Conversion

For years and years and years I would only eat white bread. I'd go to some sandwich shop and they wouldn't have 'normal' bread and I'd walk out.

Somewhere in the past couple of years I started buying wheat bread - honey wheat, 7-grain wheat, generic wheat - because it's healthier and somehow my daughter got on a health kick, and oh yeah, my wife and I both hit 40.

Last week the nice people at Reasor's had a Saturday special with Sunbeam white bread on sale for less than a $1. Cool deal, right? Save a buck, buy the bread.

I can barely choke down my PB&J right now. That's proof of conversion, right?

Maybe we've got some chocolate sauce in the fridge...

Dandelion Gospel

One of the blogs I scan pretty regularly is boingboing. They've got all kinds of posts ranging from cool new gadgets and technology to do-it-yourself stuff to digital right and politics (a little). Cory Doctorow contributes regularly and recently posted a link to this article where he encourages folks who produce (art, stories, music, etc.) to think about their work reproducing more like Dandelions. Here's an excerpt:

"And indeed, most of those thousands of (dandelion) seeds will likely fall on hard, unyielding pavement, there to lie fallow and unconsummated, a failure in the genetic race to survive and copy.

But the disposition of each — or even most — of the seeds aren't the important thing, from a dandelion's point of view. The important thing is that every spring, every crack in every pavement is filled with dandelions. The dandelion doesn't want to nurse a single precious copy of itself in the hopes that it will leave the nest and carefully navigate its way to the optimum growing environment, there to perpetuate the line. The dandelion just wants to be sure that every single opportunity for reproduction is exploited!"

Part of what he's comparing is the way we dote and invest so much of ourselves in raising and nurturing what we reproduce (and rightly so). But when it comes to art and work we produce, Cory's suggesting that we think more like a dandelion - instead of pouring so much energy and effort into ensuring that the work is reproduced exactly as we intended and in a way we like or approve, cast it everywhere - let the winds of information age carry it away and fill every crack and cranny with a seed and a new creation. You can probably already sense Cory's opinions and positions on digital rights, copyright laws and the like.

However, reading his work has me thinking about the gospel. I jumped (more like I was drawn, dragged, lured and lovingly wrenched) into the church in 1986. In those years I've sat through more sermons, been in more classes, attended more conferences, joined in more groups and participated in more conversations than I can count. And with astounding frequency it seems like we've spent an awful lot of time trying to make sure that not only do we "get our faith right" but that we also pass it along "rightly" as well.

Sharing the faith, starting a group, launching a ministry and planting a church have all been discussions and endeavors in trying to do it the right way where spent huge amounts of energy, resources and time combing over all kinds of details to make sure everything goes right, stays healthy, runs correctly and sits well with everyone. We've done this often to a fault. I've seen plenty of great ideas, deep passions, zealous prayers turn into heavily structured, mechanized, stale programs. As my old campus minister used to say, great movements start in caves and die in Cathedrals.

What if we took a page from the dandelion. Instead of pouring so much into a single effort or a specific strategy or jealously guarding our congregational efforts and ministry opportunities like over-protected children, what if we cast the seed to the wind, and dreamed about discovering the gospel cropping up in every nook, cranny and sidewalk crevice in view. What if we trusted God to guide and direct seeds of faith more than we trust in our ability to parent?

Know Your Bible?

Wow - this probably reveals just how big of a bible-nerd I am, but I have just stopped (paused, perhaps) playing (notice - playing, not taking) this Bible Quiz from BibleApps. It pops up a question from anywhere in the Bible, and gives you three multiple choice answers. You have 30 seconds to click the right one; the quicker you answer correctly, the more points you get.

I hate it when someone comes up to me and asks, "Do you know where the verse is that says..." and I don't know what they're talking about. So, its actually been amazingly encouraging to take this quiz, average about 90% and feel a little better about my knowledge of Scripture.

For me, the greatest difficulties were:
A) the quotes come from the King James (I think, maybe the NAS...) And that old english really throws me sometimes and just isn't as easy for me to recognize. More than once I caught myself re-reading a clue for the third time and then translating into into the NIV to get it.
B) My history stinks. When the choices of a question that sounded like history were between 1 Chronicles, Galatians and Revelation, I usually got it. When they were between Jeremiah, 2 Kings and 1 Chronicles - not so much.
C) Job tripped me more than once (as in - it was the right answer and I didn't recognize it - perhaps partly due to the old language, but not completely).
D) Invariably my 'streak breaker' questions were: "The sons of so-and-so: him, him and him." You're kidding me, right?
E) The same with anything out of Lamentations.

