Just Radiohead.

A good friend of mine led me to this strange clip from Radiohead. I dare you to try and make sense of it:

Strangely subversive, eh.

Revaluing

Some values with which we might try to re-imagine and renew the neighbourhoods we share:

collaboration... without the erasing of differences
equity... the flattening and redistribution of power
community development... in and through interdependence
embrace... without the fear of excluding evil or indifference to injustice
generosity... and not scarcity
hospitality... intentionally making room for others in what we call our 'own' - our seeing and in our spaces
freedom... without slipping into hyper individualism
fair and transparent trading
fun... simply and madly celebrating everything that is good
consumerism... without excess
faith/hopefulness... without devaluing the creation or elevating a fatalistic escape to heaven
sustainability... without the moralizing, please.


Doable? Touchable? What do you think?

Rethinking

The counsel of Albert Einstein is critical to how we engage with the complex issues that face our communities/planet. He contended:

“None of our problems can be solved with the same level of consciousness or thinking that created them.”

I believe we have to cease trying to extend the Kingdom of God by conforming to and merely parroting the culturally-favored thinking of:
certitude
corporatism
consumerism
control
despair
dualisms
efficiency
exclusion
growth
individualism
relevancy
redemptive violence
scarcity
self-fulfillment
tribalism.

Imagine the difference if we started to experiment with and immerse ourselves in the more creative and counter-cultural thinking of:
collaboration
community development
covenant
embrace
generosity
glocalism
holistic faith
hopefulness
humility
monotheism
neighborliness
new creationism
partnership
realness
self-sacrifice.

See the shift? See some of the thinking that could truly heal the world?

.....

Acrobatic noise

The noise that is the namesake of this space:

Don't believe what you hear - don't believe what you see
If you just close your eyes you can feel the enemy
When I first met you, girl, you had fire in your soul
What happened? your face of melting snow
Now it looks like this

And you can swallow, or you can spit
You can throw it up, or choke on it
And you can dream - so dream out loud
You know that your time is coming round
So don't let the bastards grind you down

No, nothing makes sense - nothing seems to fit
I know you'd hit out if you only knew who to hit
And I'd join the movement
If there was one I could believe in
Yeah, I'd break bread and wine
If there was a church I could receive in
'Cause I need it now

To take a cup - to fill it up
To drink it slow - can't let you go
I must be an acrobat
To talk like this and act like that
You can dream - so dream out loud
And don't let the bastards grind you down

Oh, it hurts, baby
What will we do now it's all been said?
No new ideas in the house and every book has been read

And I must be an acrobat
To talk like this and act like that
And you can dream - so dream out loud
And you can find your own way out
And you can build and I can will
And you can call - can't wait until
And you can stash, and you can sieze
In dreams begin responsibilities
And I could love, and I could learn
And I know that the tide is turning round
So don't let the bastards grind you down.

(Acrobat, Zooropa, U2).