Katrina here. Blog #2. I was painting a young lady this afternoon downtown, and I noticed she was staring off into the buildings. I asked her what she was thinking about and she said, “I’m trying not to.” What a profound statement! We conjured up a business proposition: contemplative prayer meets fine art. Hmmmm… (It’s more like performance art, I suppose…) The question on many brains that needs attention is “HOW does one dump their brain clutter?” So, let’s talk about how to clear your brain. Well the parts are not difficult to understand, and naturally, this will look different for different people. I don’t have a recipe, but I have been trying some things. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Learn to trust more

2. Take your time, be graceful with yourself

3. Only say what you intend to do / only say what you mean

4. Do what you say / mean what you say

5. Be diligent (ask, seek and knock)

6. The door will open

Transparent Practicality — Here is what this has looked like for me. I haven’t perfected this at all, and this may only work for a season, but here is where I am at the moment. As I mentioned in my last post, I have just read David Allen’s Getting Things Done and Armchair Mystic by Mark Thibodeaux. And as Mark mentioned in the comments, these books seem quite opposed at first glance — one is about efficiency and the other is about the art of being. Doing vs. being. Are they really at odds?

I would venture to say that the art of being and contemplative prayer are a means to efficiency. I get much more accomplished when I am fully aware of my surroundings and my time than when I am quickly rushing from one thing to the next. I am also a nerd/geek. I love technology. I was taking apart computer hardware with my mom as a young girl while other girls were playing with Barbie dolls. So here is a tool I’ve been using to dump my brain. It’s a tool I’ve had to come to learn to use, and I like it. (And ultimately, true security is only found with God, and if it falls apart for some reason, I trust that He will provide and take care of me.) The tool is Toodledo, a free online software that manages tasks and assigns them priority. I use it in conjunction with Google Calendar. (You can see the little green checkbox next to the weather icons.) Here is a screen shot:

I like the fact that I can sit down to the checklist, take five minutes and dump everything that needs to get done (with a priority level and due date, if needed).

I used to do the same thing with checklists on pencil and paper, but I always dropped it because I would lose the checklist, and I was tired of transferring all of the tasks that I didn’t do onto a new sheet — I felt like a failure. Ultimately, I didn’t really trust the process either. I didn’t trust that I would do what I had said I would do.

Now, I use Toodledo as a referral point and a sacred space. By placing these things in this “silo”, my mind is like water. If I don’t intend to workout that day, I won’t write it on there! The only way this works is if I make the tool an authentic representation of what I truly desire and need to do. Otherwise a great deal of time and resources has been wasted. Once I’ve dumped those action items, I don’t think about them again (until it’s time for me to think about them). The process has been freeing and helpful.
This tool is one helpful lifestyle change that has really brought me peace of mind. Everyone’s approach will look slightly different. Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions or examples of what this looks like for you.

What about brain noise resulting from non-task based items? Like philosophical concerns or relationships? See you for the next post.

Katrina here. Today is the dawning of a new day! I’m going to start writing my *great* posts here on this blog. All of the posts on katrinawillis.wordpress.com will be art-specific, so be sure to check those out (or sign up for an RSS feed) if you’re interested in the art posts (I post those quasi-monthly).

In North America, we have a hard time sitting still, being quiet, or being with others in silence. Noise = comfort. In high school, I used to study with the TV running and the computer and a side conversation going at the same time. And I would venture to say that high schoolers today are doing the same thing still. I’m actually listening to music as I write this now. Try this exercise: take five minutes, and if you have one near, set an alarm to let you know when the 5 minute mark hits. Turn your computer screen off. Sit upright in the quiet and focus on one thing in the room. Breathe deeply. Try to let you mind STOP. Do not go to sleep.

….. how was it?

If you’re anything like me, you probably have experienced days where you’re thinking deeply on something… and there is constant brain chatter (leading to anxiousness). I wake up thinking about “things” and I spend the entire day thinking about “things” as if my thinking will result in some sort of change. “If I just think deeply or hard enough, I’ll live wisely.” If I meet someone who doesn’t “think” as much as I “think” then they’re obviously more hollow headed than me. End of story. Until recently…

I have been seeking peace of mind. Jesus told us that those who listen to him and do what he says will be like the man who built his house on the rock. When the rains come and the winds blow, the house will sit firm. But those who only listen to his words build their house on the sand. The writer of Proverbs says that as a dog returns to its vomit so a fool returns to his folly (26:11). In English, we call this rumination. We’re so comfy with our own vomit that we won’t seek out new food.

I’ve just recently read Armchair Mystic by Mark Thibodeaux and Getting Things Done by David Allen. In the mix, I’ve also been meditating on the Matthew 6:33 mantra (Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all of these things shall be added to you…)

The result has been the freeing art of the brain dump. What? How do you do that? Stay tuned.

I was reading Psalm 23 in the Hebrew, and as I began to dig into some of the words, I was amazed at what I found. I’m still not sure on some of the phrases (”my owl is full?”). But I am convinced that this Psalm has a lot more to say to my life right now than most of its English counterparts. Be blessed:

Psalm 23 - A Psalm for David.

The LORD is my shepherd; I am never lacking anything.

He causes me to lie down in green spaces; he brings me upon a place of quiet waters.

