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FARMStrong on location this week. . . . .
Happy 7th Day of Christmas (a.k.a. New Year's Eve) and welcome to the second half.
This week I will be teaching at the Passion Conference in Atlanta. This has become a good blessing for me since I got involved with them back in 2000.
You can check it out here
I welcome your prayers:
"pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should." ephesians 6:19-20. posted by John David Walt | at 12/31/2006 01:32:00 PM | 4 comments
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me. . . . Actually it was last week I got the gift that keeps on giving-- a good old fashioned stomach virus. It's making its way through the FARMStrong Fam at the moment. No fun. I think I've captured what I think you will identify with as a "universal experience" with the lines below. Be Warned-- graphically explicit lyrics ahead.
You're certain you might be a poet
when you are awakened
by an obsessive like compulsion at 1:47
in the morning
to verse about what happened two nights ago
around the same time. . . . .
when the silent alarm sounded
in the pit of stomach hell
raising the terror alert 2 colors of pale
messaging the inevitability
of a complete evacuation of the cavity
only you decide to lay there
8 more minutes
or however long your brain
can manage to lie to your bowels
all the while the signs are growing
(though the heart may be deceived noone fools the guts)
like a headline ripped from guantanamo bay
gastro-intestinal terrorists
set off explosions
and prepare to seal off the exits
Last in-- first out
chunks blow
liquids flow
and the long dead prison guards
are the last to go
bitter bile of a digestive riot
The Fear is totalizing
liquefying logs
Run!
making everything else Jump!
defying gravity
That's the scene
bowing before the porcelain throne
heaving ejaculations
of everything
you never wanted to taste again
wave on wave
wondering how long before
you can send in a
S.W.A.T. (suppository with anti-terrorism tactics) Team posted by John David Walt | at 12/26/2006 09:25:00 PM | 4 comments
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas Eve Shabbat David and I went down to Kinlaw Park today to do some wood-carving. We watched a Nativity Story movie this morning and somewhere along the way it featured Joseph in his woodshop working as a carpenter. David thought this would be a good way to celebrate Christmas Eve-- to work with some wood. He had a stick that he wanted to "skin." So we got into the lockbox, chose a few pocket knives and got to work. After he skinned his sword-like stick he had a vision.
David: Dad, lets carve a cross into the sword.
Dad: That's a great idea!
Dad: (on second thought)-- Well, hmmmm. . . . maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea David.
David: Why not?
Dad: David, do you see how the cross and the sword are different?
David: Yes.
Dad: See, the sword kills people. The cross saves people.
David: But Dad. . . . . . didn't the soldier spear Jesus with a sword when he was on the cross?????
Dad: (. . . . long. . . . stunned. . . . silent. . .. pause. . . .)
Dad: (still recovering) UUUUhhhhhhh. . . . . . . yeeeaaaaahhhh. . . . . . . you're right David.
to be continued. . . . .we're headed to Zaxby's for lunch.
Labels: sabbath
posted by John David Walt | at 12/24/2006 12:51:00 PM | 6 comments
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Sitting Next to a Nun Waiting for Sext (i.e. The Sixth Hour) She entered the building differently than I
reverent bowing
quiet sitting
clasping prayer with hands
living water dripping down her furrowed brow
actively
watching
awaiting
the Hour
her habit. . . . .
while I passed the time
looking for something to do
For me the room was empty
For her, Full.
To prepare the way of the Lord
is to welcome Him
always
in new ways
anticipatorily
Here dwells the meaning of Advent
All else is distraction.
Photo: David in his first Kindergarten school play--releasing his robust line "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! That's his teacher Ms. Adams alongside him. Been a good first semester.Poem Comment: On Monday I spent the day at the Abbey of Gethsemane with Josh Agerton who leads our worship design team at the seminary. As we waited for the noon prayer time to begin (i.e. sext) a nun entered the room. My observation led to the composition of these lines.
Labels: poetry
posted by John David Walt | at 12/19/2006 07:59:00 PM | 4 comments
Monday, December 18, 2006
comment field back Sobering
Can you believe I actually had my comment field turned off. What was I thinking! Anyhow-- the comment love fountain is now flowing again so please leave yours and feel free to make up for lost time.
new poem coming tomorrow. stay tuned. posted by John David Walt | at 12/18/2006 10:48:00 PM | 1 comments
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Advent Poetry The Eagle's form
a cross that flies
ascending under
Heaven's skies
vision of
the One who dies
by laying down
an earthly prize
rebuking sentimental
lies
to find a garden
in the
air.
But those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31
Labels: poetry
posted by John David Walt | at 12/14/2006 03:04:00 PM | 2 comments
Monday, December 11, 2006
Advent as Plot Device I led a few sessions last week at a conference for campus pastors called Refresh. I taught in the area of worship. I promised those participating a biblography this week. I'm getting to that one and will have it in the next day or so. So don't give up. IN the meantime, for you who were with me, and for the other FARMers out there I offer this quote that has stirred me for some time now. It's a good word for Advent. How might Advent provide us an occasion/opportunity to become more deeply immersed in the Story?
“Do not suppose that this is the kind of drama one can view from a grandstand seat. We are not to be spectators of something that happened once upon a time. The Bible is not a book of ancient history. It is more like the commedia dell’arte, a dramatic form which flourished in sixteenth-century Italy. In this kind of drama, the players were asked to improvise, to put themselves into the story. To be sure, it was not a free improvisation, for there were some given elements: there was the director, there was a company of actors, and there was a story plot which was given to them in broad outline. With these given elements they were told to improvise—that is, to fill in the gaps on their own.
We too, are “called upon to improvise—that is,
to put ourselves into the story
and to fill in the gaps with our own experience. We must be ready to get onto the biblical stage and participate personally—along with the ‘company,’ the community of faith—in the dramatic movement of the plot, act by act.
Bernhard W. Anderson, The Unfolding Drama of the Bible, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988),16,17. posted by John David Walt | at 12/11/2006 07:41:00 AM | 0 comments
Thursday, December 07, 2006
FARMStrong on location this week At The Woodlands, Texas, i.e. "DisneyWoods." I've been teaching a session on worship design and leadership these past few days. More on that to come. Check out the the College Union outfit here. posted by John David Walt | at 12/07/2006 11:42:00 AM | 0 comments
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Happy New Year!!!!! Today we begin again. . . . . .
somewhere in the middle of the beginning of the end.
The Advent is upon us.
"Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then cast aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." Romans 13:?? (coming soon) photo also coming. posted by John David Walt | at 12/03/2006 09:54:00 AM | 1 comments
Today...