Headed south this past weekend with a friend to enjoy a break from the everyday mundane obligations of life. Stayed in a cabin built by the record breaking rock climber Hans Florines. It’s nestled in Muir Valley in Red River Gorge.
February turned Springlike here in Kentucky and we wandered out into nature to breathe the fresh mountain air and enjoy the found wonders.
Nature is visually tactile and unexpected. The softness and texture play off one another well.
The dampness, the smell of rich earth crumbling down over the leaves and the soft furriness of the moss pads growing through the decaying leaves is a tiny microcosm of solitude. The random complementary colors of green and red against each other was an especially enjoyable treat to behold.
Will be leaving for Florida soon. Traveling down to see first hand the devastation of Ian. I had a small place right in the eye of the storm but miraculously, it suffered little damage. Lost the Jeep, but that’s a small price to pay compared to what many lost, including loved ones. My father will be on my mind, he loved the place dearly. I miss him.
Did you notice the tiny red seed to the right of the golden rock? It’s as if they are aware of each other’s presence yet both seemingly frozen within a sea of green waves clapping between them. Maybe they’ll make their way to each other one day.
And maybe they won’t.
This fragile and spindly root is clinging tenaciously to a shattered piece of wood. There is a delightful airiness to its tiny root system. It’s not going to give up.
Sometimes the darker places give us a cool moment to be introspective and peaceful. A respite from all the clatter of daily life.
Until next time, all you beautiful people, go say hello to nature and free your soul for a time~
The dawn of 2023 is upon us, all the inhabitants of the earth. Something new is riding on the air, an anointing to shift all things. God has been listening, and I sense He is going to show up like the still small voice after the raging storm. The world isn’t going to notice at first, they can’t discern the language spoken between Christ and His Bride. He’s nudging her to awaken from her slumber and it’s going to be an interesting year prophetically.
The power of music, the joy and expression of song. Let’s take a moment to admire the marvelous talents and gifts given only to humans. I love the playfulness here. He’s not afraid of the note, the score or the melody. He inspired me today. It’s my kind of happy introvert song too: leave me alone for a moment, come see me later if you want to, and know that I need you either way, darling…
“All At Sea” performed by Jacob Collier (live at Cambridge)
The Process of Unearthing
Rummaging through the art room I dug out the digital piano. (I told you I was inspired.) I found it nice and preserved. Back in 2019 I had the privilege of taking piano lessons. I learned a great deal. Then came notice of grand jury duty, every weekday eight hours a day for the entire month of December. That beast ate my schedule. I had to drop the lessons….then along came 2020 and suffice it to say, the pursuit was abandoned.
Finding a place for it will require moving out other things, a long chain-reaction process of buried parts of myself it would seem.
Random person: What do you do for a living?
Me: I’m an archeologist.
RP: Oh wow, where’s the excavation site?
Me: My life.
RP: …
Winter is a great season to clear things out and get organized during the cold winter months. I love snowy days, everything is quiet and peaceful. It’s symbolic of the dormant phase of nature where things die off, energy is conserved and I discard what I don’t need in order to prepare for the spring growth. April babies find great joy in this process. We just tend to get distracted during the growing phase and wander off somewhere else…
Looking onward into 2023 when something is enriching to the soul, when we are curious about it and we have the opportunity to explore it, then why not take it? We need to be less perfectionistic and more exploratory; have some fun, you know? Who knows how far we can go in our calling if we allow ourselves the freedom to play and have fun~
Might as well find out. Time is short.
Putting Those Things Behind Us and Pressing Forward into the New Day
2022 will soon come to a close. Let’s take the opportunity to ‘close out’ a few other things with it, shutting the door behind us as it goes. The defeats and losses can be laid to rest satisfactorily. Perhaps in the death of those seeds, life will spring up.
“Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
Present your heart to God and watch Him anoint you with the fire of the Holy Spirit. The world will be changed, even if it’s quiet and simple in the beginning. Making a positive change in one person’s life changes everything for them for the rest of their life. It’s not a small thing.
“No eye has seen, and no ear has heard, nor has entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
I hope this has encouraged you in some way. Have a beautiful New Year everyone, may God bless and prosper and keep you always~
I’m glad to see this summer pass on into the infinite past. It hasn’t been an easy one. It’s strange when circumstances become, all at once, tragic and blessed. It can be hard to reconcile two opposites with the same energy – each remain two entities traveling along parallel lines, absent of each other, with the silent burden of trying to reconcile.
Loss is hard to bear and I find myself lingering needlessly in survival mode, doing only the bare minimal to make it through. Except I’m already through it, Fall is heavily upon us and Winter soon approaching. How long am I going to linger here?
It’s not so easy to do a thing if necessity isn’t fueling the motivation. So I find myself just here. Wistful, processing; blessed with a great many roads to take, cursed with a great many roads to take….
Maybe it’s time to choose one path…but I hate the idea of losing all the other roads.
I hate the idea of loss.