Now for true confessions - some of it is fairly easy. For instance, a question that includes the name of a book like "a man named Job" is fairly obvious. And this is multiple choice - so good test taking skills help - some answers can be ruled out immediately and a little logic goes a long way. Here are some other observations just for fun, or if you want to dive into the quiz yourself:

• Knowing major storylines (Creation, Joseph, Exodus, David, the life of Jesus, birth of the church) and where they are in the canon goes a long way.
• Recognizing certain types of literature helps too - poetry like Psalms, wisdom of Proverbs, history of 1/2 Chronicles, apocalyptic stuff like Daniel and Revelation. If you see "selah" you know its Psalms; if it sounds like advice (that's not from Paul or instruction from Jesus) then its Proverbs.
  
• Remembering which people connected with other folks seemed to help too - David & Nathan, Nehemiah and Ezra, Abram and his children, Moses and Aaron, the disciples.
• A lot of the questions seem to come from the history books: 1/2 Chronicles, 1/2 Kings.
• If you're not sure and one of the options is a BIG book (as in length and volume - like Isaiah) pick it.
• Don't trust little, post-card size books like Obadiah, 3 John, Joel.
• Its amazing how much recent sermon series (by me or Steve) through Ecclesiastes, Luke, Acts, Genesis, Songs really helped.
• Stuff in the New Testament seemed to come rather easily - there's my church of Christ heritage kicking in.
  
• Don't trust Revelation as an answer. Yes, its the right one occasionally, but remember Ezekiel, Daniel and a few other places speak in that same language a little.
• Jesus' words are usually pretty easy to spot and usually you're not given multiple gospels to choose from, thankfully.
• Remember, there are a couple Psalms that recount history. So if there's historical quote and your options are the psalms and then 2 others that you know are wrong...
  
• A little obsessive-compulsive goes a long way.

(hat tip to the Tall Skinny Kiwi)

And a Child Shall Lead Them

Not that I am in any way an expert in Oklahoma State politics, but its kind of surprising to learn that a freshman from OU will be the new mayor of Muskogee. Here's his front page - pretty amazing to see his success in this. I found it interesting that he quotes 1 Timothy on his web page. Good luck dude!

We Link Together

• Here's a great video from Bread for the World that we saw at Deep Shift. I still have a post coming from the Intuitive Leadership event and Deep Shift in Kansas City. But I'm going to need some more time to move stuff from journal notes to blogpost.

• Need some decorating ideas for your kids' room? Here's a hat/coat rack created from a dismembered doll. Creative recycling, right?

• So much for the 'reality' of reality television. Remember children, anytime you see anything on TV (or movies, or online videos, etc) just assume things aren't as real as they appear! You are bigger, deeper and more real than what you see on TV.

• And I told you that someone would reveal the final cylons from Battlestar Galactica!

• Microsoft gives up on its takeover of Yahoo. (Hesitantly, I think) this is good news. Of course, now they have their eyes elsewhere.

• In the mood for a good rant about fairness, idealism and why there's no room for truth in politics? Sure you are.

• Finally a panel of experts that sound like the rest of us debating if this is the end of the line for Hillary?

• AKMA has discovered that even reporting fraud to the IRS involved paperwork. You'd think there was a simpler way.

• From the "did we need empirical research to prove this?" file: A man's mother is a role model for the kind of wife he might choose.

• And if you needed a reminder, sex and violence still sells.

• Here's the site where I created some of the fun, funky posters I've been putting up around the house this weekend celebrating my wife's birthday and Mother's Day.

• Tonight on Nightline there was interesting interview with a guy who made a distinction between food and food-like substances. He doesn't claim to be a scientist or an expert - just someone who loves food and cares about those around him. His advice includes eat real food - you know if its real food if it rots (twinkies don't rot, apples do). He also suggests that you do the balance of your food shopping around the periphery of the grocery store - meats, milk, produce, bread - stay away from the middle/bulk of the store where the processed, packaged food-like-substances (like on-the-go breakfast bars) are. I enjoyed his thoughts. We've been very intentional about trying to eat more and more vegtables and plants (including the very affordable potato), and to keep at a minimum the packaged stuff (although my son's addiction to mac-and-cheese is still alive).
  

Looking Great at 08

Happy Birthday to the sweet, kind, generous, graceful, silly person who married me.

