I did a strange thing.  Well, at least it was a strange thing to do at the dinner table.  As food was plopped on plates, I plopped the lyrics of a song I had just heard in front of everyone.

It was a song from 2008 that hit number 3 on the Modern Rock Hits chart. The topic of this song falls outside of the usual topics found in songs. 
As the family ate, I excitedly read the lyrics to the song I had just discovered.

Read (or listen: video link at bottom) through these lyrics and see if you can discern “the topic”

(note as you read: the chorus appears only at the begging and then again at the end)

Handlebars  by Flobots

I can ride my bike with no handlebars     

No handlebars

No handlebars

I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handlebars

No handlebars

Look at me, look at me

Hands in the air like it’s good to be

Alive, and I’m a famous rapper

Even when the paths are all crookedy

I can show you how to do-si-do

I can show you how to scratch a record

I can take apart the remote control

And I can almost put it back together

I can tie a knot in a cherry stem

I can tell you about Leif Ericson

I know all the words to “De Colores”

And I’m proud to be an American

Me and my friend saw a platypus

Me and my friend made a comic book

And guess how long it took?

I can do anything that I want, ’cause, look

I can keep rhythm with no metronome

No metronome

No metronome

And I can see your face on the telephone

On the telephone

On the telephone

Look at me, look at me

Just called to say that it’s good to be

Alive in such a small world

I’m all curled up with a book to read

I can make money, open up a thrift store

I can make a livin’ off a magazine

I can design an engine

Sixty-four miles to a gallon of gasoline

I can make new antibiotics

I can make computers survive aquatic conditions

I know how to run the business

And I can make you wanna buy a product

Movers, shakers and producers

Me and my friends understand the future

I see the strings that control the system

I can do anything with no resistance

‘Cause I can lead a nation with a microphone

With a microphone

With a microphone

And I can split the atom of a molecule

Of a molecule

Of a molecule

Look at me, look at me

Drivin’ and I won’t stop

And it feels so good to be alive and on top

My reach is global

My tower secure

My cause is noble

My power is pure

I can hand out a million vaccinations

Or let ’em all die of exasperation

Have ’em all healed of their lacerations

Have ’em all killed by assassination

I can make anybody go to prison

Just because I don’t like ’em

And I can do anything with no permission

I have it all under my command because

I can guide a missile by satellite

By satellite

By satellite

And I can hit a target through a telescope

Through a telescope

Through a telescope

And I can end the planet in a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

In a holocaust

I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handlebars

No handlebars

I can ride my bike with no handlebars

No handlebars

No handlebars

I think this song is about human pride and the fruit of that pride.

We boast in our accomplishments.

As I child on my bike I exclaim, “look mom…no hands!”

Or in Spanish middle school I feel accomplished that I memorized the poem “De Colores”

This human pride can easily lead us to a desire to control our world, and the world.

As a follower of Jesus I need to ask myself, “Where is the line between a healthy sense of self, and a dangerous pride that seeks it’s own will and control.”  “Do I find my identity in God’s grace and love, or am I seeking my (our “our”) glory?

As we mature to greater responsibilities how can we guard against human pride?

The Tower of Babel in the first section of Genesis (the pre-history), describes how peoples came together in a way that was prideful. This disregarded God’s plan that humanity disperse, become a place of diverse cultures, to fill and care for the creation. Within the creational calling and occupation of Christians, there is the lurking danger of becoming lords. There is the pride of powerful technological advances. There are the distractions fruitless recreations. There is the temptation to only see ourselves through our abilities and contributions.

But, the calling of the Christian is to be a humble caretaker. The glory of all this world, and even the glory of our “abilities”, is meant to point to the one Lord. The one who has revealed himself as the creator and sustainer of all things.

soli Deo gloria (may His hands be on my handlebars 🙂

Hope you enjoyed the song and found it insightful on our human condition 😊

Klecks in German means, “inkblot”.  In 1857 Justinus Kerner published a book of his poems that were illustrated by drops of ink. (when folded in paper) they made interesting illustrations.  The blots became discernible, concrete, objects.

As a child in Switzerland, Hermann Rorschach enjoyed klecksography so much that his friends nicknamed him “Klecks”.  The things that interested folks before the internet!  As a medical student Rorschach had the idea of using the visual blots as a way of helping uncover a person’s unconscious life.  Freud used words to seek insight of the unconscious mind, Rorshchach contributed images to the tool bag.   [Which reminds me of the joke about the man who kept giving sexual explicit  answers to the psychiatrist, “Well, you seem to be obsessed with sex.” “Me?!” exclaims the patient. “You’re the one who keeps showing me the dirty pictures!”

