Gotta Dance

This weekend Ali and I helped out at a friend’s wedding. We did or best to make sure that the couple and wedding party were able to enjoy themselves without worrying about the incalculable details that come with the wedding reception. Although we spent hours on our feet with little time to slow down, the reward at the end of the night made it all seem worth it.

After the food was cleared away and order was restored to the kitchen, we were released from our duties and invited to join in the celebration. I was really tired and was considering heading home for the night – but then the DJ started to play. If you know me well, you know how much I love music and that it is near impossible for me not to dance no matter how tired I am. And boy did I dance! For the next few hours I made the dance floor my primary occupation. After about an hour Ali came in and joined me and we got down to funk music from the 70’s and 80’s.

Something happens when I dance – I become happy from the inside out and experience pure joy and childlikeness. I see something similar in others as we move together on the floor each bringing out unique styles to the playground. Everyone plays well together, there are no bullies and everyone gets their turn; the place is filled with laughter and intensity at the same time. Like kids at play, your language, age, or history do not matter when you dance. You create your own culture together and celebrate each other’s company, all without the hindrance of words. You just enjoy yourself and the others as the music moves you.

When I freestyle dance I experience a freedom like no other. For lack of better words, I really find my groove. There is no room for insecurities or malcontent, as the music plays I just express of who I am while mingling with others doing the same. Somehow on the dance floor we make room for each other’s essence when we really let go and just dance. It was great to be in a room full of people who get that and do so with out hesitation.

When I went out dancing in the US, that kind of experience only happened in the company of a few friends I could really clown with on the dance floor. If they were not with me, there was hardly anyone engaged that kind of autonomy as they moved and I would feel displaced. But when we got together with kindred soul, we would just enjoy what we created and embodied on the dance floor; maybe that is why we loved it so much and would go out of our way to do it so often. Dancing on Saturday made me miss and celebrate them. Veronica, Megan and Eddie were with me in spirit as I mused on the dance floor. I remembered all the freedom and laughter we shared and wished you were with me to experience the collective camaraderie. I know you would have loved it as much as I did and you would have stayed on your feet with me for as long as they could carry us.

That is so Dutch!

Last week an agent was showing Phenny’s apartment to two potential renters (both from the UK) and the following happened…

While the clients were looking at the place I asked the agent how things were going with the placement. As the people were coming down the stairs the agent blurted, “well the place is already rented out to someone, we are just showing it until they meet the owner!” You should have seen the look on the couples face! They were shocked, but I just had to chuckle. Believe it or not bluntness is quite the norm here. Diplomacy is optional.

Another example:

The week before, Christine and I went to a French Café near Shawna’s home to have a glass of wine and get to know each other. The place was empty so I went inside to tell the owner that we wanted to sit outside for drinks. She replied…”We are a restaurant and you can get drinks at the pub on the corner.”

Time is very valuable to the Dutch; it is not wasted on those who do not warrant it. They lavish it on friends and family or projects that are meaningful, but rarely on a happenstance. If there is no immediate sense of value they become very frugal. It is one of the things I find so endearing about the culture. I know it may come across as harsh, but when I climb behind the initial shock and awe to discover their heart, I cannot help but embrace the Dutchness.

4 Days

This weekend Embellish, one of Reckoning’s companies, participated in the Atelier Celebration in Amsterdam. Atelier is the Open Studios Tour in Amsterdam's Jordaan Area which started in 1988 as a small-scale initiative of fifteen artists working in this picturesque old neighborhood, it has, over the years, grown into a phenomenon that draws many visitors and has become internationally known.

The Open Studios attract thousands of visitors to the Jordaan’s artist community. This year there is art in abundance - to see, to buy, and to discuss with the artist. It is an ideal way for galleries to scout for new talent. Ali was able to make some major contacts for Embellish and Reckoning and it gave us a chance to meet new neighbors in the Jordaan.

Yesterday we participated in the Serve the City Amsterdam’s kid’s party in Bos en Lommer. Bos en Lommer is a section of Amsterdam with over 30,000 residents living in 2.71 km area (about 1.6 miles) representing over 178 cultural backgrounds. Many of the recent residents are new immigrants who are separate from much of Dutch culture. They are often marginalized socially, culturally and economically in their adopted country and the children are trying to cope within this reality without the necessary skills to navigate through such obstacles.I had fun playing with the kids, serving water to parents and making pannenkoeken, a tasty dessert, for the children.

