"Eating the Hours" -- New "Awaken Your Senses" Video

My new video for Awaken Your Senses -- "Eating the Hours."



Enjoy!

--Brent

And The Winner Is....Leah Sophia!

Leah, who blogs at http://desertspiritsfire.blogspot.com/, is our first week's "Awaken Your Senses" contest winner. She wins a $25 gift certificate from Harry & Davids.

In her winning post, Leah wrote "Our central Christian hermeneutic is God's incarnation, enfleshment, in a physical body formed from the substance of the ground. My particular Reformation tradition emphasizes the ongoing Divine presence and God's continued self-giving in the sacraments. But baptism and holy communion are far more than something we do in a ritualized way when we gather--they are lively signs to the world of our seeking and working for justice for all peoples and all the earth everywhere. Sacraments also signify the sacredness of all life as they form a microcosm of the promised time of the fullness of redemption for all creation. Real food is not manufactured in laboratory-like factories; real food comes from the earth and for celebrating sacramental ordinances we use flowing water, juice or wine from the fruit of the grapevine and (ideally recently homemade) bread baked from natural ingredients, so we need to be friends of the earth to continue celebrating sacraments."

Congrats, Leah!

And thanks to everyone who entered!

We'll announce the winner of this week's autographed books shortly along with the details of this week's contest! You may be this week's winner -- all you have to do is enter!

To a Poor Old Woman: Taste: Awaken Your Senses

munching a plum on

the street a paper bag

of them in her hand

They taste good to her

They taste good

to her. They taste

good to her

You can see it by

the way she gives herself

to the one half

sucked out in her hand

Comforted

a solace of ripe plums

seeming to fill the air

They taste good to her

By William Carlos Williams

*******************
Remember, if you like ripe plums (or any other taste) write about tasting on the “Awaken Your Senses Contest” -- and you could win a $25 gift certificate from Harry & Davids or an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses! The contest is featured on:

· Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page

· Brent’s Blog

· Beth's Blog

Here’s how it works:

1. This week, you are invited to pay attention to your sense of TASTE and see how it introduces you to the wonder of God.

2. If something cool happens, post a description about that experience on the Awaken Your Senses FB Page or Beth or Brent’s blogs. (All entries must be submitted by Sunday at noon.)

3. Brent and Beth will choose a winner on Sunday evening and that person will receive a $25 gift card for a gift related to taste.

4. Brent and Beth will also do a drawing from the names of everyone who participated each week and the weekly winner of the random drawing will receive an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses.

5. The winners will be announced on Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page and Brent and Beth’s blogs on each Monday when a new sense begins!

What Your Body Knows

This fits really well with what Beth Booram and I say in Awaken Your Senses.

"What does your body know? Its ways of knowing will not desert you. Its knowing remains true and will be enhanced through your attention and reliance. The musician Jerry Garcia once said, 'In the water you're weightless. It's so silent you're like a thought. When I begin to relax, the songs start happening in my head.' The body needs to relax to float. If you're stiff and afraid, the water will not hold you well and you'll flail and splash.... But if you have faith in the floating, faith in the water, alliances are made from that."

-- by Patrice Vecchione. Source: Writing and the Spiritual Life

Add your thoughts at inward/outward

Don't forget, the “Awaken Your Senses Contest” is underway. The contest is featured on:

· Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page

· Brent’s Blog

· Beth's Blog

Here’s how it works:

1. This week, you are invited to pay attention to your sense of TASTE and see how it introduces you to the wonder of God.

2. If something cool happens, post a description about that experience on the Awaken Your Senses FB Page or Beth or Brent’s blogs. (All entries must be submitted by Sunday at noon.)

3. Brent and Beth will choose a winner on Sunday evening and that person will receive a $25 gift card for a gift related to taste.

4. Brent and Beth will also do a drawing from the names of everyone who participated each week and the weekly winner of the random drawing will receive an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses.

5. The winners will be announced on Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page and Brent and Beth’s blogs on each Monday when a new sense begins!

Soup: The Awaken Your Senses Contest: Continues!

My friend Jane and I lunch today at one of our favorite places. The menu has all sorts of tempting taste treats, but, since I was feeling especially chubby (as opposed to the regular chubby I usually feel) I went with a bowl of soup and a roll. It was tasty enough, but ... what made the tastes memorable was not how the soup tasted on my tongue, but rather the company I was keeping. The fellowship I enjoyed. The comfortable conversation with someone I've known since she was a teenager (and I was not!).

