tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:03:49 +0000http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/noreply@blogger.com (Zadok)Blogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-5802900370148887457Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:31:00 +00002008-07-28T10:05:15.053-07:00This blog post has been a long time coming. I have meant for sometime to share this poem that was penned by my friend Amanda Chan for UH02. It was cut the night before the program and the way it went down and the way my communication of it came across was very hurtful to her and shaming. It's also ironic because the title of the program that season was "don't go hiding" and the cutting of the http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/06/shes-hiding.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tara)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-3850369163386698493Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:37:00 +00002008-05-15T09:56:01.195-07:00I am a songwriter. The songs that I write have basically three things: rhythm (I got that), melody, and words. These come together in an unpredictable fashion and… behold: songness. But about the words. I have received a lot of feedback over the understandableness (or lack thereof) of the words at the last two Urban Hymnal events. We like reverb. We like playing rock songs in large, cavernous, http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/04/worsmithing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (mark)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-3659955688377640322Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +00002008-06-09T16:33:16.121-07:00I'm quite proud of the narrative and progression of our last program, something not often found in Protestant music/worship. I think they call it liturgy or something; I am so low-church it is practically gutter. Two hours before doors I was frantically ringing up my high-church friends and soliciting them for incense and other sensual miscellany, as if they keep jars of myrrh in their glove http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/04/of-high-churches-and-amplifiers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-7772748300147388481Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:28:00 +00002008-03-17T10:17:15.949-07:00From last night's event more than a few people had nice words for us, but the most common comment was "no offense, but the silence was my favorite part." None taken - it was mine too. Honestly I had had a pretty late night the night before and not the calmest mind the day of--it was not until our silence point in the program that I finally felt my soul drop into place, catch up and be present http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/03/silence-is-golden.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tara)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-4065669634478729123Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:43:00 +00002008-03-14T11:12:44.770-07:00You'd think by now we would have a dependable mission statement for Urban Hymnal but we don't. It became apparent as we wrote in the context of the death and resurrection of our Savior and found ourselves scrambling to justify some of our choices. "Don't go hiding" was the theme, and we took it to heart as we exercised freedom to express doubt, self-contempt, matters of sexuality, gender http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/03/on-mission-and-diversity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-8455461713310407049Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:30:00 +00002008-03-13T13:13:51.700-07:00Jen Grabarczyk blogs about paper clips, her muse for the visual installation piece at this Friday night's Urban Hymnal. If you aren't curious or bothered at the scope of this (32,000 paper clips), you may want to check your meds. http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/03/oddest-of-muses.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-1130935437333831522Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:05:00 +00002008-07-09T11:41:01.140-07:00"Dear church: We're a rogue music/art group that would like you to host us for an evening of 'artsy stuff'. We won't have an altar call or gospel teaching, no small group signups or church announcements. Oh, we're also keen on desecrating--er decorating your altar... interested?" Ok, so perhaps our initial solicitations aren't this belligerent, and of course we don't desecrate (I have had to http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/02/separation-of-church-and-art.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-597015900301180971Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:24:00 +00002008-06-11T23:26:19.975-07:00We've found a host for UH02, Seattle First Presbyterian. They meet smack downtown and their space boasts a 1,200+ seat sanctuary that rarely gets use these days. There are fine people running the church now, which has sadly seen its share of hardships in the last dozen years and as a result is a smaller community. It is odd to witness all these incredible structures nestled in the shadows of http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/02/cathedrals-as-canvas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-1649193979040407850Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:24:00 +00002008-02-13T13:29:55.178-08:00Don't we all at times? Here is a lyrical preview of something we've started work on. Basically we stole the words from someone else..... King David. It's a song he wrote and I am shocked at the audacity he has to speak to God in such a way. Shocked and somehow comforted. I've had moments in life where my words have failed, but I've been able to speak/pray every word in this psalm. Psalm http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/01/feeling-neglected.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tara)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-2960582164795983931Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:07:00 +00002008-03-13T13:07:37.786-07:00Perfect love, it is said, drives out fear. I seem to be experienced with the opposite effect; the closer I seem to get to Divine love the more terrified I become. When I feel pursued I feel embarrassed or violated and certainly distrustful of the pursuer. As it is often put by self-deprecating cynics: I don't wish to be a part of any club that'll have me. Grace looks past such self-doubt and http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2008/01/love-is-fear.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-7161832578908495781Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:07:00 +00002007-12-26T09:58:50.649-08:00Up until the last century, our only access to music was either to make it ourselves or find someone who could. Imagine, unless you lived in the city and had means, Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" was just dots on a page. It is baffling to realize that some of the most complicated and brilliant pieces ever penned were created in such a context. And how did listeners manage to comprehend such complexhttp://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/12/andy-goldsworthy-is-devil.