In evangelistic conversations that seek to probe a person’s interests in life I have seen a similar technique used.  There is a collage of images, or images on cards and a person is asked, “what image are you drawn to as you think about what you thirst for in life?”  Some point to Mother Teressa some to a suitcase full of cash and yet others a couple holding hands or an Olympic medal.

  What lies beneath?  What things sit below the surface of my conscious mind?  What have I not discovered about myself, or given much thought to?  What are the things I love…or fear?  What are the things that interest me, that draw my eye.  How do I process the world around me?  Am I cynical or hopeful?  Am I closed or open?  Am I deeply wounded in some way?

  Have you noticed that as we age, we get stuck telling the same stories?  Or, maybe you’ve noticed this phenomenon in the person you drink coffee with each week at the coffee shop.  The same childhood story, the same occupational accomplishment story, the same frustration over politicians.

  As you think about the ways you understand life and the world around you — are there some default ways of seeing the world that come to the surface?

I’m sharing all this to get to the thought shared at the end of a Ted Talk I saw this week.

In 2017 Peter McIndoe began a movement called, “Bird’s Aren’t Real”.   The movement was making satire of conspiracy theorists and movements.  But at the end I think McIndoe hit on a significant bit of wisdom.  What he shared has me thinking differently about how I interact with those I disagree with.  With those who describe the inkblot in strange ways.  Those who tell stories that set alarms off in my mind.  As a follower of Jesus, it has reminded me of the call to associate with, love and interact with all our neighbors.   It has also reminded me to be curious about their unconscious lives, their past experiences, and their desire to find belonging.  Check out the McIndoe Ted talk and reflect on his concluding thoughts!

by  Andy Liimatta

A steady stream of moisture

pumping from a vent, flaps flown open,

located halfway up the foundation,

near the back of the stately church,

A cloud pushed out,

some inner force was expelling the mist…

undoubtable a dryer was running,

mid-morning wednesday must be the time for wash.

Some priestly vestments?

no… not in a dryer,

Probably some washcloths, some kitchen towels, some rags.

A small load of church wash on a wednesday

A moment later the vent runs dry,

no more pouring forth firmament,

what was wet is now warm and toasty.

ready to go forth to wipe and wash.

The stately church standing tall at Baldwin and Hwy 28

steeple raised above a small town’s skyline –

someone’s in there on a wednesday…

getting ready

Inspiration at the University       Andy Liimatta

Story #1 – My friend Alex is a great artist.  He was turned off from a degree in art, because of the pressure he was put under from professors to develop a way of explaining his art, some philosophy – some “thing” that united it and explained it to the viewer (and the professor).

Story #2 – I always enjoy it when I am able to view the Senior Art Exhibition at Northern Michigan University.  At the end of a semester each student has their work exhibited.  Their art can be a real window into what inspires them.  Along with their personal information and information on what they made, there is well honed apologia* for what they made.   Yesterday as I took in the exhibition, I noted that a couple artists centered on friendships in the ski community; one was introspective on his ethnic identity, one shared about deep inner wounds, one made a really cool chair from birchwood, two other artists had themes of wonderful childhood experiences of summers in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, another artist exposed the hypocrisy he experienced in the church.  It is a privilege to see a bit of the world through these artist’s lives, in what they have created.

below is an interesting work, an animation of handwriting is projected onto a mirror. Several different introspective questions and statements appear over several minutes.

Story #3 – For her senior exhibit, my friend Teisha who worked in pottery, cast seven sets of plates and cups.  Each setting was unique to one day of the creation story.  Her graduation was a long time ago, and much of the pottery has chips and cracks.  But I still think of her heart of worship as she cast the days of creation.  The Christian artist creates within a context of worship.  They tell of all the things they see through the lens of the hope that lives within them.

*apologia- a formal written defense of one’s opinions or conduct. 

Questions: Would you want to write a philosophy of your art? What would it be? (in two sentences)

What medium do you work in when you create? What medium would you enjoy learning?

What is the last piece of art you saw that inspired you or caused you to reflect on life?

Welcome to WordPress.com! This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.

Happy blogging!