A Dark And Quiet Room

First, go read this, by my sister Adiel.

Now, to address a possible question about A Flower for Mara: why would you do this to yourself? I’ve wondered this myself, actually. I’ve played exactly once, and it was a rough evening. Someone even asked the question that night. “Why do we do this to ourselves?”

Why indeed.

This poem does a lot to answer that question. I believe that we all carry sorrows and griefs with us. I believe that we all have stories to share and things that we want to say about the death that has touched our lives. A Flower for Mara is a way of interacting with those things, of drawing out those emotions and examining them and maybe, just maybe, being able to put them down. And, along the way, you can share this with others. Perhaps you will understand each other a little better by the end of the game.

My friend James said that A Flower for Mara doesn’t seem like it would be a lot of fun to play, but it might be worthwhile. Seems like a fair statement to me.

As I prepare to run Steal Away Jordan, I also want to point to modern-day slavery. According to this site, there are more people in slavery today than in the last four hundred years.

In other words, remember Constance.

This poem was written by one of my neighbors. Please pray for her as she fights to end her dependence on drugs.

Cuz Jesus Lives in Me

I’m to start a brand new life
A life without drugs
I’m really kinda scared
I’ll want lots of hugs

I know its sounds silly
But let it be
I’m going to do it
Cuz Jesus lives in me

I’ll get my strength from Him above
Cuz He loves me so
Hanging on tight
Never letting go

Thank you, Jesus
For you are my vine
Without You
My life is intertwined

When temptation comes
And I know that it will
You take the place
Of marajuana, cocaine or a pill

Thank you, Jesus
For all that You’ve done for me
I know I’m gonna do it
Cuz Jesus lives in me

-Anonymous

Since someone asked, I’ll briefly pick apart the format for a collect, using my last one as an example:

O God my Father
Who raised my Lord Jesus Christ from the grave
Raise me from my bed and fill me with your power
That I might be able to serve and love you this day
Hear this groggy morning prayer and answer in Your mercy
Amen

First, there is an address to God by one of His names or titles. This should be connected with the theme of the collect. (O God my Father)

Second, there is a description of an action or attribute of God’s that will be the focus of the collect. (Who raised my Lord Jesus Christ from the grave)

Third, the petition is made, which should be related to the title and attribute of God discussed in the first two parts. (Raise me from my bed and fill me with your power)

Fourth, the results of granting the petition, or failing to do so, are stated. (That I might be able to serve and love you this day)

Fifth, there is a closing appropriate to the overall theme of the collect. (Hear this groggy morning prayer and answer in Your mercy. Amen.)

Thus, the five parts of a collect.

From this T-shirt:

haikus are easy
but sometimes they don’t make sense
refrigerator

Thanks to Jon Sauder for showing this to me.

Well, over on the Renga blog, we finished our first renga. I’m reposting it here in all its glory. Enjoy!

—

searching in the night
the sounds of distant music
lead us far from home

ignore the dancing shadows
moonlight glows upon the path

ignore the sounds of city
music echoes in the night
beauty in this madness

soon the night shall fall
soon the sun shall rise

daylight brings no peace
yet dawn shall ever be
the hope of man

autumn showers falling
washing tears away

into a bottle
filled with His love
ever after running over

the morning sun rises
weeping clouds drift away

a breeze blows cold
catching sunrise as a sail
pushing me on

sky like an ocean
if only I could touch it

dive off the Earth
come
swim in the sky

frozen moon rising
scatters swirling snow

in moonlight’s mirror
dimly
I see His face

in the bathroom mirror
dimly I see His face

turn away but don’t forget
the image clearly seen
it’s time to start the day

my eyes are filled with life
my mouth is filled with song

Walking to the latrine at 3 a.m.:

frozen moon
reverently we walk
this diamond path

Raquel has started a renga blog. Go check it out.

As a resource, I offer this link on renga. This is actually a subtle nag to a particular person. (You know who you are.) I’ll steal your idea if you don’t use it yourself.

Or, maybe someone already has.

Oddly enough, a renga group sounds an awful lot like a roleplaying group, complete with a GM.

A Poem for a Sunday Afternoon

When I’m not feeling creative, I merely link to other people’s creativity. It’s like I’m basking in their awesomeness and thereby partaking of it somehow.

Er, or something like that.

So, here, read Pastor Leithart’s thoughts about how we exalt scientific description.

“No physical/chemical/biological description of love is “truer” than Solomon’s “Your love is better than wine.” The contrary is the case.”

Leithart.com | Accommodated revelation?

For my birthday, the Lansberrys gave me a couple of books. One of them was a book of Japanese death poems. It seemed like the perfect fit, and I think that they were right.

I learned to love art and poetry from the Japanese. One aspect in particular is their love of the transient. Poems about cherry blossoms are so numerous that they are nearly cliché. However, it makes sense in this context. After all, cherry trees only blossom once a year, and they last for only a week. The Japanese understand the beauty of transience. It doesn’t last, but it’s all the more beautiful because it doesn’t last.

We don’t get this in the West. For some reason, we have this desire to fix things in time, to preserve that which is fading. A person sees a beautiful sunset or a towering thunderhead and immediately thinks, “I wish that I had a camera.” I wonder if it’s because we are afraid of death. We don’t like to think about things passing away. But Creation is filled with the transient. Sunsets, the passing of the seasons, clouds, snowflakes, a single cresting wave…all these things pass away, yet they are beautiful in their time.

But, the oddness of God is that the transient repeats itself. The leaves flame with color and fall to the ground, but they return next year to do it again. A single wave breaks upon the shore, but it is followed by others. And it’s also the oddness of God that the permanent passes away. The mountains wear away. Nations fall. The sea evaporates.

The transient is forever, and the permanent is transient. What a strange world this is.