jesus music

Kurt Vile - Jesus Fever

Starving, Fasting, Hoping

Ramadan begins today, and this morning I came across this most downer headline: Somali famine refugees begin Ramadan fast. After reading the article I am touched by the determined faith of the drought refugees. During this time when many must feel completely abandoned by God, and by the world for that matter, one refugee highlighted in the article notes that famine is "a fast without reward," while observing Ramadan is a fast "inspired by God." Creating space for hope in the most dire of circumstances is truly greater than observing any religious tradition. Yet how awesome and inspiring is it that keeping the fast of Ramadan while suffering the harsh refugee camp life might provide some comfort and solace?

I am reminded of the influential work by Auschwitz survivor Victor Fankl, Man's Search for Meaning, in which he introduces the notion of "logotherapy," or existential therapy. Frankl's experience in the concentration camp brought him to ponder why he maintained a will to live while for others (understandably!) life lost all its meaning amidst the horrors of the Holocaust. Roughly, existential therapy posits that seeking meaning in life is the single most motivating force in human experience. I could not agree more. While existentialism played a significant role in the Catholic imagination during the twentieth century (most famously by French philosopher Gabriel Marcel), my personal imagination has been overwhelmingly informed by a "will to meaning." I see this search for meaning as the fundamental unifier in all human experience--regardless of dogma, ethics or privilege, all humans create some sort of system of meaning to which they ascribe their very being. The form might be in answer to the question, "Why are we here?" or may be a directly inherited system of meaning, such as a religion, a political agenda, a moral understanding. For example, the Golden Rule or the concept of karma might deeply influence how one sees oneself, sees others, sees the world. This is truly the meat of my interest in spirituality, which I have previously defined as the relationship with self, others, and God, especially regarding making meaning of the human experience.

The article on Somali refugees entering Ramadan quotes AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha, who instructs that "Around the globe, everyone must dig deep into their pockets to rescue the people of Somalia from the abyss they find themselves staring into." If there's to be any hope in that abyss, its meaning can be found by God's inspiration, as lived out in the aid given by us.


Want to give? Here are some links:

http://www.arcrelief.org/site/PageServer

http://crs.org/somalia/partners.cfm

http://www.irusa.org/countries/somalia/

Summer Soundz

It's summer in Seattle, finally! Today's got a high of 75 degrees, and I will take it gratefully, knowing that Americans everywhere are sweltering in record-breaking heat and humidity. Seattle summer may not arrive until July, but when it does show up there's just no complaining. Except for maybe that the lake is too cold to swim in and that it will still rain intermittently, and honestly when it gets too much above 80 degrees I die. But still, it's summer!

One of my personal most favorite songs of summer is Pavement's "Shady Lane" (the video is directed by Spike Jonze!) It's got Stephen Malkmus' distinct vocals (almost as though he's just talking) over a jolly little upbeat tune that gets me bopping my head or foot every single time. Notably, Malkmus sings in the song's chorus,

Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God
Oh my God, Oh your God, Oh his God, Oh dear God
It's everybody's God, It's everybody's God, It's everybody's God, It's everybody's God
The worlds collide, but all we really want is a shady lane.

This is a quasi-theological thought from a certified indie "god," although as a spiritual writer and trained theologian (have I mentioned I have a master's degree? because I do) I'd probably revise these lyrics to better reflect my theological viewpoint. Kelly's version: "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!" Meh, maybe Malkmus has it right with "everybody's God." So here's to summer, blessed shady lanes and dear, dear God.

Kairos

"Joy fixes us to eternity and pain fixes us to time. But desire and fear hold us in bondage to time, and detachment breaks the bond." -Simone Weil

Serendipitous Much?

Today is full of coincidences. It's sort of creeping me out, but mostly is just reminding me that sometimes I am in the total flow of the universe and powers beyond me come together and sort of swoop me up into the current. Life feels a little effortless and I couldn't be more grateful for the way things are working out today. I won't bore you with the details of how my schedule is magically working itself out, but I will share one little nugget of my life's convergences today.


Recently I've been really into the British electronic soul artist James Blake. Last week, when the stars were not aligning in my life, I missed his sold out show because I am a dumb ass and didn't get on top of a ticket. Oops. Blake's music is haunting yet soothing, subtle in its electro influence and deeply soulful. I jokingly dubbed his music "etherealwave." The track "Lindisfarne" is the meditative center of his new self-titled debut album--it's got a rad video too. Here's where the coincidence comes in: in reading a spirituality newsletter that I receive I came across a piece about, you guessed it, Lindisfarne! No mention of James Blake, however. That's because Blake's song takes the name of an island off the coast of North East England called Lindisfarne, or "holy island." Whoa man, explosions in my brain of the coincidence overload persuasion. Let's hope all this syncing up bodes well for the day rather than being a bad omen.

PS: Spell check suggested that instead of Lindisfarne I meant windsurfing. Ha.

PPS: James Blake is totally hot.

'Tis April No More

May by Mary Oliver

May, and among the miles of leafing,
blossoms storm out of the darkness—
windflowers and moccasin flowers. The bees
dive into them and I too, to gather
their spiritual honey. Mute and meek, yet theirs
is the deepest certainty that this existence too—
this sense of well-being, the flourishing
of the physical body—rides
near the hub of the miracle that everything
is a part of, is as good
as a poem or a prayer, can also make
luminous any dark place on earth.

Amazon music cloud and the clouds of heaven

Writin' about other stuff on the Other Journal. Check it out, man!