So, Advent is probably my favorite time of the year (aside from, maybe, Holy Week). I was raised in a household that has held the exact same Christmastime traditions for the last 22 years, so "ritual," I would say, has become really important to me.
As Advent approaches, I've been giving serious consideration to making a Jesse Tree, a small tree with hanging ornaments that commemorate some aspect of Jesus's history, from Creation all the way to the birth of the Messiah. Jesse Trees have a pretty diverse background, but--as far as I can tell--have been celebrated since the middle ages.
This evening, Alyssa and I made a short trip to Hobby Lobby to buy the ornaments and the base for the tree. I want to make the actual tree out of limbs, to give it a more rugged, outdoorsy look. Tonight, we drilled the holes and stained the wood.
I'll keep you updated as this project progresses. If all goes well (I'm sure you know how badly I procrastinate), I would like to post a short devotional each night we add an ornament to the tree, starting around the first Sunday of Advent. That way, you folks can celebrate right along with us!
I don't say this often enough, but I love you all.
Yesterday, we unloaded the gas kiln at the ceramics studio. Since I missed the first round of glaze firing, all of my accumulated wares had to wait for the second round. Because of this, I had nearly 35 pieces: bowls, coffee mugs, and various plates.
Here's some of my finished work. Some of the pictures, when clicked, will produce a before/after shot. Enjoy:
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've been really friggin' busy, to say the least. I really can't wait for the semester to end--I have far better things to worry about than Human Biology, or "World Food and Society."
In other news, Alyssa and I recently purchased an audiobook copy of Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals. We're planning on going vegetarian after the first of the year, and I really hope that this book will strengthen our resolve to do so. When I was very young, my mom's best friend Emily decided to become a vegan, giving up all animal products and bi-products. Even honey was out. She made this decision after becoming aware of the condition of factory farming and mass meat production in the U.S. In many cases, the treatment of the animals that eventually become our food has surpassed in hideousness the grisly depictions of most horror flicks. And it happens, day-in and day-out, on our watch.
Don't get me wrong, I like meat as much as the next person. But I'm hoping that Foer's book will serve to give us pause, and inspire us to make more conscientious decisions when purchasing our food; anthropocentrism has caused us as a species to disregard the well-being of the rest of God's creation, opting instead to focus on how to make the shekel great. This problem in itself expresses the need--all creation is groaning with labor pains--for not only social justice, but environmental justice, as well.
And that's all I have to say about THAT. *dusts hands off, steps down from soap box*
On a more jovial note, tonight was also the Baptist Student Center's third annual Halloween party.
I went as "The Son of Man," from Rene Magritte's painting of the same name.
Alyssa went as Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood.
We carved pumpkins. This one's mine:
And we polished off the evening with George Romero's 1968 zombie flick, Night of the Living Dead. By the way, this incredibly creepy film is in the public domain, and is available to watch on youtube:
Aaaand that's all for tonight. I'm dog-tired, and have lots and lots to do tomorrow.
As a new monastic and a lover of almost all things grassroots, I typically shirk at the idea of a rigid "plan" of any sort. But I also see the benefit in providing some sort of concrete evidence of future goals.
So, as part of my Basics of Church Business class I've been taking at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, I present to you Anavah House's vision and mission statements, as well as our core values and goals for the next five years or so. I'd love to hear your thoughts. By the way, we are also officially registered as a "forming community" with the directory of the Fellowship of Intentional Communities. I humbly ask that if you know of anyone in the KC area interested in new monastic intentional living, please let me know!
Enjoy:
Vision Statement:
Anavah House exists to love and to serve Jesus Christ by loving and serving our neighbors in authentic Christian community.
Mission Statement:
Our mission is to love and serve Christ and our neighbors by living in community as set forth in Acts 2:44-47, by engaging our neighborhood through community development programs, by cultivating sustainable living as stewards of God’s creation through ecologically dependable methods, and by welcoming all to our community as we would welcome Christ.
