Saturday Smile - Wikidrummer

This is just a cool idea for music and audio geeks to enjoy. Getting good drum sounds is crucial to the overall sound of any recording. Natural sounds are preferable to digital reverbs. In this video, there are supposedly no artificial reverbs added, just the ambient sound of the places themselves. You'd have to listen on much better speakers than my computer or headphones to know for sure, but I'll take their word for it. Just for the record, my favorite sound of all the set-ups is the auto shop.

Friday Favorites - LEAGUES

Hey! What's that catchy tune I'm hearing on the BOSE TV commercials every night? It's a hit from my favorite indie rock band! I'm not the only one with LEAGUES on my list of favorite bands, they're also on Amazon's list for Best Albums of 2013. Congratulations, Tyler, Thad, and Jeremy.

If you haven't yet heard, You Belong Here, it's time to get on it. And don't forget, it's a great gift idea for the music fans on your Santa List!

Thursday Thinking - Nelson Mandela

The story of Nelson Mandela is important and complex. Like most people who make a difference in the world, there is plenty about his life and work to applaud and plenty to question. Here are a number of thoughtful articles and quotes you may find helpful as you consider the amazing life and legacy of this man who managed to be a force for change and an influence toward a better world.

Nelson Mandela: Trouble Maker for Peace
by Paul Louis Metzger

Nelson Mandela brought peace to South Africa by making trouble. One cannot always make peace without conflict. Those who would shy away from conflict involving injustices are not about peace, but the status quo, for peace always entails advancing justice. Having been an advocate in his early years for non-violent resistance and then for armed struggle, Mandela became known in his later years for cultivating a culture of love rather than hate that entailed justice.

A South African Pastor Shares Why South Africans Honor Nelson Mandela
by P. J. Smyth

Adriaan Vlok (Minister of Law and Order 1986-1991) said, "When Mandela came out of prison he did not have a record of wrongs done to him because then he would have embarked on a road of revenge. What did he do? He embarked immediately on a road of forgiveness."

Mandela himself said, "If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness."

Former President FW De Klerk said of Mandela, "He is par excellence a peace maker". And as we know, there is never peace without forgiveness.

Mandela and Fighting Evil

by David Heim

It is a measure of Mandela’s own integrity that, having once seen no way forward except through violence, he seized the opportunity of negotiation when it finally emerged.

Nelson Mandela Brought the World toward a Racial Reconciliation
by Washington Post Editorial Board

Mr. Mandela, who died Thursday night at age 95, seemed to understand that the motivating force behind ethnic, religious and racial hatred is not only, or even primarily, self-interest; it is fear, distrust, a lack of understanding. In his person and his policies, he set out to show those on the other side that they had little to fear. He sought unity rather than revenge, honesty and understanding rather than the naked exercise of power. These are all fine abstractions, of course, but never so clear to us as when there is a living figure to exemplify them. That's why Mr. Mandela’s influence extended so far beyond South Africa and was felt by so many of the world's peoples other than Africans.

Wednesday Words - Be Thou Our Vision

Last Saturday, it was my privilege to officiate the wedding service for Eric and Danica Wytcherly. As part of the service, we sang a marriage version of "Be Thou My Vision" with a new text I had adapted and written for the occasion.

Be Thou our Vision, O Lord of our hearts
Naught be all else to us, save what Thou art
Be Thou our best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence our light.

Be Thou our Wisdom, O True Living Word;
Be ever with us, Our Savior and Lord;
Bind us together, Lord, bind us to Thee,
Bind us in spirit and true unity.

Be Thou the Keystone, the strength of our bond,
Our true foundation through life and beyond—
Through days of gladness, through trials we endure,
Be Thou the bedrock where we stand secure.

Be Thou the first love in each of our hearts–
Be love’s beginning – where each of us starts.
Loving each other by loving you best–
Living to bless you we find ourselves blessed.

Riches we need not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou our inheritance, now and always:
Master and Savior, whatever befall,
Still be our Vision, O Ruler of all!

"Be Thou Our Vision," Music: Traditional Irish Tune (Slane). Words: Ancient Irish text translated by Mary Byrne, 1905, and versified by Eleanor Hull, 1912. New verses and adapted text by Dave Burkum, © Copyright 2013 by Dave Burkum.

Tuesday Tome - Seamus Heaney Poems 1965-1975

I recently completed my first reading of Seamus Heaney: Poems 1965-1975. This book is a compilation of all the poems from Heaney's first four collections or poetry. The first book, Death of a Naturalist (1966), was the the most accessible for me. I found the poems of Door into the Dark (1969) and Wintering Out (1972) harder to understand, and those of North (1975) to be the most difficult of all. The cultural, geographic, linguistic, and political references were often beyond my reach. It was a little frustrating that the book seemed to be less comprehensible the further I went, but I read every page with the expectation that at any moment a phrase, or stanza, if not an entire poem, would jump out and grab me. I was not disappointed. Sometimes there are wonders to experience and treasures to be found even when one is lost in the forest.

