Poverty of Heart, My Impoverished Heart

There have been quite a few posts going across my screen over the last month that have been challenging my views of people in need, poverty, giving, and what it means to be Jesus to the world.  These two were particularly thought provoking and I didn't want them to get lost in the Facebook abyss.

The first is from RZIM : Free Lunch Economy, which shares a story about Henri Nouwen and his work L'Arche in Canada.  I wrestle so much (and at times not enough) with my fallen thinking that values the people around me for their ability to perform, their perceived value generally, or how they will benefit me.  I am shamed or called to repentance almost daily.  At least that means that the truth is illuminating my heart...

The second is from Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience.  The Lord has been using her incredibly to break my heart with the truth and to help me see the reality of his grace all around me.  This particular post, though, wrestles with the very real fear that poverty and pain, the reality of meeting those they have loved from a distance through Compassion, will not truly pierce their hearts.  Won't open them up to new life.  I don't even have words for how this resonates in my heart.

May you too know the pain of conviction and the joy of know that it means the Spirit is moving in your heart!

What is going on with my blog

As many of you know, I have been using Facebook almost exclusively to update people on my life, to track links that I am interested in, to record books that I am reading, etc. It is serving, for the most part, all the roles that this blog was filling. However, I don't want to completely surrender The Domestic Intellectual just yet. I feel that it may continue to serve an important place in my life, and I am contemplating which is preferable--my own blog or Facebook. No decisions yet.

I did want to take a moment to put out a little note about the next little adventure in my life. I am, along with my best friend Sara, going to participate in the October Dress Project. Basically, this means that I am going to wear the same dress every day for the entire month of October. I am hoping this will help me enter into a new relationship with my clothes that is simpler, more economical and less fraught with emotion. I am also looking forward to boosted creativity as I seek to work around the limitations of the same dress.

The dress that I am wearing is based on a pattern that I have made several times before and which I find both comfortable and attractive. It is really more of a jumper than a dress, but I enjoy layering and am making it out of dark gray, lightweight wool that will go with most of my wardrobe.

Hopefully I will periodically post pictures either here and/or on Facebook to show you how it is going.

Pierre Boulez conducting the final movement of Janacek's Sinfonietta

Thursday morning fun

Yesterday I had an extravagant experience: sitting in on a rehearsal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez. They were doing the final run-through for the evening program featuring, among other things, Stravinsky's ballet with songs--Pulcinella.

It all started when one of Jon's senior associates gave him a pass for 2 to attend a CSO reshearsal. This was a perk given to contributors to the orchestra. Jon and I were very excited and my boss very cheerfully granted me a few hours of vacation when she heard about the opportunity. We had grand plans of breakfast together and then 2.5 hrs of joyous listening in the lovely Symphony Center.

As the plans grew, so did my excitement, until it all came crashing down. Monday morning Jon informed me that he had a conflict on Thursday--a meeting at work that he was convening and directing, and which was taking place at the same time as the second half of the rehearsal. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Not only could Jon not be with me, I wouldn't even be able to go. He had the pass and we were not going to see each other before the Thursday morning meeting.

Jon, being in need of a computer and an internet connection, decided to come into the city on Wednesday night. Not only would I get a chance to see him, but he was bringing the pass;-) I tried to find someone to take his place, but in the end it was just me.

I showed up at the concert hall after a long morning (that is another post) to be greated by a lobby full of gray heads. Being firmly in the non-ageist category, I don't mind gray heads at all. However, it is a bit unnerving to find yourself the youngest person in a group by several Decades! How could I forget that the primary audience of mid-morning events is the retired crowd? Not to mention that this was an event open to donors only, which also requires you to have some spare change. Not my usual crowd, but an interesting one, nonetheless.

One of the best things about this performance/rehearsal was that it was open seating through out the hall except for a couple of reserved boxes. I was able to listen to the entire event from Box J! That is the box above and slightly to the left of the double doors in the picture above!

Pierre Boulez was French to the core and an entertaining conductor. It was a bit disconcerting to hear such beautiful music coming from men and women dressed in everything from tracksuits, to flannel shirts and jeans, to business casual wear. However, one of the highlights was from the first piece, Janácek's Sinfonietta. It calls for 12 trumpets lined up in the back of the orchestra. In both the first and fifth movements they are supposed to stand up when they play. Boulez was very picky about when and how this would happen: it must be all together, and it must NOT look like jack-in-the-boxes! They went over which measures it was supposed to take place, and how they were to rise. We saw/listened to that several times:-)

The weather was sunny and warming, the music was amazing and it was REALLY hard to go back to work! I can't wait to until summer and all the marvelous free music in Grant Park.

photo compliments of margotat at InstantEncore

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash!