I was going to type 'looking great at 48' because that sounds cool, even if it isn't entirely an accurate count.

We're calling this weekend, "Celebrate Cathy Weekend" as we enjoy both her birthday and Mother's Day. We started with a few funky posters showing up and chocolate chip pancakes (made from scratch) this morning.

You Live in a Zoo

We're driving home today together in our car and the kids break into that familiar song, singing to my wife:

"Happy Birthday to You, You Live in a Zoo, you smell like a (assorted somewhat domesticated animals), and you smell like one too."

Now, in my children's defense,
a) they have their father's genes so one can't expect too much sanity, right?
b) their mother's birthday is indeed today (Thursday the 8th - looking great in '08)

...and c) the woman does kind of do live in a zoo of sorts.

Exhibit a) She had a tree frog in her classroom today.
Exhibit b) She had three kittens in her classroom today.
Exhibit c) We have ants visiting our kitchen from time to time.
Exhibit d) Said kittens are running quite wild (although one of them went home with someone else today.)
Exhibit e) There are all kinds of June Bugs (obviously making an appearance a month too early) on the porch.
Exhibit f) Something has been stalking the stalks in my garden (Jimmy suggested we may have a critter so we've been letting the kittens' Mama out for some wildlife enjoyment).
Exhibit g) At zoos the rain falls on the animals even in their bedrooms. Now that's happening for us as well. The roof that won't hold shingles have welcomed a slight waterfall in our bedroom. (Now, I am exaggerating, a little dripping is happening. But, I figure it'll rain a couple more inches before the requested roof repair service people show - and either way I now have drips in the ceiling and have to ceiling repair. Yeah)

Well honey, think of it as a birthday present!

Talking Politics

I'm in Joe Momma's with Steve, Riddle and Blake and after talking churches and more, and now we're talking about politics. Blake is grilling Mark on why he likes Obama (not that Mark is officially endorsing Obama - the Riddle Group has to this point not endorsed any particular party or candidate.

Blake thinks you need to see this video.

Cinco De Mayo

I'm a native Texan and have lived in Texas and Oklahoma a combined 26 years of my life, so I think that makes me perfectly able to celebrate Cinco De Mayo.

We do this with a special meal (okay, a weekly meal dressed up a little) plus a little beverage enjoyment. Our menu:

- homemade salsa (including yellow tomatoes off the vine for the first time)
- Sarah's extra special avocado and yogurt dip
- fancy special nachos
- homemade tacos (with packaged shells and premade seasonings)
- my own margaritas
- cat food (for Caroline and the four amigos - who are ready to find a new home...)

I am Iron Man

[somebody cue the Black Sabbath music]

We are in the midst of a Father-Son weekend-Extreme (initiated by the Girl Scout camping trip that took Mommy and Daughter out of town). So, we men started our weekend together with a little work (setting up for Rivendell), a movie and then great pizza. How's this for eight-year-old cool - after getting to see a movie, he got to eat Chicken-Bacon-Ranch pizza, drink Dr. Pepper and play Webkinz on Daddy's laptop. Sometimes its good to be a kid.

We (along with probably a ton of others) went to see the newest Super Hero flick, Iron Man. We enjoyed it. My son loved the action scenes and when Iron Man flew into the air; I enjoyed the material of the movie and some of the interesting choices it made.

I read a review of it on IO9 (a sci-fi, entertainment blog) that really captured some of what is at stake in the film. A couple snippets of Anders' review:

"Part of Iron Man's great strength... is that you can read whatever you want into its intensely political storyline. You can view it as a straightforward diatribe against America's long history of arming thugs and the arrogant weight-throwing-around... Or you can see it as a profoundly conservative polemic about keeping power in the right hands." "Iron Man is the first comic-book movie that's actually better than its source material. That's partly because Iron Man is one of the most boring characters in the history of comics, but it's also because the movie manages to transcend its source."

I really think Anders' has put a finger on some of what makes this movie work so well, even if its not as consciously happening as the reviewer might hint. Here's a link to the review (oddly, it has more colorful language in it than the movie did).

When Religion and Tribal Cultures Get Confusing

To my shock, I ran across this video story of parents in India who (believe it or not) drop their babies off a tower to be caught in a white sheet below. The parents participating in this believe this helps their children grow up healthy and strong.

The reporter shares in the video that this practice takes place in other places with both Muslim and Hindu families participating. So, is this practice a religious belief informed by a particular faith, or is it a cultural ritual that religion comes alongside of?