I need to unfix my position on the map. Perhaps if the one path doesn’t satiate then I can find my way back through the woods…perhaps not. Either is better than just standing here. Right?
I know, I know, marriage would alleviate so many multiple movements forward, clear the peripheral to some extent and bring the benefit of ‘2 putting 10,000 to flight’, albeit, there is the complexity of the human being which then must be taken into account. Nevertheless, I feel the approach of one to share my life with drawing nearer. Whether he is before me on one of these paths or behind me moving at a quicker pace I cannot tell. Maybe I’ll hide as he passes me by–
God will lead the way forward, opening doors I didn’t know existed and closing all the peripheral distractions. He remains steadfast beyond the confusion of the season stirring within my soul.
I’ll find the path His light is illuminating and forsake all the rest. What credit would there be in following my own path and losing my life? So instead I’ll lose all my paths and gain His life. That’s a better proposition.
I have created a Novel Research Pinterest page for the science fiction novel I’m writing. This is a simple compilation of my thought process, research and scientific data consulted over the past several months.
It’s nothing fancy, I’m simply including links to articles or videos so that if anyone is interested in the direction and themes I’m exploring in this book, they can find them here.
I’ll be updating when I have the time, and dropping some excerpts over the next several weeks also. Hope everyone is enjoying the Summer weather. I feel I’m melting here on the eastern side of the u.s:)
It’s fascinating the things I find myself peering into when writing this Science Fiction Ghost Story. I am relaxing into the process now that I am seeing the fruit of my labors. Writing a novel which entails deep space exploration has been a challenging and enlightening endeavor. Writing a novel is the process of turning chaos into prose – nearly impossible really. But I’ve decided to relax and enjoy the things I love while I write. One of which is space.
This planet scientists call ‘Poltergeist’. It’s a super creepy Pulsar planet documented PSR B1257+12 c, and is an extrasolar planet approximately 2,300 light-years away”….
Other wonderful mysteries of deep space are lurking within the coffers of the web. If I’m going to traverse the galaxy, I figure I better understand our own Local Group first. Vast and various are the Lord’s magnificent displays…
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has captured Saturn’s rings backlit by the sun and our planet Earth and its moon in the same frame. We look like another star from 898 million miles away.
Take a look at our vast Milky Way and beyond to our closest neighboring galaxy, Andromeda. Let’s take a weekend trip, what do ya say? Pack a light picnic; the particle accelerating spacecraft is outback…
I have nearly completed the second draft which fleshed out the story and characters bringing the theme into greater form. My third writing will be adding the voice and writing the novel. I’m excited!
Hope everyone is enjoying Spring. When my mind and pen are not among the stars, I am enjoying the green grass and bird songs of the season…
Have a beautiful week lovely people, and don’t forget to look up and admire the great expanse above our heads~
The unpardonable sin is impossible for a believer to commit. Here’s why; the Pharisees knew and admitted that no other but God could be performing all the miracles that Jesus was performing. We know this because Nicodemus, a devout Pharisee official said so, “Rabbi,we all know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” (John 3:1-2) He was like a spy that ratted out the enemy’s war room talks.
Further more, the Pharisees hated Jesus because they were losing ‘followers’ to Him which meant less money for them and less power over the people. (There are a ton of these like-spirited people around, the first found in Cain.) Envy, hatred and jealousy drove their motives.
So, in the hearing of the people (hoping to turn some back to themselves) they proclaimed: “It is only by Beelzebul,the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons…” Matthew 12.24.
The unpardonable sin was this: they knew it was the Holy Spirit who was doing the work through Christ and spoke directly against God. Forthrightly calling the Holy Spirit to His clearly discernible face that He was the devil.
As believers (and unbelievers, because they are ignorant, so even if they did this they would not understand Who they were doing it to – “forgive them Father for they know not what they do”) this sin is impossible to commit.
Only knowingly, deeply malevolent individuals are capable of committing the unpardonable sin.
1. Those involved in NFT acquisition will be left holding the short end of the straw in 5-10 years when something goes wrong with the value of the technology and/or the exaggerated hype of the movement striving – but not attaining – relevance as a historical and genuine art movement.
2. Everyone else will be left shaking their heads and wondering how? when those who bought NFT’s make bank and the artists make history.
It’s all to incorporeal to me; I like art to be tactile. I like most things to be rooted in a reality I can experience manifest, in the good ‘ole third dimension. NFT art is like cooking on T.V. that you can’t smell.
But, if we look to the far off future, isn’t the reality that we know all moving into the Metaverse? I truly hope to not be here when that happens. But as the generations move forward, they will certainly not want to be on Earth, but in the digital world. And maybe NFT art will hang on the walls of their digital NFT homes.
So NFT Art Collections may not be legitimate contenders for art history until some one-hundred years have past.
Isn’t that the way art appreciation goes? And who will need a physical art work when we’re all plugged into the Metaverse having attained Singularity?
This site has been a blogging diary more than anything. After much thought, I’ve decided that in order to get anywhere, I need to focus on one thing. Writing the book. I’ve got just over a year to do it.