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-5713934112440636375Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:37:00 +00002008-01-22T10:48:59.559-08:00A professor of mine likes to riff on gratitude--he says it is one of the foundations to worship. So when someone says thank you, one should be compelled to say, "no, thank YOU", "no no, thank YOU, for saying thank you" and on and on (this isn't to be standard practice, but the heart of gratitude is found in being thankful to another's thanks--make sense?). So, of the many encouragements that http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/12/ball-of-yarn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-7913330295990719032Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:42:00 +00002007-12-12T09:04:27.988-08:00You know that you're excited when you can't sleep. We just finished our last practice before St. Mark's around 11pm Tuesday night. It's 2am and I'm still pretty alert and my head is alive with ideas. I've also run into a few other late night musicians online and learned from one that Psalm 127 states that God grants sleep to those He loves. We both hope we're still included in that even though http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/12/twilight-vigil.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Tara)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-8588652516312985305Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:18:00 +00002008-03-12T15:52:25.627-07:00Mark has proven once again his knack for re-writing hymns. A few of us banged out his epic version of "I heard the bells on Christmas Day" and I thought I'd post it on the Urban Hymnal website. You can hear the creak of my chair, flat vocals, and Joel's assessment of the song at its end. Do have a listen, warts and all. I think it will be the highlight of the service with the full band and http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/12/for-hate-is-strong-and-mocks-song.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-9201516805823340851Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:47:00 +00002008-03-12T15:57:45.048-07:00Our theme for this first Urban Hymnal service is "The longest night of the year," a concept found in the Celtic tradition (you may know the Over the Rhine album of similar name). We liked the sound of it as it spoke towards some of the ache and darkness of waiting. Of course, those in the Southern Hemisphere will be observing Advent on the shortest night of the year--I wonder how this affects thehttp://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/11/longest-night-of-year.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-6640848934115270528Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:02:00 +00002008-01-29T11:07:36.385-08:00It has been a busy few months here. Urban Hymnal proper is coming together and a month from now we will hold our first service. It will be at St. Mark's Cathedral, which is pure madness. We had hoped to have a service there in a few years, not debut there. The timing and connections are all wonderful graces: COTA had put together the area's first U2Charist at St. Mark's this past summer, it went http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/11/service-1_14.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-4189852002229571554Mon, 16 Jul 2007 16:32:00 +00002007-12-20T23:15:32.988-08:00It is always odd to call out profundity, perhaps ironic, but this advert is strange and beautiful. Thoughts of theology are not far from mind. http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/07/from-across-pond.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-8377625811028147553Thu, 12 Jul 2007 18:25:00 +00002007-11-17T00:47:57.119-08:00...just taking a short hiatus. I've recently found energy to write new music and it is so wonderful to spend creative currency on producing and not just talk of producing. (Not to say I don't enjoy that as well). Perhaps I'll post some more here in blogland. You have to promise to listen properlike with headphones and not on your laptop's shitspeakers. Now go let your heartache.http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/07/still-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-966310458219286027Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:35:00 +00002007-12-20T09:22:59.706-08:00"I do not know who put me in the world, nor what the world is, nor what I am myself. I am in a terrible ignorance about everything. I do not know what my body is, or my senses, or my soul, or even that part of me which thinks what I am saying, which reflects on itself and everything but knows itself no better than anything else. I see the terrifying spaces of the universe enclosing me, and I findhttp://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/06/letters-from-faithful-giants.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-2163819574360712275Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:51:00 +00002007-11-17T00:46:43.257-08:00I am of the belief that any profound cinematic experience is a possible window to the soul. In other words, if a particular film or scene hit you in the stomach there is something there to be known that informs who you are, who God is, how you experience beauty, etc. So with said prologue: I headed up north to catsit for the folks and found myself riffling through their VHS collection and to my http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/06/atll-do-pig-atll-do.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-4715549664342042106Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:41:00 +00002007-11-17T00:44:17.831-08:00A professor at my seminary (quite ironically) proposed the idea that theology is sin; for when we attempt to intellectually or systematically box-up God, we fail to have faith to believe in something mysterious, unconfined, holy. I believe as such and have feverishly tried to undo my fundamentalism with all its mind-shrinking dogma, but as I assess my two years at seminary thus far, I fear I havehttp://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/06/theres-hole-in-my-heart-full-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-742733346663740647Sat, 05 May 2007 15:26:00 +00002007-05-08T18:30:36.619-07:00“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” - Dr. Seusshttp://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/05/honey-listen-to-him-he-is-doctor.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-2508267507760049632Tue, 01 May 2007 20:11:00 +00002007-05-01T13:35:26.230-07:00A member of the worship team approached me after a delightful service this past week and preemptively deadpanned, "I know it isn't about the experience, BUT, I really enjoyed----" "Wait wait wait!!!" I interjected, "not about the experience? Not about how you feel? Why are you doing this then?" Ok, I wasn't that hard on him, but I'm starting to run up against this "worship experience guilt" http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/05/i-could-sing-of-your-love-forever.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-8705743111871204725Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:19:00 +00002007-04-26T09:14:20.835-07:00I was at The Round on Monday and an old friend, Noah, was performing. I've noticed something different about him in this past year. I can't be certain but he seems to have that oh so odd and desirable peace of mind; he has found rest in his faith I believe (as Keith Green once put it). One of his songs was this jubilant, nearly awkward piece that climaxed with the declaration: "this is the hour http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/04/hour-of-my-salvation_25.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36558505.post-4996343302718738809Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:15:00 +00002007-04-11T14:42:50.936-07:00I've caught myself and others criticize any worship that is done for emotional purposes. In other words, if I choose to sing and dance into the emotional beauty of the moment I am somehow whoring out God; he mustn't be interested in my words of adoration or praise if I am benefiting. Consequently, we believe that the best worship occurs when one forgets about the self and focuses on God. This http://www.urbanhymnal.org/blog/2007/04/god-must-hate-emotions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Zadok)