There was one 18-month-old girl in particular I noticed when I first arrived. She was of Middle Eastern descent and at the park with her grand parents and she never smiled, not once, while she was walking around the playground. Her distraught grandparents tried to get her to play on the swings, slides and seesaw, but she wandered around resisting everyone and everything. Then the face-painting area set up and she was one of the first children to participate. She sat in complete stoicism as the girls touched her face and began to paint. What broke the dam was when she looked in the mirror and saw her little face a smile finally erupted and she giggled and clapped her hands! It was like watching a new child emerge from with in her. For the rest of the afternoon she was running and playing and engaging with others. It warmed my heart to see how something so simple and creative could have such a profound change in a child.

By using art as a platform to facilitate transformation, Reckoning hopes to address some of the essential issues, which shape a child’s personal identity and their place in the world.

Today we are headed to Bos en Lommer for meetings with Podium Mozaïek to discuss a proposal to hold a Reckoning Event and offer workshops in the Bos en Lommer area. We have such a desire to connect and become part of this community and we believe that there are incredible opportunities that lie ahead for everyone involved, but most especially the children of Bos en Lommer.

What Does It Mean?

Does that mean…

you are going to start a church?
you’ll start preaching?
you can marry and bury people?

These are the top three questions I get asked when people hear that I am ordained. I have to say that I chuckle inwardly when I imagine myself leading a church and my close friends have more of the ROFLOL response. I know these questions are asked with sincerity and healthy skepticism. To this end I felt that I should share my perception of ordainment.

Most people associate ordination with priest and pastors who work in buildings where some people gather and worship together on weekends. Maybe this is because the word first appears biblically in reference to Aaron and the first priests to the Israelites and it seems that we get stuck at that positional viewpoint. Anointing, meaning blessing with oil, was the outward expression of the act of ordination. If one was anointed it implied that they were ordained. When Jesus stated that, the Lord had anointed him to preach the good news of the gospel to the poor, was it referring only to a position? To some extent an anointing can be positional but it is a very narrow slice of a pie that was meant to be a banquet.

The word, ordain, was also used when recognizing something the creator designed and called into being. Check out Psalms 8, 65, 11, and 139, and discover what the creator desired and facilitated into existence. Ordain is a verb that implies action and proclamation, a calling out if you will, which may or may not have anything to do with an appointment to a position. Ordination is a recognizing, an acknowledgement, a command of what is.

In some respects we have gotten into the practice of putting the cart before the horse when it comes to ministry. Often people are given positional authority without the experience and testing that Aaron and his sons faced in the desert. It was a way of life for them that had to be proven over and over. A profound shift happened when anointing became based on birthright and veered from the testing that can only happen with time, which at times lead to disastrous results.

When Jesus read from Isaiah 61 he announced what had been ordained to do in this world. He had a deep understanding of what the triune God wanted to communicate to creation about its character and desire for mankind. He embodied that message, which cannot have been put on through study - it was something lived out in his eternal relationship with the one who sent him in the first place. From a young age it was evident that he was going rip to shreds what people thought they knew about their creator. What he shared was something accessible and tangible – that my friends was then and is now “good news.”

Leaders and followers of his time tested this message and its application, which left people mystified or transformed. The fact that people still refer to and argue over Jesus’ teachings is a testament to its longevity and validity in the realm of man. He was truly ordained, not because of his position but because of who he was in this world and what he offered it.

So what does ordination have to do with me? It was the acknowledgment by a body of believers who recognize that I have a gift for missions, art, and inspiring others in a way that helps them come to a better understanding of the “good news”. Dan and Kathleen Prout initiated this decree because of what they observed in the years they have known me. In turn, others who support this observation came together to echo that recognition and enter in accountability with me. In it’s barest form, this is the heart of my ordination.

I could say yes to any of the above questions and pursue those ends (who knows maybe someday I’ll officiate at someone’s wedding), but they are only one of many ways I could express my faith and what I believe I am on this planet to achieve. In truth I think I will keep doing what has been proven and asked of me, because in my heart I think it makes God smile.

Cruising In My Hood

One of the benefits of being in such a wonderful city is that you can always find something new. Most days I take time to familiarize myself with the neighborhood as I take walks to help me battle some serious jet lag (yes it is still hitting me). Here are some of my encounters…

First let me start of with where I am staying...This is the outside of the flat where I stay: The open window is my room!



