Longing For Redemption

On Thursday Dr. Orrick preached a sermon on Romans 8 in chapel. The focal point of the message was that those who are in Christ have only been given the first fruits of salvation. Meanwhile, our bodies, along with all of creation, are groaning for redemption. Death, pain, and suffering do not belong in the created order. They are a result of sin and one day they will cease to be.

Until recently I have never really thought about my body as fallen, as corrupted by sin. I mean from a theological standpoint, sure, but in actuality I am suppose to the prime of my life. I bike to work, I exercise regularly, last semester I ran a 5k. I’m doing pretty good.

At least that was my state of mind until Monday, when I couldn’t swallow anything, food, liquid, even water, without a shooting pain in my chest. This condition worsened on Tuesday into a dull, incessant pain that would only intensify when I tried eat anything. Literally two bites of yogurt had me curled up in agony, barely able to move.

I ended up spending most of Tuesday in an urgent care facility. They drew my bloodwork, x-rayed my chest, and performed an EKG to try to figure what exactly was wrong.

Today I saw a gastroenterologist to get an official diagnosis. He said that the condition is most likely being caused by an antibiotic that I was taking. Basically, it was destroying the lining of my esophagus, which I assure you is just as painful as it sounds. The healing process is relatively slow for the esophagus, so it may be an entire week, even with prescription drugs, before I’m fully recovered. Until then I cannot consume solid food, coffee, or juices high in citric acid.

I definitely am longing for the day when our bodies will no longer be plagued by the curse and we are set free.

Various Colors

I'm a big fan of Various Colors by Kaori Ishitani, the new show at The 930 art gallery (Kissing Under the Mistletoe shown).

Katie and I (along with a handful of other committed art lovers) ventured out in the blizzard last night to go to the opening of this exhibit and the Brooks Ritter and Sarah Elizabeth concert that followed. Due to her limited English, Kaori Ishitani, a Japanese artist who lives in New York City, read her artist statement.

She explained that in her compositions she tries to explore the three questions, "Where did we come from?", "Why are we here?", and "Where are we going?". Interestingly, these are three of the questions that are behind every person's worldview.

She also explained the importance of color in her compositions (hence the title). For Ishitani, color is both a reflection of her emotions and feelings as well as her Japanese heritage.

It's a fantastic exhibit that definately deserves a trip up to the 930, even if you aren't a member of the Sojourn community.

The Photographic

It's been a while since Cole Robertson turned me on to The Photographic, but boy am I ever glad he did. Using simply a drum set an electric guitar, this Louisville-based instrumental indie duo creates elaborate sonic landscapes that are just bursting with texture. Very much akin to Explosions in the Sky or fellow Louisville natives Interstates.

After taking a couple of years off, they finally have new material out. It's mind-blowing. Do yourself a favor and listen.

Show @ Sunergos

After talking about it for two years now, I am playing a show with Kelsey Waldon on March 15th at Sunergos. The show will have a bit for everybody, from electronica to americana.

If you are in town I would love for you to come out.

A few thoughts on prayer

This morning I met with several Christian brothers to pray.

Prayer has never been easy for me, especially when it comes to developing consistent habits of devoting time to the spiritual disciplines every day.

That's were community and accountability come in.

I think it's interesting that in the New Testament prayer is usually spoken of in a corporate sense just as frequently as it is seen as a personal discipline (cf. Mathew 18:19-20). Praying together helps expand our prayers to not only be about ourselves but to also be about our community, our nation, and the world.

I am excited to see what happens as we continue to seek the Father.

Window Shopping

I went with Darren to check out the Bike Courier today.

I ended up falling in love with this bicycle. Anyone have $460 they want to give me?

A friend also suggested checking out this bike if I want to save some money, as it is over a hundred dollars cheaper.

Decisions decisions.

A whole lot of random

The lunar eclipse looked pretty awesome tonight. That's not something you see everyday.

My audition for the Sojourn worship arts team went well as I could have hoped. The American Idol-esque format was kind of nerve racking but luckily Mike Cosper is a pretty relaxed dude. There were definately a lot of very talented musicians trying out; I was relieved to be the only keyboardist.

Why did I get a smoothie at Quills tonight? I was already frozen on the outside so why not the inside too, right?

I hope I don't have to cut my hair to visit Shawnee Baptist Church, but a large portion of my grade is riding on this interview, so desperate times and all that.

Today marks the first day that I wore my Sambas around town. Previously I have saved them just for games, but they're over a year old so I think it's okay to retire them to domestic use- plus they're just straight stylish.

I found out today that my copy of The Kite Runner is being returned to me with a coffee stain. No big. Better coffee than going the way of my copy of X&Y.

35 mm

ah... the promise of a snow day tomorrow gives me the freedom to spend time blogging without feeling guilty.

Tonight i had real maple syrup on my gf pancakes for the first time ever... delicious. I'm completely sold on the real deal.... though it's hard to admit I've found something I like more than Mrs. Butterworth's.

Ingrid Michaelson performed at the 930 tonight. It was a very casual, laid back performance. I was fortunate enough to be assigned the job of guarding the backstage door, which allowed me to catch the entire performance
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It was my first time being a bouncer and fortunately I didn't have to punch anyone in the face- though I was prepared to take out the first scarf-wearing scenester with sideways hair and a vintage peacoat to try and start something. After the show I did allow John Cabal to slip back stage so he could deliver a giant Valentine's Day card (quite literally coffee table sized) to Ingrid. Leave it to John Cabal to give a personalized Valentine's Day card to the musical artist with the #16 single on the top 40.

Lent

It is a very sobering thing to be told, "from ashes you were made and to ashes you will return" as the sign of the cross is made on your forehead.

This morning I attended an Ash Wednesday gathering with my church. Although I have been a Christian most of my life, this will be the first time that I have observed the the season of lent. For those unfamiliar the tradition, lent is the forty day period leading up to Easter. Just as Jesus fasted (did not eat anything) for 40 days in the desert, so Christians are also encouraged to fast during this period. While most people can not give up food for that amount of time (though I know some who have), it is possible to fast in other ways, such as giving up meat, desserts, entertainment, or other luxeries.

The purpose of fasting during this period is not try to impress God or show how good a Christian we are. In fact it's exactly the opposite. In fasting we better learn our own weakness and gain a greater perspective of how much we depend on God. By removing distractions from our lives, we are more free to focus on Christ and grow in our relationship with him. Deut. 8:3 says that, "man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." Fasting is a celebration of this fact. In reality it is not food, water, or shelter that sustains, but the Word of God, that spoke us into existance and sustains us to this day (Gen 1:1 Col. 1:15-20).