Saints Stephen

It has been quite the week.  Last weekend Laura and I went to see anberlin play at El Corazon in Seattle.  I would have to say it's my first real rock show.  It wasn't my first show at a small venue (I saw Matt Kearny at the Crystal Ballroom two years ago), but it was my first rock show at a small venue.  I've decided I love it.  So much, in fact, that I'm going to go see The Classic Crime next month at the Showbox.  I'm really excited.  Anyways, for the anberlin show the Dial girls came up from Portland, so it was really good to see them again.  As I have returned to facebook, I have found that it is just as easy to estrange yourself from those close to you as it is to be closer to those far away... that being said, it was nice to talk about anberlin over facebook with an acquaintance from Multnomah.  It's nice to like something, such as anberlin, and to have someone to talk about it with.  Anyways, this guy I was talking to asked if I knew that Stephen Christian has a blog, which I did.  Then he shared with me this entry that explains why Christian wrote Dismantle Repair... sorta.  Read it, it's a good entry.  Then read the lyrics to Dismantle Repair.  I'm still trying to wrap my head--and heart--around the meaning, but I think it will unfold slowly.

Fast forward a couple days, I'm at work one night and I'm reading my Bible.  A rarity, I know, but I have been trying to get through the book of Acts.  It's basically a history of the Church from its birth.  So when I was reading a few nights ago I got to chapter 7.  What's gone on so far is the Church growing and growing in Jerusalem under the leadership of the apostles.  They kinda piss some people off, but are still seen as kinda harmless-ish.  When we get to chapter 7, Stephen, one of the apostles (and the one whom Christ named Stephen, which means rock, proclaiming "on you I will build my church"), has been brought before the Sanhedrin to be accused of blasphemy.  Well, the Sanhedrin (the leadership of the Jews) was full of crap.  They couldn't catch him in anything so they had to produce false witnesses.  And even when they were slinging all this mud at him, his face was still like that of an angel.  The chapter begins with Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin.  It's pretty long, but that's because he gives the entire history of their people.  After fifty verses, he then calls them out of their hypocrisy: "You stiff-necked people!  Your hearts and your ears are still uncircumcised.  You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!"  He ends up having a theophany right before they stone him, overseen by Saul, making him the protomartyr of Christianity and later making him Saint Stephen the Martyr.

What does one Stephen have to do with the other?  I want to be both of them.

Stephen the Martyr was a leader, "a man full of God's grace and power".  He was rock solid.  He knew who Jesus was and found his identity in Him.  He was intelligent; when speaking to the religious authority, he proved that he knew just as much as they did, and yet he understood Jesus' message while it fell on their deaf ears.  So badass.

Stephen the Artist is transparent.  Painfully transparent.  Vulnerable, honest, aware of his humanity.  Can I speak like that?  Can I write like that?  Can I tell the whole world that which is only mine to know?  Can I put myself out there so far, knowing full well that I will be hurt, but know that I will life the most beautiful life?

I don't know if one Stephen has very much to do at all with the other.  But I want to be both.

These stories don't mean anything when you've got no one to tell them to.

Thank you, Brandi.

Once again, I must apologize for allowing so much time to pass without posting.  My last post was one looking forward to the start of school.  Well, school has started.  One difference from the last post is that I decided not to take choir.  It's a decision that was a bit like a root canal: painful, but necessary.  I knew that if I were to take choir, I'd put my all into it.  Actually, not my all; more than my all.  I'd put in everything I'd have, including time and energy that should be spent on other classes.  I knew that I'd allow choir to become my main, and eventually, only, focus.  I couldn't risk my success in the other classes for the enjoyment I get from choir.

Since July, much has happened.  I was in a Icon Theatre's production of Oklahoma!  For some reason, I can't figure out how to put the picture anywhere else but at the top of the post, so forgive me if this seems a bit out of sorts.  Anyways, the play was great and I had a ton of fun.

The week after the play ended, I went to camp with the high schoolers from my church.  Once again, too stupid to figure out the pictures, so they're at the top.

On August 16, 2008, our family grew.  By about 20 people.  That's right, my brother Ian married Kaitlin Hetland, bringing together two very big and very crazy families.  The week of the wedding was incredibly stressful, but it was still lots of fun to spend time with all of our families all together.  I really feel like I gained not just Kaitlin as a sister-in-law but all of her family as well.  Yeaaaay family!

After that nothing too exciting happened this summer.  And then school started.  And here we are now.  Sorry about the photos.