notes from the land under a perfect sun
I am a husband, father, writer, artist, musician and Christian. I reside in my hometown San Diego, CA. I am co-founder of the Ecclesia Collective, an instigator behind Make Something Day, part of an intentional/missional community affectionately called, Hawthorn House, a Fuller Seminary student and am employed by First Presbyterian Church of San Diego.
This is my personal blog, which is licensed under a noncommercial Creative Commons License.
All opinions are my own. Don't blame anyone else who associates with me.
My resume can be viewed here.
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San Diego
ghost town
I addition to what I posted earlier, here's a few other pieces we found today...
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south park street art
I don't know who this is, but there is a great street artist in South Park doing mostly wire art. I've documented some of their stuff in the past here, here, here and Jon Hall has some here as well. I had some photos of paint/ink wall pieces but have lost them somehow. Brooke took these photos earlier today while we went on a family walk.
UPDATE: The artist is Spenser Little and more of his work can be found at DirtyClean.net. Now, I'm not sure the ink pieces are his but they certainly look like his style and I found them close to the wire pieces.
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best songs about california
For a brief moment, our Hawthornista in diaspora, Gregor was in town before the holidays and his eventual return to Mexico City. While in town, we celebrated his return at Hamilton's–the best (un)kept secret in South Park. Afterward, several of us were hanging out on the back patio and Brad asked what the best songs about California were. I said that Springsteen's "Balboa Park" off of The Ghost of Tom Joad had to be at the top of the list. Not just California, but city and location-within-a-California-city-specific! I'm good. That good.I'm not a huge fan of the Boss but this song speaks so strongly of the era when I first became most familiar with downtown San Diego. So, it's nostalgic for me, even if it is a bit of a dark song. So, bring it on! What are your favorite songs about, or at least referencing California in some way?Listen to "Balboa Park" here.
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la posada recap
via flickr.com
My friend, Emily, took photos at La Posada Sin Frontera today. It was quite a somber celebration in many ways–though I'm deeply grateful to all of those that put so much effort into organizing it. The road was closed, as it has been in some years past due to rain, which kept some folks away. And only 25 people were allowed into the monument area at a time, at 30 minute slots. Only two groups were allowed total. It felt more like prison visitation than the festive celebration it has been in previous years. Still, we celebrated our common life in Christ and this region and it was beautiful for that alone.
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border crossing as biblical
via keeponcrossin.comReading from Isaiah 19.18-25 this morning, and was struck by v. 23-35 specifically:
"At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing in the earth. The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, 'Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, Israel!'"
This morning, I'm asking myself what this means for one living on the border such as I do? The passage–which is today's Advent reading–says that these people from various place are all God's people. The people of different nations pass back and forth across their borders to worship God together. Border crossing is more complicated in my world. Without proper documents, it is illegal. But should not the trade agreements such as NAFTA–enforced on one nation by another, that throw the enforced nation into deeper property poverty–be considered illegal as well? At least inhumane. There is within in this passage an assumption that all people have worth before God. This is not the same assumption where I live. Some people have more worth than others.
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Food Stamp Use Soars and Stigma Fades - NYTimes.com
MARTINSVILLE, Ohio — With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.
via nytimes.com
San Diego has one of the highest number of eligible food stamp recipients that do NOT use it or know how to. From my understanding, it's a federal program. So we either use it or lose it. It doesn't directly effect our budget (a whole other terrible ball of wax). What can people of faith in San Diego do about this? Seems there are two obvious approaches (among others): 1) work at advocating and education for those who can use it and 2) encourage our officials to adjust approval and distribution (some have said that it feels more like a police raid when getting approved for food stamps in San Diego).
This isn't to say that there aren't some wonderful things happening around food distribution to the needy in San Diego. Food stamp eligibility at farmer's markets, the new 2 acre farm in City Heights, the various churches and non profits working at getting food to those in need, etc. are to be praised.
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