Compassion Philippines

I think this video speaks for itself.

Now, click on the link to the right and sponsor a child.

Please.

Amen. Come.

What are you looking at?

Liza’s Poem

So, my lovely wife, Liza, responded to my last post with her own version of This Is Just To Say.  I liked it so much, I thought it deserved it’s own post.  Of course I couldn’t resist leaving my own reply.

Liza’s Poem

This is just to say
forgive me for yelling at you
for singing over the contestants
during American Idol.

It was stupid
It was ridiculous
and I’m sorry.

It’s just you were really
frustrating me and
you know it’s my favorite show!

My Reply

I know
I may
Not sing
That Well

But who
Can Resist
Neil Diamond
I certainly can’t

So when
The song
Overtakes me
Just Go with it

Don’t hate
The Playa
Hate
The Game

Besides
We both know
That American Idol
Kinda sucks

This Is Just To Say

There’s a lot to write about, but I’ll save it in order to make room for something light and fun.

Last week’s (radio) episode of This American Life was entitled “Mistakes Were Made.” Basically it was about people who apologize without really apologizing at all. For those of you unfamiliar with TAL (you can check the podcast out on iTunes), basically what they do is choose a theme and then tell stories that are somehow about that theme.

So, in this particular episode, host Ira Glass began by reading an aplogy sent by Congressman Geoff Davis (R-KY) to Presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) after the former made remarks in a press conference recently about the latter saying, “that boy doesn’t need to have his finger on the button.” In the letter, Congressman Davis seems to be sincerely apologetic, and though it’s a formal lettter, wants to clearly and personally convey this to Senator Obama. After reading the letter, Glass contrasted it with recent “apologies” given by Senator Obama and his rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) ,concerning statements about supposedly bitter Americans clinging to guns and religion and incorrect reccollections about supposed sniper fire, respectively.

After walking his audience through this brief but timely introduction, Glass then introduced the two acts of the program. Act One was the majority of the show and was primarily about the early days of Cryonics. It was devestating, heartbreaking, and extremely interesting all at the same time. Act Two was much shorter by comparison, but is the one that really struck me.

This act was about a poem entitled This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams. The text of this poem is below:

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

I won’t do a lot of literary analysis here, but you can probalby see rather easily how this poem fit in with the theme of the show. Evidently, elementary school teachers use this poem regularly to help teach poetry to their students and often have them write a version of their own. In fact, a lot of people do this. If you google “this is just to say parody,” you can find all kinds of them. In fact, TAL had many of it regular contributers offer some of their own.

Well, this sounded great to me. I’m always on the lookout for writing exercises that are really different from what I’m used to and that can help challenge my creative impulses (and, if I’m honest, procrastinate working on what I need to be doing). So, I decided to give it a shot and share it with you. Below you’ll find some of my own variations. Enjoy!

——————–

This is Just to Say

1.
Today
Is the day
I said I
Would have it done

Of course
It’s not
Surprise
Surprise!

But it
Will be
Soon
I promise

2.
I told
Your secret
To everyone
Oops

I guess
That means
I can’t
Be trusted

But what
You don’t know
Can’t
Hurt you

3.
“I love you”
Meant “I want you”
“Trust me”
Meant “Take me”

But you know
What they say
“It takes two
To tango”

So why
Do you
Ignore
Me now

4.
I’m not
What you want
I’m not
What I could be

So?
You just
Need to
Get over it

How can I
Be anything
Other than
Me

5.
I didn’t
Do it
‘Cause I didn’t
Want to

It is
Really
Just that
Simple

Why not
Just
Accept
It

6.
I deleted
Your show
So I could
TiVo mine

I just
Couldn’t
Live
Without it

Yours was
Pretty
Crappy
Anyway

Plus they’ll
Probably
Rerun it
Again soon

7.
I know
I told you
I would
Have it done

But you
Know me well
How I like
To put things off

So you
Should have known
It would be
A little late

8.
We’ve made
A few deals
In our
Time together

If you
Do this
Then I’ll
Do that

Of course
I fail
Even though
You don’t

But that’s
To be
Expected
Right?

9.
I am
The one
Who swiped
Your change

I was
Thirsty
And bought
A Coke

This was
Not the
First time
Either

Sorry
But I
Couldn’t
Resist

10.
I know
I’ve been
Distant
And rude

But you
Have been
Driving me
Crazy

So selfish
So needy
So passive
Aggressive

You can’t
Really blame
Me then
Can you

But I’m
Sorry
If I hurt
Your feelings

You really
Shouldn’t
Be so
Sensitive

——————–

Now, why don’t you give it a shot?

