My homeless friend is a poet.

I have a homeless friend, he is a poet. The first time you meet him you would never know such a thing. He has broad shoulders, muscles on his arms the size of tree trunks & a "I dare you to look at me wrong" look in his eye. He is always shaved and wearing clean clothing. He has a deep raspy voice and is easy with a joke; once he knows you.

The first conversation I had with him he told me about his bad habit. His bad habit? He has a habit of getting thrown in jail. Not for anything "serious", just placing his fist in the face of people who run off at the mouth.

We have become friends. We text each other every day or so and bump into each other around Durham once or twice a week. He even has a face book page. Probably one or two of your face book friends are homeless if you knew their whole story.

He spent the last two years in a tent in a secluded patch of woods in East Durham. He is a "professional" urban outdoorsmen and can teach you how to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer using a 12 volt car battery.

Two weeks ago he asked me for a pen and a piece of paper. He sat down and penned this poem. He told me he had had it in his brains for a few days. His penmanship was legible and spelling correct. More than a few homeless have talents and skills that are amazing.

Whether you are Christian or not I hope you will enjoy the beauty of the words he penned. This is like and Christmas to him. I hope and pray 2011 brings him much joy and an extra bucket of coal for the fire ;)

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Twas the night before Christmas

And all along the streets

No warmth for the homeless

Nor anything to eat

I with my sleeping bag

And an old homeless cat

Went behind the bush for a cold winter’s nap.

Then all of a sudden

I heard a wonderful sound

I jumped from the bush

In one single bound

And what did my wondering eyes did see,

A soft spoken stranger looking at me.

He spoke very softly, passing out blankets as he went

I knew in my hear he was heaven sent.

I asked the stranger, where are you from my dear friend?

He said even though I’m not there any more

I’m from Bethlehem.

May you experience a blessed, merry & warm Christmas!

Do you hear what they hear?

Those that read here frequently know that Saturday is the day I listen to NPR and Public Radio. I enjoy the programming, even if I do NOT agree with the worldview of those producing the programs. Yesterday, I was listening to Weekend America and heard about an organization that sounded cool. Visit the website for The Deaf Performing Artists Network, while there learn and enjoy.

Art is everywhere....

In sixth grade I won an art contest. It was sponsored by the Durham, NC Arts Council.
It was a themed contest. The theme was simple...Art is Everywhere. Even as a young man I looked at the world around me through the imagination of one who loves to create. My notebooks from school were covered in tiny pieces of art, sketches, doodles and creative lettering were everywhere.

I entered the contest and looked to maximize the theme. I grabbed a cereal box, a piece of clay glazed cardboard, some colored markers and went to work. After several afternoons I had re-created a colored graphic of the cereal box, because art is everywhere. From boxes in the grocery store to fine art on display we are surrounded by the beauty of artistic creation.

With the eye of an artist I wanted to make sure my kids had the ability to see the world through artistic eyes. My oldest says that I help them grow up with an "artistic mindset". We would stop when I saw something interesting and have the girls look at it carefully. Clouds, animals, people, nature, buildings, objects were all mini lessons in creativity. We would look at the colors, the light, the shadows, the lines of objects. We would attend art exhibits and museums to look at the work of other artists. we always would have tons of paint, crayons, markers, paper and clay around the house. Even today, out home is full of artistic supplies. Sketch books are laying around almost every room in our home. Each filled with experimental drawings, small sketches and many completed works of art. We are constantly fighting over the use of the colored pencils or box of Sharpies. We may draw or paint on anything and see art anywhere.


We see human skin as a canvas, and though none of us possess a tattoo, we love the art created by those artists. The "foot art" above was created by my daughter with Sharpies.

We love art

We see art everywhere.

We breathe deep the creative power of our God.

Grab a bag of Sharpies and a sketch book and join us.


All the art at the top of the post was created by my daughters. The two doodles below the post were created by me. My oldest daughter created the earrings out of sterling silver and Swarovski Crystals.

The Healing Cut...

