A New Earth
…made me look at leaves differently, made me feel alive
http://eckharttolle.com/a_new_earth

The Inescapable Love of God
…begins theologically in depth, but ended making me feel the purpose of everything I experience
http://www.thomastalbott.com/the_inescapable_love_of_god.html

A video about deciding Who You Are
A PG-rated talk about focusing on your creative work, and not getting distracted by people selling stuff
http://www.43folders.com/2009/10/22/who-you-are

The last one is by no means as deep as the other stuff. But it is a video you can watch right this moment, and it inspired me to start writing a song tonight.

-micah

Google Voice is a tool for centralizing phone numbers and voicemail. I’ve already centralized my phone in one way: by using a cellphone, and not having a home phone, life is streamlined.

But my voicemail and contact list has always been lacking. After all, I can only put so many contacts in my phone, and the list is not very user-friendly. I tend to forget about most voicemails, because they are inconvenient to check. Google Voice solves a lot of that.

Google Voice gives one phone number which can be routed to any phone. You can switch between phones at will, without changing your number, or needing to inform anyone of these changes. The one phone number always routes to you, wherever you direct it.

Better, Google Voice allows you to browse, organize, and listen to voicemails as if they were emails.

So, yesterday, I switched my cellphone voicemail over to Google Voice, following these instructions. Now, if you call my number and get no answer, you will be routed to Google Voice to leave a message. I also set up to make phone calls from my computer, without a phone, using this guide.

Which means I will probably be better at answering your messages. And I don’t have to worry as much about losing my phone. And I can switch service providers when I want. And I can check my voicemail online.

Which means I can go un-tethered more often.

This involves many things. For me, it ideally means

1. Traveling with only one bag
2. Carrying very few things in my pockets
3. Not accumulating possessions
4. Keeping all my data “in the cloud”, beyond the dangers of dropping laptops in swimming pools

These things may seem random, but the core idea is the same: I want to be able to travel, change direction at a moment’s notice, and live life without worrying about possessions or information.

I intend to document some of my thoughts and strategies in getting towards this goal. Right now, I’ll list a few of my inspirations.

• Tim Ferriss - lifestyle design and world travel
• OneBag.com - how to pack
• Amazon S3 - store everything online
• Google Apps

The first problem with most resolutions is that they shoot too low. Lose 10 pounds, exercise a little, stop drinking so much egg-nog.

Nobody cares.

And so these resolutions are forgotten as quickly and lightly as they are made.

“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood.” (Daniel Burnham)

We’re going to do exactly the opposite of what people normally do. A small group of us has compiled a list of resolutions that are life-changing, world-shattering, and above all, BOLD. We are defying the forces of entropy and blandness, and are setting out to make a year that will reverberate with greatness.

The second problem with typical resolutions is that they aim to AVOID something, to hold out on eating that gingerbread man (maybe - hopefully - perhaps) until the month of February. By DEFINITION, these resolutions are broken almost as soon as they are made, as human willpower fails. By the time March rolls around, nothing of those pale resolutions is left.

By contrast, almost all of our resolutions are ACCOMPLISHMENTS, things we can go out and achieve, and once achieved, can never be taken from us.

The third problem with new year’s resolutions is that they’re personal and self-centered. Ours are exactly the opposite, resolutions born of a small group, but spreading and growing in their audacity and scope as they go, inviting and provoking ever more people to join in our great effort.

So we’re launching a new website and blog for this fantastic endeavor. And we want you to be a part of it. It’s called:

The Resolution Begins!

“People who shop at Walmart should not be allowed to complain that anything they buy, anywhere, is made in China.” - Rustic Princess

The reason that it’s controversial, of course, is that it’s about two kids killing God.

Except that isn’t true.

I’m big on people being honest when they spread malicious accusations around; so I want to set the record straight on a few things, just to clear the air. I’m not saying the book wouldn’t be controversial anyway…I’d just like the controversy to be about the right things.

First of all, the kids don’t kill God. They do find him confused and afraid, and let him out of a crystal cage he’s been kept in for thousands of years. When they do, they’re surprised to see him evaporate in the wind, due to his extreme old age. And he is peaceful and happy about being released from his misery.

The kids are just trying to help an old man.

