death by snow

I promise that if I ever decide to kill myself it will be after I have spent twelve hours working for The Man and then had to drive home in a snow storm.

Election Eve

I am totally appalled at the lack of knowledge and interest at my workplace surrounding the upcoming elections. Disgusting. The last few days I have heard people ask, "Is this a big election?" And justify their refusal to be involved by saying, "I vote when it counts." Just as appalling are the folks that have no clue that there is an election. I mean, you are glued to the television every stinking night, how on God's green earth could you not know?!

Is this a big election?! Er, Governor. State Attorney General. Secretary of State. State Treasurer. Congress. And 14 ballot initiatives. Yeah, it is kind of a big deal.

So go vote already.

Living in Narrative

Today's reading from From The Ransomed Heart, by John Eldredge, reading 306.

Life is not a list of propositions, it is a series of dramatic scenes. As Eugene Peterson said, “We live in narrative, we live in story. Existence has a story shape to it. We have a beginning and an end, we have a plot, we have characters.” Story is the language of the heart. Our souls speak not in the naked facts of mathematics or the abstract propositions of systematic theology; they speak the images and emotions of story. Contrast your enthusiasm for studying a textbook with the offer to go to a movie, read a novel, or listen to the stories of someone else’s life. Elie Wiesel suggests that “God created man because he loves stories.” So if we’re going to find the answer to the riddle of the earth—and of our own existence—we’ll find it in story.

For hundreds of years, our culture has been losing its story. The Enlightenment dismissed the idea that there is an Author but tried to hang on to the idea that we could still have a Larger Story, life could still make sense, and everything was headed in a good direction. Western culture rejected the mystery and transcendence of the Middle Ages and placed its confidence in pragmatism and progress, the pillars of the Modern Era, the Age of Reason. But once we had rid ourselves of the Author, it didn’t take long to lose the Larger Story. In the Postmodern Era, all we have left are our small stories. The central belief of our times is that there is no story, nothing hangs together, all we have are bits and pieces, the random days of our lives. Tragedy still brings us to tears and heroism still lifts our hearts, but there is no context for any of it. Life is just a sequence of images and emotions without rhyme or reason.

So, what are we left to do? Create our own story line to bring some meaning to our experiences. Our heart is made to live in a Larger Story; having lost that we do the best we can by developing our own smaller dramas.

(The Sacred Romance , 39–41)

Urban Skye Art & Design

What: First Friday Art Walk

When: Friday, November 3, 7pm til ?

Where: Ironton Studios & Galleries, 3636 Chestnut, Denver CO 80216, 303.297.8626

In November Ironton Studios is proud to host “Eudora’s Belles,” new paintings by Patricia “Murph” Murphy. “Eudora’s Belles” is a study of strong southern women; Eudora Welty is one of the main influences in this body of work, along with other southern writers from the first half of the 20th Century.

Opening Reception Friday, Nov. 3rd.

Join us at Ironton Studios at 7pm. After enjoying the opening there, we'll move on to The Sliding Door Gallery and probably catch another gallery or two before winding down with coffee or drinks somewhere.

Getting to Ironton: Located one mile north of downtown between the tracks and the river, it’s a unique space in the midst of a changing industrial area with great mountain views. From downtown take Market to Broadway, left on Broadway to go under the tracks. At this point, Broadway turns into Brighton Blvd. The cross streets are numbered, continue on Brighton past Do-It Yourself Plumbing to 36th Street. Take a left two blocks to Chestnut, turn right and park. Ironton Studio is at the corner of Chestnut and 36th Street.