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I want to give the world a foot massage
“Take a load off,” I’d say
“You’ve had a long week”

I want to buy backpacks for crack babies
Teach them E=mc2
Sing them the theme to Fat Albert
Show them the correct dosage of sugar for Kool-Aid
Tell them their mothers’ addictions
Were not predestination, were not bad luck
But just were
And they are free to be
Someone’s solution instead of the symbol
Of someone’s problem

I want to host a banquet
For the orphans of Gaza
The widows of Darfur
Pile the tables high with falafel
And kisra with bamia
Fill glasses with crystal water
Mugs with guhwah, chai, and goat’s milk
Raise a toast to their fallen loved ones
And send them to down-filled beds
For a night of rest
Without the sound of Kalashnikovs
I want to tell them they are no longer refugees
They are Mustafa and Jamilah
And they can call someplace home again

I want to give prosthetics to the war children
Of Kabul and Mazar and Kandahar
Watch them play soccer and basketball
Their new limbs gracefully awkward
Their war dreams lessening in intensity
Their eyes losing their haunted cast
Their steps unfettered by the fear
of land mines in the sand
I want to tell them they are worth more
Than sodomy and poppy seed
That they can write their own history

I want to comfort everyone everywhere
Share and bear their joys and sorrows
Whisper with prophetic imagination
Of a new world with old roots
A melancholy tale with an uplifting end
When he and she, you and me
Can love with reckless abandon
Others more than ourselves

But today, I drive by the man
With his cardboard sign
My windows rolled up against the sunny day
A dollar bill snugly ensconced
In the folds of my wallet
And I sing with Mahalia,
His eye is on the sparrow

-http://www.xanga.com/negrito7

Here is the footage from me and Don’s (and our wives’) trip to Springfield last Sunday to begin talking about our mission partnership there. It was a great day and you can read more about it here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2cWUgsh7X0&hl=en]

Here’s another clip. I’m not sure who was running the camera that day and I don’t really understand why they had to put it on the only person who was having trouble with the rhythm!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgwuV0eIEo4&hl=en]

On Thursday night, I went hiking with my cousin-in-law Ric. The 13 mile trip was nice after we got to the top of the mountain. Apparently, Ric was affected by some sort of “food and drink indiscretion” and needed to “take it slow.” And by “take it slow” I mean “vomit all over the mountain”.

We were originally planning on hiking 20+ miles and so I felt a little disappointed by our 13. I felt a little better, though, when I realized that that distance is comparable to walking to HWY 6 and back from our new house.

I felt bad once again when I realized the unnatural amount of beef jerky and trail mix I had to consume just to make it to HWY 6 and back.

On Monday, blake and I went to hear the managing editor of Time magazine, Richard Stengel, speak on campus. It was interesting to hear a person with such influence and position give a lecture. It was also interesting to hear him drop names without name-dropping. When he mentioned Barack, Hillary, Vladimir, he talked about them like he actually knew them because…he does.

Anyway, he had some interesting insight into the media business:

• When Time was founded, they saw themselves as a purveyor of information. The greatest challenge of the last few years has been adapting to a society where news information is everywhere (Headline News, Google News, RSS, etc.). The real need in our world now, he surmises, is for someone to sift through the chaos of information out there and help us see what is really true, important and sufficient to save the planet.
• He said the magazine has had to make a transition in the last few years from trying to create all the best sources of information to being willing to point to other sources if they are better. That establishes them as a source of knowledge and not just a place for facts.
• He made a great point when asked about the controversy over the latest cover (which includes the famous soldiers of Iwo Jima hoisting a tree instead of an American flag – a statement about environmental responsibility). When pushed by a member of the audience had said that the cover image joined two world-changing causes and that, by combining them, the magazine was adding value to both.

Here is someone who didn’t like the lecture as much as I did.

I really enjoyed the talk, mainly because I have been subscribing to Time since I was in the 7th Grade. I also have realized that in the last few years I have become a magazine junkie of sorts and that, perhaps, my life story could be told by the publications I love and have loved…

Currently subscribed to:

• Time – the old stand-by. It’s recent face-lift is really making a difference.
• Newsweek – Recently subscribed and haven’t been let down. Every week they have the most interesting stories. Stuff I would never learn about anywhere else.
• Fast Company – a great leadership/business/design magazine which has an incredible image and edge.

Mags I used to get (in descending chronological order):

• Relevant – I loved its edgy look at Christianity. Then I hated its edgy look at Christianity. After a while, I started feeling like I was too lame to follow Jesus.
• Mental Floss – Random bits of trivia. Loved it at first, then had issues come in that would never get read.
• National Geographic Adventure – during a kick where I wanted to explore the world.
• Boy’s Life – during my Boy Scout years. I loved the scouts until I had to tuck my shirttail in during our campout. A man has to draw the line somewhere.
• Ranger Rick – I was a kid. I liked animals.

