I am shadow lost in time

echo of someone else

shade from memory fade

reasonable facsimile

deaf golem of an unheard god

with no bidding to do

 

I am child standing

standing in the setting sun

casting the long dark

if I stand here awhile

you can tell time

I am hour

I am minute

I am…

 

 

I just watced District 9 and came away very impressed by what I saw. Neil Blomkamp’s film is the purest for of science fiction. It is a brilliant, cutting critique of the human condition with fantastic pacing and nice effects as well. The story would do Philip K. Dick proud. The movie reminded me a little of what M. Night Shyalaman tries to do – it presents us with a fantastic sci-fi premise and slips in an unexpected hardcore message for the audience to consume as well.

 

Man people will go to see District 9 expecting what has become typical sci-fi. By typical I mean mindless, purile, fun without a thought to the story and some cut-and-paste morality as token homage to what sci-fi used to be. This is Blomkamp’s big screen directorial debut and he has brought an incredible arsenal of talent to bear for his 29 years. The style is documentary, handheld cam with amazing seamless special effects. Really impressive film. Blomkamp also wrote the script and if the story is anything to go by this guy is going to be one heck of a major talent.

 

It should also be mentioned that the lead actor in the film, Sharlto Copley, was amazing. He really was very impressive and I would ot be surprised to see an Academy Award nomination for him. The most remarkable thing about Copley is that this is really his first major acting experience. In fact his bios don’t mention anything aside from a small role as a drill sergeant in a short film. Mostly his career has been focused on producing and directing small films and videos.

 

I highly recommend the film. It needs to be seen many times to unpack its true depth. Blomkamp’s analysis of the human condition is clearly heavily impacted by his experience growing up in apartheid-era South Africa. There are many themes explored including racism, xenophobia, government abuse, fear, poverty and its impact on a culture, etc. I was very pleased with how in one scene the movie deals with eugenics. In the scence our main character of Wikus Van De Merwe, a manager for a non-governmental security agency assigned to relocate the alien inhabitants of District 9. While leading a company film crew through the slums of District 9 they find an alien hatchery where eggs are being cared for till birth. Wikus is very excited by the find and demonstrates how to abort the eggs before they can hatch. Eventually they simply use a flame thrower setting the entire shack ablaze as the most "economical" way to abort the children and Wikus gleefully describes the popping of the eggs. It was a scene clearly designed to show another unfortunate feature of our culture – the temptation to deal with unwanted people in our world by simply eradicating them – or aborting their unborn children – to use Wikus’s words.

 

The film is loaded with f-bombs but they are used in the context of the story and due to the thick South African accent they are barely recognizable. If you see the film I would love to know what you think.

 

Here is an excellent statement Willow Creek Church published about their position on women in ministry. A point of order before any discussion ensues – this blog is called Iceberg Tips for a reason – it only ever presents the the surface of things that tend to go much, much deeper. This document is clearly an iceberg tip with the rationale and exegetical work in the background. For the record I stand with Willow on this issue:

 

Willow Creek Community Church Elders’

Statement on Women and Men in Ministry

 

We believe the Bible teaches that men and women were created by God and equally bear His image (Gen. 1:27).  God’s intention was for them to share oneness and community (Gen. 2:23-24), even as the godhead experiences oneness within the Trinity.  Each had a direct relationship with God and they shared jointly the responsibilities of rearing children and having dominion over the created order (Gen. 1:26-28).  However, human oneness was shattered by the Fall.  The struggle for power and the desire to “rule over” another is part of the result of human sin.  Genesis 3:16 is a prediction of the effects of the Fall rather than a prescription of God’s ideal order.

 

However, God has acted in Christ to redeem the human race, and to offer to all people the opportunity to be part of the New Community, His church.  It is God’s intention for His children to experience the oneness that exists between the Father and the Son (John 17:11, 20-23).  This means that old divisions and hierarchies between genders and races are not to be tolerated in the church, where all are “one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

 

In formation of the church at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on women and men alike, as had been predicted long before the coming of Christ (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:18).  In the New Testament, women as well as men exercise prophetic and priestly functions (Acts 2:17-18, 1 Cor 11:4-5, I Peter 2:9-10).  Further, the Spirit bestows gifts on all members of the New Community sovereignly, without giving anyone preferential treatment based on gender (Acts 2:1-21, I Cor 12:7,11).  Every believer is to offer her or his gifts for the benefit of the Body of Christ (Rom 12:4-8, I Peter 4:10-11).  To prevent believers from exercising their spiritual gifts is to quench the work of the Spirit.

