Andrew Peterson in Concert

Posted on January 9, 2016 by awtraughber

AndrewPetersonTonight I had the opportunity to see Andrew Peterson in concert.  This is a pretty cool thing for me.  I usually don’t make it to Tennessee for Christmas until after Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God tour is over.  In fact, finding anyone doing a concert so close to Christmas would be a rare gift.  An even rarer gift? having one of your favorite musicians end up in Kailua, Hawaii (about 14 minutes from where I live).

The concert was held at Trinity Presbyterian Church; Trinity Christian School sponsored Peterson’s visit (he was also able to bring his wife and kids).  He took the stage for thirteen songs that spanned a good bit of his career (nothing from Carried Along, Clear to Venus, or [alas] Light for the Lost Boy).  Still, the rundown was great.  It was good to get some exposure to songs I have overlooked.

The Set List:

  1. After the Last Tear Falls (the closest thing to an Andrew Osenga song live for me in forever)
  2. Lay Me Down
  3. I’ve Got News (the first overlooked gem)
  4. a song I thought it was going to be Everybody’s Got a Song but turned out being Let There Be Light (he gave a nice nod to Tolkien here; another overlooked gem for me)
  5. Dancing in the Mine Fields
  6. Fool With a Fancy Guitar (overlooked gem)
  7. I Want to Say I’m Sorry
  8. Be Kind to Yourself (this song featured his daughter and youngest son; at this point, he moved to the piano)
  9. My Love Has Gone Across the Sea (lead vocals by his daughter)
  10. Invisible God (which was wonderfully rendered but then made a million times better by segueing into I See You by Rich Mullins)
  11. The Good Confession (final song on the piano)
  12. The Dark Before the Dawn (perhaps my favorite song from 2015)
  13. The Reckoning (after a great story evoking Tennessee weather)

The moment Peterson segued into “I See You” was a good one, a reminder of what really is a deep reserve of faith and music.  It’s also the kind of moment you’ll only get at a live performance.

I must say, seeing AP in concert has been on my bucket list for a long while, so it was cool to get to shake his hand and thank him for his music and for his ability to wed biblical truth and faithful practice so well.

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Friday Night Light

Posted on January 8, 2016 by awtraughber

It’s been a nice, quiet Friday: the nice way to cap off a hectic beginning to the second half of the school year.  Because of some personnel shifts, I’m back to teaching five sections (which is a joy), which requires a bit of effort in rewiring my mind’s use of time.  I’ve also added a couple of more responsibilities to my list since I last taught five sections.  Spirit Week starts Monday, my eleventh round.

So tonight was for sushi, finishing a re-watch of the season one finale of The Newsroom, and nursing what will hopefully be a quick cold. (Famous last words, yes?)  The great hope for this weekend came in an email from a co-worker a few days ago informing me of a concert this weekend.  Turns out Andrew Peterson, who I often post about here, is on the island and doing a concert Saturday night.  That’s a bucket list thing for me (the last bucket list concert I made it to was Death Cab for Cutie a few years ago at the Republik).  I’ve been a fan of Peterson since he had “Nothing to Say,” which had a nice and necessary connection to Rich Mullins that I’ve always appreciated.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to be a little more consistent here again. Content production is a tricky business, especially when you strive to communicate all day, too.  I think it’s worth it, though, if only for me.

Now for some Tylenol Cold and a few minutes with a good book.

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Hope in the Night

Posted on January 7, 2016 by awtraughber

It’s been a short but packed week.  I’m definitely looking forward to the weekend, a real chance to recover from jumping into a new semester.

Here’s a song by Andrew Peterson and friends from their time last year at Laity Lodge.  Songs about hope are good songs.

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Epiphany and the Old Dispensation

Posted on January 6, 2016 by awtraughber

Today marked the end of the twelve days of Christmas.  Epiphany, which commemorates the appearance of the Magi before the Christ child, is also used as a reminder of God’s extension of salvation to the Gentiles.  T. S. Eliot composed a poem that “wrote all around” that moment, “The Journey of the Magi.”

‘A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kiking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

I especially like the next to last complete sentence: magi returning to their places, Kingdoms, but no longer at ease: “with an alien people clutching their gods.”  How true that glimpsing something so small as the Child could cause a subtle change in everything.

(“The Journey of the Magi” from allpoetry.com)

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Sherlocked into the Victorian Age

Posted on January 5, 2016 by awtraughber

I was somewhere over the Pacific Ocean when PBS aired Sherlock- The Abominable Bride.  I’ve done a pretty decent job of staying away from reviews and spoilers.  So I’m pretty pumped to get to see the episode at the theater tonight.

Here’s a short “behind the scenes” video (minor spoilers at best) that was produced for the special.  I’m curious to see how it all connects . . . and what they do (if anything) to bridge the gap between Victorian and modern eras.

I did get the chance to go to Baker Street while in London this past fall break.  It was a nice moment.  Granted, it was mostly a store with an off-limits downstairs, but even still . . .  I do wish that my pictures of the Sherlock statue (from just off the Tube exit) turned out better.  Maybe next time.

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Star Wars on a Budget

Posted on January 4, 2016 by awtraughber

These days the internet is full of “remakes” of movies and their trailers.  Most of the time, the quality stuff seems to be done with LEGO blocks.  The folks over at Robot 6 recently posted the “Budget Video” version of the Star Wars- The Force Awakens trailer.  This is the kind of stuff that reminds you that imitation is a great form of flattery . . . and that it’s great to be around people who love to make this kind of thing.  Check it out . . .