Which is something I often forget about when I think about taste -- I can't take the sense of taste in isolation. It, like all our senses, involves all of us. And so the taste of soup and bread at McNivens reminds me of Jane and the many years we've been friends.

It was a good reminder that, for all my sensory experiences, I do not live in a vacuum -- much of my "sensing" takes place in relationship to others. And that is a gift from God.

************

The“Awaken Your Senses Contest” is underway. The contest is featured on:

· Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page

· Brent’s Blog

· Beth's Blog

Here’s how it works:

1. This week, you are invited to pay attention to your sense of TASTE and see how it introduces you to the wonder of God.

2. If something cool happens, post a description about that experience on the Awaken Your Senses FB Page or Beth or Brent’s blogs. (All entries must be submitted by Sunday at noon.)

3. Brent and Beth will choose a winner on Sunday evening and that person will receive a $25 gift card for a gift related to taste.

4. Brent and Beth will also do a drawing from the names of everyone who participated each week and the weekly winner of the random drawing will receive an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses.

5. The winners will be announced on Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page and Brent and Beth’s blogs on each Monday when a new sense begins!

--Brent

Awaken Your Senses Contest -- Taste!

Ah, a cuppa Joe. Java. Brain juice. Cup of tar. Coffee. I have that bitter brew with my breakfast each morning. I'm a pretty obsessive compulsive guy (should there be a hypen there?), so it's oatmeal and coffee seven days out of seven -- unless I'm traveling or we have company. Even then, though, there's one norm -- coffee.

This morning, since our contest is going on, I thought more about my mugful of mocha. Especially, despite the copious amounts of cream and "pink stuff" (the diabetic's sugar alternative) how it leaves an often slightly bitter aftertaste. Which made me think about words I've spoken over the years. Words that I've said that can't be taken back and leave an awfully bitter aftertaste in my soul and in the souls of those who I've spoken those words to. Words I wished -- often right after they flew from my fevered anger -- I could take back, but knew I could not. Too late. They were gone and on their wounding way. Drinking my coffee, I remembered the words of James --

"the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."

As my mother used to say, "Brent, watch your mouth..." (The only reason she doesn't say it anymore is because I live 200 miles away and she knows it won't do any good, anyhow.)

I think I need some more coffee!

-- Brent

*************

Today (Feb. 6) is the start of the “Awaken Your Senses Contest.” The contest is featured on:

· Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page

· Brent’s Blog

· Beth's Blog

Here’s how it works:

1. This week, you are invited to pay attention to your sense of TASTE and see how it introduces you to the wonder of God.

2. If something cool happens, post a description about that experience on the Awaken Your Senses FB Page or Beth or Brent’s blogs. (All entries must be submitted by Sunday at noon.)

3. Brent and Beth will choose a winner on Sunday evening and that person will receive a $25 gift card for a gift related to taste.

4. Brent and Beth will also do a drawing from the names of everyone who participated each week and the weekly winner of the random drawing will receive an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses.

5. The winners will be announced on Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page and Brent and Beth’s blogs on each Monday when a new sense begins!

TASTE: The Sense of the Week!

“Have you ever thought about tasting God in what you put in your mouth? The idea that food can remind us of the different attributes, ways and stories of God is a novel thought for most of us. If we are open to letting God teach us the ways of faith through our bodies, though, then we can learn the ways of faith through our taste buds as well as our brain. The sweetness of a freshly baked cinnamon roll can remind us of the sweetness of God’s love in the same way that horseradish at Passover reminds Jews of the bitterness of slavery.” -- Awaken Your Senses, pg. 26 (adapted)

Today (Feb. 6) is the start of the “Awaken Your Senses Contest.” The contest is featured on:

· Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page

· Brent’s Blog

· Beth's Blog

Here’s how it works:

1. This week, you are invited to pay attention to your sense of TASTE and see how it introduces you to the wonder of God.

2. If something cool happens, post a description about that experience on the Awaken Your Senses FB Page or Beth or Brent’s blogs. (All entries must be submitted by Sunday at noon.)

3. Brent and Beth will choose a winner on Sunday evening and that person will receive a $25 gift card for a gift related to taste.

4. Brent and Beth will also do a drawing from the names of everyone who participated each week and the weekly winner of the random drawing will receive an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses.

5. The winners will be announced on Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page and Brent and Beth’s blogs on each Monday when a new sense begins!

The Contest Schedule!

February 6 – Taste

February 13 – See

February 20 – Touch

February 27 – Hear

March 5 -- Smell

Tell your friends about the contest. Tweet, tumblr and blog about it. Spread the word. We can’t wait to hear about your experiences as you awaken your senses to the wonder of God.

