Thanksgiving

I tremble with gratitude

for my children and their children

who take pleasure in one another.

At our dinners together, the dead

enter and pass among us

in living love and in memory.

And so the young are taught.

-Wendell Berry

Can I Get A Witness?

I am in the midst of reading a beautiful memoir by Timothy B. Tyson titled Blood Done Sign My Name. It is a story about growing up in a segregated South as it was beginning to integrate. It is his story of being the son of a Methodist minister who chose to take the gospel seriously. One of the stories Tyson tells is of the time, in the late 60's, when his father, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., invited an African-American preacher, Dr. Samuel Proctor, to speak at their church. It is a story both heartbreaking and hopeful and, ultimately, heroic. The story wraps up this way:

My father's lay leader, a wholesale grocery salesman named Carl, had come into Daddy's study in the middle of the controversy about Dr. Proctor. He'd been crying too. It was that kind of year. When my father asked him why, he said, "I went to see one of my merchants this morning, and he said, 'Carl, you go up there to that church, don't you?' I said, 'Yeah, I go up there, I'm the lay leader.' And he said, 'Are you going to support your preacher having that nigger up there?' And I said, 'Yeah, I am going to support him.' And that merchant told me to get the hell out of his store and never to set foot in there again." Carl looked at my father and smiled through his tears. "Preacher," he said, "I've heard all my life about witnessing, but until this morning I didn't know a damn thing about it."

Praise God for those who choose to be a witness with their lives, especially when their livelihood is on the line. Praise God for leaders like Dr. King who inspire preachers like Vernon Tyson who train lay leaders like Carl. Praise God for those today who would choose to lose their livelihood rather than sell their soul.

Trade As One

Check out this video:

Then visit this site.

Thanks.

Top 20 Novels of the 2000s

Much like the Top 100 Albums of the 2000s, this list has some art, some science, and a bit of personal bias (though less bias than the albums list, I think). This is novels. I may give non-fiction a go before the year is out with theology possibly receiving its own separate list. Until then...

1. Gilead -Marilynne Robinson

2. The Corrections -Jonathan Franzen

3. Shadow Country -Peter Matthiessen

4. The Known World -Edward P. Jones

5. The Hakawati -Rabih Alameddine

6. Middlesex -Jeffrey Eugenides

7. Shadow of the Wind -Carlos Ruiz Zafon

8. The Road -Cormac McCarthy

9. Any Human Heart -William Boyd

10. Mortals -Norman Rush

11. The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay -Michael Chabon

12. A Fraction of the Whole -Steve Toltz

13. White Teeth -Zadie Smith

14. American Rust -Philipp Meyer

15. Cloud Atlas -David Mitchell

16. Snow -Orhan Pamuk

17. The Plot Against America -Philip Roth

18. What Is The What -Dave Eggers

19. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -Junot Diaz

20. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell -Susanna Clarke

The Spirit Vs. The Kick Drum

Got to see Derek Webb put on an excellent show at The Cactus Cafe last night. In honor of the event, I'd like to share Derek's take on what too many Christians come seeking as an alternative to a real encounter with the Trinity.

I don't want the Spirit, I want the kick drum
I don't want the Spirit, I want the kick drum
I know how it works, oh I'm not dumb
I don't want the Spirit, I want the kick drum

Like sex without love
Like peace without the dove
Like a crime scene without the blood
I don't want the Spirit, you know I want the kick drum

I don't want the Son, I want a jury of peers
I don't want the Son, I want a jury of peers
Mascara's gonna run when you see my tears
I don't want the Son, I want a jury of peers

Like lies without the truth
Like wine without the fruit
Like a skydive without the chute
I don't want the Son, you know I want a jury of peers
I don't want the Spirit, you know I want the kick drum

I don't want the Father, want a vending machine
I don't want the Father, want a vending machine
I know what I want if you know what I mean
I don't want the Father, want a vending machine

Like heaven without gates
Like hell without flames
Like life without pain
I don't want the Father, you know I want a vending machine
I don't want the Son, you know I want a jury of peers
I don't want the Spirit, you know I want the kick drum

Mary and Max

Top 100 Albums of the 2000s

So, there have been 10 years of the 2000s, and that seemed as good a time as any to compile a "best of" list. My criteria is a bit complicated to explain, since it is art as much as science, with a little bit of bias thrown in. 

First, the science. I decided that an album couldn't make the list unless it was an album I owned. When a guy owns 1000 albums, the 100 he recommends over a decade ought to be those he owns. Plus, it was a way to narrow things down. Don't own any albums by Outkast? They don't make the list. Doesn't mean "Hey Ya!" wasn't one of the truly great songs of the past 10 years (seriously). But it's the reason why Wilco's Sky Blue Sky makes the list while M.I.A.'s Kala does not. Kala is. arguably, a better album than Sky Blue Sky, but not one I ever felt compelled to own. It may seem an arbitrary mechanism, but I had to narrow the list somehow. Fortunately, I only own just over 100 albums from the past decade. So, stage one was easily compiled.

Second, the art. Albums need to work as albums to make them great albums, so I was listening to a lot of albums. That 100+ I just wrote about, specifically. Once I got it from 107 to 100 (an easy task), I had to begin ordering them from 1-100 (a not so easy task). Part of this went back to a psuedo-science (grouping those that were assuredly contenders for top 20 status apart from those who certainly weren't) and some were instinct (suddenly moving an album up 10 spots because it hangs together so well as an album). And sometimes, when two albums were neck and neck, art broke the tie. Funeral and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot were the fiercest competition over any one spot. Sky Blue Sky and Fate are equally good-but-not-great albums. But, in the end, having my favorite band be the alpha and omega of the list was too good to resist. Know that the number 1 and 2 spots basically tied for 1st, and the 96-100 spots could have gone in just about any order.