+ + + + +

If you want to read something a bit more polarizing, here’s an article by Grantland alum Bryan Curtis that looks at how some are “rethinking” George Lucas and his legacy in light of SW-TFA in the broader context of the six previous movies.  I think it goes too far in the wrong direction, but I can appreciate what Curtis is trying to communicate.

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Stars Wars and Sensibility

Posted on January 2, 2016 by awtraughber

We’re two weeks into life with Star Wars- The Force Awakens, and it seems like there’s always some new opinion or auxiliary content to read through.  This morning I came across an article listing various concepts and scenes that were included in earlier drafts of TFA but that didn’t make it into the finished product (but will probably resurface twenty years from now when they end up doing “special editions” of the trilogy, I imagine).  Some of the things in the list were also in early trailers, which have become their own kind of business with movies.  I mentioned earlier how much I liked how the movie subverted expectations raised by the trailers.

Trailers have changed a lot since the original trilogy, which makes the following “remake” of the trailer for The Empire Strikes Back so interesting.  I feel like it hits some of the best beats (all while using music from TFA trailers).  You have to admire the creator’s creativity and sensibilities.

(hat tip to relevantgazine.com for pointing out the trailer)

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“Happily Ever After” and the Doctor

Posted on December 31, 2015 by awtraughber

This year’s Doctor Who Christmas special, “The Husbands of River Song,” is a great example of the tension that exists in long-term stories broken up into narrative fragments.  While not totally the same as The Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, any serial-formatted story has to deal with the short-term benefits of a “big ending.”

Steven Moffatt introduced (is that the right word when it comes to time travel?) the character of River Song back when David Tennant played the  Doctor.  She was almost a regular presence during parts of Matt Smith’s run.  I really thought that her last appearance (during that era) would be her last.  It wasn’t.

The clip below handles the idea of “happily ever after” as well and as honestly as possible, I think.  Be warned: spoilers.

Rumor has it that this was Steven Moffat’s last intended episode as the show’s runner.  I don’t think that is still the case.  If it is, this was the perfect send-off for Moffatt and for River.  A wonderful bookend that revisits that fairy tale motif that started with Amy Pond back in series five.

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Unfinished

Posted on December 31, 2015 by awtraughber

imageMy calendar year 2015 actually started five weeks before 2014 ended. I had been asked to preach at the church I now call home on the first Sunday of Advent. And while I was okay with what I said and how I said it, I left the church that day feeling like something was missing, that the sermon was, in some key way, unfinished. And that became my word for 2015. I tried to use it as a lens as I read, as I taught, and I tried to love those around me. What was missing in what I said that Sunday? Could the same be said for the other areas of my life?

And so here I am, at the end of 2015, fully aware that I leave this year unfinished. It was a good year, though it had its particular difficulties. A number of seeds were sown this year, mostly thank to experiences at work coupled with the writings of people like James K. A. Smith, Rod Dreher, Alan Jacobs, and others. Those guys weren’t new to my thinking in 2015, but their online and print presence definitely became more substantial. A number of books beyond that quartet also took root, particularly Kevin VanHoozer (whose name kept creeping into my lectures and lessons at school). I look forward to seeing how all of those seeds and fledgling plants grow in the coming year.

What was most unfinished from that sermon, as best as I can surmise just over a year later, was my inability to speak more directly and decisively “into the moment” of those listening. Part of that was the nature of the task: begin the Advent season in the pastor’s absence, not get everybody riled up. Part of that is the nature of teaching: “you can lead a horse to water; you can even make it drink; but you can’t change its point of view.” But there has to be moments where there is more than that.

I am not overly optimistic about 2016. By that, I mean that I am not blindly optimistic. This is not to dismiss the goodness of God and the kindness of people. Not being an optimist doesn’t make you a pessimist, either (as I’ll hopefully teach my students in a few weeks, that’s an example of the either-or fallacy). It is mostly a matter of waking up, staying awake, and being watchful as life happens. I think that’s quite biblical, wonderfully New Testament, event. I look forward learn more by loving God and loving my neighbor as myself. I am hopeful, even if it involves patiently enduring when life is at its hardest. I am hopeful for great celebrations, too. I am most hopeful, though, for the chance to know the concern of the Father, the compassion of the Son, and the comfort of the Spirit in even the most simple of moments.

(image from efile.com)

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Augustine’s Note to Self: On Thinking and Writing

Posted on December 30, 2015 by awtraughber

From early on in Augustine’s Soliloquies (translated by Kim Paffenroth):

Pray for good health and aid, so that you may accomplish what you desire; and put it in writing, so that your confidence may be increased by what you have done.  Then briefly summarize your discovery in a few short conclusions.  But you should not bother about attracting a lot of readers: this will be enough for a few of your fellow citizens.

I had not heard of Augustine’s Soliloquies until a few weeks ago.  It’s interesting to me that he wrote it soon after his conversion to Christianity.  As the book’s preface notes, there’s no where near as much Bible and theology in it (compared to his later works).  The book consists of two long dialogues between the writer and his Reason, which is much more the classical style than what is common today.  Hoping to finish the book before landing in Honolulu on New Year’s Day.

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