Bad, dumb, but almost-fell-out-of-the-chair-laughing joke of the week:

From the Late Show with David Letterman: Do you know the name Albert Hofmann? He's the man who invented LSD. He died recently. Did you know he experimented later in his life with mixing LSD and birth control pills? That way you could take a trip without the kids.

I know, I know.

Bonding in Battle

As I've mentioned before, we enjoy watching the new Battlestar Galactica. We watched the first three seasons on DVD when they were each released, and now we're watching each week unfold online (thank you for free internet broadcasting, SciFi channel). We've enjoyed the edginess (edgyisticness?) of the show, the rawness of the characters and the interesting commentary the show is about what it is like to live in a time of terror.

But lately, the show has taken some strange turns. There have been plot twists and turns that have been off the map (some say they've jumped the shark). And some of the character developments have been really disappointing - including the fact that any relationship ends ugly in divorce or death. Really? No one can be in a relationship where they cling together in a time of difficulty and love deeply in tight quarters?

In the last episode we watched there were a series of scenes with one crew member in particular who was going though the loss of his wife. He first overworked, missing a couple key elements of his work. Then he starts drinking and venting his frustrations and anger. All that makes sense - except he's alone.

Alone? Everything I hear about soldiers and military persons serving together in combat is that they bond tightly. They get close, really close. They stand together, suffer together, struggle together and face life together. If one of them hits a wall, the others stand around that person, stand with them. Yet, here is this guy alone facing a horribly terrible pain alone. Where is the bonding in battle? Where is the standing together? (Someone should probably start humming Lean on Me about now...)

Now, aside from my narrative criticism of BSG, there's something about this that grabs me. We as a race have an amazing ability and inclination to form relationships, networks and groups. We sit in groups, gather in number and identify ourselves sometimes in nations or tribes or other large-scale groups. Some theologians see a great deal of this relationality as a reflection of God's nature and presence within us.

But that relationality is not automatic or even easy when times get tough. Anecdotes of bonding in battle aside, I wonder if anyone has ever done research on the ways in which people respond relationally in times of great duress or stress. It seems to me that it is easier to stand together with others when pressures from outside seem great. I even sense that in Paul's letters to the early church: in the face of persecution or difficulty from the outside, bond together inside in the church. I suspect that there is a choice we make about how to respond to the difficulties of life - turn inward (and perhaps even isolatory) or turn to others and reach into the strength and peace of others.

Something Keel said to me last Thursday as we sat in stairwell at Jacob's Well is till rattling around in me - Hospitality is about making room in myself for the other. I'm going to admit that I don't really know what all he means by that, but I think he might be borrowing from (learning from) Miroslav Volf some. Perhaps being able to lean on others includes being willing to let your life be extended into the lives of others. That just sounds a little foreign to us who live in the age of exalted individualism and me-ism.

Ooh, my little babies!

Not again! For the third year in a row, my precious, beautiful, lovely, Herbal-Affair bought bell pepper starters have been ripped apart by the Oklahoma winds. Ooh, it hurts. I mean really, in my gut something aches.

And honestly, this is how I feel about life, not just the garden but everything, right now - torn, blown, ripped by the winds. It hurts. I feel tossed, blown over, torn apart and smoldering and bent over. Doesn't God promise something about that?

After getting them in the ground last week, and going out of town for four days, I came home to little wisps of stalks left with almost no leaves at all on them. Last year I tried nurturing them and keeping them alive and had a few of them produce some little-sized fruit.

Bell Peppers are one of the main reasons I garden. Sure, I'm convicted gardening is good for the soul and a sound 'green' way to live. But, there's nothing like a beautiful, sweet bell pepper plucked from your own garden for the salad, pasta or salsa.

I bit the bullet and bought some new replacement plants to put in the ground. Its the only way I know to respond - start over and try again.

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

By request, here's the prayer I led us in Sunday morning.

Let us pray

ALL: Lord, hear our prayer.

Lord we have sinned against you; yet you have come near to us and forgiven us.

Lord, we have sinned against you: we have forsaken our first love, we have loved ourselves for than we have loved you, we have heard your commands, prayed for salvation and sworn our loyalty, and then lived in our own ways instead. Yet you have come near and forgiven us.

Lord we have sinned against you: we have bent our knees and called you Lord and then made idols out of our jobs, our entertainment, our opinions, our money and even our children. We have filled our hearts and lives with everything else and left no room for you. Yet you have come near and forgiven us.

