07 May 2012

May 7 - "Someone Who Inspires You"


This topic puzzled me. Inspire could be taken many different ways.

If it wouldn't have been disruptive to those around me, I might've tried to a take a picture of the women who sat in front of us at when we went to see The Avengers this afternoon. Bringing your 3 children - approximate ages 5, 3 and < 1 years old - to a loud, violent, PG-13 movie inspires lots of thoughts. Most probably not fit for public consumption.

No, let's not taken inspiration down that road. Let's be positive.

So this picture is a little packet of orange papers I've had for over 2 years now. I got these pages at a worship leaders retreat in Asheville, NC during an afternoon workshop on creativity lead by a fellow called Terry Butler. The first year we went to the retreat, Terry lead worship at one or two of our sessions and he wasn't a guy that I thought I'd gravitate towards. To begin with, he's one of the original Vineyard guys - so he's a good 20 years older than me. On top of that, he plays keyboard. Keyboardists and I have a tenuous relationship, mostly because I tend to associate keyboard music with the sort of cheesy sounding worship music that I can do without. But as I looked at the list of optional workshops for the day, this one just sounded interesting to me and I decided to give it a go.

I'm not sure I remember much about the actual workshop that afternoon. There was probably some discussion, probably some laughs, probably some exercises. But what I really got from it was Terry. Here's this guy who is just plan interested in worshipping Jesus and helping others do the same. He navigates his way through A.D.D. (literally diagnosed, not just jokingly stated), depression and bipolar disorder and still comes out praising God. Note - he doesn't do this in spite of these issues; he does it in the midst them. No shiny coating, no subversive ways around life. Just living. And living beautifully.

Honestly, his outlooks (and many other interactions with him in the years that have followed) have shaped the way I approach worship in more ways than anyone else. So I hang on to these pages and read through them every now and again when I start to lose perspective or inspiration. Because, really, there's nothing better than perspective given by someone who literally has no filter! I'll end with the closing paragraph from these old orange papers. Hope you're inspired to do something creative too.


So, go on and LIVE CREATIVELY! Read children's books. Take the long way home. Save up and go to Russia! Make dinner for a bunch of your friends sometime soon. Take a bubble bath. Learn to paint. Visit a great museum of art. Start a book club. Visit a Monastery and walk the stations of the Cross. Go a whole day without speaking. Read the Book of Common Prayer and begin writing prayers to be used corporately. Keep a prayer journal with you wherever you go. Save all your Starbucks money and buy a winter coat for someone who can't afford one. Sing out loud at Borders or Barnes and Nobles. Live with wild abandon! Perspire and inspire. Let this be something that could be said of you at your funeral someday, "What a ride!"

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