Art, Music, Creation, Difference, Violence, Harmony, and the Trinity

"Creation is the work of a dynamic, three-personed God and the members of the Trinity enjoy an eternal giving and receiving among one another. The doctrine of the Trinity informs us of both the personality and the dynamism of God - qualities that are suggested in the ancient term applied to the Trinity - perichoresis. It refers to the mutual indwelling of the persons of the Trinity by extension perichoresis can be used to refer to God's relationship to the world whereby all things exist in him and through him; in him we live and move and have our being... why move?  Are we dancing when we have our being?
All of creation is somehow engaged in the life of the trinity is well.  John 17 in particular comes to mind where we read that in our growth in Christ God indwells us and we indwell Him.  So Father Son and Holy Spirit are dancing around each other and the Christian life is our entry into that dance.
Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart notes that while God was under no necessity to create, the act of creation flows out of the infinite love that's experienced by the members of the Trinity.  Hart writes:
"God's gracious action in creation belongs from the first to that delight, pleasure, and regard that the Trinity enjoys from eternity as an outward and unnecessary expression of that love.  Thus creation must be received before all else as a gift and beauty."

On "Givenness" ...

"I've tended to use 'givenness' in reflecting upon the given order that God has placed in creation, but creation also has a 'gift-quality' about it.  It's very existence doesn't need to be.
When I was in Sunday School as a kid, the first theological definition I can remember receiving was 'grace is unmerited favor'.  And we usually think of grace as coming after our sin, and yet the existence of all creation is an unmerited favor.  We didn't have to wait to sin to receive God's unmerited favor.
When we receive a great gift, we're delighted in the gift, but we're also delighted in the generosity of the Giver.  And so it is with the reception of a powerful work of art.
When I hear a thoughtful and attentive performance of a carefully crafted piece of music or when I watch a masterfully constructed film, I often have a sense of gratitude, not just to the performers or composer or director - but a gratitude to God as well; gratitude to live in a world where such joys are possible.
The gratitude that is felt by recipients of a gift typically resonates with the delight that is known by the Giver of the gift.  And that is a pattern built into creation."

- Ken Myers

Jesus, our Eden; Jesus, our Babel

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  

- Philippians 2
                     
Having just finished a week of intensive study from Genesis, I can't help but see that here in this oft-debated kenosis passage, Paul is alluding back to our earliest history as a people - the points where we got it wrong our Lord Jesus got it right.

The sin of Adam wasn't simply stealing the King's food [although it was that], it was a power grab.

Learning from Bread

Incredible presentation from master artisan breadmaker and E.O. teaching layman, Peter Reinhart.

Simply Ming

Chef Ming’s Top 5 Tips for Business Success


Always keep your door open to staff and treat them like family.

Do demographic research to help select the location of a brick and mortar business and ensure you’re reaching the right audience.

Be present–literally–Know what is happening with all aspects of your business.

Set yourself up for success before launch–have the ability to pay for expenses for several months, even with no profit.

Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth.

-Chef Ming Tsai

Sporadic Mycophilia: Golden Chanties ...

Today I found my first wild golden chanterelles - one of the most precious finds for any mycophage [top 3 choice edible on any list] because of their taste and because they have never been successfully cultivated by commercial farmers.  They were beautiful, if a little over-ripe.  I found them circling the ground near a large, mature oak in some woods almost within sight of the side door to my office.  They smell strongly of dried apricots - not even a trace of mushroom or fungal aroma ... simply wonderful.  Bright, buttery yellow gold, they stood out from the forest floor, that is only just starting to clutter with the bright colors of fall leaves.  You can see from the picture their deep ridges/wrinkles [NOT gills & NOT growing out of dead wood/tree base and NOT in a true cluster]. They sliced solid with a white center down the stalk.  We sauteed them with some pineapple, honey, salt, general seasoning spice mix, and of course, lots of butter - then served with pasta. 
It vividly reminded me of a Leithart passage a friend shared with me recently.  He notes how Moses recounts the construction of the tabernacle to parallel the 7 days of creation in Genesis 1.  “Day 3: Table of showbread on north side outside the veil, with bread arranged [Ex 40:22-23]” corresponds to Day 3 of the creation week: “Golden land and food”.

Taste and See ...

"I can tell you at once that nothing you touch today will have more suffering, bloodshed, and woe attached to it than the innocuous twin pillars of your salt and pepper set."

- Bill Bryson, from his chapter on the history of the Western diet in At Home

The Other George Grant

“Perhaps we are lacking the recognition that our response to the whole world should not most deeply be that of doing, . . . but that of wondering or marveling at what is, being amazed or astonished by it, or perhaps best, in a discarded English usage, admiring it.”

- George Parkin Grant

Book List [what I've been reading these days] ...

YOU ARE WHAT YOUR MIND EATS ...

Think about it ... [remix]

You are what what you eat eats.

-Michael Pollan, IN DEFENSE OF FOOD: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

Book List [what I've been reading these days] ...

YOU ARE WHAT YOUR MIND EATS ...