He brings back my soul. He guides me in tracks of justice, for the sake of his name.

Even as I walk into the valley of the death-shadow, I will not fear evil, because you are with me.

Your family and your (holistic) support they comfort me.

You arrange in the presence of my enemies a Table; you have anointed my head in oil, my cup is saturated. (or…my owl is full?)

Only a good and loving loyalty will pursue me all the days of my life.

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever and ever.

I had another one of those pump-you-up kind of conversations just a few days ago. You know the kind that you have in the midst of a “none of this is going right” kind of situation?

Chris and I have been worshipping together as part of a church for most of the semester now. It’s been difficult to get to know Chris, because we both live such frenetic lifestyles, and are invested deeply as students. He and I have had several chances over these past few months however to sit down and discuss our lives and what it means to be a vibrant family of Jesus.

Our little faith family of about 10 has been meeting now for just about one full year. In that year we have gone from just me, my wife, and one of my closest friends, to a broader and much more diverse family. Among us as we worshipped have been students, adults, little kids, the poor, the rich, the lost, the saved, alcoholics, foreigners…the mix has been great and we have loved it. And we have hated it. It is the business of seeing community as the real people you’re living with, rather than the ideal world we all tend to live in.

Bonhoffer’s great quote, “He who loves community, destroys community” could not have been made more real than in my own heart this year. I wanted so badly for our church to move beyond the superficiality that we as Americans all struggle with. Many of us wanted this, but Fear and Anxiety kept us from digging deeper.

So as Chris and I sat in his truck, discussing where our little family in Christ will go as we move into the New Year, it hit us. “It all comes down to opening our eyes.” Unless we have open eyes, we’ll never be able to see the hurt inside our brother or sister and name that for what it is. Unless we look with eyes wide open, there’s no way we can think about church outside the box of what we’ve grown up knowing. Unless our hearts truly desire the change from community-as-program to community-as-life-in-Christ, we will continually neglect and ultimately destroy each other.

Jesus seemed to be okay with people not getting it – though he didn’t let them get away with it! He was constantly drawing people out of their own selfish circles and into a world where they could learn to love others more deeply. A world where God was the center, and everything else flowed from that.

Lord, I want to see. I want to see you at the center. I want to see you at the center of our simple, little church.

No one can make someone desire something they don’t internally desire. (Believe me, Trina just doesn’t seem to get as excited about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as I do, no matter how much I try to convince her how cool they are!) For those who are ready to commit to being a family together, I am ready to go deeper. For those not interested, I bless them and send them. Not everyone has what it takes to face the brutal world of life together.

This means some big things for my life. It means a major reorienting of my lifestyle. I had planned on another very full semester this spring. It may be that I could learn more outside the classroom from my brothers and sisters. I had planned on continuing on in this life of isolation without much getting in my way; looks like that’s going the way of the dodo bird. I had thought I would get to Chicago before discovering community…maybe I’m supposed to find it right here in the desert of West Texas.

I love community – but I love my church family more.

From the Irresistible Revolution:

“Too often we do what makes sense to us and ask God to bless it.  In the Beatitudes, God tells us what God blesses - the poor, the peacemakers, the hungry, those who mourn, those who show mercy - so we should not ask God’s blessing on a declaration that we will have no mercy on evildoers.  We know all to well that we have a God who shows mercy on evildoers, for if he didn’t we’d all be in big trouble, and for that this evildoer is very glad.  Rather than do what makes sense to us and ask God’s blessing, we’d do better to surround ourselves with those whom God promises to bless, and then we need not ask God’s blessing.  It’s just what God does.”

He’s talking to America when he says, “we should not ask God’s blessing on a declaration that we will show no mercy to evildoers.”  How many times have you seen God’s name associated with the political agendas of this nation?  Or of this world?  “God bless America!”  “God bless this nation!”  Did you know that people in Iraq look at what those in our government leading the war in Iraq and call them “Christian extremists”?  I’m thankful thaht so far they haven’t written all of the Christian faith off over such insanity! Whatever happened to Christians following a Prince of Peace?

Maybe the answer to this nationalistic religion which breeds violence of the foreigner (whether Muslim or Christian) is learning to begin following the Way of Christ.  His teachings on God’s propensity to blessing the poor, the peacemakers, the hungry, etc. is closer than we think to a simple yet profound strategy for world peace.  When we stop following our own “God-blessed” propositions and begin getting to know those whom God has already blessed (see the above list), we begin to discover the mighty ways of God’s Kingdom.

See, American Christians can be so turned around that they read books like the Prayer of Jabez and conclude that God wants to bless them with tons of money and success.  I don’t think Wilknson (the author) necessarily saw how people were going to take his book.  It just tells me that we think that we know better than Jesus does what God should bless.  “It shoure ain’t the poor, cuz that’s what I am now, and I don’t feel blessed!”

Feeling poor?  Down and out?  You are not far from the Kingdom of God.  Feeling distant from God?  Head downtown, look down the alleys; you might find him there.  Head to Iraq as a peacemaker (not a peacekeeper, Clint Eastwood!).  Give away your lunch to someone who hasn’t seen one in days, comfort someone grieving…you’ll find that God and his blessing is not far from any one of us.
Next to the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Does she sound American anymore?