Other mags I like but don’t subscribe to yet:

• Good – the magazine for people who give a d*mn.
• Yall – the magazine of Southern people.

“Good church music draws people out of the world.

Good preaching draws the world out of people.”

-Pastor Jerry Malone

Springfield MB Church.

on Saturday, April 19th, Project Homestead hosted Party in the Park at Avent. There was music, laughter, and games for kids.

Luckily, Matthew Clark had his camera.

I have been on this kick lately over twitter.

I’ve caught a lot of flack for it, mostly from my friends who giggle at the word. I’ll admit, I wondered about the point of this form of communication myself at first, but now I think it could be something really fun

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o&hl=en]

Here are some useful things about it:

1. Gives people an update about your day/opportunity to share witty comments.
2. I’m able to keep up with people I want to (e.g. my friend Witt who lives in Colombia. I know more about her life now than I did when she lived in Mississippi).
3. It would be a good place for my friends to record their very clever observations during the day, as opposed to sending them out in a “to many” text message.

Other people have their reasons too:

http://revver.com/video/820445/why-i-love-twitter/

Here are some things to remember to maximize your experience. When you sign up:

• Find people you want to follow and then click the “follow” button. This will automatically give you their updated status.
• If you like to text message, pair your phone with your twitter account, then you can update by texting to 40404.
• You can post directly to one of your followers by typing @+their screenname (@tapdraw).
• Then update.
• Come on, really, it’ll be fun. When have I been wrong about something being fun.

http://twitter.com/tapdraw

This weekend, around 30 students (many of them from the Orchard) slept in cardboard boxes out in the Grove on a very chilly and damp night. No, they weren’t fumigating the dorms again. These students actually had a mission: to raise awareness about the widespread displacement of Ugandans due to civil war and political unrest.

They are all a part of a local chapter of Invisible Children and they have had a very exciting year writing letters, raising awareness and getting more students involved.

Here’s a video with more information.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5_zyUrGav0&hl=en]

This Sunday I wasn’t at the morning Orchard service. Blake was preaching and it was the perfect opportunity for me to go and worship with some new friends at Springfield Missionary Baptist Church, an african-american about 5 miles North of town.

Accompanying me on this journey was Dr. Don (one of the few people I know who is whiter than me) and our lovely wives. The reason for our visit was a newly forged partnership with the pastors of the church. It is our prayer that we can work together in the area around the church, serving widows and other people who’s homes and yards need work/repair.

But on Sunday, we were having church.

First of all, I was running late. I hate being late. Ask Sarah, who I called “grandmaw” several times as we drove to the church. It seemed like it took an hour to get there from our new house.

I got in the Sanctuary and was summoned to sit on the stage with Don and the other pastors during the first song. The music was incredible. I thought, “this is just like a movie, only much LOUDER.” I soon realized that the pastors on stage not only preached and prayed but they were expected to sing and clap and sometimes even sway along with the music. This was awkward at first, a far cry from the Orchard, but soon the bass drum knocked me right in line.

After a few songs and announcements, the pastor introduced me and Don and gave us a chance to say a few words. Don went first and was a natural, a regular T.D. Jakes. My turn was next and when I got the “call and response” rhythm down it was kind of fun. We talked about God’s charge to take care of widows and orphans in the book of James, the fact that God saw us all the same and about how Jesus didn’t just talk about love – he showed it.

During the next song, Pastor Malone leaned over to me and said “I want you to give the Altar Call prayer.” I said, “How does that go?” But the music was too loud and he didn’t hear me. At the altar call, nearly the entire church comes to the front of the pulpit, shares prayer requests and then is prayed over by the pastor. Again, it took a while for me to get the rhythm, but once I did, it became this community-wide moment where everyone seemed connected and involved in the petitions.

The rest of the service was full of great music, a simple – but extremely profound – sermon, and more praying.

At the end of the service, we had “fellowship” at the front of the aisle. Fellowship is where nearly every woman in the church comes up and hugs the pastors and the men shake their hand. I realized then just how friendly and open that church really was.

But that wasn’t all that I learned. Here’s a run down of the rest:

1) Pastor Malone gets to drink Kool-Aid from a little shelf behind the pulpit.

2) The experience at the black church is one that engages every one of the senses, from the pulsing bassnotes to the loud singing to the warmth of fellowship’s embrace to the sights of the smiles on everyone’s face when they sing.

3) The two hours really fly by.

4) The messages of the whole event are so simple and so beautiful, full of passion and gratitude.

5) Daddy was right: we’re all the same underneath our skin. I wish he could have been there with me yesterday, he would have loved it.

Hopefully this will be the first of many posts over the next few weeks as we forge our partnership together. Thanks again to Pastor Malone, Dr. Don and all of the great folks at Springfield for a truly amazing morning.

…even if it is $3.99.