Ah, bliss . . . .

One of the reasons I love Carlisle. These grainy iphone pictures can't capture the glory of this insistent and gentle grace from heaven, but oh, for the purity of the white and the weakness of its power as it covers everything.

No human power can stop it, but only attempt to move it around.

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. Romans 1:20

On with the show, this is it . . .

Here we are with the cooler (recognize this, Kathy?) from someone at church in which we kept just some of the things Deb had prepared cold (it was 66 Monday night in NYC!) We are at one end of the room where Josh’s opening is set-up.






















Here is the sign for Josh’s show, a tip to the Google alternate search line, but also to his upcoming graduation . . . (sadly, you can't tell that he has painstakingly inked in the pixelated words and then made a denril [I think] mask for them).
The show is stunning in it's epic grandness on an infinitessimal scale. One teaser before I head up to change into my suit and head back to the Cooper Union. On the internet, a picture does not do justice to what he has done. But look at this kitty from internet site Icanhazcheeseburger. Click on it to see closer . . . This was a blank piece of paper when he started, to which he applied a fine tipped felt pen, holding it at certain spots of a continuous line, one straight line at a time. Serious and compelling (and 8 1/2 by 11), they draw you in and you see the fineness of his work with line.




Here is the photo of the artist as a young man (Henry James lived only a few blocks from here) . . . . or young man as an artist . . . ?























And here is Ellen Cushing just arrived, talking to the chief caterer . . . . more and in a more orderly fashion Thursday . . .

A bagel a day keeps the nebbish in you away . . .

Here, hopefully is the reordered set of pictures. More coming tomorrow. So many people and . . . well, proud parents. Here is of Deb in front of our wonderful hotel.

Here's a tiny part of their menu on a roll of paper. What a place.

Do you see how good is this spectacular sesame bagel with salmon and cream cheese (with capers), onions, and tomato that we shared? Nothing like it!

The Morning of the Day

Ah, the daytime panorama out of our sixth floor room looking west, I think. Out to Murray's for marvelous bagels, a little walking and then over to Cooper Union for preparation in the afternoon . . .

On which we arrive in Manhattan

After all the packing and a mostly uneventful but enjoyable trip, and much traffic once we hit Manhattan, we got to see Josh and drop off a couple of things before he headed to class and then some final preparations after class.

We're again glad to be staying at the Larchmont Hotel, which is close to Greenwich Village. We're on the 6th floor and have one of the greatest views we've ever had . . . and, live, it's not quite as blurry as this photo seems to indicate . . . . where is that tripod when I really need it?

We couldn't wait to go to our favorite Italian restaurant, just a little further down the block, Gene's. Old world waiters; they even scrape the crumbs away after the main course. We have never been disappointed here and go almost every time.








Do you see the rose at the table? The one with the fork. Both of us had the same . . . broiled scallops, all part of a combined meal that included, for me, the smoothest and most wonderful chopped liver and spaghetti as a side, the real Italian kind, both the pasta and the wonderfully light and fresh tomato sauce. Oh and the creme brule that came along with the meal for dessert. Untouchable.

Tomorrow's the big day; after driving around the block for over and hour to find a parking space from which I didn't need to move the car the next morning early, I got ice and placed it in all the coolers around the food Deb has prepared, as tonight it is only as cool as 64 degrees in Manhattan. Deb's already asleep and I'm down in the lobby where there is wireless to add this post. What a day tomorrow will be! And so many of his friends have come along side, even last night having a Senior Show dinner for him. Wonderful to see . . . . Some people from Massachusetts coming down and my sister and dad coming up . . . 6:00 tomorrow night. Now for a couple of hours of work on the gospel of Matthew for a beginning of a series this Sunday on this remarkable biography of Jesus. Please do pray for all of this . . . . .

i'm feeling lucky

The title of Josh's Senior Show (recognize it from the Google search page?). Here are all the things Deb has assembled to cater Tuesday evening's opening. Weeks of thinking, days of cutting, making, cooking, and a cake by Diane Melanson with one of Josh's first works of art from 1990 . . . "a man with a birthday hat on holding a sign that says 'Happy Birthday,'" Josh told his mom when she asked him to draw a picture for his Grandma's birthday. Many of his friends helping in way way that is characteristic of Josh's reaching out to help others with their own shows in the past. We're on the road.

Wednesday in Iowa

Dr. Briscoe continued in Ephesians 4, now emphasizing the unity and diversity that is found in our God and which therefore must be found in his people. An obvious requirement is that we live in unity, if we are an evidence of God's ability to bring together all things. Make every effort to maintain the unity of the spirit. "Whereas any idiot can have an argument, it takes mature people to find points of agreement and put other things aside for later attention in order that we might be building each other up, unifying ourselves rather than disintegrating and deteriorating like the rest of the cosmos around us."

My seminar was with missionary Larry Correll and his wife Sue. They discussed typical issues in the field, one of which will be my opening sermon illustration on Sunday

One of the wonderful treats was Pastor Tim Sir and the praise band from his church (at least I think they were). Earlier in the morning, in addition to playing for hymns and praise songs, they had sung "I'll Fly Away." At the end of the blog for today is a link (I hope) to "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder." Vocal harmonies were great. The young young man playing bass is the son of the banjo player to his left and is playing his first "gig."

In the evening, we again heard from David Olson. I remain unconvinced that, for all the information he has helpfully gathered, he has correctly identified what are the real causes and therefore how to address them. I add his central Powerpoint slides without comment. The argument is essentially that, if we don't act soon, there won't be any American church left, we'll continue the trend seen since, at least, the 1950's. To me it seems a little like saying, "The car won't run. It doesn't move forward. To remedy this, we need to give it a new paint job and better tires, because cars that run well usually have a good paint job and good tires." But maybe the problem is that it's out of gas. Gathering characteristics about the "stoppedness" of a car does not mean that you've understood WHY it has stopped. And if you don't understand that, any remedy will not do what the car really needs. Again this talk (which can hardly be called a sermon) was secondarily about Scripture (which is the perfect revelation--God telling us what is right with the church and what the church needs) and primarily about statistical compilation. And driven byh a dStill, Dr. Olson raises some good questions and, after all, the first disciples began their work of evangelizing the world not so much because they did what Jesus said, but because persecution kicked them out of Jerusalem and on their way. I look forward to reading and evaluating this book so at the center of the CCCC's direction in church redevelopment and planting.





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