 

In all attempts to understand and put into practice appropriate relationship between genders in the body of Christ, our sole authority is the will of God as expressed in Scripture.  A few isolated scriptural texts appear to restrict the full ministry freedom of women.  The interpretation of those passages must take into account their relation to the broader teaching of Scripture and their specific contexts.  We believe that, when the Bible is interpreted comprehensively, it teaches the full equality of men and women in status, giftedness, and opportunity for ministry.

 

Therefore, in our attempts to live together as a biblically functioning community, we are committed to the following values:

 

Ø  To provide opportunity for ministry based on giftedness and character, without regard to gender.

Ø  To pursue the kind of purity and loyalty in relationships between genders that led New Testament writers to describe them in terms of family: “brother and sisters.”

Ø  To use sensitivity in language that reflect the honor and value God desires for maleness and femaleness and to encourage the use of translations of Scripture that accurately portray God’s will that His church be an inclusive community.

Ø  To be intentional where appropriate in overcoming sexist elements of our culture and to offer encouragement to women in areas where their giftedness has been traditionally discouraged.

Ø  To teach and model these values to members of our community, to the church, and to the world at large.

 

i like to commune

with the boy who was

the one who haunts

old streets and alleys

lost in mind’s overgrown fields

he was stronger then I

walked through fire and hell

with a smile for every stream

and a barefoot for every puddle

 

I like to commune

with the boy who was

faint sad shade

yesterday’s ghost

poisoned by time

corrupted innocence

but still there

pale glow

hope wrapped in a shredded soul

stronger then I still

loving through it all

 

and I…

 

I like to commune

with the boy who was

that maybe the man who is

would once more be

 

A few weeks back I wrote about peeking into the window of a yet-to-be-opened art gallery in Morden called Posers. Well today as I was waiting for my pizza to be ready at Marathon I looked across the street and noticed Posers was open so I wandered in for a few minutes to have a look around. Wow. They have a very cool selection of art the covers a number of genres, styles and mediums.

 

The have some Claude Theberge, a Quebec artist who we have collected over the years. They have a number of different atists I am curious about. I hope they do well and I think if you get a chance you should visit and chek out the selection of art and cards and other items.

 

They have a basic website you can check out here: www.posersgallery.com

 

There’s a print called Exit Scene here http://posersgallery.com/Exit%20Scene%20by%20Spyroteknik.jpg which I really like and if you wanted to by it for me that would be perfectly fine!  🙂

 

 

Death walked in unexpected one day
Tore away life
Tore away love
Tore away light
left behind coal black cloak
Of broken stones and glass
His ice-handled scythe of
Cold steel and dreamless sleep
And in my daze
I picked them up
I put them on
I am frozen-heart
I am joy killer
I am dark night
I am soul shredder
I am death

 

I desire to be empty. More and more I wish I could let go of things. To unblur the ever active mind, to pray with focus and clarity. I wish I could be nothing and empty myself so that God could fill me wholly and completely. I am filled mostly with myself. I would rather have no motives, no agenda, no ego, no arrogance, and a quiet empty mind. This  is what I pray for these days…to be emptied. The empty man. Anthrope kene.

 

Lord empty me that I might be filled with you and you alone.

 

 

Anthrope Kene

———————–

 

Who is the empty man

that is still in the day

blessed clarity

unburdened

like a new clay pot

ready to be filled

this empty man

this hollow man

who stands in the wind

while the truth echoes

mournfully through

his soul

who is the hollow man

 

snakebite

             fast

                   no

                      pain

                           hypodermic

                                            slick

                                                 funny

                                                        just

                                                            slow

                                                                  soft

                                                                       paralysis

                                                                                   gray

                                                                                         lost

                                                                                              sleep

                                                                                                     with

                                                                                                          gray

                                                                                                           lost

                                                                                                      dreams

                                                                                                              of

                                                                                                     paradise

                                                                                                            and

                                                                                                             the

                                                                                                    forgotten

                                                                                                    footsteps

                                                                                                               of

                                                                                                            God

 

from the basement

i hear voices

sometimes

in the pipes

a ways a ways off

echoey copper notes

above the din and disonance

like lost tin wings

beating the summer eve’s breeze

forgotten hallelujahs

fallen to the dark

fallen to the dank

settle on my brow

an underground halo

for an underground king

with a castaway shadow

not even Pandemonium to rule

just shades of the far off realm

a heaven’s hope away

a wandering worship away

proving

any light in shadow

is blazing sun

my glorious glow