Ladies and gentlemen, start your taste buds!

-- Brent

"Taste" -- The Awaken Your Senses Contest Begins Monday!

I hope you'll participate! It will be fun to read your posts -- and you'll have a chance to win some great prizes!

Awaken Yours Senses Contest: Official Rules

The Awaken Your Senses Contest is about to begin!

Beginning Monday, February 6^th, Brent and Beth will host an “Awaken Your Senses Contest” featured on:

· Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page

· Brent’s Blog

· Beth's Blog

Here’s how it works:

1. Each week, for five weeks, Beth and Brent will post a sense of the week. You are invited to pay attention to that particular sense and see how it introduces you to the wonder of God.

2. If something cool happens, post a description about that experience on the Awaken Your Senses FB Page or Beth or Brent’s blogs. (All entries must be submitted by Sunday at noon.)

3. Brent and Beth will choose a winner on Sunday evening and that person will receive a $25 gift card for a gift related to that sense.

4. Brent and Beth will also do a drawing from the names of everyone who participated each week and the weekly winner of the random drawing will receive an autographed copy of Awaken Your Senses.

5. The winners will be announced on Awaken Your Senses Facebook Page and Brent and Beth’s blogs on each Monday when a new sense begins!

The Contest Schedule!

February 6 – Taste

February 13 – See

February 20 – Touch

February 27 – Hear

March 5 -- Smell

Tell your friends about the contest. Tweet, tumblr and blog about it! Spread the word! We can’t wait to hear about your experiences as you awaken your senses to the wonder of God!

-- Brent

Family of Brent Bill, employees of Brent Bill and brentbill.com, and Brent Bill's cat are ineligible to participate in the contest. Prohibited where void. Side effects include dizziness, neuralgia, and innuendo.

Taste and See -- Days 23-25

The tastes that have been most prominent have been those of autumn -- but not the ones you might expect. I'm not talking about cool apple cider sliding down my throat or pumpkin pie or any of those tastes. No, I'm talking about musty dampness, dryish sawdust, dank diesel fuel, fresh cut wild onions and...

Well, let me explain. About mid-week, the rain started to fall. And fall. And fall. And so no farm work got done in the evenings. But the weather people kept saying that the weekend would be great -- bright and sunny and cool. And the taste of anticipation of all the fall flavors I mentioned above was with me from Wednesday through Friday. And then came Saturday -- as brilliant as the prediction.

So I started by stacking firewood in the woodshed. Laying a fire in the fireplace has to be one of the supreme joys of the cool evenings. But wood is not clean -- especially when you're transferring it from a wood stack down the farm lane to the woodshed behind the house. Every pieces is lifted, tossed, unloaded, stacked -- while bazillions of wood fragments, old leaves, dry grass, and more float through the air and into your nose and mouth. So I tasted various flavors of trees -- oak, cherry, ash. Some dry, some dampish from all the rain. I saw various mice running for their lives as I dismantled their homes in the wood stack (not on purpose -- didn't know the exact addresses). The kittehs especially enjoyed that part -- they are Catholic cats and thus have no tendencies toward the Quaker peace testimony. So Grace and Ebony tasted meeses.

After the wood was stacked, it was time for the final mowing of the lower woods. We'd planted 3,000 trees down there about 4 springs ago and many are getting very tall. Still, to keep the weeds down -- and to give us paths to walk in -- I mow the rows. That's where the taste of diesel fuel and onions came in. I fueled the John Deere and as the fumes floated up from the tractor a few made their way into my mouth (I need to learn to breath with my mouth shut, I guess). Not unpleasant -- just a soupçon of its pungency. Then it was out into the woods, where, to the hint of diesel came fresh mowed grass and wild onion flavor. Also, a taste of black eyed Susan and purple coneflower. Each borne on the the wind as the bushhog mauled them into particles of minute portions.

I love these tastes -- earthy, real, tangible. They speak of stewardship and work and creation. Things which were noble concepts to me as few as seven years ago, but which have become part and parcel of my life since Nancy and I built Ploughshares and began planting trees and prairie. It still is a wonder to me how I ended up here -- a city fellow who thought by this age he'd be living in condo downtown in the arts district.

Yet here I am. Farmer Brent -- voted least likely to plow by his high school class! No, I'm not a "real" farmer -- no crops other than God's adorn these fields. But I "a charge to keep I have..." as the old hymn says. And part of that charge is taking care of that which I've been granted. Ah, 50 acres and fool -- God certainly has a sense of humor. Him planting me here with the crops reminded me of Jesus calling a bunch of fisherman and tax-collector types to be disciples -- to be the bearers of his gospel to the whole wide world. Not a one of them an expert in the field of God-telling.