What I Learned at GMA Week

First of all, thanks to everyone who responded to my last post. The comments were way more positive, encouraging, humbling, and flattering than I expected.

Now, on to what I’ve been up to the past few days…

A while ago Roger had invited me to accompany him to GMA week. This wasn’t really the best time for me. We’re super-busy getting ready for camp, and I’m really behind in some things. So, the night before we left, I was just dreading it. But I didn’t want to back out, and now I’m actually kinda glad I went. It was quite an experience.

For those of you who don’t know, GMA stands for “Gospel Music Association.” What we’re talking about here is the Christian music industry. GMA week culminates in the Dove awards, which were tonight and which we didn’t attend. Throughtout the week there are tons of industry people everywhere doing all kinds of stuff. One thing is that agencies and labels hosts various showcases of their acts so that promoters and radio stations can see them and then book them or play their music. We’re there to look for new, up-and-coming worship guys as well as people that would be good for our concert slots. It was tiring, loud and a bit overwhelming, but good too. In case you didn’t know, I was once in a Christian rock band myself (long live Public Announcement). So, I could really relate to everyone. Plus, I got to see Michael Kelley, and that’s always a highlight for me.

So… now… without further ado…

THE 21 THINGS I LEARNED AT GMA WEEK

1. The look for 2008 is… VESTS! – Seriously, I can’t tell you how many people had on vests. Like, suit vests. Girls. Guys. Young. Old. Everyone had them on. It was ridiculous. It’s like there was a meeting a few weeks ago where all of the bands and “inside” industry people got together, and a spokesman asked of the group, “what trend should we embrace this week?” Some, young emo kid in the back said, “let’s do vests.” A bleach blond rocker chick exclaimed, “like, suit vests! I love those!” Then the spokesman inquired, “so, we’re decided then?” Everyone nodded their heads and then dispersed to all go purchase their vests in either black or shades of grey. The most absurd was when we walked around a corner to see the one and only Louie Giglio standing there in… you guessed it… a vest.

2. Everyone is in a band (or at least thinks they are) – You can tell this is true by the way that everyone dresses, acts, and talks. In addition to the vests, most people share a generally trendy look to the point where it sometimes becomes indistinguishable to tell who is in a band, who is a tech, who is a friend of the band, who is a groupie, who is a Christian celebrity gossip blogger (I realize that’s an oxymoron), and who just happened to wander in off the street but because they’re from Nashville, they just happen to look like they might be in a band. People who aren’t in a band can also act and talk like they are because they want everyone to know how important they are (even if they’re not).

3. Only one dude in each band really knows what’s going on – Even if a band is huge and has a top notch agent, manager, and label handling all the details for them, there is one member who took care of all those details back in the day. This is the member of the band who actually know what’s going on, like what venue they are playing, what time is sound check, who are the important contacts, what dates and shows they have coming up and where the car, van or bus is parked. This dude is never the lead and is rarely a drummer.

4. Few people actually “get it” – I understand that defining “it” is really difficult. I’m not even necessarily claiming to get “it” myself. However, I am claiming that I think I’m aware enough to realize when people don’t get “it.” This is based much more on feeling than anything else, and maybe it’s a bit judgmental. So, you can ignore this one if you want. Still, I stand by my assertion. The majority (maybe not a large majority, but a majority nonetheless) of people at GMA week don’t get “it.”

5. It’s extremely difficult to maintain a balanced perspective on things – Most people at GMA (seriously, I would say, like, 98.3%) fall into one of two categories. The first group consists of those who can’t get enough of it. They love networking, talking a big game, selling themselves, looking and acting awesome, rewarding themselves and their peers, having lobby meetings, and eating overpriced hotel food. The second group is made up of those who are completely cynical and jaded about everything that defines the first group. The other 1.7% of people somehow, in the words of Johnny Cash, walk the line. I’ll let you discern from this post which group I happen to belong to.

6. If you want to be a GMA artist, you should consider auditioning for American Idol – Seriously, American Idol is evidently a great source of talent for the Christian music industry. You don’t even really have to get that far. Just a golden ticket to Hollywood pretty much solidifies your chances of being a part of a showcase. For examples of this phenomena see Mandisa, George Huff, Phil Stacey, Chris Sligh, Brooke Barretsmith and others.

