3 miles

So I've been thinking on and off about this photo. It's from Rob Bell's new book Drops Like Stars.


You may have to turn your computer to see the picture correctly.

3 miles.

3 miles that separates two neighborhoods;

one ensconced in wealth and affluence

and SUV's and Ugg boots and plasma televisions.

The other neighborhood...not so much.

So the question Bell proposes is this one:

What does this line suggest?

What if anything has the power to connect these two worlds?

I leave that for you to ponder.

As I have.

One time showing of documentary film "We're all in this together"

The film "we're all in this together" shows tomorrow (Nov. 4th) at 5:15 pm at Quail Springs. Check out the teaser below.

Justice and Mercy depicted in The Color of Paradise

The following scene from the Iranian film, The Color of Paradise, captures the essence of justice and compassion.

Simply put: to do justice means to go where there is chaos and replace it with order. To be compassionate means to act to relieve the affliction of those who suffer.

For some that chaos is dirty water. For others, it's disease. And others; illiteracy. Near us, chaos might involve an abusive substance. Or an abusive parent.

The reality is: wherever there are human relations; chaos lurks on the edges.

But so does the possibility of peace. And kindness. And mercy.

The question then is always: are we listening and looking for those who suffer in the darkness? But not necessarily with our physical ears and eyes. But as Mohammad shows us in this scene, with that 6th sense of spiritual awareness.

In the final analysis, I wonder if the point of all stories is simply to teach us how to pay attention.

U2's The Streets Have No Name

I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name

I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

The city's aflood
And our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Trampled in dust
I'll show you a place
High on a desert plain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building
Then burning down love
Burning down love
And when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do
Our love turns to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, and I see love
See our love turn to rust
We're beaten and blown by the wind
Blown by the wind
Oh, when I go there
I go there with you
It's all I can do

The Girl Effect