While I wonder at it all, I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 1:27 -- "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."

Foolish and weak and easily confounded, too, I am. But I enjoy the tastes of autumn -- they remind me of God.

-- Brent

Taste and See -- Days 19-22

Smörgåsbord. Besides being a fun word to say (though difficult to type), smörgåsbord is the word that best describes the tastes of the past few days.

First there was almost duck. Almost duck is when your friendly neighborhood chef comes out from the back to visit with you and you say, "So got any duck on the menu tonight" and he says "Not really, but I'll fix it for you" and you say "Cool" and then when the duck gumbo comes begin to dig in and realize, after a few bites, that there is a distinctive flavor you haven't experienced for awhile and look down and see "SHRIMP!!!!!" in the dish and you're allergic to shellfish and your friendly neighborhood chef forgot that you were allergic to shellfish and so threw shrimp in for you just to make it special and you then cannot eat the meal you're hungering for and your friendly neighborhood chef is feeling horrible because he almost poisoned you and you're feeling bad because it wasn't his fault and you don't want him to feel bad and you end up have chicken gumbo, which is very good and which you call "almost duck" the rest of the night.

Then the next day the flavors ranged from the standard morning oatmeal to chicken chili and salad that was barely tasted (but I hear was good) to cheese and crackers. The cheese and crackers and soup and salad were food from the Art of Faith workshop Beth Booram and I led this weekend. They were barely tasted because I was too nervous to enjoy them. The good thing was that cheese was nice and room temperature by the time Nancy and I got home on Saturday night and, with an opened bottle of wine, tasted just right. Added to that, Nancy, our friend Sarah, and I stayed up late wining, cheesing, and chatting about all sorts of things -- art, faith, Mormons, Quakers, Amish, oral histories of Kentucky coal miners, and more.

On Sunday, I started with oatmeal (surprise!) and then for lunch we had thick French toast and fried eggs. Then I went off to the airport, where I met my little brother Aaron and we went into Harry and Izzy's and had a beer (me), diet Coke (him) and shared french fries while watching the Colts game. A plane ride to North Carolina for a meeting then followed. In Durham, we was greeted with a lovely buffet that included oysters on the half-shell and shrimp (somebody is out to get me!!!) and lamp chops and ... well, quite a spread. And good conversation with the other people at the meeting. Then wine and goldfish (the cracker kind!) before bed -- with more conversation.

So I've been sorting out all these flavors -- all good, all interesting, all unique, and all in different locations -- home, Duke University, the Indianapolis airport, the basement of Trinity Church, the patio at the David Thomas Executive Conference Center, and probably a few more places that have escaped my short term memory at the moment. The flavors and their memories are both shaped by the actual tastes and the associations I have for those tastes. Almost duck was great -- because it was a Zydeco's and Deb and Carter are two of my favorite people and I know they love me and weren't trying to poison me (you weren't, were you, Carter?). And the cheese and crackers and wine were superb because Nancy had carefully prepared them for the workshop and then we got to enjoy them and the relaxed conversation after the workshop.

Regardless, this smörgåsbord of tastes has been a blessing. A gift from God out of the riches of God's bounty prepared for me. Yep, for me -- and today, while remembering them, I can see and feel and taste God's goodness to me. It's a lesson I need to keep in mind -- even on days when the buffet is not quite up to my expectations.

-- Brent

Taste and See, Day Three

...Water... Cool, Clear Water

My co-worker Nancy and I had to take a little road trip today. So, before we pulled out of the parking lot, Nancy did something that would have been unthinkable not too many years ago -- she ran to the grocery store next to the office and bought us water for the trip.

In the "old" days, we would have arrived our destination parched, unless the driver deigned to stop for a drink. Which, since I was driving, would not have happened. My belief is that once you are on the road you should not stop until you get there if it's fewer than three hours away.

So we hydrated our way to Seymour. Between sips, though, I thought about what a luxury this was -- to have cool, clear water sitting in a cup holder, chilled by the car's air conditioner, and right at hand should I want any. It kept my thirst at bay.

And I thought of all those Bible verses about thirst -- from Exodus 17 ("But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, 'Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?'") to Nehemiah 9 ("You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.") to Psalm 42 ("My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?").

