Our Article for Shaohannah's Hope

Stacey and I wrote an article about our adoption of Rowan for the Shaohannah's Hope foundation newsletter. They finally posted it online, so HERE is the link to the article. The foundation helped us with the last part of the finances that we needed to complete her adoption. It is a great organization and I would highly recommend supporting them.

U2 360

I think many of you know how I feel about the band U2. I was a teenager in the 80's when they hit the scene with a vengeance. MTV was new and I recall watching a video from some Irish band playing at RedRocks. Steam coming out of the lead singer's mouth, passion gushing from his heart as he belted out "SUNDAY, BLOODY, SUNDAY!" I had no idea of the political nature of the song and I didn't care...these guys were just cool and I was hooked.

Fast forward to a couple of Sundays ago when U2 kicked off the U.S. leg of their 360 tour at Soldier Field in Chicago. Not sure why but Stacey and I had never been to a U2 concert and a friend of ours said that he couldn't use his tickets. We went and I crossed another item off of my bucket list.

So we show up at the concert and I was struck by the diversity of ages in the crowd. The appeal of this band is definitely not waning and if anything, picking up steam. Usually churning out 2 or three hits per album, they stay very current by putting on a very tech savvy show with Bono's ability to personally connect with each person in the crowd.

The show was complete eye candy. The mega screen a unique novelty and they used it to it's full effect. The first couple of songs looked like we were watching an edited music video. It felt like they had 100 cameras stationed everywhere with each cut to a different camera completely synced to the beat of the music. Impressive to say the least. At one point the screen starts to stretch (don't ask me how) all the way to the ground. So you are then looking at a 50+ foot screen in the round.

Bono was as you would expect. Passionate, energetic, tender, funny, self-effacing... At one point he is running around the outer ring of the circular stage with shouts of "run Bono run!" coming from the crowd. The next moment he is singing a song while lying on his back. And there is a bridge that hangs over the head of the elite ticketholders that connects the inner stage with the outer circle. Bono leans over the side of the bridge and serenades the crowds below.

What I like most about the band though is their spiritual overtones in many of their songs mixed with a powerful compulsion to do justice. At one point during the show, the crowd of 68,000 was singing "Amazing Grace". There was a funny, spirited and moving address by Desmund Tutu and a song written for Myanmar’s jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, "Walk On". During this song many in the crowd and volunteers on stage wore masked of her face so no one would forget that she was the elected leader of Myanmar in, but currently in her 14th year under house arrest.

It is this social sensibility that has kept me a fan after all of these years. Creative, provocative, spiritual, socially aware with some pretty good rock music. U2 rocks.

Mosaic Bible is available today

I just received my copy of a new Bible of which I was a contributor called Mosaic. And I love how it turned out.

This Bible combines some elements that I have not seen in any other Bible.

v Beautiful artwork from the 3^rd to 21^st centuries from every continent across the globe.
v Moving and thought-provoking writings, poems and prayers from the 1^st to 21^st centuries from every continent and branch of the Church around the world. This includes a meditation that I wrote for the season of Pentecost on the topic of creativity called "Old Things New."

v Both artwork and writings follow the Church calendar throughout the year starting with Advent (Sunday, November 29, 2009).

v And there is space provided for you to record your own thoughts and meditations.

It is available as of TODAY (September 22, 2009) at amazon and we are trying to bump up the amazon ranking by asking people to buy TODAY (at only $20!).

And NO, I do not make a dime from this project. I am simply letting you know about it because I think you will love it and that it will enhance your spiritual journey.

The back cover sleeve of the Bible reads "On our own, we are little more than bits of stone and glass... TOGETHER we are the body of Christ." This Bible taps us into the great body of writers throughout the history of our faith to challenge and encourage us.

Another Great Adoption T

Love the creativity that is happening today to find a place for the millions of little ones needing a home.

My Week and thoughts

1. Rowan went to the dentist today and WOW do I wish I had dental insurance now. Universal Dental insurance NOW!

2. A bit surprised by all of the hoopla surrounding Obama's tv broadcast in schools. Especially since Reagan and Bush did it too. One guy on facebook compared this move to Hitler. Really?

3. Found out my old HS football team will play their first game on national television (ESPN) on Sunday at noon. Very cool except that they can't seem to beat Elder, even when they have a superior team.

4. Surprised how little support there is in Chicago for the Olympic bid. Tepid at best.

5. Am thinking that my dog Sugar needs to find a nice, loving home where there is not the chaos of a 3 and 6 year old.

Continuous Partial Attention

Add another term to our ever-growing list of issues associated with communication technology. Terms like "absent presence" began appearing when people started answering their cell phones while in the presence of a friend they were just talking with. What does the friend do while they are waiting? Absent presence.

Now a new term. (Disclaimer) I noticed this WSJ article when a link to it appeared on my facebook feed from a friend of mine. "Continous Partial Attention" is now used to describe people who are constantly checking email, texts, facebook and any other message constantly. This can create A.D.D.-like behavior in anyone plugged in to so many social networking sites. Some businesses are combatting this by having no-technology meetings.

The article describing this was actually about Generation Y's inability to read non-verbal cues. This is something that is going to affect all of us. Read about it HERE.

Where am I?

From St. Charles to Jackson Hole to St. Charles to Dallas to St. Charles to Springfield in 2 weeks. It's been a bit of a whirlwind the past 2 weeks.

Mancation in JH was great. Highlight- 12 fish. Not letting the big one get away. Hanging with the B boyz.

Leadership workshop in Dallas was also great. Highlight- talking about getting people engaged in the process. Hanging with the AC boyz.