7. Every band, regardless of genre and concert style, is actually a worship band – You see, they have to be. The Christian music industry is an oversaturated market. Plus, it’s like a Hydra. For every band that calls it quits, there’s two more to take its place. There’s only so many song slots on a radio station’s playlist and available concert dates, venues, and interest. However, there is a huge demand for awesome worship leaders. So, in order to make ends meet, Fireflight, Group 1 Crew, The Fisk Family Singers, T-Bone, Trin-I-tee 5:7, Pure NRG, and even classics like Geoff Moore all have to learn Chris Tomlin songs.

8. Most Christian bands really do sound the same – Well, they at least sound relatively the same. What sound is this? Go back in time three years and listen to a half hour of any Top 40 pop/rock station and you’ll have a pretty good idea.

9. Just because it’s Nashville doesn’t mean that there aren’t technical difficulties – Because there are. Pretty much every showcase I attended experienced some kind of technical problems. This could be mics not working, signals being crossed, mics not being turned on, monitor mixes getting mixed up, lighting cues being off, cords coming unplugged, or random acts of feedback. For a further example, see #12. The list could go on. In fact, the production quality overall really isn’t that impressive. Makes you feel like maybe you’re not doing that bad of a job. You would think this wouldn’t be the case in Nashville. At least I would. I (and you) would be wrong.

10. Everyone has a cause, and if they don’t, a cause is courting them for their representation and advocacy – Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Discuss.

11. If a lead thinks they personally have a cool name, then they’ll probably use it as their band name too – Sure, having names like The Michael Gungor Band, The Phil Colman Trio or the Jonas Brothers isn’t that new and really isn’t what I’m talking about. For examples of this principle see Leeland, Chasen, Ruth, Fee, etc. Aaron, I wonder if I’ll ever see Ivey some years in the future. Sorry, Bush, Gavin Rossdale took your name already.

12. At most showcases the lighting design consists of two monkeys randomly pushing buttons – At least I think that’s what was going on back there.

13. The Christian music industry is self-replicating – Here’s what I mean. You start with a band. They give it a go for a number of years, but eventually, they move on. Some of them become agents. Some become managers. Some become road managers. Some work for labels. Some go to work in a church. All end up encouraging younger dudes to become a band and give it a go. The cycle continues.

14. Everyone wants you to know that, even though they want you to love them, cheer them, book them, buy their album, and generally recognize their greatness, it’s really all about Jesus – They make sure to tell you this, just so you know. If you’re in a showcase with 19 acts, you’ll be reassured of this 19 times. If it’s a worship band now wanting to be a concert act, you might hear it more than that. After all, they want you to know they remember their roots. Are they genuine? I don’t know. I think that they think they are. I like to think that most are. I fear that more than I would like aren’t.

15. Princess Rock is an insult to Christian girls everywhere – I don’t know if “Princess Rock” is an actual genre or if I just made it up. What I’m using it to refer to is a sub-genre of Christian pop/rock made up entirely of female (or at least female-fronted) bands whose schtick is that they are girls. This means that they often talk about things like clothes, boys, chocolate, hair, and their hips. They giggle a lot and act like they don’t possess a great deal of intelligence. Obviously, this isn’t representative of all Christian acts that are female, but there’s enough to make it a problem. These bands often use some synonym for “female” in their name, like Barlowgirl or Superchick. Many of them can be found on the Revolve Tour. Get over it!

16. The Downtown Nashville Hilton charges too much for food – I know that it cost Roger $5 to get an 8 oz. Coke. We heard that some of the agencies were charged $25 for the lunches served at their showcases. Trust me. It wasn’t worth it. They can charge whatever they want, but what does it say that they (we) gladly paid it?

17. If you want to spice up your act a little bit add some unexpected instruments – Just in case you don’t know a typical band consists of some combination of the following: rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, drums and keyboard. Some “unexpected” instruments we saw used were organ, violin, slide whistle, toy piano, cowbell, mouth harp, miniature trap set, train whistle, melodica, and a television featuring a static channel.

18. There is a real life Zorro out there, and he’s a rock star and a Christian – Actually his name is Zoro. He’s a drummer and also known as the “Minister of Groove.” We noticed him at the Compassion dinner where Roger saw him and wondered aloud, “who’s the cat in the hat?” The next day we ran into him in the elevator (ironically, dressed the same as he was the night before; I’ve since learned that’s pretty much how he dresses all the time; see his myspace and you’ll know what I’m talking about). Roger struck up a brief conversation with him about Compassion and then introduced himself as “Roger Davis with Student Life.” He then replied, “hi, I’m Zoro.” That was it. He didn’t skip a beat.

