Archive - Jul 2015
July 7th
Balance
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 07/07/2015 - 20:06In “My Bright Abyss”, Christian Wiman writes about the tension he felt between art and “the hunger for an experience of life that was immediate, unmediated”. It made me think of the great labor chant, “our life is more than our work, and our work is more than our job.”
For me, this resonates deeply with additional layers. Wiman goes on to talk about this in terms of one’s experience of God. For me the layers are even more complicated.
Over the past few days, as I’ve driven to work, looking at the beautiful scenery, the mist and the clouds, I’ve been listening to my Spotify playlist of 2015 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists. There are some beautiful songs on the playlist. I especially like the songs that tell stories, the ballads. Mediated experiences of other people’s lives. It strengthens my empathy. It broadens my perspective. While the songs are telling their stories, I’m living out mine in the car. Do I have time to stop and play a little bit of Ingress along the way? Can I take in the scenery as I think about the work for the day?
In a few weeks, I’m planning to take time off to go see several plays as part of the New York Fringe Festival. There, I will live out my story again, as I experience mediated versions of other people’s stories.
I plan on writing about the songs I like from the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artists. I plan on writing about the plays I like at the New York Fringe festival. This will be my experience too, as I write my thoughts about other people’s art about other people’s experience. Underneath all of this, is the experience of God’s love, the beauty of God’s creation, contrasted with suffering, and times that God feels remote, far away, like an abstract concept, or perhaps even non-existent.
So, I get up early and go to work. I try to find time to write. I try to find time to experience life unmediated. I try to find time for family. I try to find time for God. Yet I also must try to find time to relax, to keep the Sabbath holy, “for He gives to his beloved rest.”
July 6th
Searching
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 19:40It’s hard to concentrate
as the helicopter
flies up and down the river,
searching.
I read old emails
from a father and son
about a website
we worked on,
together.
Then I glance at the news
about the father
whose only son
was stabbed to death.
I can’t imagine the pain.
It’s hard to concentrate
as the helicopter
flies up and down the river.
searching.
I read Facebook
where a friend posts
about the seven year old boy
who was killed by a gunman
aiming for his father.
I can’t imagine the pain.
It’s hard to concentrate
as the helicopter
flies up and down the river,
searching.
I take a walk at lunch time
Three rescue trucks
return to the firehouse
and the baby boy
believed to be thrown
from the arching bridge
by a young man attempting suicide
still hasn’t been found.
I can’t imagine the pain.
Rent: What Would Jesus See?
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 07/06/2015 - 04:21In the 1980s I lived in New York City and attended an East Village church with many friends who were struggling artists. I would go to off off Broadway shows to see them perform in Israel Horowitz’ ‘Line’ where the cast often outnumbered the audience made up of friends of the actors, and if they were lucky a potential manager who had already seen Line forty-three times but wanted to see how well a potential client could really act.
The adult Sunday School classes were often on topics like Christianity and literature and we would discuss Christian themes in the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, W. H. Auden, and Flannery O'Connor. We would talk about what it means to be created in the image of our Creator. We would talk about the Gospel in the contemporary context of AIDS and drug addiction.
Years later, I saw a local high school production of ‘Rent’ and thought back to those days, those friends and their struggles. Four years later, after Sandy Hook, the local high school produced Sweeny Todd and a group of townspeople organized against it, led by a local priest. They were concerned about the depiction of violence. I attended a Board of Education meeting, and spoke in agreement with those concerned with the depiction of violence I encouraged everyone to attend the musical, and then to gather with friends to discuss it and broader topics of violence in society.
Another person who testified at that hearing was Howard Sherman, and I started following his blog. Recently, he wrote about church leaders in Tullahoma, TN criticizing a production of Rent there.
I shared the following as a comment on Howard’s blog post:
As a devote Christian, I agree with part of what Pastor Wayne says, "Jesus should be our moral compass". If we look at the New Testament, we find Jesus healing and breaking bread with characters not much different than the characters in Rent. Personally, I believe that one of the best ways to get a richer understanding of the Gospel is to attend Rent, asking yourself, when Jesus told us to love or neighbors as ourselves, who did he have in mind?
As I suggested when our local school produced Sweeny Todd, go see the play, and then get together with friends and discuss the underlying themes. In the broader context, I’ll take a phrase kicked around a bit and apply it here. “What Would Jesus See?” I suspect Jesus would see plays about suffering, love, and redemption. Rent would probably be high on that list.
July 5th
Resting
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 07/05/2015 - 19:46It’s been a fairly quiet Fourth of July weekend. The past few weeks have been really busy, so it has been a time to catch up on my rest. My stomach was also bothering me a little, making the need for rest even more important. I played Ingress. I wrote. I read. I visited with family. I played with the new kitten.
Today, I learned that a friend’s son was killed In Washington DC this weekend, so I mourned.
Often, when I sit down to face the blank page, I am bothered that I can’t find something to write about. I wrack my brains trying to find a starting thread. This evening, it feels like I don’t have much to write about, but that is a good thing. I did have a little bit to write about, and that was resting.
Now, to read and rest a little more.
July 4th
The Fourth
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/04/2015 - 21:13“and the rockets’ red glare”
had lost some of its luster
over the years.
Once they were the high point
of family outings.
He would run around
the local park
with his siblings
chasing fireflies
until the first loud boom
signaled
it was time to settle down
on the itchy old wool
army surplus blanket
they always sat on
at family events.
Once they punctuated
adolescent dreams of romance.
He would stroll around
the town fair grounds
with his friends
chasing girls
or more accurately
talking about who they liked
who they wished
they could talk to
maybe put an arm around
or even kiss.
Standing as close
as possible
to the fireworks
and the girl he had his eye on,
he would feel each explosion
in his gut, in his heart.
Once they were big extravaganzas
during his early career.
He would dance around
the city park
with his coworkers
enjoying the day off,
the music,
the street food,
and the spectacular show
which signaled
the great opportunities
ahead.
Once they were obligations
he would take his young kids to.
He would push the stroller
to the country club
with his family.
Dolling out crackers
and juice,
he would make sure
the kids stayed close
stayed safe
and had comforting arms
if the explosions were
too loud.
Now,
he sat at home,
thinking about the nephew
who lost his legs
in his second tour.
He thought about a friend’s
son
who suffered
visions of Fallujah
when he heard
the distant explosions.
He patted his dog
cowering on the couch
with each burst
and waited
for the long night
to be over.