I purchased Poems 1965-1975 just a few months ago, actually on the very day Heaney died (October 30, 2013). The many tributes, accolades, and excerpts of his poems published that day prompted me to get to know more about the man and his work.

He was a native of Northern Ireland, grew up in County Derry, and lived in Dublin for many years. Author of over 20 books of poetry and literary criticism, Heaney won the Nobel Prize for Liturature in 1995. He taught at Harvard University from 1985-2006, and was Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1989-1994.

Heaney is widely respected as a major poet of the 20th century. At Ireland’s national celebration of Heaney’s 70th birthday in 2009, it was announced that two-thirds of the poetry collections sold in the UK the previous year had been books by Heaney.

Personal Helicon
As a child, they could not keep me from wells
And old pumps with buckets and windlasses.
I loved the dark drop, the trapped sky, the smells
Of waterweed, fungus and dank moss.

One, in a brickyard, with a rotted board top.
I savoured the rich crash when a bucket
Plummeted down at the end of a rope.
So deep you saw no reflection in it.

A shallow one under a dry stone ditch
Fructified like any aquarium.
When you dragged out long roots from the soft mulch
A white face hovered over the bottom.

Others had echoes, gave back your own call
With a clean new music in it. And one
Was scaresome, for there, out of ferns and tall
Foxgloves, a rat slapped across my reflection.

Now, to pry into roots, to finger slime,
To stare, big-eyed Narcissus, into some spring
Is beneath all adult dignity. I rhyme
To see myself, to set the darkness echoing.

"Personal Helicon" by Seamus Heaney, from Death of a Naturalist, © Copyright 1966 by Seamus Heaney.

Monday Music - This Wintry Night

The days are shorter now, the nights are getting long.
Snowy drifts are forming on the driveway.
We might just have to put another blanket on
As the mercury disappears;
It could be a record low-
The coldest night we have all year.

We share an afghan as we snuggle on the couch;
We've got lots of ways to beat the weather.
Old Man Winter isn't bothering us now;
We're as warm as we've ever been.

Curling up in rosy flannel–
Shadows dancing by the candle–
Chocolate kisses by handful–
While the moon is shining bright
Through the frosty panes this wintry night.

Aboard a seven-fifty-seven headed South
The snowbirds make their flight to Arizona.
They think they're lucky but I say they're missing out
On the warmth a North wind brings
When you're sitting by a fire
Or listening to the teapot sing.

The corn is popping and the cider's on the stove;
And we're all set to play a game of Scrabble.
So let it snow, we've got our cozy little cove–
Safe and warm as we've ever been.

Curling up in rosy flannel-
Shadows dancing by the candle-
Chocolate kisses by handful-
While the moon is shining bright
Through the frosty panes this wintry night.

The days are shorter now, the nights are getting long.
Snowy drifts are filling every sidewalk.
But we'll be fine, just put another blanket on
And we're as warm as we've ever been–
Safe and warm as we've ever been–
Warm.


“This Wintry Night” words and music by Dave Burkum (written during a snowstorm on November 27, 1994), from the CD, Breathe a Little Deeper, © Copyright 2013 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday Supplication - Joyfully Welcome His Coming

Merciful God, we thank you every voice you’ve sent into our world to preach repentance and proclaim the way of salvation. Give us contrite hearts and help us to turn away from sin. And give us open and receptive hearts that joyfully welcome the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Help us in this Christmas season to honor Jesus in thought, word, and deed.  Help us to follow him and to walk in the light as he is in the light.  We confess our sins, trusting that you are faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Make us able and ready to graciously forgive those who have sinned against us.

O God, restore and renew us today. And make our lives a testimony of your power to restore and renew us. Help us to live by faith. And make our lives shining demonstrations of your promise to save and restore.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Road Conditions

Friday Favorites - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

My favorite random find for the week is this video of the masterpiece artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He was filmed at age 74 as he painted with the assistance of his 14-year-old son, Claude.

Renoir suffered from rheumatoid arthritis the last three decades of his life. By the time this film was made (1915), he was unable to walk and his hands were permanently drawn and clenched. And yet he continued to paint! Reportedly, when the aged and debilitated artist was asked by a young Henri Matisse as to why he doggedly persisted to paint, Renoir replied, "The pain passes, but the beauty remains."

Read More about this film at Open Culture.

Thursday Thinking - Happy Holidays

Every year we hear cries of panic from the usual suspects as they get all discombobulated over the secularization of Christmas (as though that's something new). They perceive the use of "Happy Holidays" to be a cold slap in the face of their dearly beloved "Merry Christmas." But have you ever considered that, rather than an offense, it might actually be a step in the right direction?

Richard Beck, in an excellent post at Experimental Theology, suggests that it is more appropriate and even preferable for our commercialized and secularized culture to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."  Maybe we can leverage this shift and get the retail world to give Christmas back to the church.  Beck writes:

I think "Happy Holidays" is a way to be more hospitable and neighborly in a diverse culture. But tolerance isn't the main reason I'm okay with the shift to "Happy Holidays."
Again, the shift to "Happy Holidays" has mainly been seen in the retail world, as a way to not offend buying customers. Which means, for me at least, I don't really care what you say to me when I buy an Xbox. In fact, theologically speaking, "Happy Holidays" is a lot better than "Merry Christmas." 