And, I have to admit, that when I thought of that passage from Psalms, I felt more than a bit guilty. I could easily remember times when I could say "My soul thirsts for water, for the cool clear water God. When can I go and get some water?" (especially on hot summer days out in the prairie or on my tractor) but when is the last time I was so thirsty for God that I would cry, like the Psalmist, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

I began to feel a little easier when I reflected that I must have that feeling more than I recognize because, for one, every Sunday (or First Day as some of us Quakers say) I do thirst for worship. I want to join fellow seekers on the way to God in a time of coming before God to learn from Him and each other. And I often leave worship feeling that, while my thirst has been partially slaked, I have been privileged to take sips from a deep well and I need to return more often.

And then I think of Jesus and the woman at the well -- "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'"

I say that's what I want -- living water that leaves my thirst satisfied. But then I think, I'm often too satisfied with my spiritual life as it is. Perhaps a little unrequited thirst is a good thing. A very good thing, in fact, for it keeps bringing me back to the well that never will run dry.

-- Brent

Taste and See -- Day Two

Ah, a cuppa Joe. Java. Brain juice. Cup of tar. Coffee. I have that bitter brew with my breakfast each morning. I'm a pretty obsessive compulsive guy (should there be a hypen there?), so it's oatmeal and coffee seven days out of seven -- unless I'm traveling or we have company. Even then, though, there's one norm -- coffee.

This morning, though, since Beth Booram and I are doing our 30 days of tasting, I thought more about my mugful of mocha. Especially, despite the copious amounts of cream and "pink stuff" (the diabetic's sugar alternative) how it leaves an often slightly bitter aftertaste. Which made me think about words I've spoken over the years. Words that I've said that can't be taken back and leave an awfully bitter aftertaste in my soul and in the souls of those who I've spoken those words to. Words I wished -- often right after they flew from my fevered anger -- I could take back, but knew I could not. Too late. They were gone and on their wounding way. Drinking my coffee, I remembered the words of James --

"the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."

As my mother used to say, "Brent, watch your mouth..." (The only reason she doesn't say it anymore is because I live 200 miles away and she knows it won't do any good, anyhow.)

On a happier note, I watched my mouth at lunch when I had fish and chips. Not quite what Jesus fixed by the Sea of Tiberius after the resurrection, but still they reminded me of the how Jesus called the disciples to be fishers of men. And then it raised the question, what does that mean for me today? How do I call people to Christ? What is my witness? Is it as a smug, arrogant, self-righteous know-it-all? Or as someone who models Christ-like love and compassion? Someone who's winsome? I certainly hope it's the latter.

The fish and chips are still present in my swollen belly. Yikes. Perhaps I should have had the poached salmon!

-- Brent

Taste and See -- Day One

As my faithful reader knows, Beth Booram and I are getting reading to lead a workshop on "The Art of Faith: Awakening Your Senses to the Wonder of God." What you may know know is that (you'll be very surprised) is that as a pair of writers, we are considering turning it into a book.

As part of that idea, Beth and I are both doing 30 days of taste (as opposed to 40 days of purpose?) based on the idea "Taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8) We will each keep a journal of our tasting experiences and how they impact our spiritual lives. So, as part of that journey into the senses, I decided I will keep (most of) my journal on-line.

Today, as usual, the first taste I had was Quaker oats. Yes, predictable. I am a creature of habit. But, since I was trying to pay attention to taste -- which is difficult at that hour for a person who definitely is not a morning person and whose dog was barking at critters all night long -- when the first spoonful hit my palate, I tasted not only the creamy richness of milk covered oats, but also a reminder of my own faith tradition. I am a Quaker after all -- even if I don't look anything like the man on the oats box.

I thought about our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ as being intimately interwoven into such things as equality of all people, simplicity of life, peacefulness and resolved to live more closely and fully into them this day. And the coffee helped wake me up so I could actually be aware enough to do that.

Another taste I had during the day was water. I drink a lot of water. I'm not much into soda pop or iced tea (trying to get away from the caffeine). And the purity of the water I had (coming from a filtered source in our office's kitchenette), reminded me of the purity toward which I strive. Though I will never be as pure as the filtered H2O that passed over my palate, it reminded me of the purity of God's love for me and the hope that I have in Him.

One of the final tastes of this day was a glass of Shiraz-Cabernet blend. No, not Welches. It never fails to call to mind that Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine. I doubt that it was a blend, but who knows? All I know is the host of the wedding pronounced it "Good." As does Jesus when He looks over creation on its best days -- it is good. So I need to look for that good in all that I encounter.

This is going to be a month to savor.

-- Brent