Steve Bell

Last Saturday night, David and I played with Steve Bell at St. David's Presbyterian in Campbellville, ON. It was a nostalgic evening, as it was the first time I had ministered in that sanctuary for almost three years (after pastoring there for thirteen years). It was the place where Steve played a number of times in the early years of his career, and where we forged our friendship. I love that room! Besides the terrific acoustics, beautiful decor, and great people, it is a place where God's Spirit seems to have the freedom to move.
Afterwards, I reflected on the success of Steve's career and calling. He was struggling to remember lyrics that night (he's got so many songs in the repertoire) and while he can be the consummate professional when he needs to be (extraordinary fingerstyle guitar, evocative vocals, and superb storytelling) he is disarmingly human in the end. Yet, for whatever distractions those gaffes bring, it does not mitigate what to me is the essential character of a Steve Bell concert - an event which opens the possibility for an encounter with the holy. It is because of Steve's lack of self-consciousness, that the listening participant is freed for God-consciousness. It is because he is tuned into a Christ-centered spiritual frequency, we are allowed to listen in and receive. I've probably played with Steve at least fifty times over the last twelve years, and these things prove themselves over and over. I am proud to be associated with him, Dave Zeglinski and the great folk at Signpost; their friendship is one of our great treasures.

He is Risen!

We've been having some technical difficulties with our web-sites, so I'll use that as an excuse for this absence, but now that we are in the season of Easter, there's new hope for blogging!
I love walking into a church on Resurrection Sunday, and without saying anything else, just launching an 'He is risen!' and having an 'He is risen indeed!' come back at me! It says a great deal about the connectedness of brothers and sisters in Christ across time and traditions as well as regularly astonishing me at how such a simple exchange explodes into worlds of meaning and deep joy. It's the secret handshake of the community of Christ, but as Lesslie Newbigin so beautifully put it - it is an 'open secret', one we should have no desire to keep hidden.

A Man for all Seasons

I have a post card on the bulletin board above my desk that is a reproduction of a famous painting of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger. I viewed this breathtaking portrait firsthand at the Frick Gallery in NYC on a family vacation a few summers ago. It is an exquisite rendering of a an extraordinary human being, and the image keeps rewarding prolonged reflection, I can't wait to get back to see the original again. I remember Brennan Manning telling me that 'A Man For All Seasons' is his favourite movie, so I purchased a copy - it's well worth the view. More was an example of integrity; in the face of personal loss and ultimately, death, he stuck to his principles and gave the glory to God. While I'm equally fascinated by and sympathetic to fallen heroes with feet of clay, it's worth spending time with those who make the right choices and allow them to inspire us.

Some Just Get It Right

The Collect for Trinity

Almighty and everlasting God,
who hast revealed thyself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
and dost ever live and reign in the unity of perfect love:
Grant that we may always hold firmly and joyfully to this faith,
and, living in the praise of thy divine majesty, may finally be one in thee;
who art three persons in one God, world without end.

Quoted from T.F. Torrance in 'The Trinitarian Faith' (T&T Clark: 1988)
P.340.

New Web-sites

We have updated the glensoderholm.com site and added a site moveablefeastresources.com which gives the ministry a little more of a focused presentation. The idea is that down the road MFR will include other people and resources beyond what we offer. David is having fun (he might describe it differently) learning how to use iWeb so that we can make all of our changes in-house. There are still some things that need to be added and rejigged, but it's a step in the right direction.

Fear and Trembling

The apostle Paul enourages the believers in Philippi to 'work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.' (Philippians 2:12-13) I take it that the triune God of grace is the initiator of our salvation in Christ, but, in a very generous and mysterious fashion invites us to take that gift and make something of it. It's a partnership of sorts that will achieve God's ultimate dream and purpose for creation.
Can a blog make a positive contribution to this vision? I think so. I'm going to use it as a way of keeping friends of our work and art, as well as of the Moveable Feast Resources ministry, up to date on what we're doing, thinking, and praying. I do this with 'fear and trembling' because many blogs degenerate into maudlin self-indulgence and the author, in order to fill the gap, loses self-transcendence and good taste! I will leave it open to dialogue in the hopes that it will be honest, helpful, and respectful discussion about things that matter. If it appears that nobody gives a rip, then it will morph into some other way of keeping people up to speed. Here we go!