Weekly Photo Challenge: (Fresh)

Another week, another fresh challenge… and this time that is exactly what the photo challenge is: FRESH

And if it was up to one image to capture the heart of the whole theme and send me cascading past the rest to break the finish line in the first position [assuming this was a competition, which it’s not, it’s a challenge… an honour even to be nominated, even though we know that however good our pics are Kanye West will think Beyonce’s were better] it would be this one:

Say no more… but because we are not contained to just one picture, and because they say a picture is worth a thousand words, i took it upon myself to share four more thousand words with you [fortunately in picture form, cos in the words of Gob Bluth, “COME ON!”] and so here they are.

First up [although technically second up and because there are two of them, second and third up] here are two pictures of me and then me and the beautiful Val all fresh and ready before we started the 5km Color Run in Philadelphia last year [and before they started throwing paint on us at random intervals, and by “random” i mean evenly spaced at 1km apart, but because we’re in the US of A where they deal in miles, we should stick with “random”]

Notice the looks of “We’re so fresh, we probably think this race is about us, don’t we?” on our faces…

If you’re thinking ‘Fresh’ [and we all are by now, right? It’s the theme, people, work with me here!] then the next image that coms to mind must be paint… especially cos me using the word right there probably helped it gently into your brainmind and so what best than a bunch of freshly painted tyres that are about to be used to transform a dull and listless empty lot into the beginnings of a colourful boundaried park for the local kids in the Kensington, Philadelphia community to be able to play in…

And then finally, how would it be possible to have the word ‘Fresh’ without invoking the image of ‘getting fresh’ or making out [or whatever you call it in this country, in my country and maybe twenty years ago, it at least used to be called ‘Getting Fresh’] and although most of the images of me kissing my beautiful wife Valerie at our wedding have been used countless times for these challenges, here is a *cough ‘Fresh’ one of us getting fresh just above the fresh creation of a 3D chalk design, this time in downtown Philly centre:

If Mr Eastwood was naming this Fresh Collage, I like to imagine that he would go for a title something along the lines of ‘Every which way but Fresh’ which would be a nice try, Mr Clintwood, but kinda missing the point dont’chathink? Sigh. Back to the talking chair, Mr Clint, back to the chair.

Meanwhile to the rest of you, thankx for vibing a fresh vibe with me – what interpretations of the word ‘Fresh’ can you come up with – show me the links…

Aslan Jesus: the intro

If you’ve never read the Narnia series by legendary author  Clive Staples Lewis, you’re doing yourself a misfortune.

In it he crafts a mysterious and magical world called Narnia that four young British children stumble into, through the back of an old wardrobe in a country house they are evacuated to during the second World War in London, in the first book titled ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’.

Much like Pilgrim’s progress, written by John Bunyan in 1678, ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ [and the subsequent books in the seven book series] was a Christian allegory sharing principles and truths of the Christian faith, through the telling of a captivating story.

Aslan is the name of the lion character that is introduced and it becomes clear that he represents Jesus in the way that He speaks and loves and lives [and dies, and comes back!]. He often represents a side of Jesus that we too often like to shy away from [especially in these emergent, post-modern times where we don’t ever want to feel bad or obligated or the need to repent for anything].

Two statements from ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ illustrate this well:

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” 

The idea of Jesus not being safe, but still being good. With statements like ‘If you want to follow Me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me,’ is not a very safe statement. But it is good.

And the second one:

“He’ll be coming and going” he had said. “One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down–and of course he has other countries to attend to. It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in. Only you mustn’t press him. He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.”

We tend to like the idea of a tame Jesus, that we can control. So the idea and practice of ‘this far and no further’. We like to be able to set the boundaries and draw the lines of commitment when Jesus has already invited us to a ‘life to the full’ but one that requires complete absolute commitment.

So I wanted to run a series [and maybe I will get some help from some friends] on some of the aspects of Jesus that are maybe easier to overlook or play down. The times when Jesus came across a little more like a lion than a lamb. This is an essential part of His character and should not be missed.

Join me on this journey as we take a bit of a deeper look at Aslan Jesus:

“I have come,” said a deep voice behind them. They turned and saw the Lion himself, so bright and real and strong that everything else began at once to look pale and shadowy compared with him.” [C.S. Lewis ‘The Silver Chair’]

[disclaimer: sadly Aslan is the one character I felt the movies got wrong. He needed a James Earl Jones Mufasa type voice of authority and they gave him a friendly Uncle Liam Neeson and so he, in my opinion, came across as rather a tame lion, which was an immense pity, as the rest of the movie was pretty good]

[For part I of this series titled ‘Get thee behind me’ click here]

[for part II of this series – guest post by Dalene Reyburn titled ‘Glory in the Claws’ click here]

[For part III of this series ‘Sticks and Stones’ click here]

[For part IV on Enough being Enough, click here]

[For part V on life backing up profession of faith, click here]

[For part VI on Jesus kicking some Pharisaical butt, click here] 

the danger of “Another…”

“Another high school shooting!”

i was sitting in a typical american diner this morning waiting for my friend and half watching the news when this story came on.

a story or two later it was, “Another suicide bombing” and this time a double suicide bombing.

the question this raises in me is, ‘Does this event shock me?’

Do both of these events, as individual horrific events of destruction, not simply ‘the news’, trigger in me a revulsion and a pain, some kind of deep empathic groaning? Do they make me cry out, “WHY?” to God? Do they make me cry out, “Why?” to society? Do they make me sad? Does a little something die somewhere in the recesses of my soul?