Today would be Johnny Cash's 77th birthday. In honor of that, I encourage you to check out this music video of his cover of the song Hurt written by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. I am not sure when I first saw this, but it moved me then and it still moves me now. I love reality in art, and this definitely is redemptive reality.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Astronomy Picture of the Day is another one of my favorite sites! Today's picture, which you see above, will be my new desktop for awhile. I subscribe on my igoogle homepage and find myself praising God for the awesomeness of His creation! I encourage you to check it out!

Look at my new quote!

My beloved friend Tulip Girl sent me this today:

"The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience."

~Emily Elizabeth Dickinson~

She thought it fit me. What do you think?

Cool stuff: my version

Was wandering around the blogs I like to frequent and came across this post from Random Musings. I always enjoy what she has to say, and her name is Rebecca, so she must be cool ;-) It seems like I wrote just yesterday and it has already been almost 2 weeks... YIKES!

Cool stuff:

• Thunderstorms that crash so loudly they make me jump... even if I have my earphones in.
• Changing the hem on $0.80 pants from the thrift store and having cute office wear.
• A best friend who will sit and listen to me verbally process my relational experience without yawning once.
• Thumb-wrestling with an extremely intelligent man and considering it just as fun as deep conversation.
• The fragrance of clothes fresh from the clothesline.
• Anything that combines mushrooms, spinach and good cheese.
• Standing in front of A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat with someone who has never seen it before.
• Living over a year without a car.
• Working with interesting people at a job that really only requires 35 hrs a week from me and still pays me a livable wage.

There is always more that could be added. I am hoping to have a book list/review post in a few days. Just finished Chesterton's Orthodoxy and am in the midst of Till We Have Built Jerusalem by Philip Bess.... an interesting collection of essays on New Urbanism and its ties to the sacred. So much to think about (and write about)-- so little time!

So beautiful it takes my breath away

Like all electronic images, this one, I am sure, does little justice to the original. I just read an interview of Makoto Fujimura by Tim Challies and had to point you that way. I originally heard about Fujimura via an article in World Magazine that highlighted the collection of paintings he did post 9/11. After visiting the Centre Pompidou in Paris I realized that abstract art can speak to you in ways that representational art can't. Anyway, I think it's worth the read and I hope to some day make it to NYC so I can take in the art in real time.

Beauty in all shapes and sizes

I abhor reality tv. It is the opposite of real; engineered artificiality masquerading as reality is worse then just admitting that you made it all up. However, I am in love with a new show on Lifetime. How to Look Good Naked has a wonderful aim: help women to see themselves as they truly are and get out of the negative tailspin that a lifetime of dieting and obsession has brought on. I don't necessarily agree with everything they say, but I do think that this is something that would benefit any woman, no matter what their size. Some of us have been dealing with this for our entire post-puberty lives, and some (like my beloved sister Amy) have only had to really deal with it post-child birth. Either way, let me know what you think.

another great post

I seem to be generating NO original thoughts here lately, but I have been reading quite a few. Amy loves books has another great, poetic one that I envy exceedingly. It reminds me a little of one of my best friends and I thought I would share it with all of you. Enjoy!

BTW, the pic makes sense if you read the post;-)

Great Video!

Many of you know my tendency to rant about unrealistic views of feminine beauty and the damage that they do to women. Well, my dear friend recently posted this video from Dove's Real Beauty campaign on her blog and I liked it so much I thought I would put it here.

Been Thinkin'

I don't write often on this blog. Definitely not as often as I think of things to say, but I wanted to post this quote as a reminder of some of the important things that we don't think about but which should inform every moment of our living:

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Fabulous news!

I just had to post this one. God has been very gracious and I have lost a bit of weight this summer through no intentional effort of my own. I believe the increased activity of living in the city, combined with working an insane number of hours a week has been the best diet yet:-) I haven't weighed myself since I was back in MO at Memorial Day, but I am guessing that I lost between 10 and 20 lb since then.

Well, this weight-loss has meant that my clothes don't fit me and I have gradually purged my closet down to almost nothing. This resulted in few play clothes and almost no work clothes. Old Navy had a big sale and I am proud to say that all the clothes I bought were either a size 16 or a size Large. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I literally can't remember the last time I wore a size large (2001, maybe?). I will try to get some pics up in the near future. I feel fabulous and I think I look pretty good;-)