Then the bias. No popular music magazine is going to list U2 in its top 5 albums of the decade. I'm not sure it deserves to be there (it deserves the top 100 and even the top 50), but it is one of my favorite albums of the decade by one of my favorite bands of all-time. There was no way it wasn't going to be high on the list. Still, personal bias never overrode good taste. All That You Can't Leave Behind is an excellent album. Bruce Springsteen's Working On A Dream is a mediocre album. No amount of love for the Boss was going to get that album on the list.

After all that, this list is going to frustrate and confuse true music mavens. How can this list include as many Coldplay albums as it does Radiohead (see art and bias)? How can this list include two Radiohead albums and neither of them is Kid A (see science -and then ask the question; how does this guy not own Kid A?)? Leave your questions, comments, kudos and concerns. That's what lists like this are for. And let us know what you'd have added and left off. Hope you enjoy this. I know I did.

1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco)
2. Funeral (The Arcade Fire)
3. The Rising (Bruce Springsteen)
4. All That You Can’ Leave Behind (U2)
5. In Rainbows (Radiohead)
6. Turn On The Bright Lights (Interpol)
7. White Blood Cells (The White Stripes)
8. Heartbreaker (Ryan Adams)
9. Separation Sunday (The Hold Steady)
10. The Trials of Van Occupanther (Midlake)
11. The Meadowlands (The Wrens)
12. Dongs of Sevotion (Smog)
13. Sea Change (Beck)
14. American IV: The Man Comes Around (Johnny Cash)
15. Come On Feel The Illinoise (Sufjan Stevens)
16. Fleet Foxes (Fleet Foxes)
17. Chutes Too Narrow (The Shins)
18. Blood Money (Tom Waits)
19. When I Was Cruel (Elvis Costello)
20. Veckatimest (Grizzly Bear)
21. Is This Is? (The Strokes)
22. Kill The Moonlight (Spoon)
23. Apologies To The Queen Mary (Wolf Parade)
24. Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs (Andrew Bird)
25. Microcastle (Deerhunter)
26. Visiter (The Dodos)
27. Dear Science (TV On The Radio)
28. The Spiral Eyes (Peter Adams)
29. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (The Flaming Lips)
30. Boys and Girls In America (The Hold Steady)
31. Black Sheep Boy (Okkervil River)
32. Blue Boy (Ron Sexsmith)
33. Secondathallum (Andre Ethier)
34. Feast of Wire (Calexico)
35. The Tyranny of Distance (Ted Leo & the Pharmacists)
36. Are We Not Horses? (Rock Plaza Central)
37. Post-War (M. Ward)
38. Her Majesty The Decemberists (The Decemberists)
39. For Emma, Forever Ago (Bon Iver)
40. Album (Girls)
41. Neon Golden (The Notwist)
42. Hail To The Thief (Radiohead)
43. A Rush of Blood To The Head (Coldplay)
44. Everything All The Time (Band of Horses)
45. Return To Cookie Mountain (TV On The Radio)
46. Alice (Tom Waits)
47. Bright Flight (Silver Jews)
48. I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (Bright Eyes)
49. Seven Swans (Sufjan Stevens)
50. Our Endless Numbered Days (Iron & Wine)
51. Give Up (The Postal Service)

52. Ola Podrida (Ola Podrida)
53. The Life Pursuit (Belle & Sebastian)
54. Lie Down In The Light (Bonnie “Prince” Billy)
55. Ancient Melodies of the Future (Built To Spill)
56. Cryptograms (Deerhunter)
57. Yellow House (Grizzly Bear)
58. Neon Bible (The Arcade Fire)
59. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Spoon)
60. Almost Killed Me (The Hold Steady)
61. Shine A Light (The Constantines)
62. The Crane Wife (The Decemberists)
63. Oh, Inverted World (The Shins)
64. The Evens (The Evens)
65. Rook (Shearwater)
66. Hearts of Oak (Ted Leo & the Pharmacists)
67. Tanglewood Numbers (Silver Jews)
68. Blacklisted (Neko Case)
69. Micah P. Hinson and the Gospel of Progress (Micah P. Hinson)
70. Aw Come Aw Wry (Phosphorescent)

71. Ohio (Over The Rhine)
72. Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See (Okkervil River)
73. Control (Pedro the Lion)
74. Winged Life (Shearwater)
75. The Devil, You + Me (The Notwist)
76. Gimme Fiction (Spoon)
77. Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Belle & Sebastian)
78. Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (TV On The Radio)
79. A River Ain’t Too Much To Love (Smog)
80. Picaresque (The Decemberists)
81. Tournament of Hearts (The Constantines)
82. Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (Neko Case)
83. Micah P. Hinson and the Opera Circuit (Micah P. Hinson)
84. The Letting Go (Bonnie “Prince” Billy)
85. The Creek Drank The Cradle (Iron & Wine)
86. Figure 8 (Elliott Smith)

87. 1000 Kisses (Patty Griffin)
88. Fewer Moving Parts (David Bazan)
89. Retriever (Ron Sexsmith)
90. Soviet Kitsch (Regina Spektor)
91. Parachutes (Coldplay)
92. Rockin’ The Suburbs (Ben Folds)
93. Low Pining (Monahans)
94. Elephant (The White Stripes)

95. She Must and Shall Go Free (Derek Webb)

96. I Want To Go Where Things Are Beautiful (Nimrod Workman)
97. We All Belong (Dr. Dog)
98. Meaningless (Jon Brion)
99. I (The Magnetic Fields)

100. Satellite Rides (Old 97's)