2012 Music

Here’s the best way for me to express my musical year thus far:

What an excellent year for witnessing music! So far, Alabama Shakes in Oxford, MS. This May brings Wilco in Fayetteville, AR (again!) along with the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, TN (including but not limited to: My Morning Jacket, Al Green (finally), Robert Randolph, The Head and the Heart, The Civil Wars, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Dr. Dog…). Additionally, Bon Iver in Little Rock, June 3. Also, there’s a Josh Ritter/Brandi Carlile show in Atlanta sometime in July. Why not?

And that’s only half the year. I’m marking a few acts off my “must-see” list this year.

Winter’s Grip

Winter brings out the worst in people. Truly. So, let’s just forget it. And focus on the joy around us. Too many folks I know are in a “funk.” Including myself, off-and-on (starting in Jan). Recently I co-hosted a dinner for close friends and I was convinced that we would all cry before night’s end. (I think the majority shed a few tears that evening.) Thankfully, the weather lately reminds us that spring is around the corner, help is round the corner. The trees are blooming, the sun is hanging out longer, the temperature hitting its groove. Soon, it’ll be time for patio Mondays, lemonade, cook-outs, sandals (every day), and Sunday naps outside.

A sigh of relief.

Here are a few photos to capture winter’s insanity and spring’s promise of renewal: Shay and I demonstrate winter’s craziness; a Sunday drive with Mrs. Viv to Snow Lake; Gary’s kayak floats (nearly kills Oliver); sunset at Miss. River State Park (first camping trip of the season).

And a song for spring. It’s on my repeat in my car…

Lake Providence, LA

Someone asked me what I thought about Lake Providence, Louisiana. “It’s beautiful,” I replied. This answer, as I expected, received a few chuckles. It is an undeniably beautiful place. The city sits on Lake Providence, full of cypress trees, birds — a “sportsman’s paradise” they say. Possibly better known for its 1994 appearance in Time Magazine, Lake Providence, reminds me a lot of Helena, and most of the Delta towns in Arkansas and  Mississippi I’ve visited. Similar histories, similar cultures, similar challenges, similar despair. Time Magazine’s article deemed Lake Providence the “poorest place in America.” Which you can only imagine what this distinction does for a town’s self-esteem, hope, progress. On the outside, it appears that Lake Providence has accepted this notion without much of a fight. However, dig a bit deeper and you’ll find a heartbeat. You’ll find the quaint handful of buildings downtown (a door museum, even); the charm of Eloise at the Lake Providence welcome center, the Dock’s fried catfish and Louisiana style fries with Cajun seasoning; the friendliness of strangers, waving as you pass; stories of better days, stories of future dreams; old friends gathering for lunch at their regular spot; neighbors who take in families when their homes fall down around them; you’ll hear about Sister Bernie, an Irish nun, and her endless pursuit of justice; you’ll find a youth group of teenagers of various denominations; you’ll find two ordained, female ministers, seeking God’s reconciliation in a very divided place; and a mural on the side of Jong’s grocery, portraying what local kids love most about their home. Not to mention Jehovah Java and its delicious desserts and lunch specials.

Many things made my stomach churn, my heart sink, my head shake, but even more made me smile. Rural America has a purpose. And God has a purpose for us all, wherever we are, to live the Gospel. Please pray for my friend and colleague, Stephanie, who works and lives there, loving people the best she can.

Photos: Lake Providence, LA

Helena’s Cemeteries

Mighty Mississippi

If I could, this is all I’d do with life: take photos, tell stories, help others tell their stories. Capture moments, travel the world, share God’s grace, give voice to the voiceless. Photography has been a hobby since I was a kid, taking photos of my grandparent’s garden each spring. I don’t take enough time to mature my hobby. But I love the moments when I find an excuse to grab my camera. Two days ago, a break in the wintry weather provided the perfect opportunity to venture outdoors and snag a few photos of the Mighty Mississippi. The boardwalk spot is a personal favorite in Helena. Though I haven’t seen all Mississippi River towns, I must agree with Mark Twain, who wrote, ”Helena occupies one of the prettiest situations on the river,” in Life on the Mississippi. 

 

Shoulder to shoulder, revisited

I selected the title of this blog in 2008, after hearing a sermon preached in Helena: this place I call home and a place that, like all, possesses countless divisions. A local white pastor preached from Zephaniah 3 in a local black church one evening in July. Sitting next to my dear friend, Miss Mary Warner, verse 9 struck us all as “Amen” echoed throughout the sanctuary.

“Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.” Zephaniah 3:9

The text encouraged us all, black and white, old and young, rich and poor, locals and outsiders, to continue working toward this notion of service to God, to one another, with one another. And it comforted us, knowing that through Christ’s sacrifice, this truth would one day be realized.

Our divisions here do not solely run down a racial line. Or an economic line. These divisions live and thrive among families, among races, among churches, among schools, among peers, among co-workers, among the children of God. With my job, I’ve witnessed these lines firsthand; I’ve seen them strengthened and I’ve also seen others push beyond, reaching a hand to the other side.

So today, as we celebrate a man who sought to reach across lines, move past boundaries, inspire pride of one’s heritage and, above all, normalize unconditional love for all, I return to the origin of this site. I return to the idea of serving shoulder to shoulder with my brothers and sisters, despite these divisions, because of these divisions. This idea sent me to Slovakia, where I worked for and with Roma people, Europe’s most hated people group. There, I witnessed separation that I could not imagine. I heard stories of segregation and racism that ignited anger and bitterness in my heart. I’ve spent the last three years dealing with this anger, trying not to ignore it, or accept it, but allow it to change who I am.  That experience, along with my years in the Delta, continues to fuel my work to alleviate poverty, both spiritual and physical.

So, as followers of Christ, may we not just stop with racial reconciliation. May we not just stop with reconciliation among our peers, our churches, our families. May we move beyond, look further, dream bigger. May we work toward and pray for reconciliation for all. For ourselves to God, to one another, and to this earth of ours.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. ¹² We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. ¹³ If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin^[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5, NIV