And here’s the street we are on.



The fresh fruit at the markets are amazing and I have a wonderful store right on the corner. Look at the size of these blueberries. Mouthwatering goodness.




My arrival could not have been timed more perfectly. The sun is out and everyone is eager to be outside as much as possible. At the Saraphatipark near our flat people gather after work to bbq, relax and unwind.





Those who are lucky enough to own a boat take their happy hour on board. Hey who wouldn’t want to tan while you sail?



I will not bombard you pictures of all the amazing architecture, cute shops or the Heineken Brewery that litter the area, you will have to wait until I create an album or you will have to come see it for your self.

Cheers!

South Africa to Amsterdam

If you did not get a chance to see this or you were wondering what I have been up to here you go!

Morning Meditation

If New Amsterdam, aka New York, is known as the city that never sleeps then its predecessor can equally share this moniker. Amsterdam teems with activity around the clock. In my experience I cannot recall a time when the streets are devoid of traffic and life. Early this morning I walked the streets to battle my jetlag, and I believe I may have stumbled onto a time when the sleepless city actually slows down.

Like most living organisms we give little attention to life giving art of breathing (unless we are deprived of it) but when we become attentive there is a possibility for something to shift. There is something calming and rejuvenating in the art of drawing breath then releasing it. As I could hear my own footsteps, I became aware of that a powerful gathering and releasing was taking place in the city. I discovered a cadence that I would ascribe as a meditation.

Monitoring the ebb and flow of breath was practiced by Eastern mystics then Biblical Prophets to helped them still the mind’s constant clamor and focus their entire being on the essential. This morning I observed the city exhales all she endured the previous week and slowly draw in what will sustain her through the next. The constant activity usually drowns out baseline of the city. Most days Amsterdam’s pavement is assaulted by massive amounts of people on foot, on bikes, in autos and such, but now the traffic is sparse. Joggers, city workers and a few incidental tourists are her only company - if one listens carefully you can hear her breathing in relief.

She exhales those weary early departures who trek begrudgingly to the train station, who move onward to something else; she inhales the bright-eyed “early bird gets the worm” tourists and new arrivals who rush to take in the “Amsterdam experience” while their energy is at a premium. She exhales last night’s frenetic antics of the red-light district, coffee houses and clubs that make her infamous; she inhales a serene calmness that has allowed her to endure and carry the deep love of intimacy, kindness and innovation characteristically found among the Dutch. She exhales the garbage, confusion and loneliness of those seeking something they believe she can manufacture in place love and acceptance; she inhales the clean, pristine, hope of something new and life giving as her streets are made clean by the diligent hardworking street cleaners.

As I think about this imagery I notice my own breath changing, becoming more synchronized with the city I find in the early hours of daylight. I slow as she has slowed to focus my thoughts and release my cares, I feel myself I shadowing meditative flow of the morning. As my chest rises to take in the crisp morning air I am graced with a peace and understanding that helps me to listen and see – I struggle to hold it in but then I am forced relinquish and seek replenishment. I pass by the flower mart, I breathe in and watch the slow careful process as shop keepers turn the cranks to open their booths to receive the days flowers, much the way a waking infant opens his eyes in anticipation of seeing a loved one; then I release my desire to sleep as I slow to watch the city shake of the night before. As I pass a subterranean window I breathe in quickly - I am startled as by the upward stare of a woman wearing lingerie with one leg propped on a chair as her TV spits out the news in the background; from deep within I release a smile that I hope cuts through my astonishment and her cold stare.

Each time my lungs fill, I mirroring more of the city’s mediation. I find myself strengthen to endure much, like she has, as my heart becomes more in tune Amsterdam’s own heartbeat. The simultaneous competing rhythms of our breaths and heartbeats underscore baseline that is the song of love that is being written. We are falling for each other. I reintroduce myself to the city this morning, I tell her I am back and ready to offer my love, in kind Amsterdam welcomes me to into the rushing waves of her own meditative inhalation. She offers to take me in deeply and fully, I let go and dive deep.

I’m here!

It’s 8:30 in the evening in Amsterdam and it is warm and sunny!

When I stepped out of the train station after 17 hours of traveling it was a breath of fresh air hit me as I took in the sites of the familiar scenery. I do have to say that things look different now that I am staying.

I feel like I am about to enter one of the most exiting times in my life, I just have to leap into it. Here I go!