robert Luhn)
From Product Description:
This book tells the best news you will ever hear. Ever! The authors guarantee that your life will change for the better by the time you finish reading it. They are confident in sharing this great news, because they are not making it up. It s true. The Best News You Will Ever Hear reports news that has changed millions and millions of people. And it reports that news in a way that you ve never heard. Prepare yourself. Focus your attention and read carefully. This news should change your life for good forever!
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Monday, July 02, 2012

Monday Music - Kenny Rankin

One of my favorite records of all time is The Kenny Rankin Album. This recording was an important part of my personal soundtrack during the 70s. Rankin's way of blending folk and jazz sounds really resonated with me back in those days. I also just absolutely loved and admired (and still do) the Don Costa string arrangements. Those arrangements were a huge influence on the way I wrote for strings during my recording studio days.

Another special thing for me about Rankin is that my wife, Cheri, is the person who first introduced me to his music. It mystifies me that a farm girl in southwest Nebraska managed to hear about Kenny Rankin before I did. After all, I was living on the cutting edge of cultural awareness in highly sophisticated northeast Nebraska. We had WAY more than the two TV channels they had out there in the sticks.

Yesterday, I was putzing around on the internet for fun, just trying to see if I could find any old videos of musicians I used to listen to. Kenny Rankin came to mind, so I did a couple of searches on YouTube. I was surprised to learn that Kenny died back in 2009. In June of that year, he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer just three weeks before he died. He was 69 years old.

So... I broke the news to Cheri, but she already knew.

"That was a few years ago, wasn't it?" she said.

How does she hear all this stuff before I do?

Here is a live 2001 performance of a song from the Kenny Rankin Album (1976). Twenty-five years after recording it, he still sounded great.

Sunday, July 01, 2012

Sunday Supplication - The Church

Almighty God, we thank you for your Church and the strong foundation you have given us through the Scriptures. We thank you for the prophets and the apostles and most of all for Jesus Christ who is, himself, the chief cornerstone. As followers of Jesus, we ask you to bind us together in heart, mind, and purpose, that as your people we might be a temple filled with your Spirit.

Thank you for your promise to forgive and purify us. Thank you for being the one who saves. Forgive us our sins. Renew us by your Spirit. Show us how to act, think, and live as Christ.  As you have forgiven us, make us merciful and ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.

O God, may our love and devotion to you result in goodness and grace to everyone around us. Help us to walk so closely with you that our lives become a beam of light that gives witness of your goodness and grace to the world.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.