Winn Collier's Blog, page 67

Dave Matthews is My Farmer

Well, actually Dave is our friends Evan and Missy Hansen's farmer, but the Hansens share their extra eggs with us, so it's essentially the same thing. Essentially.

Dave Matthews (a local icon who got his start bartending and playing at Miller's downtown) and his wife Ashley Harper purchased several adjoining farms a few years ago and named their venture (appropriately), "Best of What's Around." The farm is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, where individuals buy seasonal shares or trad

Shalom

sirens wail
mother sobs
iron clinks
Shalom

stomach gnawing
nightmare haunting
refugee slumping
Shalom

tires squeal
dad disappears
again, again
Shalom

moonless night
sunless soul
forever alone
Shalom

violence
poverty
anarchy
here

goodness
well-being
feasting
everywhere

Shalom.

Dance.

I saw this tonight, and I'm not ashamed to say I cried. Since Buechner says to pay attention to our tears, I will. I pray that all my family and friends, my community, my city and neighbors - myself - will know this kind of free joy, celebration, such reckless eruption of undeniable life. And I love that this was at a wedding, a moment of beginnings and beauty and goodness.

May you dance. Free. Me too.

Oh - and I love how the (slightly elder) pastor/priest was getting her groove on too. Joy is inf

Embarking on the Ludicrous

I recently read a piece from a well-known figure in the church leadership world. He wrote of a zero-tolerance policy for any language or practice within their church that did not make sense to those who were uncommitted to the story of God. I think I understand - and agree with - some of his concern. I am beyond done with caveman Christianity, practicing the faith with near total disregard for the questions and realities of our friends who are among the unconvinced. I too share irritation at fla

I'm a Homeboy

I'm now legit.

This morning, biking toward downtown and around the first corner from our house, I passed the bus stop where one of my neighbors sat waiting for the 10:52. I hadn't seen him in a while and stopped to say hi.

"I've been looking for you," he said. "Just the other day, I was thinking, where's my homeboy?"

L - E - G - I - T.

Writing with the Body

If I did not resist with my life, I should be unable to write...The Christian idea has got to be served; that the word is made Flesh. One must write with one's body. {Antoine de Saint-Exupery}

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was an acclaimed author (primarily for his children's book The Little Prince) and also an aviator who volunteered as a fighter pilot during the French Resistance in WWII. Older than most combat pilots, Saint-Exupery refused to surrender his commission. He believed that to write hone

Writing With the Body

If I did not resist with my life, I should be unable to write...The Christian idea has got to be served; that the word is made Flesh. One must write with one's body. {Antoine de Saint-Exupery}

Antoine de Saint-Exupery was an acclaimed author (primarily for his children's book The Little Prince) and also an aviator who volunteered as a fighter pilot during the French Resistance in WWII. Older than most combat pilots, Saint-Exupery refused to surrender his commission. He believed that to write hone

Jokes on Me

This week, I feel as though I entered into a cliche, Christian subculture joke: You know your kids have been raised in an emerging* church if...

On Tuesday, the fam went into Starbucks on The Corner at UVA. When Wyatt went into Bucks' upstairs, taking in the warm, earth-tone walls, the ambient light, the numerous chairs around tables, the art on the walls, the leather couches, he said, "Mommy, is this a church?"

I'm still pondering what I think about that, a lot there actually.


*for those fortunate

jokes on me

This week, I feel as though I entered into a cliche, Christian subculture joke: You know your kids have been raised in an emerging* church if...

On Tuesday, the fam went into Starbucks on The Corner at UVA. When Wyatt went into Bucks' upstairs, taking in the warm, earth-tone walls, the ambient light, the numerous chairs around tables, the art on the walls, the leather couches, he said, "Mommy, is this a church?"

I'm still pondering what I think about that, a lot there actually.

*for those fortunate

Make the World Beautiful: Autumn Film

For the next installment of our make the world beautiful collection, here's another recommendation (introduced to me by Rob Johnson): The Autumn Film. I've just begun listening to them, but there is a rich texture to their music that makes me want to listen longer, more intently. Something there reminds me of one of my favorite bands, Over the Rhine, with perhaps a little Snow Patrol or Coldplay thrown in.

Best of all, they are giving away 3 separate EPs right now, 11 songs in total - and the vid