Over 4th of July weekend, I introduced my son to the movie An American Tail. He loved it! (even though those wave monsters and that machine mouse are still pretty scary…) Didn’t realize until we watched it again that it was produced by Steven Spielberg and the film score was composed by James Horner! Or that Christopher Plummer (the dad in Sound of Music, and also in Knives Out!) voiced the dopey cat character, Henri. Haha! Fun movie.

Also, when I was a kid, I did not pick up on the fact that this movie was really about what life is like for immigrants coming to America. That part resounded loud and clear and beautifully in this story.

Best part about watching that movie – Aden now wants to talk to and involve the Statue of Liberty (i.e. me doing a Lady Liberty impression) in his fun and playful scenarios. The Statue of Liberty was barely introduced in the movie as a character. It was being built by a French pigeon at the start of the movie, and was completed by the movie’s end. And only at the very end does the Statue actually do anything – it just winks! But that moment Aden noticed. His ability to notice the barely featured characters of a story, and also the range of his imagination to make friends with those characters, makes me hopeful for the way he will both see and interact with those society tends to ignore or bypass. One day, I hope he realizes the deeper symbolism the statue represents – the concept of seeing and welcoming the overlooked and underserved human neighbors, no matter where they come from or how they arrived, even if he already does that in his own childlike way.

I love my son.

We watched a local fireworks show last night, and at some point, Aden started singing one of the songs from the movie – “There are no cats in America!”

Some days I question how well we are doing as parents – but then moments like that happen and I know we’re doing alright.

Last year on the 4th, I released a cover of a song by one of my favorite artists and producers, Ben Shive. It is also aptly called “4th of July”. I still really enjoy this song. Hope you enjoy the cover.

Hope everyone had a happy 4th!

I just finished Malcolm Guite's Galahad and the Grail is this morning. I was so moved by the beauty of the ending, the way it weaves its way with the beginning lines of the prologue: "Poet, take up the tale!" Incredibly well-done.

Malcolm shares this gift of a modern classic with us through his knowledge as a scholar, his heart as a priest, told with all his skill as a poet.

I'm very much looking forward to the following three volumes to come.

Also, if I was a tattooin' man, I'd put this on my arm:

Working my way through The Last Battle now by C.S. Lewis, the seventh and final book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. So good. I had mentioned recently how The Silver Chair might be my favorite of the series, but going through this one makes me think this is the best of the lot. The way Lewis mingles hope and devastation together in this story is palpable. Also, it must have been many years since I last read this book because I don’t remember most of it, so it feels like I’m reading the story for the first time. And listening to Patrick Stewart narrate it has been amazing.

Loving Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite. It's the first of four forthcoming volumes of a new epic poetic Arthuriad, and this first volume is beautiful – both the story and poetry, the incredible illustrations by Stephen Crotts, and the actual physical book itself. Thankful for the incredible gift Malcolm Guite is to the world of literary art.

It is a bit sad to me to watch the ending of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Tonight will be his final show. Of all the current late show hosts, he’s the one I have found to be the classiest and wittiest. Watching David Letterman and Colbert together from last week’s show made me laugh a lot! Excited for what he is doing next – writing a Lord of the Rings movie directed by Peter Jackson.

Of all the clips I’ve seen of Colbert, this one is my favorite.

Finished two books this week!

The first is C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

It had been some years since I last visited the world of Narnia. This one is one of my favorites from the series. I love the sea voyage (reminded me of Odysseus’ sea-faring adventures in the Odyssey), Eustace’ transformation and reformation, meeting an embodied star, Reepicheep’s undaunted courage, and the beauty and wonder of crystal sea at the world’s end. Completing this story feels like I’ve been to the edge of the world and back. Most of all, I love the way Lewis can depict beauty and goodness. For some reason, I feel like goodness and beauty is much harder to describe in these modern times. But he, along with J.R.R. Tolkien, are master’s at not only showing the ugliness of evil, but the glory of goodness. It’s like they have sat with both, but become completely enamored with the deeper reality of truth, goodness, and beauty.

One of my favorite quotes from this story:

“In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of.” [said Ramandu, an embodied star]

Read more…

My reading break ended last Thursday. This was part of the week-4 tasks in The Artist's Way. Basically, I didn't read any blog posts, articles, personal emails or any other social media, and didn't read any books. Here are a handful of things I learned during that down time.

• I have more “free time” available to me than I realize
• I want to distract myself with social media… Why is that?
• When I gave up looking for something to pre-occupy my attention, I actually ended up choosing action:
  • going to bed early
  • working out
  • getting laundry done
  • writing a blog post about a wildflowering date I took with my wife
  • enjoying listening to full albums
    • Ethan Nathaniel's latest album, River of Gladness
    • Andrew Peterson and friends' tribute concert to Rich Mullins, A Liturgy, a Legacy, & the Songs of Rich Mullins (Live)
    • JJ Heller's album, Love
    • Jess Ray's latest album, MAMA
• My thoughts are not as terrifying to be with as I originally “thought” they would be… I can sit with a calm mind
• I can “Do one thing at a time,” and my life is richer for it

Also, when I came back from the break – and this is not to diss anyone's sharing online as I am doing now – but I found that I really didn't miss much online in one week. When I take some space from the stream of data and content, I can see with better perspective. This was a good exercise in discerning what is really worthy of my time and attention, like my family, nature, and my own soul. I recommend giving it a try!

Rich Mullins on where his songs come from:

My songs are not particularly inspired. The Scriptures were inspired; my songs are provoked.

I love this idea of songs, or any art, being provoked from us. When I encounter the reality of God's grandeur, what is provoked out of me? Songs, poetry... love? I hope for more of all of the above.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife Tiffany and I visited the LBJ National Grasslands as part of a small group of people interested in “wildflowering.” We like learning about flowers, but we didn’t know that “wilderflowering” was a verb until this trip.

I thought this trip was going to be more of humdrum kind of experience. Just hike up and down trails, looking at fields of lots of pretty flowers everywhere, take some photos, but keep hiking to some agreed upon end. It was not really like this at all.

Read more…

Part of this week's practices of The Artist's Way is to partake in a "reading deprivation." I am going to work on being with my own thoughts throughout the day instead of my normal daily habit of reading a book, a selection of articles, or any other kind of social media post. This will be a good challenge. I'm looking at it this way: whatever I want to read, I need to write. So I may still share some posts on my blog throughout this time.

I'm curious if removing reading for a bit will increase writing and other ways of being present to the moment. Looking forward to finding out.

"The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention."

– Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

Watching the Artemis II crew returning to earth. Praying for a safe landing!

What an incredible shot of earth taken by astronaut Reid Wiseman from the Orion 95,000 miles away!

We trace our past, present, and future
around this moment of infinity,
circling in and out continuously,
the threads of time serving as the suture
where Death and Life meet together
and die. What a strange mixture of hope and loss
here at the place of the cross.

Finished Marilynne Robinson's Home today. Such a beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful story. It contains that quality of bright sadness. The novel stirred up my own thoughts and questions about home. I wrote about them here.