19. Pretty much anyone can get their shot in the GMA – It seems “they” are so desperate for the next big thing, that they’ll give pretty much anyone a try. They’ll spend a little money, put their name out there, and see what happens. If nothing happens, then you can one day tell your grandkids (or the readers of your blog) that you were once in a band.

20. I’m thankful for all the people we get to work with (or have gotten to work with) – You guys aren’t perfect. You’ve got your own things going on. You aren’t always easy to work with. You can just as easily get caught up in all this stuff as anyone else. But, man you guys are great. So, thanks to Todd Agnew, Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, Spur 58, Unhindered, Billy and Cindy Foote, Stephen and Starr Smith, Brett and Emily Mills, Steve Fee, Kristian Stanfill, Stephen Miller, downhere, Rush of Fools, Jason Wallis, Michael John Clement, Matt Papa, Chris Orr, Joel Engle, Jeff Johnson, Chris White, Chuck Hooten, Jeremy Riddle, Aaron Keyes, Addison Road, Leeland, Desperation Band, Vicki Beeching, David Crowder* Band, and all the rest that have done stuff with us but that I don’t really know

21. Public Announcement should totally launch a comeback tour - Stay tuned for more information.

A Request

I’m working on something that might seem a bit narcissistic.  However, I’d like your help (yes, you… I’m talking to you).  I’m looking for simple, one-sentence statements of how people would describe me.  So, if you wouldn’t mind contributing, just leave it in the comments of this post.  It doesn’t have to be profound or really witty or even positive for that matter.  Just whatever you want to say.

Thanks.

Absurdity

So, we’re making this video where, for about two seconds, Taylor appears as a devil dressed as a Samurai. Ridiculous, I know. It’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be funny. So, hopefully we’ll get the humor right. If not, it may turn out to be one of those “why didn’t you tell me” videos.

I wanted to put a picture up of what Taylor looked like (I thought it was pretty cool; kudos to Travis, Hannah and Erin for making it happen), but it disturbed me a little bit. So, I made one that might make it a little happier.

Enjoy.

How Do You Feel?

Don’t know if you guys have ever seen this thing, but it’s pretty awesome. Click on the graphic below, and you’ll see what I mean. Just be prepared to be engrossed for a while.

The Blank Page

A Haiku

He stares at me like

I don’t know what I’m talking

about ’cause I don’t

The Warren Harding Error

Okay. Here’s the deal with the previous post that I had lost. This is something that I have found really interesting. It’s thought-provoking to me. I’m not trying to make any definitive statements. I just thought some of you might enjoy mulling over these questions too.

The initial one, as was the title of the last post, is this, “are we being duped?” Here’s why I ask.

Recently I picked up Blink by Malcolm Gladwell again. I like this guy. I hadn’t really read anything of his until I heard him speak at the Catalyst Conference a couple of years ago. I then went and bought his books, The Tipping Point and Blink.

For those of you who don’t know, let me give an extremely brief generalization of what this book is about. It is subtitled “The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” and is chiefly concerned with the many split-second decisions we make every day. Gladwell argues that these decisions are often just as good if not better than decisions we would make given tons of information and plenty of time to process that information. Blink is about bettering our ability to thin-slice (that’s what he calls making these split-second decisions) and trusting the decisions we arrive at by doing so. Really interesting stuff, huh?

Now, the only problem is that, obviously, sometimes our thin-slicing results in bad or wrong decisions. Gladwell knows this, as we all do. He even devotes a whole chapter to it. The title? “The Warren Harding Error: Why We Fall For Tall, Dark, and Handsome Men.”

Evidently, there was a chance meeting in 1899 at the Globe Hotel in Richwood, Ohio. There, two men were both getting their shoes shined. One was named Harry Daugherty. He was a lawyer and lobbyist from Columbus and was a major player in Ohio politics, a Machiavellian genius, actually. The other guy was Warren Harding. Harding was about to win his first election to the state Senate and up until then had simply been a small-town newspaper editor. So, here sits these two guys. They’ve just met. Daugherty really doesn’t know Harding at all. However, while he’s sitting there he can’t help but have one thought: wouldn’t that man make a great President?

What follows is what journalist Mark Sullivan wrote of what Daugherty saw in that moment:

Harding was worth looking at. He was at the time about 35 years old. His head, features, shoulders and torso had a size that attracted attention… an effect which in any male at any place would justify more than the term handsome – in later years, when he came to be known beyond his local world, the word “Roman” was occasionally used in descriptions of him… His suppleness, combined with his bigness of frame, and his large, wide-set rather glowing eyes, heavy black hair, and markedly bronze complexion gave him some of the handsomeness of an Indian. His courtesy… suggested genuine friendliness toward all mankind. His voice was noticeably resonant, masculine, warm… His manner as he bestowed a tip suggested generous good-nature, a wish to give pleasure, based on physical well-being and sincere kindliness of heart.