Men's Retreat in Springfield. I leave in 45 minutes. Will let you know, but hoping for decent weather and one last boating extravaganza with LC boyz.

Spirit highlight of the week. Psalm 84. It rocks.

GONE FISHIN'

I will be away from my blog this week somewhere in the Teton mountains in Jackson Hole. Till then...

The Story of Sustainability

Interesting article by Reuters called The Story of Sustainability. It speaks to great storytelling and how our culture is losing human person to person contact and storytelling with it. Here's a taste...

According to Paige, the elements of a great story are imagination, believability and content...with the consolidation of the media and corporate forays into political and community affairs, our common story has been on auto-pilot like never before. All this is abetted by the technology that seems to be stripping away the very essence of person-to-person communication - and storytelling. When's the last time you heard a great story around a campfire? But then, again, this is another aspect of the status quo story many of us have accepted: So much to do, so little time.

Adopted/ing...and proud of it.

Love the website "adoption bug" (actually a commerce site) that sells products expressing the joy of adoption and foster care. Adoption...what a beautiful choice.

fyi- the caption on the shirt says "Am I showing? the answer is on my face, not my belly"

X-treme Faith

Found this article in the NYTimes interesting. X-gamers coming to faith in Jesus after one of them has a near-death experience.

Chick-Fil-A Coming To Chicago Region

Cannot begin to describe my joy!

Storytelling Sells

In a recent blog from Fast Company magazine titled Brand Storytelling: Connecting With Your Audience, author Melinda Partin reminds us of what we already know...stories sell. She writes,

At its very core, marketing is storytelling. The best advertising campaigns take us on an emotional journey--appealing to our wants, needs and desires--while at the same time telling us about a product or service.

Stories connect. Connection is everything in the new world. If you connect, you score. This goes for business, relationships, religion etc. etc.

Tell your story well.

Who needs the Better Business Bureau?

Ever get bad service and call them to fix it, or call the BBB only to get nowhere? Well, here is one creative storytelling video that has told over 3 million people that...United Breaks Guitars!! Thanks Dean for posting this one.

Haiti Orphan Trip

When I was 17 I was part of a mission's trip to Venezuela. It was the first time that I came face to face with third world poverty. My world (and worldview) would forever be altered. Stacey and I desire that all of our children experience a mission to make a difference in the lives the poor, the orphans, the least of these that Jesus speaks of. So when Raegan heard about a trip tow work with orphanages in Hait and said to us "Mom, dad, I feel that I have to do this," we knew in our hearts that she was right.

So last week Stacey and Raegan went with 7 others to the poorest nation in the west, Haiti, to work with orphans. Haiti was the first country to become independent by a successful slave uprising. But corrupt leadership has led to economic and social ruin. In the city of Port Au Prince, where the team ministered at several orphanages, every home is seperated by walls for security reasons. There is chaos in the streets and fear in the hearts of the citizens. And so many of the families cannot take care of the children they bring into the world because of extreme poverty. It is a desparate situation, but not hopeless.

There are those who feel called to drop their lives and move to this oppressed country and try to make a difference. The ministry that the team worked with was founded by just such a couple. Their names are Corrigan and Shelley Clay and they moved to Haiti a year ago and started a minstry called the ApParent Project. The ministry works with the poor of Haiti (specifically with orphans) and seeks to make their needs known through media and the arts.

I am so proud of Stacey and Raegan for thriving in the blazing heat and loving on these little ones. They are still processing the trip and how transformational it was. It reinforces to me that we MUST continue to be the voice for the orphans and do what we can to find them a loving home.

I am alive...

Little summer break from the blog. It's been busy with vacations, internet being down, Stacey in Haiti, conferences...

Whew!

Nice to be back...more later..........

Narrative Overload?

If you know me at all, you know that I love storytelling. I believe that our lives are a collection of colliding narratives and subnarratives. And living in a media culture with constantly evolving digital technologies, stories are thriving. But are we possibly suffering from narrative overload? Coming from the perspective of a movie writer of such classics as Raging Bull, Paul Schrader writes...

Storytelling began as ceremony and evolved into ritual. It was commercialized in the middle ages, became big business in the 19th century and an international industry in the 20th. Today it is the ubiquitous wallpaper of the postmodern era.

Find his full story HERE.

Schrader's article is more concerned with what media forms narrative will take in the future. And I agree with his conclusion that narrative will continue to go strong in the future but "mutated."

But the article did make me think about just how many media stories we are bombarded with from reality shows to video games to movies, television, hulu etc. What affect do all of these stories have on our connections with people, relationships, politics and even emotions and psyche. Are we becoming part of the wallpaper?

The CEO As Storyteller In Chief

Forbe's magazine says it all in this article on the value of storytelling in the marketplace. Here is a quick quote...

"Explanatory talk and statistics appeal to the intellect, but people aren't inspired by reason alone. Compelling stories convey loads of information while also appealing to our emotions, ensuring that we not only listen, but get engaged and inspired.

Storytelling can be extremely effective at simplifying complexities. It can help us reveal and assess the assumptions, values and beliefs behind new ideas and connect them to our world. So a company's mission is not just to sell more and better coffee; it is to share the passion that fills that cup."

Self Convergence Diagram

Scot McKnight put this up on his Jesus Creed blog today and I just had to pass it along. It's creative and funny with some insight to chew on. In my creative cookbook, that is the perfect recipe!!

In the Year 3000...

Funniest moment on Conan O'Brien last night...

In the year 3000 Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook will merge into a superwebsite called:

YouTwitFace