Lord, we have sinned against you: we have used and abused one another, we have judged and hated one another, we have betrayed and failed one another; we have discriminated and marginalized our brothers and sisters. As we have sinned against one another, we sinned against you. Yet you have come near and forgiven us.

ALL: Lord, hear our prayer.

Lord we get irritated, frustrated and impatient with our families, our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers, our acquaintances and our enemies. We are too busy for connection, too shallow for friendship and too selfish to hear you in the voice of others.

Cleanse our hearts. Help us to turn to you and open our hearts to you. As you have forgiven us, give us the courage, compassion and commitment to forgive one another.

We long to be your people – a forgiven people who live to forgive.

ALL: Lord, hear our prayer.

What's On Your Mind, Daddy?

An innocent question as we drive to school bears more weight than you might think. I don't know if children have a knack for knowing when a parent is especially pensive, or if I'm just astoundingly transparent right now. But, for the record, I did have a lot on my mind when I woke up this morning - and listening to the radio didn't exactly take anything off my mind.

• I've still got Keel and McLaren rattling around in my head. Don't get me wrong - I LOVED our week together at the conferences last week (and I'll post later today about it). But, I hate coming home from a lecture or speaker or event and not being able to line out exactly what I heard or what I'm thinking or what this leads me to. Keel and McLaren did amazing work, but the stuff they're working with is abstract, thick, multifaceted and fairly weighty.
  
• Mommy and Daughter are going to be out of town this weekend on a girl scout camping expedition. My son already has an idea about how we should spend our time.
• The whole job thing is starting to get heavy right now.
• I've got four different people, for very different reasons, heavy on my heart this morning - so I'm praying.
  
• Steve and I are teaching this week on a really user-friendly text.
  
• Sure, they're just following the market. While Shell is piling up 9 billion in profit (not receipts, profit - in a quarter) the rest of us languish, while others have to make life-or-death decisions around the costs of fuel and food. Somewhere, there's got to be an argument for an ethical/fair business model in the oil racket, right? The candidates have narrowed, but I stand by my previous post - "stand up to the oil consortium."
  
• I think Bruce Plante captured some of this really well in the World today.
  

Another Bedtime Story

Each night we finish the day together with our whole family up on Mommy and Daddy's bed with a time of prayer, each person praying. Its part ritual, part heart-check, part spiritual discipline. Its just something we do; a part of who we are.

Tonight, my son was on his bed with all 15 of his bedtime buddies (including the newest one I just brought home - a "younger brother" for his first bedtime buddy) in a circle, each of them taking a turn praying.

Every once in a while, they surprise you, don't they?

Its been a long time...

...since this happened:

Nap:
–verb (used without object)

1.	to sleep for a short time; doze.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to sleep or doze through (a period of time, an activity, etc.) (usually fol. by away): I napped the afternoon away. He naps away most of his classes.

–noun

3.	a brief period of sleep, esp. one taken during daytime: Has the baby had her nap?

Deep Shift

FINALLY, I have internet access. After a few days at Jacob's Well and enjoying Tim Keel, we're now at the Deep Shift event and have Wifi. Maybe I'll post something...

Playing Hooky

What a wonderful day. Days like these are rare, sweet and just wonderful. My wife, the deeply committed, highly motivated, amazingly creative kindergarten teacher finally gave in and took a personal day.

We had a day together - while the kids were at school studying, learning (and apparently being slightly harassed in P.E.) we had a Mommy-Daddy date. And instead of spending huge chunks of change at the theater or gas pump, we snuggled on the couch and enjoyed an Indiana Jones marathon. We did sneak out of a great local Mexican mom-and-pop lunch here in Collinsville.

After the kids got home, we got our peppers, tomatoes, broccoli and kohlrabi planted and snuggled in the garden. By then the sun had snuck out, we dug, planted, watered and then covered the ground, ready for the rest of spring. (I still have corn, watermelon and okra to plant, maybe more...)

Following that, I cooked spaghetti and we dined on our back porch enjoying the beautiful weather. We also discovered that our daughter has made yet another television appearance. Apparently, some folks from KJRH came out to her school and taped some of the students along with others planting some trees. Mayor Taylor is in the video right before her - kind of an opening act, if you will.

After the kids were in bed, well... Solomon says it best.

What a day. Perfect send off for going out of town for four days.

