IVP - Strangely Dim

See the Beauty

It's finally warming up here (for those of you south of, say, Virginia, "warming up" means "moving out of the forties," "warm enough to take a walk without snow boots on," "smoothie-worthy weather," etc.). Spring is not my favorite season, but it does inspire me. I think it's a powerful time of year. Green grass that's very ordinary in summer and fall is beautiful and vibrant and bright to me in spring. Pink and yellow and purple flowers seem especially pink and yellow and purple. Having the car windows down makes driving feel less like a headache-inducing, anger-filled chore and more like a treat. In this change from winter to spring I find myself noticing things--the newness and novelty and beauty of them.

I've been particularly moved by a plant (which, sadly, has not been named yet; feel free to post suggestions) my sister and I have in our apartment. Small pink flowers have bloomed on it, and each time I water it I'm struck by their brightness and beauty (which, granted, are not fully captured in the picture):

Maybe I get so excited about these small flowers because they give me a sense of pride and accomplishment: this plant is still alive and apparently thriving six months after we bought it. But I don't think that's the only reason. The simple bright beauty of the flowers stirs something in me: wonder, joy, gratitude.

So I'm wondering what stirs you, friends. And wondering if you know how important it is. I'm coming to see more and more how essential it is for me and, I'm convinced, for all of us. In a broken world where evil shows up all over, noticing the beauty around you, paying attention to what moves you, to the things that stir wonder in your soul, is crucial. Whatever it is--whether nature, art, poetry, music, kindness, a three-year-old boy with Down syndrome signing "love" to his mom for the first time--notice it. Celebrate it. Thank God. Thank him that he has created us to be moved by true beauty (as opposed to empty, false "beauty" that's been culturally crafted and defined), and that we can still see it and be moved by it, even after the Fall. These stirrings remind us and call us back to what is truly good and beautiful. And they give us a glimpse of God himself--his creativity, goodness and love of beauty--and his kingdom that is here on earth in part and will be revealed in its fullness when Christ returns.

Sara Groves's song "Why It Matters" says,

Sit with me and tell me once again . . .

Of the beauty, of the beauty

Why it matters . . .

Like the statue in the park

Of this war torn town

And it's protest of the darkness

And the chaos all around

With its beauty, how it matters

How it matters

Noticing the beauty in this Strangely Dim world does matter. It matters so much. So on this spring day, wherever you are, notice what causes your breath to catch, causes something deep inside you to come alive. Notice that beauty. Thank God. And add to it.

Not That You'd Notice

I'm proud to announce that Strangely Dim has been kicked off its first host server. Too many posts, too many comments. My own youth is sorely lacking in such shenanigans, so I feel just a wee bit redeemed in my personal edginess; how many blogs, after all, can say they've overtaxed the Internet? How many blogs have been given this boot?

Anyway, welcome to the new and improved Strangely Dim--now even stranger and dimmer! You won't actually notice much of a change--at least not in the short run. No, the changes here are to the substructure, the endoskeleton of the thing. You may, however, need to redirect your shortcut or reset your RSS feed. Here's the direct link:

http://strangelydim.ivpress.com

Enjoy!

OMG! JK! LOL!

Let me be frank: yesterday was highly unproductive. Yesterday all four IVP blogs offered April Fools' Day pranks; Strangely Dim's entry extended beyond the blog to the Facebook group. Please rest assured that the donkey will stay on the spines of Likewise books, and that "Rabbit" will remain a feature of Strangely Dim on the first of each month. In the meantime, in case you missed them, check out the posts at Addenda & Errata, Andy Unedited and Behind the Books.

Don't hate the player; hate the game.

Goodbye Donkey, Hello . . . ??

Dave was away from his desk for awhile this morning (no one's talking about it, but there are suspicions that he and Andy had "a talk" about Dave's post, and what frustrations are appropriate to share on a corporate site. The word rabbits angrily spoken might have been heard coming from Andy's office earlier today) so he may not have had a chance to respond to your angry outbursts over the ending of our rabbit game, but I wanted to give you my two cents on the whole thing, and provide a few more details about the intense conversations going on here at IVP surrounding rabbits and donkeys.

