tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post2677922313879081082..comments2023-08-10T05:24:20.775-04:00Comments on Razing the Bar: Writer's Strike/TransfigurationAndy Whitmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04010130934552315074noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-88207123814360053502007-12-26T23:40:00.000-05:002007-12-26T23:40:00.000-05:00I love this piece. Holding up a perfect moment, an...I love this piece. Holding up a perfect moment, and savoring it, and somehow hanging onto it--it's an art, but it can help sustain us through the dreck if we work on it. Thank you.<BR/><BR/>And thank you for the album and song lists. They're like a syllabus, amazingly comprehensive.Julie Zickefoosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06654698829603424649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-11351452314853148812007-12-13T18:27:00.000-05:002007-12-13T18:27:00.000-05:00There are snippets in this entry that parallel my ...There are snippets in this entry that parallel my life. The daughter in college, the fear, the trepidation, the joy. The 4 of you remind me of a time when my sister and I travelled with our father to Italy. We sat outside along a canal in Venice, thought we were the funniest, wisest, happiest people ever. It was true joy. I've not completed Gilead, as I usually end up in tears. The writing is so beautiful. I read you every day and will send my father your link, which he will truly enjoy. He will appreciate your thoughtfulness, truth, faith and of course, your music. Based on your reccomendation and knowing my father, I bought him Joe Henry Coversations which he will receive Saturday. I think he will love it.Danahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16459849986060098416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9991864.post-7719242543215162212007-12-13T10:17:00.000-05:002007-12-13T10:17:00.000-05:00In solidarity with the Hollywood writers and their...In solidarity with the Hollywood writers and their ongoing strike, there will be no new comments from John today. Instead, we bring you a re-run from an earlier comment on this blog.<BR/><BR/>-----------------<BR/><BR/>Interesting conversation. I'm not sure I have an answer for your questions, but the discussion is one that interests me.<BR/><BR/>I DO think that being relevant is much better than being IRrelevant, but I'm not sure our choice is between the two.<BR/><BR/>My problem with 'relevance' as I've (sometimes) seen it is that it's often a pathetic, hollow-ringing surface treatment, like a youth pastor growing a goatee or an anti-immigrant politician speaking a little espaƱol to try to come across as hip or de la gente.<BR/><BR/>Do I think you're relevant? Yes. And you would cease being so if you tried to act, dress and talk like a 19 year old, because it's not authentic, it's not a true expression of your own cultural context and life stage/life experience.<BR/><BR/>Interestingly, I once spoke at a conference, where I was given the topic, "How to be relevant while still maintaining your holiness." I started my talk by saying that I think the title is silly and even a little dangerous if it reflects a belief that holiness and relevance are on two opposite ends of a spectrum, and that we need to find some balance between the two.<BR/><BR/>It's this framework wherein we urge people to be relevant BUT holy, or relevant BUT Christian that proves that we've already lost the battle to be truly either.<BR/><BR/>Or something like that.John McCollumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14757876504958350010noreply@blogger.com