Bricolage

Tonight for dinner we had a regular staple of ours - Taco night. Except, tonight's tacos were just a little different, they were bricolage tacos. I had some left over pork meat handy, along with some corn and red bell peppers and chives from our herb garden, so I mixed all that in with the taco seasoning packet and small around of ground beef. The recreated meal was quite nice.

Bricolage is a word borrowed from the French (hence its funny 'ahhgh' sound at the end) that describes the art of taking things, elements or pieces that are handy and to using them in a way that is different from their common or expected use (dictionary definition). Its a pretty familiar concept in art - you'll find some examples here and here and here. Now I find myself thinking about the way in which we are fashioning and shaping our faith through bricolage as well.

For quite some time we've looked at and talked about faith as a science of a sort - outlining the basic laws and traits, underscoring fundamental truths, crafting logical and reasonable (and sometimes otherwise) arguments about God, religion and the church. Theology has a been a science, a linguistic one at least. And I don't think that has served us as well as we have assumed. Increasingly, there is a desire to rediscover our faith as art as well - as an expression of who we are, what we've experienced and what we know to be true. And in that light, understanding, living and expressing faith through bricolage actually sounds doable.

I've referenced this word before (here) but I don't think I fully appreciated how much of this we're already doing and to what extent bricolage is an increasingly familiar way of finding, making, and expressing meaning for us. I was spurred on by this article by Jonny Baker (thanks to Marko). I think more and more in our search-engine, wikipedia, recycling, composting and find-your-own-way society we have at our fingertips all kinds of resources, tools, materials and familiar elements that we are fashioning into all kinds of interesting fabrics of faith.

Scot McKnight makes mention of the art of theological bricolage in reference to making sense of atonement in his book, A Community Called Atonement. He writes:

"It is easy to be faithful to one biblical metaphor for the atonement - say ransom or justification - and work hard at making everything fit into that image. The difficult art of bricolage, of taking all the biblical images and combining them into an expression that manages to keep all of them in play at the same time, is much more demanding."

Part of what's at work in that snippet is a recognition that as faithful followers we are going to have to creatively read, hear, observe, sort, connect, analyze, synthesize and evaluate images, ideas and information. There is so much material at our fingertips. At one point, I can remember thinking of Scripture as the only source I have for my faith. Certainly (there's a pun in that word somewhere...) I still count Scripture as a primary and deeply trustworthy source of discovering, shaping, understanding and testing my faith. I can't think of anything else I see or touch that counts as deeply. But, there's something dishonest to the idea that nothing else shows up in or informs or influences or meddles with my faith. My experiences, passions, dreams, instincts, history, mood and more all are elements that influence and inform my faith, directly or otherwise.

Additionally, I find myself finding images, metaphors, illustrations and ideas about my faith from all kinds of unexpected sources - speech theory, metaphysics, relational networking, home gardening, child rearing and more. None of that is new; most of us have heard a preacher somewhere use his or her experiences as a parent or from fixing their car as a sermon illustration. But for the masses to be turning to such a wide diversity of sources for ideas, information and conversation partners about faith is new.

Something else that grabs my attention in all this is the convergence between vast information available to people (volumes of information that used to take degree to discover is now only a few keystrokes away), the do-it-yourself/lifehack tendencies and the permission people feel in defining and constructing their own understanding of faith. I'm interested in the freedom that is at work here and the way in which people may feel comfortable borrowing ideas or practices from other groups (like emergent churches borrow certain rituals from the Anglican tradition and so on...) Some of this seems to happen without a total understanding or background of what is borrowed. Yet, in true DIY, bricolage fashion, people grab something they've seen or heard and piece it into the artwork of faith and infuse it with their own meaning and convictions.

This demands a great deal of creativity, communication and freedom of thought. There's also a profound sense of responsibility that falls on us as people who live in community with others that as we collect, consider and collaborate on this thing we call faith to recognize that we are not in this alone, others are a critical part of what we're doing. IF creating a bricolage of faith includes listening to others, noticing and being attentive to what is around us and trying to pull together all kinds of elements of the faith that are usually 'reasoned' as arguing against each other (such as multiple metaphors of atonement), then this project can be quite compelling, can't it?

One more thought stands out to me. None of this bricolage faith-as-art project can be just about us. In the end, this thing called faith must point to and glorify God if it is indeed going to be a Christ-following faith. And if this is all about God, and if we recognize that God is present throughout creation and throughout our community where we're creating this project, then perhaps it is God beside us who is helping us to see the things all around us material for our life of faith.