Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Pastor’s Prayer for Ash Wednesday and the First Sunday in Lent 5 March 2017
O Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare Your servant from strange sins.
St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430)
Weird Ideas That Work
Weird Ideas That Work: How to Build a Creative Company
By Robert I. Sutton
ISBN:978-0-7432-2788-9 (pbk)
–Review by Douglas Balzer
As a resident of the metro area of Portland Oregon, there is an attraction to the title of this book due to the word Weird in its title. The famous slogan for Portland Oregon is “Keep Portland Weird.” It developed to become the motto of Portland from humble beginnings in support of local businesses to a sweeping mantra for the city and its population. As one of these residents, the influence of the ideology of liking the unconventional has rubbed off on me a bit too. Okay, a lot. Weird Ideas That Work: How to Build a Creative Company is a book that feeds the soul with the unique and bizarre intonation. I like to call it the practice of positive deviance.
Robert I. Sutton is a professor at Stanford University. He teaches in the areas of the psychology of business and management. Precisely, he is the professor of management science and engineering. The print date is 2007, and the research is even a bit older from 2002, making this dated material. However, the concepts are exceptionally relevant for today. In many ways, Sutton reminds me of Seth Godin in his style of writing and his challenging of the conventional. The book was a quick read and enjoyable. It made me laugh because I was able to see some of my ideologies at work in the stories and experiences Sutton shared in the text. read more…
The Week Between
Each season of the liturgical year is like a room full of beautiful artifacts and experiences that we spend a number of days or weeks exploring. As we move from room to room in this narrative house, we must pass through various doorways. The connections between seasons are sometimes referred to as hinge Sundays because they help us swing freely between one season and the next.
Transfiguration Sunday and Ash Wednesday act as hinges between Epiphany and Lent. The contrast between these two events could not be more stark: mountain top to the dust of earth, glory to repentance, external wonder to internal reflection. In order to navigate these major transitions, the liturgical designers have shaped the week between Epiphany and Lent so that we have time to move from one place to another, from one emotion through to the next. Sometimes the shift comes quickly, as does the daily shift from Good Friday to Holy Saturday to Easter Sunday. But the shift from Epiphany gives us a full 10 days of movement, from the last Sunday of Epiphany through Transfiguration Sunday to Ash Wednesday. Instead of a quickly swinging door, we have a longer hallway to traverse as we move from one room to the next. read more…
Radioactive Faith
Radioactive Faith Lectionary 26 February 2017 Exodus 24:12-18 Psalm 99 2 Peter 1:16-21 Matthew 17:1-9 1 March 2017 (Ash Wednesday) Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Psalm 51:1-17 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Text to Life In the liturgical calendar, this Sunday seems at first somewhat schizophrenic. It is “Transfiguration Sunday,” the…
Learning and Leading
If You Want to Learn Faster, Overclock Your Audio and Video
Summary: “Skimming, after all, was how people dealt with the original info boom, the Gutenberg press. It produced such a flood of books and pamphlets that readers learned to vary their reading speed—sometimes zipping through pages, sometimes lingering to absorb. (“Some books should be tasted, others swallowed,” noted 16th-century intellectual Francis Bacon.)”
read more…
The Funeral Crasher
The Funeral Crasher Story Lectionary 26 February 2017 [1 March 2017: Ash Wednesday] The Story of Noah (Genesis 5-7) Psalm 22: God’s Victory Psalm Psalm 30: You Have Turned My Mourning into Dancing Psalm 84: Blessed are Those Who Dwell in Your House Psalm 90: You Are Our Dwelling Place…
Unlocking the Metaphors –Preaching Tip for 26 February 2017
When I think of metaphor I think of Alice in Wonderland and the hall of many, different sized and shaped doors. Metaphors unlock meanings that can’t be seen with the naked eye. Metaphors are like pathways that you travel in order to seek meanings that are otherwise hidden or elusive.…
Pastor’s Prayer for 26 February 2017
Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you.
Amen.
-Thomas Aquinas
Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe
–Review by Ashley Linne
This film is rated PG.
This movie combines two of my favorite things: strong women and space. Hidden Figures tells the true story of the history-making triumphs of three female African American NASA mathematicians: Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. The incredible story unfolds in the 1960s space race and civil rights era, and until very recently was totally unknown to the public.
Given the serious nature of the cultural backdrop, this film is anything but solemn. The optimism, humor, and determination of the three main characters are contagious. These women are bona fide heroes, but also extremely relatable. The challenges they face are universal for women yet particular for them as women of color, and their incredible strength to overcome is inspiring. The soundtrack is just as buoyant. Hidden Figures includes all the formulae of an enjoyable film. But don’t be fooled into thinking it is a “chick flick.”
The title of the film invites the audience to search beyond what seems obvious. To this end, the filmmakers utilize both dialogue and silence throughout the movie. A couple of central lines of dialogue center around “looking beyond.” Al Harrison, Katherine’s gruff but ultimately supportive boss played by Kevin Costner, says to her, “What I’m asking everyone one in that room to do, all my geniuses, is to look beyond the numbers. To look around them. Through them. For answers to questions we don’t even know to ask.”
This film deserves more than one viewing to be unpacked from a semiotic standpoint. I’m sure there are many gems waiting to be uncovered: for instance, the use of color (our three main characters are frequently dressed in vibrant colors, which makes them stand out against the sea of white button-up shirts of their costars; thus, the women are hidden in plain sight). We don’t have space here to explore all the imagery, but two images surrounding Katherine’s character did stick with me well from the start.
Chalk. Twice in the film, once as a child and again as an adult, Katherine is handed chalk and invited to work out complicated equations on the chalkboard. The shot zooms in on the handing of the chalk from the male authority figure to Katherine. This action really spoke to me. The chalk served as a symbol of authority and sharing knowledge. These men were empowering Katherine to do what they knew only she could do. I wonder how many “hidden figures” are in our churches, waiting to be trusted and supported by those of us in authority. It’s frequently stated throughout Hidden Figures that the limitations and barriers of their culture are “just the way things are.” What status quos in our churches need to be challenged? Who are the people ready for the next step, just waiting for a mentor to “pass the chalk”? read more…
Celestial Sounds
It’s been cloudy here for weeks and weeks, and I have missed a number of lunar spectacles. Venus has been chasing Mars through the heavens for the past few months, and this month, they came within 5 degrees of each other. The full snow moon this month included a penumbral eclipse that is beautifully captured in these photos. As we come to the close of Epiphany, it seems fitting that we listen to music written about and in homage to the skies, the heavens, and the star that compelled the curious travellers to search for the baby in Bethlehem.
The Turtle Creek Chorale is this week’s choir. They are a large male-voice choir, founded in 1980. They have made over 35 recordings, which include dozens of commissions and new arrangements of popular choral settings. Their recording Celestial, features a variety of music to celebrate our ongoing fascination with sky-watching and the influence that the stars and the planets have on our own lives.
If you missed this month’s full moon, the next one in on March 12th. While you wait, enjoy the music of the Turtle Creek Choral. read more…