Because it really should. There has to be something huger, more hectic, than just “Another…”

For the friends and family and other relatives of the victims [and even the killers] it is a whole lot more than “Another…” This one hit home. Does it need to be someone we know before it has the same effect for us? For me?

And why even write this? What difference is another blog post going to make? The answer for the most part is a huge zero. A bigger danger than “Another…” is definitely that our response is limited to social media type words and empty platitutes which make us feel like we’ve done something when in actual fact we’ve done maybe the opposite of something. We’ve gossiped it all up on to a page or screen and so we can pat ourselves on the back and feel like we’ve made a difference [How’s that Kony protest going, by the way?’] but really where is the change?

I’ll be honest. For me this is a reminder. Simply that. Not trying to change the world although that would be great and hopefully the more we think and wrestle and really dig into this stuff the more creative solutions or resolutions we can come up with to do something. But a reminder to me that this was a tragic event. Each one.

We can’t forget! We can’t let each isolated tragic incident become just another “Another…” Each new incident has a community or communities that are irreversibly affected. We have to join in the mourning every time. Not get dragged down by it, but we dare not become immune.

Remember. Remember. Remember. Then act. We have to move towards action.

Who here has an idea for where we go next?

[As i went to Google to get details for the shooting it turned out to have been a report linked to last week’s Santa Monica school shooting which can be found here. The suicide bombing took place in Damascus, Syria here.]

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: (fleeting)

Another week, another photo challenge and this time to find the right picture or pictures to capture the idea of fleeting.

I could not look past our wedding pics for this, both because I think they really do capture the idea of a moment caught in time, but also give the idea of this thing will move on and this moment will pass. The commitment will continue and is hopefully strong and steadfast and true, but the moment is fleeting. This is what needs to be enjoyed as it happens as the rest will journey with you.

This first one I really love as it just grabs hold of the casual enjoy-the-moment nature of the day and was taken just after the ceremony, when we were able to relax a little bit more.

The next two were taken as part of our wedding shoot in the African township, Kayamandi, where I lived for about 18 months before we got married and both strongly emphasise ‘Fleeting’ firstly by way of the youths who are walking past, completely unaware and oblivious of the celebrations taking place as, for them, life continues as normal… and then through the watchfulness of the observer to the kiss which happens in an instant and is no more…

This next photo is taken of myself and the beautiful Val [tbV] on the dance floor and captures the moment of a shared joke or just complete awareness and appreciation and presence in the moment of acknowledging being married and everything that is to follow:

Which brings us to the final photo which was the ‘family shot’ with our fake son, Emo Kev…

Which I can’t really explain beyond that except it was my wife’s idea and for some reason Kev was really game and which really brings home the fleeting nature of having a fake son. Ah, they grow up so quickly:

[For the previous photo challenge on the theme of ‘The Sign Says’ click here]

Weekly Photo Challenge: (the sign says)

This sign I discovered in an international hotel in Malaysia – upon closer detection I was able to ascertain that the one fruit was banned because of its absolute stench and the other because it has hardcore staining capacity. I am not too clear as to what the punishment is if you are caught with either of these:

This one was in the same country but this time on a train – a very difficult one to police I’d imagine but you have the right to remain saliva-free or something like that [and don’t speak back to these cops, cos they do not appreciate the tongue-in-cheek approach either]:

We decided to reinterpret this one on our wedding day after the most kiss-filled ceremony most people had witnessed [who waits til the permission part, seriously?] just to ensure people got the message that this would be continuing for a while [at least until we took a trip in Malaysia by train]:

But a theme titled ‘the sign says’ would not be complete without this beauty from the office wall of the non-profit building I work in, begging the question, what happened and how many times did it happen to necessitate the needfulness of this particular sign’s block 1:

That’s right people. Black and white people must shake hands in this place, but more importantly, don’t poop on the floor. Any more. Thank you.

[For the previous Photo Challenge with the theme ‘In the Background’ click here]

Weekly Photo Challenge: (in the background)

Another photo challenge and this idea i really like – the thing that is not the thing – or the question of focus – is the thing in the foreground of the picture ‘the thing’ or are we meant to be keeping an eye on what is in the background? is it “both…and?”

So many options and so i had to use three different pics which i feel increase in terms of degree or extent of background focus as you journey through so first up it’s this pic – taken at an epic Brett Anderson pool party where the plant takes centre stage but you are invited into the chilled relaxation vibes happening in the background.

Fast forward a couple of moments at the party and we take a step closer and see that once again we have a plant [or the hint of a plant] in front of us, but we can almost eavesdrop onto the conversation and laughter happening in the background. Same party but a sense of the intimacy and investment of the relationships we are facing.

And lastly there is this picture where we have now come completely face to face with the action and now the plant regains its ‘rightful place’ at the centre of the pic with the wall of water behind acting as a barrier of protection against these humans who will invade its space. Our story has come full circle.

[For the previous Photo Challenge with the theme of Escape, click here] 

Weekly Photo Challenge: (escape)

another great wordpress photo challenge theme and so many different places where i could take this from but i decided this time to rather focus on one area – that of improv and my time with TheatreSports, now called Improguise, in South Africa who i got to spend about 11 years with making stuff up with and really just one of the most amazing opportunities and things to be a part of… like ‘Whose Line Is It Anyways?’ we get a stage and a live audience and some basic game rules and then a bunch of suggestions from the audience and we just make up whatever comes up in our minds with the phrase “Yes, lets” in mind – can be absolutely anyone or anything in any variety of locations and just so much complete silly ridiculous fun i can’t even explain… here are just a handful of pics that give a glimpse into the mayhem and madness and hilarity that have ensued…

[For the previous Photo Challenge with the theme of ‘Pattern’ click here]