Follow-Up Friday

Corroboration, supplementation, take 2, whatever you want to call it.

Courage: Resolved

a response to Courage, Resolved. (1/03)

I had made a list of 9 people with whom I longed to share my heart. Two months later, every name is crossed through. Some conversations took only a few minutes; others, a few hours. There are still a few loose ends, but overall, I am so glad for each and every conversation. Also, I’m still grateful for the encouragement I received from those who commented on my first post in January. People are awesome, finis.

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Prom? Yes, Please.

a response to Prom? No, Thanks. (1/26)

The Joy Prom, planned and hosted by Carmel Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC, is for teenagers aged 16 and older with special needs. It is a large-scale event, requiring over 750 volunteers over the nights of April 27 and 28, 2012 (Friday and Saturday). According to the website: “Formally attired guests arrive on the red carpet and are escorted by volunteers who help them with make-up, shoe shines and photo opportunities. A dessert buffet is served for all guests and is followed by an evening of dancing the night away with their friends. This year, we will provide an enchanting evening for the guests while letting them know they are loved by Jesus and precious to Him.”

It is inspired by Luke 14:12-14 in the Bible, one of Jesus’ many parables: “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” This is a completely literal interpretation, and it looks like it makes for an awesome event (just watch the video!).

Volunteer activities include serving food, acting as “paparazzi” when guests arrive on the red carpet, and guiding guests from activity to activity throughout the evening. This is a way for one teenager to help another!

Sign up at Joy Prom > Volunteers.

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A Serpentine Picture

a response to A Bigger Picture? by Katie O’Neill (02/05)

Katie wrote about the pain of changing and growing (“absolutely everything is stripped away”). In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis writes a scene where a boy Eustace (weird name, but it’s British), having been transmuted into a dragon, must have his scales removed, layer by layer. Aslan the lion, symbolic of God, does the removing; this scene is symbolic of letting God remove our sinful “dragon” skin.

Cyril of Jerusalem wrote a very similar idea in 300 AD (!) when he wrote:

Be not then henceforth a viper, but as thou hast been formerly a viper’s brood, put off, saith he, the slough of thy former sinful life. For every serpent creeps into a hole and casts its old slough, and having rubbed off the old skin, grows young again in body. In like manner enter thou also through the strait and narrow gate, rub off thy former self by fasting, and drive out that which is destroying thee.

The Catechetical Lectures of our Holy Father, Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem

Fasting is one way to deprive sin and weaken the desires of the flesh. I found this quote in A Hunger for God by John Piper.

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Passion in Fasting

a response to Passion in Action (2/21)

This past week, I’ve been so inspired and encouraged by A Hunger for God by John Piper. The entire book is available for free download as a PDF from desiringGod.org. However, if you want to print it, here is the chapter that deals specifically with “taking bread away from your own mouth” and putting “it in the mouth of the poor” (p. 137):

Download “Finding God in the Garden of Pain” from A Hunger for God by John Piper.

I recommend the following print settings: In Adobe Reader, under Print > Page Handling, select Booklet Printing, and in your printer’s settings choose Duplex or Double-sided Printing.

The reason for this is that the page is set up for 5 x 8 in. book printing, so you will waste extravagant amounts of paper by not printing it as a booklet or at least 2 pages per sheet (I don’t recommend multiple pages per sheet, since it will be more difficult to read in the correct page order).

Or you can read it all digitally! That saves paper, too!

The Intoxication of the Night: UCPE’s Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera is special. Before I critique the acting, singing, lighting, set, and orchestra, let my bias be known: I have waited for years to behold it, on either the stage or the screen. As far back as fifth grade, my friends oohed and ahhed over the movie, but I was forbidden from watching it. (I actually waited till I was 12 or 13 to watch PG-13 movies!) By the time I was independent enough to filter my own world, I knew the time and the company had to be special. Union County Performance Ensemble’s production of The Phantom of the Opera satisfied all the criteria; it was an event attended and even performed by many of my friends.

On Saturday night the cafeteria and auditorium of Central Academy (CATA) were filled with excited voices and a wall of people. I could feel my own excitement flushing my face with a warm rosiness as I chatted with people I know and found a seat.

From the opening score, the orchestra tingled my spine with its rendition of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music; the live music added an element of intensity to the production. The all-student orchestra synergized excellently with the voices and movements of the actors, as did the lighting and sound crew.

The lead roles are double-cast; on this particular night, Christine, played by sophomore Delaney Veurink, sang like an angel, and I could clearly hear her words. The other actors and actresses sang well, but I could not always hear what they were saying, sometimes for long periods of time. This may have been a fault of the microphones and sound system, but all the same, I wish I had been able to hear and thus enjoy more of the singing.

