Worth A Thousand Pictures

You know the ones? They look like an explosion at the pixel factory, unless you stand just so far away and refocus your eyes just right and for just long enough that a 3-D panorama leaps out, thrilling and amazing all. Except me. I can’t do it. I’ve tried starting with my nose almost touching the glass and slowly backing away. I’ve tried gently relaxing the muscles in my eyes . I’ve tried defocusing, unfocusing, disfocusing -- everything. My husband and kids go from one to the next, saying, “Hey, cool! This one’s a cow! This one’s a space ship! This one’s the ceiling of St. Peter’s Basilica, complete with Michelangelo, paintbrush in hand!” I’m still standing there crossed-eyed and headachy looking at an explosion at the pixel factory. I think it would have been better if I didn’t know. At face value, they’re visually interesting; a collage of images and colours, almost a pattern, but not quite. I could enjoy them that way. But I do know and I’m missing something. Something my family s...

Mental exercise. Imagine it’s Thanksgiving Day. You’re seated at the table at home with your family. You’re looking at the biggest feast you’ll have all year. It’s nice and warm inside, snappy cold outside. The house smells wonderful and all of your favourite relatives are there. The Thanksgiving service yesterday was great. Fantastic music, good sermon. Got the picture? OK. Time for some cut and paste. Cut the turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, salads, pie and all of the food on the table. Paste in spicy chicken, rice, dumplings, stir fried vegetables and fresh fruit. Cut your house and paste in one that’s half the size or smaller. Or a 3 bedroom apartment containing 6 beds. Cut the new dining room suite and paste an old table and a bunch of chairs that don’t match. Cut your TV(s), VCR(s), DVD(s), computer(s), game system(s), stereo(s), iPod(s), portable(s) and paste one small b&w TV and an AM/FM radio. Cut the local Christian radio station and paste silence. Look around the roo...

I was thinking about Peter Pan. Remember the time he lost his shadow when he was caught by Nana, the dog? How he hunted for it and found it and tried so hard to stick it back on with soap? How thrilled he was when Wendy came to the rescue with her sewing kit? Imagine that. Imagine waking up one morning and finding that you had no shadow. I find this thought inordinately disconcerting. I’d wonder whether I still existed. I’d wonder whether my body had somehow lost its grip on the 4-dimensional world and no longer belonged here. I’d be very self-conscious and uncertain and wonder what people would think. I’d stay home during the day and avoid the mall. I’d find it tremendously distracting, looking at the ground and at the wall and wherever I’d want my shadow to be. I’d probably stumble a lot and walk into things. After all, what is a shadow? It’s the proof of your substantiality. It says, “I’m here. I may not have much influence, but I can affect this one small thing.” My shadow is the p...

Hey, all. I thought you might enjoy this. r A very short play by Paul Wilkinson King David, dressed in robes and crown, is sitting on his throne holding a clipboard and writing. A servant enters to interrupt... SERVANT: King David, Asaph is here as you requested. DAVID: Send him in. [Servant exits. Asaph enters and bows] DAVID: Thank you for coming, Asaph. ASAPH: Your excellency... [bows] DAVID: I wanted to go over the worship for the Sabbath. ASAPH: "Go over?" DAVID: Yes, review the songs we will be singing. ASAPH: But surely, the Spirit of the Lord only reveals those to you as we are at worship. How can we know this now? DAVID: Actually, I've been giving that some thought and it occurred to me that if the Spirit of God can inspire us as we worship Him, truly can He not also inspire us to choose those songs a few days ahead? ASAPH: But...we've never done it this way before. DAVID: You'll get used to it. [Looks at clipboard] So I thought we'd begin with, ...