The parents of the kids, however, DID try to wage a war against heaven. This war brings Enoch, the reigning tyrant of the universe, into battle. Enoch is the guy who took over God’s role, and keeps God in a cage. Enoch ends up getting killed by the parents.

So, to summarize: kids help out an old man, God dies of old age, Enoch is killed by the kids’ parents.

NOW…it should be obvious that the “God” that dies here is not the God described in the bible. In fact, the book is explicit that this is a false god, an old angel who set himself up and claimed to be God. He floats around in something called Cloud Mountain, and terrorizes the universe. As he gets old and feeble (in this book, even angels age), he gradually turns his duties over to Enoch, who is much harsher.

So there’s the story.

That is my aspiration - to reach for what is real and spontaneous and scary in a performance, even when it requires stepping out into new territory.

It’s a tricky question - with many ramifications on either side.

If I say, “Yes, we are a Christian band”, then I pigeon-hole us in a way I don’t want to be pigeon-holed. In many people’s minds, at least, this would mean that we only play songs that directly talk about a spiritual or religious subject. To most people, it would mean we were playing “Contemporary Christian Music”, a genre that has less to do with Christian subject matter than with a particular sound that has broad appeal among the Christian market.

Neither of those things are true about us. We do not play CCM (Contemporary Christian Music), nor do I limit my songs to ones that have religious themes.

My approach to music is from a different direction altogether. Rather than set out a genre that I want my music to fall into, I set out from the start to write music about things I cared about. The things I think about and immerse myself in become the subjects and the inspiration for the songs I write.

Rather than set out to write a song about the theological notion of God’s grace, I write a song that arises suddenly and spontaneously from my experience of the utter depth of my faithlessness - and the recognition of God’s presence even there.

How could I say we’re a Christian band? But how could I say we’re not?

The issue is that we’ve divided the world up into the “Christian market” and the “secular market”, into “the Christian subculture” and everything else. We have Christian movies, Christian music, Christian comedians, Christian television, Christian books, Christian bookstores, Christian colleges, etc, etc, etc.

I don’t think Jesus intended things to be done this way. Jesus didn’t intend to set up a subculture - an insular group creating content only for themselves. Instead, he intended to create a group that would go out into the world and draw from his example to create, to transform the situations they found themselves in.

Rather than Christian movies, we should have Christians embedded in Hollywood, involved in the making of movies, influencing them to be deeper, more artistic, more authentic. Rather than Christian musicians, we should have Christians involved in the creation of music at all levels, embedded in the music culture, authentically expressing the human spirit.

If we shift from the idea of a Christian subculture to this idea of embedded Christianity, we will see something far more productive than simply an alternate version of whatever’s popular in secular culture. Instead, we will see the rise of an entirely new level of cultural and creative development, as Christians everywhere begin to use their God-given creativity to transform all of their lives.

If we shift to this idea of embedded Christianity, we won’t just see more songs written to be sung on Sunday mornings, we’ll see songs written to cruise to, to climb mountains with, to sing to your friends and neighbors. We’ll see music that addresses all of our God-given human emotions, that honors the depths of humanity created in the image of God.

And bearing the image of God in all that you do is definitely not a narrow genre.

Turns out, they don’t make castles for easy trailer-access.

The helpful castle residents informed us we would need to take our trailer out a trail they called the “Fire Road”. It would lead us up a steep mountain overtop the castle, and finally to the castle’s back door.  And half-way through, we would need to reverse the car and trailer, and take the whole contraption backwards to the entrance.

Video can’t really capture the fact that a huge ravine lies directly to your side. But here is our attempt:

 
Daring Navigational Feat by The Redding Brothers at Pike’s Peak

And it occurred to me that this light would have been entirely different - if it were just the light itself. But this light was moving - constantly changing, and I could feel that by the time I got back to my house, twilight would have fully come. With every step, the light changed.

It’s change that makes life special, because real life moves.

Clever and evil.

Gas is $3.19. Or is it?

Gas is $3.39!

It was pretty - and I use that word only because “beautiful” is overdone. Beside the lake was anything but overdone. The grass ran right up the water’s edge, and a habit-made walking trail ran alongside it.

Insects fluttered in the grass, buzzing around, keeping things active. A misshapen dragonfly followed a circuit above the water, but it was the less pleasant bugs that had my attention.