Core Values:
Loving Christ and our neighbor in the spirit of humility and gentleness.
Holding ourselves to a monastic rule and prayer schedule, as well as practicing the discipline of eating together as a Christian family.
Seeking social justice for the poor, marginalized, and disenfranchised within the neighborhood community surrounding Anavah House.
Generating supplemental income for the community through utilization of our God-given gifts of creative skills and craftsmanship.
Experimenting with ecological sustainability through methods that have been tested in other communities, practicing good stewardship of our bodies and of God’s good creation.
Goals
Phase One (6 months – 1 year)
Begin to raise awareness about the forthcoming community, scoping out potential co-founders who feel called to live out a new monastic lifestyle at Anavah House.
Obtain a piece of property capable of supporting 6-8 people (including my wife and I), as well as at least 1-2 rooms suitable for guests, and sufficient space for worship/prayer. The location of Anavah House would most ideally be in a neighborhood of high risk/need in the Kansas City area.
Register as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to help our sponsors with funding.
Begin renovating the house to suit the needs of a new monastic community.
Phase Two (1 – 3 years)
Acquire the knowledge and the volunteers to construct adequate accommodations for small livestock (chickens, ducks, and, with time, possibly even bees), as well as raised-bed vegetable gardens, a grey water waste recycling system, and a system for recycling rainwater for use on our crops.
Begin encouraging the creation of meaningful art within the community, including the installation of a small ceramics studio.
Canvass Anavah House’s neighborhood in a non-confrontational way, increasing local awareness of our existence as a safe place to be in fellowship with the neighbors.
Initiate a partnership with various universities and nonprofit organizations (i.e. Roadtrip Project) to begin an internship program, offering short-term (3 days – 1 week) and long-term (1 – 2 months) internship opportunities to students.
Phase Three (3 – 5 years)
Implement community development programs beneficial to the neighborhood—the appropriate programs will become apparent with increased understanding of the needs of the community.
Expand our relational base from the immediate community surrounding Anavah House to a greater area, encouraging local churches and other neighborhoods to get involved in community development programming.
Devise a novice program for people entering the community in order to gradually acclimate them to the new monastic life.
I found this really cool video through my friend Matt. It's theologian Alan Hirsch speaking about the meaning of the phase "Jesus is Lord."
I was surprised, though, that Hirsch never brings up a very crucial point made by this phrase. In first-century Palestine, saying "Jesus is Lord" was tantamount to saying "Caesar is not," thereby denying the emperor his divinity and lordship. I find this especially moving in today's context, seeing America as Rome, and our man-made government as "Caesar." The big problem that so many churches in America face all too often today is that we want to recognize that we are members of both the Kingdom of God and the American Empire, when Jesus clearly calls us to be "in the world, but not of it," remaining citizens of God's kingdom while only living in this one. We are called to such greater things.
The other day, Alyssa and I watched a 1995 self-proclaimed "acid western" by Jim Jarmusch, featuring a young Johnny Depp. Also in the film: Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, and Gary Farmer, a Native American actor who plays the role of Xebeche ("He who talks loud, says nothing"). Through most of the film, Xebeche goes by the name "Nobody," and serves as a spiritual guide to Johnny Depp's character, accountant William Blake, whom Nobody mistakes for the wandering spirit of the poet with the same name.
We were inspired to watch the movie after hearing The Illalogical Spoon's scathing ditty, "Who's the Cowboy Now?," a harsh criticism of American entitlement and greed. The ending of the song features a sound byte from the film:
Here's the clip from the movie:
For those interested, the soundtrack was performed by Neil Young, alone in a recording studio, improvising on the electric guitar as he watched the movie.
The film itself is a beautifully tragic and poetic look at the myth of redemptive violence, as well as the subjugation of Native Americans at the hands of Manifest Destiny. It's a wonderful movie, but exceedingly trippy. Watch it, but at your own discretion.