Sounds like a great guy, right? But a President? Is that all it takes? Daugherty seemed to think so. However, there were a couple of issues.

Harding really wasn’t all that intelligent. What he most enjoyed doing was playing poker and golf, drinking, and chasing women. As he rose through political offices he never once distinguished himself in any way. In fact, he was really vague and ambivalent on any of the issues of the time. His speeches were once described as “an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea.” Once he was elected to the U.S. Senate he was absent for debates on two of the biggest issues of the day: women’s suffrage and Prohibition. Really, the only reason he advanced in politics at all was because his wife pushed him to do so while Daugherty made it happen. That and he only became more distinguished looking the older he got.

In 1916, Daugherty arranged for Harding to speak at the Republican presidential convention. He knew that if people could just see him and hear his voice they would immediately recognize his worthiness for higher office. Daugherty actually convinced Harding, against his better judgment, to run for President in 1920. “Daugherty, ever since the two had met, had carried in the back of his mind the idea that Harding would make ‘a great President,’” Sullivan writes. “Sometimes, unconsciously, Daugherty expressed it, with more fidelity to exactness, ‘a great-looking President.” Going into that year’s convention, Harding was running sixth out of six candidates. However, the delegates couldn’t decide between the top two. So when the Republican big-wigs met in some back rooms to try to come up with someone they could all agree on, who should they turn to but Harding. So, Senator Harding became candidate Harding who, of course, went on to become President Warren G. Harding, the 29th to hold the office. He served two years before dying of a stroke. He’s actually widely regarded as one of our worst presidents.

So, the “Warren Harding Error” is what happens when our thin-slicing somehow gets interrupted and we make a quick decision without ever getting below the surface of the problem.

So, I’m sitting there reading this and two words are constantly running through my mind: Barack Obama. Now, there are a lot of dissimilarities between Harding and Obama. However, I couldn’t help but think that these two guys, separated by decades, also (might) have some things in common.

Let me pause to state the obvious. Senator Obama is not yet the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, but he could soon be. He could also win. He could end up serving two terms. He could end up going down in history as one of our greatest Presidents. He could, but he could not, as well. I don’t want to debate that here. Again, I just think this is really interesting.

So, I ask, “are we being duped,” because I wonder if some of us (or a whole lot of us) aren’t guilty of a Warren Harding error. Here’s why. There are a number of reasons why Obama is currently leading in many polls and could end up being the presidential candidate for the Democrats. There are a lot of very smart people (way smarter than me) who are much more astute at politics who seem to think he’s pretty qualified (but then, again, Daugherty kinda thought the same of Harding). Also, the current young generation of voters (of which, at 29, I am still one) aren’t a bunch of idiots or trend-meisters as some would like to believe. However, a large part of Obama’s appeal for us (yes, I would include myself) is that we look at him and think, “oh, man. This guy would be an awesome President.”

Why do we think this? Like I said, there could be any number of reasons. However, some that seem to be rather universal are as follows: He looks good. He speaks intelligently (which many of us find very refreshing after the past 7 or 8 years). He’s got a cool, sassy wife and great looking kids. He speaks in these sweeping, inspirational generalities about our future. And we love it. We lap it up like dogs.

This doesn’t mean we’re being duped. I’d like my President to be “awesome,” so long as there’s substance to back it up. And I’m not saying Obama doesn’t have that substance. What I am saying is that we’ve got to be aware and make sure that our decision making is based on what’s below the surface whether we discover that in a couple of seconds or after months of careful examination of the facts.

And this doesn’t just apply to Obama. He is the brunt of most of the accusations that he never really says anything of value about any real issues. But here’s the reality. All of the candidates have their stump speeches, and what we hear is some variation of those depending on the audience to whom it is being given. So, again, there is a responsibility we have to look beyond where we typically would (or, perhaps, should have to). There’s a real chance that this next election will be decided by “young” voters. I want to make it a good one.

So, one last time, before I finish, let me stress this is less about any of the particular candidates we currently have running. I’m the first to say that I haven’t done all of the homework I should about anyone, yet. I also get exhausted by the political conversations I usually hear in the crowd I’m around. My recent reading just, kinda, ignited a real drive in me to be better about this kind of thing.

So, there you go. Thoughts?