Why? 

Well, if you tack "Merry Christmas" onto my Xbox I think that might be blasphemy.
I'm pretty sure it is blasphemy. 

It's blasphemous to post "Merry Christmas" all through a shopping mall. It's blasphemous to slap the name of Jesus on all the Xboxs, Playstations, iPhones, and High-Def TVs. "Happy Holidays," while still not great given that I don't like the word "holy" being involved, is much better than "Merry Christmas."

...let Babylon--in marketplace and nation--greet you with "Happy Holidays." Let "Merry Christmas" be for the church. That helps clarify things. As Stanley Hauerwas provocatively said, the first task of the church is to make the world the world. 

Let Babylon be Babylon.
Let Babylon say "Happy Holidays." 

READ THE FULL BLOG POST

Wednesday Words - Immanuel

O come, O come, Immanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lowly exile here
Until the Son of God appears.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel,
The gift of God has come to dwell–
He’s with us now in truth and grace,
The light of God, behold his face–
The light of God, behold his face.

O Christians come, and let us be
Good gifts of peace and charity,
Abundant life, and hopeful day.
And give until all people say-

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel–
God’s with us now and we can tell–
We see his truth we see his grace,
Behold his church, behold his face.
Behold his church, behold his face.

In where we go, and where we’ve been,
O may we bring a sense of him,
Who came to us in flesh and blood,
Who blessed and did all people good.

Immanuel, the Name we bear–
The life that he gives is the life we share.
Immanuel! O may we be
The light of his presence for all to see–
The light of his presence for all to see.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel,
The gift of God has come to dwell–
He’s with us now in truth and grace,
The light of God, behold his face–
The light of God, behold his face.

"Immanuel" words and music by Dave Burkum, 
© Copyright 2013 by Dave Burkum.

Tuesday Tome - Letters to My Children

Last week, I finished a sweet and winsome little book by Daniel Taylor, Letters to My Children: A Father Passes on His Values.  While the words "sweet" and "winsome" are accurate, I would hasten to add that the book is also filled with humility, grace, wisdom, and insight.  I'd recommend the book to Christian parents and grandparents of kids between the ages of 10 and 15. It would also be good for teachers and church leaders who work with children that age.

The stories and insights Taylor shares serve as a good model and inspiration for the rest of us to write some letters of our own. Writing letters like this might be just the thing to help us parents and grandparents think through our values and beliefs, and prod us to remember the people, events, and experiences that formed those values and beliefs into who we are. Letters to My Children stirred my heart toward my own kids and grandkids and prompted me to be more intentional about sharing more of my of life stories and thoughts with them.

From the Preface:

I have a terminal disease. It is called mortality. It causes me, at times, to worry about my children growing up without me. I am not afraid they will miss meals or education or have to wear generic jeans (my oldest son's worst nightmare). I am concerned they will little remember who their father was, what made him tick, what was important to him, what he had to say to them. What will they know of me, of the man who co-created them, the one who loves them more than he will ever let himself say?

These letters are a partial response to this muted but persistent concern. They are, in theory, for my children, but in writing them I discovered they were for me, and perhaps for others, as well. It is not just the vanity of wanting to be remembered that motivates them. For better or worse, I am the only father my children will ever have. And as their father, part of my value is to pass on the eternal truths. Never mind that many of us are less sure of the exact nature of eternal truth than before we had children. Never mind that when the words come out of our mouths they sound suspiciously like clichés or, worse yet, like things we didn't like hearing from our own parents.

Despite our inadequacies, we fathers serve a crucial purpose by being there to say the unexpected, unexceptional, but necessary thing. What exactly we have to say will often be forgotten; that we are there to say it will never be.

Other books I've enjoyed from Daniel Taylor:

The Myth of Certainty
Read my previous post about The Myth of Certainty.

The Skeptical Believer
Read my previous post about The Skeptical Believer. 

Monday Music - Morning by Morning

The Sovereign Lord has
given me an instructed tongue
to know the word that sustains the weary.

The Sovereign Lord has
given me an instructed tongue
to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me
morning by morning–
wakens my ear to listen.

He wakens me
morning by morning–
wakens my ear to listen
like one being taught.

"Morning by Morning" from Fireside, words (adapted from Isaiah 50:4) and music by Dave Burkum, © Copyright 2006 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday Supplication - Your Loving Presence

Almighty God, we ask you to help us turn away from sin and darkness, and instead to embrace the light of your Son Jesus Christ who came to live among us in great humility. We look forward to the day when he will come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, and raise us to immortal life.

Help us in this Advent season to honor Jesus in thought, word, and deed.  Help us to follow him and to walk in the light as he is in the light. Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Make us able and ready to give forgiveness to those who have sinned against us.

O God, save us from trouble and help us to trust you completely. Grant us a deep sense of your loving presence when the troubles of life threaten to overwhelm us. Remind us of your faithfulness. Calm our hearts. Help us to be still and know that you are God.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.