If only the world was free of these, nature would be perfect.

Suddenly I saw something else. I imagined God walking along the water, and I saw him enjoying each of these insects as something unique, each fulfilling its purpose, each keeping the world alive and busy.

I’ve seen old paintings where man walks among the beasts, lions and snakes all in harmony under man’s leadership. It’s the ancient image of paradise - a kingdom of nature, with humans as the rulers. Man is the representative of god, the stories tell us, and humanity exercises his care for the creatures.

These insects weren’t intruders - they were mine. Not mine meaning ownership - but that they were there for me, for me to care for and watch over. And I was walking along the water as a man amongst them.

There’s something amazing about realizing the world is yours - regardless of who owns it.

And there’s something amazing about realizing that all the ugly, unpleasant things are part of the complexity and depth and beauty that make up the world.

I’ve gone more than 25 days without Starbucks, and now the ability to drink something familiar was an escape - an escape from the Arabic world I’ve been in for almost a month. Being 6000 miles from home for an extended period of time is something like being on a spaceship - when I’m at home, if I want something, I only have to drive minutes (at most, hours) to reach it. But here, there’s nothing I can do. If they don’t have something I want, there’s nothing I can do to reach it. If I started panicking, and wanted to go home, there’s nothing I can do. If I needed contacts, or special guitar equipment, or some rare tools, there’s nowhere to go. Even indoor restrooms aren’t something taken for granted here.

I’m in the desert, over 6000 miles from home, in a place where I’ve been warned not to venture far. There are anti-American communities nearby, and we stand out like a sore thumb.

Starbucks is like an escape, like getting to temporarily step outside the space capsule through a magic doorway, back into my neighborhood. And then walking back through the door and returning to the confined bubble thousands of miles from home.

So I ordered my normal drink, and sat inside the Starbucks looking out the windows at the blast barricades surrounding it.

I got up this morning, and walked 4 miles in the blazing sun, in a place where humidity reaches 100%. I’m not a sun person, but it was worth it. The trail led outside the military base, so I had to present identification and register to actually walk outside. They warned us about malaria, insects, and wild dogs. I wore insect repellent.

I did run into some wild dogs. They were actually kind of cute, in a weird, spotted-like-a-cow way. I picked up two sticks, just in case. After that, I saw what someone called “Meebos”, they look kind of like meerkats or squirrels, but weirder.

And of course, I saw French paragliders gliding over the ocean. The trail led out to the end of the runway for the military planes, so I stood at the end of it, and looked out to the ocean. Planes flew right by us. The French were here long before Americans, so they know how to have fun here - go paragliding in the early morning.

But the trip wouldn’t have been complete without the random truck decorated like a pinata driving by and the Africans inside asking us if we spoke French.

At least, I assume that’s what they asked. I don’t speak French.

Afghani trucks were the same way. Our semi-trucks are all about function - theirs get decorated like crazy.

We leave for the United Arab Emirates tomorrow. As always on this trip, we have no idea what will happen or who we will meet or where we will go when we get there. Someone knows, and they’ll tell us on a need-to-know basis.

It’s kind of nice.

During the weekend in Atlanta, I attended the APCA conference, lived through a tornado, and set my mind on fire with ideas. Ideas that need DONE.

And so in determining to DO things, I’ve decided that I need to go public with my intentions. I need ideas and help from others, and the ability to bounce my ideas off the world.

My aim is to do more with my band than just deliver a concert. I want to create an experience, and transcend what bands are “supposed” to do. I want to empower people to turn around and create their own world, rather than being content to consume the one created by what’s left of MTV.

I’m taking baby-steps in that direction already. We’re working on partnering with some organizations that are doing important things. We’ve worked with charities (like the Heifer Project) that we felt were doing something unique and creative in the world. We’re moving into concerts that are more meaningful, and are more than just a show.

I want to make our concerts places where people build spontaneous community, not just an event people watch together. I want our concerts to empower and inspire people to go home and change their life. And I don’t mean that in a touchy-feely way.

Some concerts leave you feeling like you want to quit your job and burn down your house. Not because they make you feel destructive, but because they inspire you with the vision of something bigger and much more amazing that YOU are capable of.

I want to do that. I want to be that band. I want to inspire the next renaissance.

There’s my soul. I want your feedback.

-micah