Plastic surgery has become a huge industry in the U.S.A., Europe and parts of Asia. The human "need" for physical perfection has caused the good business sense of doctors to gravitate where the money is flowing. As a small business man, I do not fault them, I just find it amazing that so many folks are looking in the mirror and finding a reason to spend tens of thousands of dollars.

I then read stories like this one, and find my heart encouraged my the science and the doctors who do such amazing work. Be warned, the photos may shock.

Cool things happen among friends.

My friend Lisa Samson is a novelist. She has the opportunity to tell stories and have them published. She is good at what she does. This can be clearly seen by the fact that Publishers Weekly voted one of her books in the top 150 for 2007. She recently co-authored a book with her husband Will. Justice in the Burbs is a great book and you should read it.

Lisa contacted me last week with a request. She wanted to interview me and post the conversation on her blog for this week. I thank her deeply for the honor she has shown me and my family by the gesture. I hope the story of God in our lives will cause all of us to take one more step into the mystery of God's Kingdom. Take a look at the interview here.

It IS art.

IMHO, sculpture is the highest form of the fine arts. Drawing well would be second. Well actually, you cannot sculpt well unless you draw well...drawing well is the basic building block of all the fine arts. Whether you are sculpting in stone, clay or wood, you must have artistic control of all three dimensions. As Michelangelo was carving David and Rodin was casting The Thinker, I doubt if they ever imagined Legos being a sculpture medium.

Finis...the stone, the mortar, the iron, all silent.

Today we finished a project we have been working on for several months. The stone porch/patio you see was carefully built my me, my business partner Harry Polk and Russ Creech. We used NO sub-Contractors on this project. We did all the work from start to finish.

Last fall, the french doors you see were not there. There were two windows and lots of brick. We removed the windows and several tons of brick, installed a roof support system then installed that beauty of a door unit. We returned this spring to add the porch/patio.

All the concrete, block, and stone were touched by our hands. The wrought iron railing was manufactured and installed by our team. The stone, block, mortar and sand came from here. The white cap stones were made here. The Buckingham Blue slate was gathered from the property, but was mined in the hills of VA. The energy, skill and creativity came from a well of God's grace deep inside. My hope and prayer is the McNish-Connelly family will experience great joy and God's blessings as they enjoy this new space.

CEDRIC the Alien

Russ Creech is a brilliant young man. He and my daughter Katy are "courting". He also works with me in my construction business. He and Katy are, well...admittedly, well...,how can I say this gently...they are GEEKS. In the midst of their geekdom, Creech produced a video to enter a contest with a prize of $5k. It is true, frame by frame, stop motion animation with "special effects" added. Watch the video to lend a hand to a poor-computerhacking-geeky-college boy. Pass it on to others. I'll be pushing for a sequel!

Listen to the Sweetness and the Samson

Len Sweet is one of my favorite communicators. He is fast with a retort as well as a metaphor. He has challenged the church for years to look into the past and the future at the same time and pull them both together into the now. He does not write a blog, but he does podcast. About once a week he sits down and records his thoughts. I look forward to his words each week. I am also honored that he considers me his friend. Take a listen and enjoy.

Will and Lisa Samson are a great couple with a great family. Lisa is an author, Will is a leader in the Emergent Village. They are attempting to live out biblical justice in an unjust world. They have written a book, "Justice in the Burbs". It is available the first of August. Here is their promo video. Take a look and buy the book.

Oh God, please let the parachute catch up with me!

If you read this blog on a regular basis you will notice a label for a view posts. Up To The Table are several posts I have made with the theme of food, faith and farming. Those posts are part of a journey I have been on for the last three years:looking deep inside for what it means to follow Jesus at this time in this community.

I have been evaluating social justice in myself and my community because of Will Samson and his wife Lisa Samson. I met them over two years ago and the term "social justice" was etched into my consciousness because of conversations with them. It has been a slow and long journey, but I am now at a place to put social justice into practice in my life and the life of my christian community here in Granville County.

During the summer of 2007 we are going to feed 24 hungry children five days a week.
They will be involved in a tutoring program in our community. They will be learning to read, to write and perform basic math. We will be providing them lunch each day.

