Refractions and Reflections

Although Easter was yesterday , all that talk about resurrection gets me thinking about what it means to be alive. Lots of people have lots of different opinions on this – hence all the debates on abortion, life support, euthanasia, etc. Perhaps one of the things “being alive” means is that you get to have an opinion. And you get to learn how to live side-by-side on this great big planet with other people’s opinions, too. Love, in my opinion, is one of the more important aspects of being alive. Sure, a person can for one reason or another cut off all his or her relationships and still breathe, and walk around, and “exist”…but that reminds me more of someone on a ventilator than someone who has a strong pulse and a reason to build his or her strength again to a point of thriving. Relationships…compassion…we thrive on love both as an experience and as an activity. Inventiveness…creativity…is another special aspect of being alive. I think each person brings his or her own nuance to ...

Most of us have seen many variations of this picture through the years (me included)...but this year, this one caught my attention. I guess it's because you can see the individual lash marks on His body. You can see where the bruising would be if He had afterwards lived long enough for it to occur. Isaiah said, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; THE CHASTISEMENT FOR OUR PEACE was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed" (53:5, NKJV). Self-harm has become an epidemic in our culture - people inflicting pain and wounds upon themselves in order to "feel" or in order to punish themselves for perceived "wrongness". People feel they deserve to be chastised. Masochists seek someone who will "love" them enough to beat the unworthiness out of them and bring them a reward of pleasure. When damaged people pour out their own insecurities on us, we believe the lie that this is what we somehow deserve....

--- 1 --- Easter weekend. Wow. I moved to Springfield last year on April 1st - the weekend right before Easter. I can't believe it has been a year already! Last year a friend came up from Joplin and stayed with me Easter weekend. We spent pretty much an entire day shopping...then came back to my apartment that didn't have furniture yet and sat in the floor and watched YouTube videos...and went to church Sunday morning at North Point . I remember they did an amazing skit. My friend's first impression was that it was kind-of scandalous because of the outfits they wore (basically brightly colored, form-fitting body suits), but when she realized I had been deeply touched by it she said, "Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge. If it ministered to you, then maybe it ministered to other people, too." Yep - I have some awesome friends! It is also an awesome video (though it was better live). Check it out! (You only get a glimpse of the aforementioned outfits in t...

--- 1 --- I've been exploring the fine arts scene of Springfield (Missouri) this past week, and it has led me to make some uncharacteristic purchases. I'm really glad I've made them! Turns out, for one thing, I really like Opera! (Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are.) Here are the purchases I made: --- 2 --- I also bought some oil pastels and experimented with some art of my own! I have only ever drawn with graphite and charcoal, so this was my first attempt at color or anything like paint. I really enjoyed it! "Wisdom"    "Deep Calls Out to Deep"   --- 3 --- My plan was to visit a different local art gallery (or other fine art exhibition) each day this week, but I only got to three. This is not because I didn’t try to get to others! Some don’t open until later in the day…and the weather was crazy…and yeah, I know, excuses, excuses. I already blogged about the opera and first gallery visit . The following day I...

This morning I went downtown to explore some local art galleries. When I got there, I discovered most galleries are closed on Mondays! However, I found a couple that were open, and was able to go to one. It was called   and features works by local artists and students. It is either part of Missouri State's "Idea Commons" or closely related - it is just around the corner from the MSU gallery, Brick City (which was open, but not until later, so I didn't get to go there today). Squidfoo is a smaller, storefront gallery, but also a studio where its in-house artists have their own workstations. I bought a small digital print by one of the in-house artists, a student named Debbie Madden (not sure if that's how she spells her first name). This is it:     I picked up a couple business cards there. The first is the most creative one I saw:   front back And the other was the one that made me most interested to look up its website:   ...

Alex J. Cavanaugh is hosting the Top 10 Movie Countdown Blogfest  today. I am trying to get in gear and start posting regularly before the April blog challenge, so I'm participating in some fun little blog hops between now and then! This is one of them. Some of my favorites, not necessarily in this order: 1. The Lord of the Rings   2. Braveheart   3. The Sandlot   4. Les Miserables   5. Harry Potter   6. Sister Act (1 & 2)   7. The Apostle     8. The Devil Wears Prada     9. Anne of Green Gables/Anne of Avonlea     10. The Holiday   There are, of course, others - but these came to mind, and I'm pretty sure they are my favorites! I am eager to see Jack the Giant Slayer, and also Oz. And I still haven't seen Lincoln! So my list could change here soon....

Yesterday I attended my very first opera, Francesca da Rimini , with Irish-born Eva-Maria Westbroek performing the title role. (She was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.) The best part? I got to wear jeans. Not only this, but an older couple to my right snuck in their own caramel popcorn – imagine sneaking your own caramel popcorn into the Metropolitan Opera! But it's not what you think. No, folks...this is Met Meets the Midwest, where enjoyment and comfort outrank class. Screen shot: Live at the Met before the start of the show. The best part of seeing my first opera at the movies is that it had subtitles! I knew what was going on the whole time. However, I did pay attention to see if the acting was such that I would have a general idea of the plot even if there had not been subtitles. My conclusion is that the acting was superb, but the dialogue moved so slowly with the music sometimes that I would have missed A LOT if there had been no translation. I might have picked up a little. W...

Last night I was inspired to write a "Life List" for 2013 - things I want to accomplish THIS YEAR. I guess you could say:     It is likely I'll add things as I go, but here is what I have so far:   1.       Get a tattoo      Done – February 27   It's a tree that was in the Joplin tornado, after it had begun to regrow. To me, it represents resiliency and hope.   2.       Graduate from AGTS   3.       Enroll for next degree program 4.       Finish my apartment a.        Office b.       Bedroom 5.       See the ocean   Done – May 6.       Visit Atlanta    7.       Go to a rodeo     Possibly in September 8.   ...