Some words I didn't write

But they still resonate with me over and over. I hope these lyrics can make you all think while you plan your subjects, materials, attitude toward your art, attitude toward your fellow man. What we do is important, make it important in your life.

Why It Matters: Sarah Groves

Sit with me and tell me once again

Of the story that's been told us

Of the power that will hold us

Of the beauty, of the beauty

Why it matters

Speak to me until I understand

Why our thinking and creating

Why our efforts of narrating

About the beauty, of the beauty

And why it matters

Like the statue in the park

Of this war torn town
And it's protest of the darkness

And the chaos all around

With its beauty, how it matters

How it matters

Show me the love that never fails

The compassion and attention

Midst confusion and dissention

Like small ramparts for the soul

How it matters

Like a single cup of water

How it matters.

The Holy Observer: James Ward
There’s a certain spirit in the singer’s voice
The people who hear it are aware.
It’s an old idea and without a doubt
The Holy Observer He knows what it’s about.
The Holy Observer is more than looking on,
Till He makes sure all the vestiges are gone.
There’s a lifelong drama on an earthly stage
The majority of actors fail to see
But the Old Director is about to turn the page
And in their blindness, the actors are enraged
But the Holy Observer is more than looking on
He’ll be there even when the stage is gone.

There’s a certain sadness in the lover’s eyes
When he sees her flirting in his face.
He said, “I have loved you, but still you slip away,
And before we marry, your garments will decay.”
‘Cause the Holy Observer is more than looking on
Till He makes sure all these vestiges are gone.

Maybe the Poet: Bruce Cockburn

Maybe the poet is gay

But he'll be heard anyway

Maybe the poet is drugged

But he won't stay under the rug

Maybe the voice of the Spirit

In which case you'd better hear it

Maybe he's a woman

Who can touch you where you're human

Male female slave or free

Peaceful or disorderly

Maybe you and he will not agree

But you need him to show you new ways to see

Don't let the system fool you

All it wants to do is rule you

Pay attention to the poet

You need him and you know it

Put him up against the wall

Shoot him up with pentothal

Shoot him up with lead

You won't call back what's been said

Put him in the ground

But one day you'll look around

There'll be a face you don't know

Voicing thoughts you've heard before

Male female slave or free

Peaceful or disorderly

Maybe you and he will not agree

But you need him to show you new ways to see

Don't let the system fool you

All it wants to do is rule you

Pay attention to the poet

You need him and you know it.

The Artwork Cometh

Tomorrow I am the joyful recipient of artwork from at least 13 ladies for Clothesline Art Show entries. I am kinda anxious to see how this goes. Put enough women in a room and you get drama. And enough creative women with passions, emotions, and (let's admit it) agendas, you get some unexpected things. I am praying that we can break out of our comfortable places and create new facets of our relationships in order to grow artistically and spiritually. Cat has worked very hard to be the administrator. Not everything is going to be perfect and there are goals that are going to be achieved and some that will not. Each time we have this show we get closer to being a bit more professional, but as Joel told me last night the main goal is to have great art hanging on the walls and to have people show up. The rules for rules sake is not always the goal.

But all in all I am excited because this is a new experience for me, being a juror, hostess, and coordinator of sorts. There are lots of things rattling around in my brain about this event and I'm afraid of how ill prepared people will feel I am. I want to have more compassion, more humility, more respect for those women in this group who have encouraged me to be an artist. Those I have watched from afar and been eager to see what they can do. Seems like so many in my 'hood are buzzing about the "ARTS" like its a nation, a political party, a secret club, a golden ticket what-have-you. We women of the Clothesline are working for this buzz, because it's been alive in us for so long. It's not sparked by whatever big-money foundation is handing out grants it's sparked by Jesus, the one who put this desire in all of us. It won't just go away. But without loving, faith-driven, fellow artists we will be alone with our fragile egos. I want to see all of us get better, not just with art production but with a sense of urgency to create for the Kingdom of God. That means we have to know how to market it, we have to know how to price it, we have to know how to make deadlines, we have to have a current blasted artist statement! It's not about being blown back and forth by a creative breeze (although there must be an important time for that), it's about fine tuning ourselves to be useful tools for Jesus.

So I welcome you artist/tools for the Kingdom to my house. They'll be a sign out front, or balloons or something. I'll be waitin'
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