Poem Update: Poem Included in Versify E-Book

Stacia Fleegal continues to advocate for York County poetry with her work for YDR and the Versify blog. Here's an e-book she created to showcase the "poems of the month" for 2013-2014. My poem, The Summer Without the Fence, is included under November. Thanks Stacia! Follow her @ShapeShifter43 and @VersifyYDR

A Song for My Children

Andrew Peterson continues to say what we want to say, but lack the words for.

Martin's Dream May Not Be Yours

I may not have the right to preach

As I may not have the ability to sing gospel

Or the relationship to call him Martin

(No rare meeting, no kin, no skin)

But that which we do have in common is strong,

For I am

In his words

A transformed conformist

Which is, by the way, a direct reference to Romans 12:2

A point easily forgotten by those sharing his passion but not his power

This much I know and claim-

Because we are brothers, bound by two common threads

The former now always taking precedence

Ignoring the latter such that any creed or crusade becomes his-

And I too am all too prone to put words in the mouths of the sleeping

It's an every day struggle (some call it jihad) 

To reconcile the heart and the head.

My saving grace, and Martin's too?

My man's not dead.

The Sexiest Conservative Christian College Out There

Have you caught a whiff of the Christian hipster mojo that is blowing out of New York City lately? With the arrival of dapper dan Dr. Gregory Thornbury, King's College has done a 180-degree turn from its dark and controversial days under the political all-star Dinesh D'Souza. 

President Thornbury is a Twitter using, bow-tie wearing, rock music loving academic, ruling over a seriously committed Christian geekdom. Check out his "Top 10 Albums of 2013" to get a flavor for this super cool cat- and to delve into some seriously good music. 

Thornbury is not a bland peacemaker, but a warrior in disguise- the best kind of cultural warrior there could possible be. With winsomeness and aplomb, Thornbury has brought the medicine in a big way to what has suddenly become the sexiest conservative Christian college out there. "Cosmic high fives" indeed!

Here's a taste of Thornbury's flavor:

Poem Published to Versify Blog

I have not shared any poetry on this blog for some time, though I have continued to write sporadically. In addition, editing of my first collection of poetry continues slowly. Stay tuned for a pitch on pre-ordering your own copy of this self-published book!

In the meantime, a poem of mine titled The Summer Without the Fence, was selected as a "Poem of the Month" by the staff at The York Daily Record and has been published to their blog Versify. Find the blog and my poem here. The poem and the brief interview will be published in the print edition of The York Daily Record in the next couple of weeks.

Another poem:

Why buy a Christmas tree
when we have trees to please for free
(wild and untamed though they are)
Growing here among the grazing cows?

And another:

The love in the law
Is a driving wedge
Knowing the heights
Knowing the depths

The Abstract to Realistic

You may have seen this viral video circulating which depicts Kyle Lambert drawing super-realistic "photographs" using a finger painting app on his ipad. Besides a great promo for Apple products and ProCreate, the video is yet another illustration of the amazing things humans can do with practice, patience, and the right tools. We live in a world now which relentlessly bombards us with amazing stuff other people have done and we haven't. It's hard to feel significant anymore! But I what I was most interested in, while watching this video, is how any number of stages in the creation of the artwork are equally arresting, skillful, and art-worthy. The video really tracks the subtle but significant changes between the abstract and real life. I can't say which I prefer. How about you?

Observing Advent

You may be looking for a way to observe Advent this year. "The Advent Project" at Biola University is a great resource to do just that. What I love most about this online advent calendar is the addition of artwork and music along with the scripture reading and devotional. 

Enjoy!

The Red Bandana: Remembering September 11, 2001

Video from KarmaTube

Jericho: Update and Great News

 

As many of you know, Jericho spent the last 3+ weeks throwing up anywhere between 1-6 times a day. On the worst days she lay on the couch or in her bed completely despondent and listless. Fortunately, her symptoms have seemed to cease as quickly as they began! Thanks so much for your prayers! They have been answered. Today was Jericho's 5th day without throwing up. She is once again full of laughter and eager to learn.

She will see a specialist in Philadelphia on Monday, but we are just grateful for this reprieve and hopeful that she will remain healthy and quickly gain back the weight (3+ lbs.) that she had lost.

 

UPDATE 9/10: Great visit to specialist at CHOP who fairly confidently diagnosed Jericho's condition as Gastroparesis likely brought on by a flu virus. Apparently what happens is the virus puts the digestive system into such shock that it slows down and nearly stops. The body doesn't process food very well and much of it comes back up as undigested food. This syncs with Jeicho's symptoms for sure. Any time she felt better enough to start eating more, she'd trigger more vomiting, even though small amounts of food were making it through. The best news? Jericho can go back to having cow milk- including cheese and "a-cream" (ice cream). She is thrilled!

 

Now she can get back to...

 

Reading to her brothers...

Rocking her new backpack...

Painting masterpieces...

Goofing off with packing filler...

 

We love you Jericho!



The 50th Anniversary of a Speech

Notice how Dr, King goes "off script" in the last third or quarter of his speech. The story, according to King's speech writer Clarence  B. Jones, is that King literally pushed his prepared notes aside. Prompted by the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson who shouted "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" King gave us the final and most memorable lines of this speech. Jones, at that moment, remembers saying to a member of the audience to his side, "These people out there, they don't know it, but they're about ready to go to church."