The fact of the matter is, the rabbit game and the ensuing friction it's caused has, simultaneously, helped everyone face the cold, hard truth: We picked the wrong animal to represent the Likewise line. We're proud of our Likewise books; they're noble, thought-provoking, authentic and honest. And the donkey is, let's face it, an ignoble, inelegant, not-so-bright animal. Sure, one of the donkeys in the Bible could talk, but we can't go around basing our whole line on an exception. Every other donkey on the earth has only ever been able to make a braying noise that, if heard for too long at one time, has been known to cause depression in children, not to mention compulsive furniture rearrangement and increased reports of Pin the Tail on the Donkey using large nails and heavy hammers instead of stickers--and on days when it's not even someone's birthday. (Shocking, I know.) Our Likewise donkey-bearing books are for people who lead, not for burdensome, whining beasts who have to be dragged around by bit and bridle. You see the problem.

Given the recent unpleasantness, one might be tempted to simply swap out the current donkey for the silhouette of a rabbit. But while rabbits are far more endearing, generally, than donkeys, they have almost no societal impact. They simply hop around foraging for food and keeping to themselves. And while they are much easier to find in the stuffed or chocolate variety than, say, donkeys (just try finding a peanut-butter-filled chocolate donkey--just try, I dare you!), in real life, they are scared as blades of grass in lawn-mowing season, and run away before you even have a chance to admire the length of their feet. Not to mention the fact that they occasionally cause damage to lawns and gardens--which has caused one editor here at IVP (who shall remain nameless, for protection) to express desires involving shotguns and rabbits. And we certainly don't want our Likewise animal invoking violent thoughts!

So--we thought we'd put it to you, the Likewise audience. Which animal should take the place of the donkey in our logo? We would also of course invite you to make a case for keeping the donkey. I don't want to influence your opinion or skew the vote by suggesting animals you should vote for, but while I'm writing I would like to speak for the llamas, which happen to be very intelligent and social animals, and which I might have mentioned casually when we first started discussing an animal to represent our Likewise line. Not that I'm bitter we didn't go with the llama. I just wanted to put it out there as an option. So don't be a scared rabbit (or a donkey's fool, for that matter)--give us your comments!

Kill the Rabbit

It's the first of the month, which normally would mean you, gentle reader, and I and Lisa and countless others would frantically race to be the first to say "Rabbit," or if you're from Pennsylvania, "Rabbit Rabbit." Unfortunately, that little game has come to an end.

My boss, Andy, apparently has a "low" view of the rabbit as a species. He went into this really long explanation of why having a rabbit showing up so regularly on our website cheapens our image and subverts our mission of promoting a "serious-minded" Christianity. To be totally honest I checked out partway through the rant, but I think he mentioned something about St. Valentine or St. Patrick--one of those saints we waste a whole day celebrating unthinkingly every year.

I thought I'd fight it, but then some of the folks in marketing started complaining. Apparently making such a big deal month after month about a rabbit creates "brand confusion," seeing as how the Likewise logo has a donkey in it. Someone actually said--get this--"I want people to see donkeys and think Likewise. If they see Likewise and think rabbits, we've lost them." What does that even mean?!? It misses the point entirely. I know Jesus says you're not supposed to call people fools, but on a day like this I'm pretty tempted to do just that.

So there you go. By group-think fiat I'm being forced to cancel a game that's brought myself and a few others a bit of amusement and a nice point of connection every month for more than a year now. I don't mind telling you I'm pretty irritated. Maybe my corporate blog isn't the smartest place to air my frustration--the sort of thing that on any other day would get a fellow fired. But let me tell you, the bloom is off the rose. Oops--did I say rose?!? I hope that didn't create "brand confusion" for all you readers out there! I hope the rose is sophisticated enough a flower for such an august publisher as IVP. Oh no, did I say "august" in April?!?

I don't know about my esteemed colleagues, but I have faith in you, gentle reader. I think together we'll figure this whole thing out.