The plot is as much as part of the book or the movie as it is the live theatre performance, so I won’t depend on plot judgments for this review, but I will say that it was intriguing. The central theme is the pull of the spirit between the plain and the hidden, the darkness and the daylight, shame and honesty—a universal human struggle—is evident in the Phantom’s mask and his song:”Open up your mind, / Let your fantasies unwind / In this darkness that you know you cannot fight / The darkness of the music of the night” (“The Music of the Night”).  Which will Christine choose—her muse and “the angel of music,” or her first love Raoul? The plot details of the original book are different from those of the Broadway adaptation, but the theme holds true.

Union County Performance Ensemble is a group of dedicated adults, aspiring theatre, tech, music, and dance students representing high schools across all of Union County, NC. Partnering with the Union County Community Arts Council, which promotes culture and the arts among students and the community, UCPE has produced a musical for the past 13 years, such as Hairspray in 2010 and Miss Saigon in 2009.

This is the last weekend of the production, but Sunday (26 Feb) holds performances #8 and #9. Reserve your tickets by calling 704-290-1599, and hope it’s not sold out! Adult tickets are $10; student tickets, $6.

Read more about the plot and student details in this Charlotte Observer article.

Courage, Resolved.

Introspection

Dear 2012,

I typically follow the tradition of making resolutions for the new year—or rather, I set goals—but not this year.

This year, I want to consciously tackle a fear that is holding me back. Recently, I have felt that I lack the gumption and the courage to be true to myself. (And, no, my AP English friends, this is not inspired by The Awakening.)

I don’t want to keep my words inside me. I want to initiate the difficult and awkward conversations.

I want to be brave.

I can write, yes. It’s easy: I can write a Facebook message, an email, a blog post, a text. I can organize my thoughts and take time to think of replies. But this is beginning to feel like the bottom rung on the ladder of interpersonal communication. Equal to the ease of  serious communication via online social networking is its inadequacy.

When I write, whether for communication or for catharsis, I only achieve so much. I can put my feelings into words and try to make sense of my world, but I can’t get feedback from the people concerned. I can’t watch their faces or hear their responses because I am afraid of feeling pain. I can’t feel their love because I am afraid of facing their displeasure.

But I have to, for there are so many conversations that need to happen, and so many raw and risky words to exchange.

It’s so easy to stay on the surface—to stick with safe topics. Even with people I love and trust, with women in whom I have found wisdom, inspiration, and encouragement, it’s  hard to speak of what really concerns me.

Relationships are meant to fill and satisfy, but after surface conversations, I have a gnawing sense of loneliness only because I refuse to let anyone in.

I can’t keep hiding parts of myself just because I’m afraid of how people will react, or what I will lose (nothing in most cases!). I desperately want to live in the light.

I’ve always enjoyed adventure and challenge: traveling the world, learning a new sport, starting a blog. But simply overcoming the fear that keeps me from picking up the phone and calling someone for advice, encouragement, or no reason at all can make my day-to-day life an adventure.

This is my only resolution this new year: to give voice to the truth inside my heart, no matter how difficult it is to package neatly.

Yours truly,
Alisha

Red, Blue, and Everything in Between

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I’m going to post these to my Flickr set in August; for now, I’ve exceeded my monthly limit!

déjà vu

Ever since track ended, I’ve been living in a continual state of déjà vu, although in this case, it’s not a cerebral trick. All the events of last year (linked) are replaying themselves in my mind.

We had the annual Waxhaw 5K. (Even though I wasn’t able to participate this year.)

We celebrated Mothers’ Day.

My friends and I attended the PTSO Awards Night at my high school.

We walked a bunch of laps at the band’s Walk-A-Thon fundraiser. (Thirteen miles this year!)

I just came from Waxhaw’s annual Springfest.

 

(Photos—left: vendor of Cloister Honey; right—my brother Ray on a pony ride)

There’s product reviews, and the urge to blog/write so much more than I have been.

Oh, and photography—taking pictures of every activity! But since I’ve spent so much time with my camera in class (yes! a photography class at my high school), my enthusiasm for it is flagging.

I’m comparing pictures, the year’s achievements, my current state of being—I can’t help it.

But there’s something very different about 2011: my boyfriend (or as we say, counterpart), John… I WISH I had a picture of us, and that will be the next to-do list item. His birthday is today (16!), and we had a wonderful weekend together. Every day we become closer.

 

(photo credit Kris Morefield)

One thing I didn’t mention before: my high school’s theatre department (aka my friends!) performed their opening night of the spring musical, Guys and Dolls, on Friday. It was fantastic. If you’re in the area, go see it next weekend! Here’s the FB event page—it’s showing Friday and Saturday at 7pm.

My life is eternally busy—but in these warm spring months, when school is winding down, it’s all fun!

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