New Poem x 2 + Amazon

My friend Paul has posted a new poem I wrote on his blog, I suggest you check it out here.

Also, I've been working on a card for some friends of mine who are getting married this afternoon. This is the second time I've written someone a poem in their card, and I'm beginning to like it. This one came out well, I think.

You Do.
It's your day! Remember it well!
You'll need it to tell to your kids
or your self, on days that aren't sunny
when there isn't the money or your
honey is busy with work
It will work! You know that right now
or else how would all of these
now-gathered friends and family have come
to this place to say "YES! They do!
And they will! It's true!" What you've promised
and who you have promised to be to each other
not like sister or brother but one,
There's no other way for you two
on this day when "you do"
we were watching.
And we believe you.

Lastly, I believe my book is now available on amazon, so if you really want to buy it right now, you can get it here. Although I have to say, I do expect a more substantial listing from the publisher, maybe in a few more weeks. I'd wait, especially since the current "seller" (not the publisher, as far as I can tell) is charging a lot of shipping.

Pages Called Holy...

... has arrived! My first officially published collection of poems, pictured here, is now a real pile of actual paper pages! The publisher, Wipf and Stock, tells me that it should be available on their website in 2 weeks and on amazon in 6-8 weeks, although it has been my experience that they do things a lot faster than they estimate, so maybe sooner. I'll let you know. In the mean time, I would like to say thanks to Mark VanSteenwyk from Jesus Manifesto, a blogger friend Kathy Escobar, and my friend Ben Lee, all of whom wrote AMAZING endorsements which appear on the back cover. Along with my wife, Sarah, you all have encouraged me so much, and I can't say how much I apprecaite it!

Guest Blogged

A Friend of mine asked me to write about worship for his blog, and here is the first of several posts to that end. I should say, I really like the way this one came out. Enjoy!

Coming Soon...

It's official, I saw it on the web. Here. On the right, toward the bottom, under "Forthcoming."

That's right! Pages Called Holy is the title of my forthcoming collection of Poems. The publishers said I should receive my author's copy in a few weeks!

I'll let you know how it looks!

Revamp

I've been blogging since about 7th grade, which, considering I turn 26 today is really saying something. My first website was a geocities page that I edited on a free version of FrontPage with absolutely no HTML knowledge whatsoever. I mostly used it to post goofy pictures of myself to the web, but I also had a page for poems I'd written, which I kept up throughout high school.

This, then, is my 14th year of blogging, and I'm starting it off with a site redesign, even going so far as to slightly alter the code of a basic google blog template. (ooOOoo!) However, from now on I will do all my blogging here, and post all of my family and life updates here. SO, I humbly thank you for following and reading, and I hope you enjoy the next 14 years of bloging...

PEACE
Ted

Poetweets

A quick google search proves I did not, in fact, invent this, but I do plan to do it. At the top of the page you will see a feed from my twitter micro-blog. Twitter, if you don't know, is a social-networking web application that works a little bit like face book, except with out the face book page. Just the status. With a 140 character limit. So, I thought to myself, a perfect new online form of poetry. You can follow me, if you're on twitter, by clicking here, or you can just check this page more often.

WTETIOGIM?

I've been reading NT Wright's "Suprised by Hope" and my mind is repeatedly being blow over and over again...

I'm in the section right now that's talking about heaven, purgatory, and hell... well I read it yesterday but I'm still just now processing... and I just wanted to share one quick thought.

Wright describes sin as the destruction of the image of God in you, which can be done by a number of different practices. He then goes on to describe the Christian's work as the restoration of the image of God in us, and reflecting it in all of creation.

SO rather than the classic 1990s fad WWJD, what we need to ask ourselves, really we can ask of every thought and action we do... WTETIOGIM?

Will This Enhance The Image Of God In Me?

It seems to me that all moral decisions, all matters of spiritual formation, really any decisions, can be based on this, or a corollary... something like

Will this damage the image of God in me?
Will this enhance/damage the image of God in someone else?

thoughts?