I’ve missed blogging these past several months. Due to art and writing submissions to publishers and galleries, I changed my blog to resemble a website for less clutter and easier navigation.
Reorganizing the Blog
I have organized this blog by categories at the bottom of the Home/About page. There is no longer a Home page with the most current blog post. Some I have removed and made private to keep things cohesive and not just a barrage of random thoughts. I have also included a Search field in the top right corner if there is a particular subject or post you want to read.
Bringing It All Together: Narrowing the Focus
I enjoy exploring topics that are conventionally at odds with each other: Christianity, Science and Art. This combination is hard for most people to assimilate. I understand that.
I am extremely difficult to sell as a whole package. The world is shifting to extremes and I am a creative, open-minded moderate politically. Who also believes in Christ.
I have made a few other decisions which I’ll share at a later time if they work out. One is starting another private blog to delve into these themes and narratives for the book and organize them. I won’t be making this public until I’ve finished writing the book anyway.
I have written the first draft. Now I have to begin the hard work: finding the voice of the thing and rewriting it a second time. This is not going to be easy.
We must stay curious and adventurous, learning all we can in this journey of life. Be well beautiful people~
Super tree structures, in Singapore’s Tree Grove garden
“We may think of nature as being unconnected to our urban spaces. But trees have always been an essential part of successful cities.”
Why Cities Need Trees, TEDEd shortdoc
God’s Ideas Work
The idea of letting things function as intended – how God created them to function – has become a point of political contention. It should instead be celebrated for the pure wisdom that it is. As the population of the earth grows, we need to put more thought in how we develop our environment around us. Culture always leans more to profit than to sustainability. I think there’s room for both.
History has many lessons to teach us – we just aren’t listening. We aren’t paying attention.
Below is a great little video about how important it is for communities to work in harmony with nature to create the best possible outcome for us and for our environment. And coming from me, I can assure you, that is no political statement.
I believe God, who created everything, knows exactly how to balance the earth and all her complex inner-workings, even after all the destruction humans have caused. So why don’t we let nature do her thing so we can all live happier lives while we are here? Is it greed? Is it lack of foresight? We have plenty of history to guide us in more fruitful directions. Perhaps it is the need for gain that leads us to destroy nature for profit.
Money is not the nature of evil. So much good can be done with money. It is the LOVE of money that is the nature of evil. This mentality is one that will destroy all just for financial gain or power.
Singapore’s Tree Grove
I pray we don’t become like Easter Island, or Uruk as mentioned below, or any people who thought nature was only for personal profit and not respect it as the brilliant idea God intended it to be.
To have nature work for us, and thereby profit us without destroying it, just seems like the best idea to me.
Instead we pave over everything, build over everything and we don’t do it in sustainable ways. For instance, Singapore has constructed manmade tree terraces, if you will, but they serve a ‘green’ purpose by acting as solar power energy and also allowing nature to grow up the structures, thus providing a cooler shade than brick and concrete buildings. Not to mention they take it further as a practice in sustainability.
I wish that the topic of nature hadn’t become so politicized. (Everything it seems has become politicized.) How admirable to see when thoughtful people actually do something for the greater good of everyone; using nature to give back to the people in a community instead of hijacking an opportunity to line one’s own pockets. Generosity – it’s rare nowadays.
Most of the time we only see huge companies taking advantage of what should be something communal and beneficial, and instead turning it for a profit – pitching the idea like it was for the people to begin with: here’s this great thing for you, ladies and gentleman, and it will only cost you $$$ out of pocket whenever you want to enjoy it. What a deal!
Let’s be honest, most of the time only those with money can enjoy it.
But those few who do it for all, including the less fortunate; the ideas that are all inclusive for the benefit of the community and the environment…well…it doesn’t get more admirable than that.
Nature is a gift that will keep giving back in positive, beneficial ways.
National and Public Community Parks
One of the few places anyone could go and find solace in the year 2020 were parks. Albeit, even they were closed for a couple of months. Not being able to get out into nature was hard on the soul. Everything is connected and we are much healthier as individuals when we have access to nature. There’s something to be said for experiencing wide open spaces, starry skies and the sounds and smells of nature. Not to mention the therapeutic qualities of water in any form: rivers, streams, oceans…
Manmade is just a subpar trinket compared to God-made brilliance.
That’s why developing in these protected areas makes me nervous and of course, sad. Look what happened with Pigeon Forge in Tennessee. Now the same is being developed in the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. The jobs it provides will be good income for struggling families, yes. But these people could move to another part of the state. Couldn’t they? Where do we draw the line on destroying nature to provide profit?
I think that being conscious of our impact on nature is simply good stewardship of all that God has given us to enjoy.
Anytime we can correct our mistakes as a society; turn our overdeveloped, manmade, unsustainable ideas back to nature, back to trees and gardens and open skies, we can only expect that nature will return a gift back to us in the form of increased health, happiness and greater connectedness overall.