I have a small band of about thirty volunteers. We have very few financial resources. We have many ideas. We are going to attempt to use local produce, homemade products and healthy food choices. It seems like a huge task at this time.

I have jumped out of the airplane at 18,000 feet and I am hoping the parachute catches me.

If you have any suggestions, let me have them now!!

Beauty

Yesterday, I was listening to a podcast by Len Sweet. He was sharing his views of Wal-Mart. He does not like Wal-Mart at this moment, not because they are big and successful, but because they are ugly. They build ugly and make the communities around them ugly. Take a listen here, you'll find the podcasts of January 13 & January the 18, 2007 on the topic of Wal-Mart. The theme of beauty becomes a basis for judging what is good and true. God created beautiful things and that is proof of his love for the world.

Along the theme of beautiful things, this is a must read. USAmerican culture has lost it's appreciation for the beauty going on all around us each day. Read this article, Pearls Before Breakfast, do not be surprised if you feel uncomfortable watching the video. The power of the metaphor of the video is striking.

As you go out today, notice the beauty all around you. Do not add to the ugliness of our culture, add to the beauty of our Creator.

A creative brush nows sits idle

I grabbed a Johnny Hart strip from B.C. this morning for my Easter post. I just sat down from a great day with family and friends to read the news. Johnny Hart died yesterday at his drawing table creating this strip. He was never one to shy away from his Christian faith, that faith made appearances many times through the years in his strips. Not only did he proclaim his faith in B.C., but that same faith made regulars appearances in a strip he co-authored, The Wizard of Id.
May we all be as creative and nonthreatening with our faith.

Jesus is on the air, doing good.

I love radio. Any of you that would be with me during a week day would know I love radio. I listen to talk radio five or six hours a day when I am on a construction site. Sometimes I even call in to make a comment or ask a question. On the weekends, if I am travelling around the Triangle, I listen to NPR. NPR has pretty good programing with provocative themes, NPR's worldview is left of mine, but I enjoy listening to a different voice. If I am not busy on Sunday evenings, I will be listening to a local bluegrass show. I love acoustic music; the guitar, the fiddle, the dobro, the banjo and vocals all mixing to form a sound and feeling that is old, happy, and dark all at once.

I like talk radio, for that reason, I know I would always tune in to hear Jesus.

Sweet Tea and Hot Dogs

Thursday was a nasty day here in N.C. Misty rain and chilly breeze most all day. I thought I would break up the same old thing for a last minute road trip to Seagrove, N.C. I needed a randomizing ritual.

I called my friend Tom Gray. My plans were to drive to his shop, look at pottery and talk with a friend about nothing or something, depending on what happened. Tom was busy, he was driving to Hillsborough, N.C., for a bit of family business. He had a simple question..."Wanta meet in Hillsborough?" The drive would drop from over two hours to 35mins, you do the time management equation there. By this time it was almost high noon. A quick shower and shave and I was on the road.

After Tom took care of his family, we went to Sonny's Sandwich Shop. A great place for sweet tea and Sonny is great on the grill. Try his grilled chicken and cheese if you ever stop by.
Tom and I had to catch up a bit. Three years goes by fast. We talked about food, faith, family.
We complained about Washington, Raleigh and politicians. We drank gallons of sweet tea and Tom munched on a hot dog. The whole event cost us $5.08 and a bit of gas. We talked and drank for over three hours...good thing we were drinking only tea this visit. Tom gave me a piece of pottery for an auction and loaned a beautiful communion set to the church. I have the communion set now, it is too beautiful to give back. We will figure out how to pay the artist for his sacred work.

I cannot tell you the details of the converstion...I cannot remember them. I can tell you this, I left Sonny's better than when I arrived. I cannot explain this to you, I will not try to convince you. I will tell you this. Do all you can to break your schedule to pieces and do something spontaneous and last minute... it could be energizing, so you can keep going and going and going...

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
Prov 27:17
~King Solomon~

Thanks to Jordan Cooper, I have viewed this video several times, I was impressed and excited by the words of Sir Ken Robinson, which means, another author and book to add to my list. Forgive the clunky link to the video, I still have not figured out how to do the cool-thing where only the video screen shows up on your blog page.