Beauty Seeds

The blood-tears of pomegranate seeds shine like majestic rubies - the many sparkles of nature's luxurious abundance. Oh, the beauty of creation! Beauty infused and transfused into our subtle surroundings, and while neither toiling nor spinning carry new life imprinted with God's own hand ...

It's been a good, long weekend for Anna and I - a much needed respite. Avoiding the heavy buckets of rain that fell upon Pasadena and cascaded down Madison Avenue, we mostly stayed at home. And since I have no great desire to think coherently, I'm just going to offer a smattering of ideas or events from the last 48 hours ...

The year 2006 began with me at the computer - finishing a sermon that I was to preach on New Year's day. It was perhaps, and I hope, I prelude to something I may be doing quite often in 2006. I greatly enjoyed preaching as I've found the preparation for the sermon to be a worship exercise; it helps me remain fresh and open to God ...

And while I preached I was comforted to look out and see Anna's smile - to feel her support for my endeavors and calling. Occassionally, I would hear her cough - a harsh, painful cough that sounds as if she's been trying to exhale some nasty burr in her throat. Tonight, I told her she still has a little bit of a Darth Vader voice since her nasal passage is somewhat limited. But ... the cough is largely gone and she insists she's getting better.

Anna also said the baby was moving around the whole time I was preaching ... my mom said this either means he liked it or hated it.

We purchased a couch this weekend as well. We are quite excited, and in anticipation Anna contacted the Salvation Army to pick up our old couch. She has been itching to do refurnish and redesign our apartment. Truth be told, I think she's about ready to get rid of over 50% of the "stuff" that's in our apartment in an effort to streamline before the arrival of the baby. Those of you who've seen our apartment, know there's not a ton to get rid off, but we've really taken a liking to a minimalist style. Actually, we've just been really impressed with the functionality some close friends we know have been able to achieve with little space, and we'd like to copy them. So, less is more in Anna's mind, and I tend to agree.

Still, Anna did start work on a baby-shower registry this weekend, which either contradicts our minimalists beliefs or gives further justification to getting rid of some of our other crap.

"Recycled Air" by The Postal Service is really an enjoyable tune, and I'm so grateful Drew has given us a accoustic version of the song ...

Anna and I also listened to a new playlist entitled "Piano's" this weekend, which includes songs like:
-Holiday in Spain, Counting Crows
-Alibi, David Gray
-Home Again, Carole King
-Never is a Promise, Fiona Apple
-Everloving, Moby
-Life is Sweet, Natalie Merchant
-Nightswimming, R.E.M.
-River, Joni Mitchell

The piano inevitably makes me think of my mom - particularly of the nights when she would play as I was falling to sleep. They are treasured memories and have forever endeared the piano to my soul.

We watched two good movies this weekend - one we'd seen previously and one we've prolonged far too long. The first was "A Very Long Engagement." Besides being much more captivating than I could have dared to imagine (I totally thought it would be a flat, un-original love story), it was visually creative and beautiful. Very good use of colors and overall imagery. The same can be said for the second movie we watched, "The Village."

M. Night Shyamalan makes good films (I like the comparisons others have made by calling him a modern day Hitchcock), and I always appreciated how tight and coherent his pictures are. They're surprisingly minimal in comparison with other movies, but they are deeply effective. "The Village," especially seems incredibly powerful given that the music is rather simplistic, and there's never any dramatic special effects. The perfect example that stands out in my mind comes late in the movie when Ivy is seeking a safe passage through the woods. As the drama builds and the threat of an attack looms, Shyamalan chooses to cut away at a nerve-wracking moment and shows naked trees blowing in the wind. The music at this point is eerily tribal - strangely familiar to the music in the show Lost. Or, at another critical point in the movie, Joaquin Pheonix's character, Lucius, is wounded - almost mortally. And as he lies dying on the ground, the camera chooses not to focus on a pool of blood or some grotosque image. Rather the camera pans to the right and focuses on a cast-iron stove. It's seems somewhat pointless, but it feels and looks beautiful.

Besides being an incredibly well-done movie, I also find it very intriguing from a Christian perspective. It is a great commentary on those sectarian strands of Christianity that have sought refuge from the world and tried to divorce themselves from society and culture. Early on, one of the characters laments after the loss of his son, "You may run from sorrow as we have, but sorrow will find you." It is an early comment by Shyamalan that there is no easy manner whereby we can get through life and enjoy heaven. Moreover, his resounding conclusion, which is demonstrated in Ivy's heroic trip to save Lucius' life, is that life's innocence is preserved by pursuing hope, love and beauty, not by seeking solitude from the world's ills. Good stuff.

Good things to you as well in this new year.

Wes