Art Speaks When Words Cannot.

Over the past week I have been fortunate to connect with some of the most brilliant and artistic minds, that have helped shape me into who I am.

I think part of being an artist is searching for what art is and does.

Both Erwin McManus and Rob Bell have shown me that

   art speaks 
         when words 
                  cannot.

Peace,
Ross

Why Books? (Pan de Libros)

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Peace,
Ross

Stop. Collaborate. And Listen.

I love collaboration.
I love to learn new things.
I love new perspective.
I love challenges.

And for the next couple weeks I'm surrounded by some really brilliant folks, doing amazing things in the world.  I'm speaking into their lives, and they're speaking into mine.  I look forward to coming back with new insights, dreams, and possibilities.  And in the wise words of Vanilla Ice, I am doing just that.

Ok, back to listening...

Peace,
Ross

&

This morning, I had an intriguing conversation about how we view the world.  The movement of the conversation took us from seeing it, not as a world of VERSUS, but instead of AND.

Read this list:

Right / Left

Black / White

Young / Old

Gay / Straight

Man / Woman

Sacred / Secular

Do you gravitate towards seeing/comparing them as VERSUS, or AND?

Try for the next couple of days to see things as AND.  I hope that as you experience this, you'll see the world as much more connected and beautiful.

Peace,
Ross

Rediscovering Wonder (NEW Rob Bell Video)

Rob Bell surfaced from LA, as he's writing an upcoming television series, to release this brand new (and quite refreshing) video.  Enjoy!



Peace,
Ross

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild is an upcoming film (hopefully coming to a city and theatre near you), that portrays a humanity and creation of connectedness.  The film shows that there's an underlying spirituality to everything that connects us all - land, water, animals, men, and women.  The film looks beautiful and adds an element of childlike fantasy, that I hope will resonate with many!  Check it out...



Peace,
Ross

Finding Creativity (the art of BMX)

In my constant pursuit of all things creative, I came across this today.  Its an amazing video of someone that's uniquely balanced, artistic, fluid, and quite incredible.

Enjoy!


Alain Massabova - 40 years in Paris from ART BMX MAGAZINE on Vimeo.


Peace,
Ross

Weekend in Photos

This past weekend was great!  Thursday night I played violin at the Chevy Music Showcase with Geoff Koch and Beth Bombara - such a cool event! 

Friday night was spent downtown Ferguson, playing their summer concert series.  THANKS to everyone that came out!!!

Saturday night, I took Kate out to an excellent Syrian restaurant (Ranoush) on the loop.  After that we headed over to the Tivoli to see Take This Waltz.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Peace,
Ross

Chocolate High

What can I say, other than I'm stoked that Cora is eager to learn and play the violin!  I love that she enjoys the arts as much (if not more) than I do.  I can't wait to see where she goes with it all...

Peace,
Ross

p.s. "Chocolate high" refers to properly holding the violin up...& now you know.

Divinely Inspired VS. Divinely Dictated

Let's debate…what do you say?

It's in a political season that I often hear people use the Bible in most fascinating ways.  In these seasons, it seems we dust off the good book and use blanket statements like, "the Bible is my owners manual," or "it's the only rulebook," or "the Bible contains all of the rules for life."  Of course, these are blanket statements, but hopefully you'll get the point.  When we can use the Bible to our advantage, we make things out to be black and white, that may or may not actually be.

Now comes the rub…here's 2 questions:

#1 - Is the Bible divinely inspired?

next question…

#2 - Is the Bible divinely dictated?

I think far more people are comfortable with a yes to question #1 than #2.  (of course, I don't assume it's all about me finding my own comfort, as it is me finding truth)

The more and more I read it, I am drawn to the notion that the Bible should be read and understood as an unfolding, revelation from God.

Seeing it this way, says "yes, it is divinely inspired, but requires a heart and mind of revelation to seek its truth."

In doing this it is possible to come to the conclusion that I agree with #1, but not #2.  It is possible to assume that just because God inspires something, doesn't mean that it's dictated by divine means.  After all, there's a tremendous amount of contextualization and politicization at play.

It also makes me wonder what God is continuing to reveal?
Revelatory language makes the reader ask, "what's next?"  It assumes movement and progression.  It looks at things, revealed in the OT (through dictation) differently than things revealed by God in the flesh of the NT.

And when I read it this way, it collects far less dust!

I hope you'll chime in!

Peace,
Ross

That's Just The Way It Is...

Over the past couple of weeks, I've heard this phrase over and over, "that's just the way it is."  Every single time, it's made me cringe.  There's so much defeat in that statement! 

In my opinion, "that's just the way it is" is a sentence of repetition, status quo, and death.  Instead, I see things as "the way it could be."  "The way it could be" is full of hope, renewal, redemption, and future.

This morning I came across an incredible video of a guy (Knucklehead), who was stuck in a life of "that's just the way it is," but instead, chose to live a life of "the way it could be."  His life is a victory dance!  Instead of letting life happen to him, he made it.

Enjoy!


Knucklehead - Director's Cut from Greg Brunkalla on Vimeo.


Peace,
Ross

Higgs-Boson

If you're interested in this whole "God particle" discussion, but aren't quite sure what it's all about, check this very cool video out!


Dark Matters from PHD Comics on Vimeo.


Peace,
Ross

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

The Declaration of Independence lists "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as inalienable rights, which are believed to be basic human rights endowed by the Creator.

This is no doubt revolutionary.  And I love that our forefathers had the vision to include them.  There are very few democracies that include such rights.

But like most things, I decided (given the proximity of celebrating these rights) I would question them for sake of some great discussion…

Life, I get it.  Without life, everything else crumbles.
 
Liberty comes from the Latin word libertas, which means  “unbounded, unrestricted or released from constraint.”  This one is more ambiguous, but I get it.

The document seems to be moving somewhere.  Life leads to liberty, and liberty to the pursuit of happiness.

Now comes the tricky one I'd really like to discuss: the pursuit of happiness.

The pursuit of happiness can mean vastly different things to vastly different people.  And whereas it is surely a good idea to build a nation upon, the forefathers went a step further to deem it an unalienable right endowed by the Creator. 

Now I don't want to make this into a theological discussion as to whether it's God's goal to bring us happiness, or even the pursuit of said happiness.  Rather, I'd like to discuss the unquenchable and dangerous slope "happiness" can be in a consumer culture.

I believe that more than anything, America is a consumer culture.  We consume everything from products to entertainment, faith to resources, and even relationships.  It is the nature of our beast.

The danger of happiness being a basic right in a consumer culture is that what brings me happiness today, tomorrow can fade, and I will forever be in pursuit of the newest, shiniest, and best.  The Jones' will always have more, and will feed my need to pursue more and more.

I can imagine a time when the promise of life and liberty brought happiness, but I fear that day has long passed.  Even the provision of "daily bread" seems to be less than adequate for one's happiness to be quenched today; because now, I have the need to amass a storehouse of future daily bread's, should mine run out.

What do you think of these unalienable rights?
How does the pursuit of happiness affect you as a basic human right endowed by the Creator?

Peace,
Ross

Weekend Concerts

This past weekend, the girlies and I trek'd down to Bennett Springs.  I played 2 shows (Fri & Sat night).  Fri was inside, no worries, but it was 105 when I took the stage (outside) on Saturday night, but the ampitheatre and crowd were amazing!  Thanks to everyone that came out, stuck it out through the heat, and enjoyed the show!

I also had a moment of honest reflection...if you were to ask me, I wouldn't say I was a-jam band...but I played a 14-song set for a little over 3 hours.  So, I think I might be a jam-band...

Peace,
Ross