Dew two ay tiepo in thys mournning’s kartewn, eye had too resiekl it. Sewree.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
Thanks for my friend Brian for pointing out the typo. Fixed!
Check out my t-shirts HERE. I’m growing my inventory all the time. And check out my contemplative art here.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
So I received three complimentary copies of August 2009’s issue of Christianity Today, featuring one of my cartoons. I must tell you it was quite a thrill to see it there. “nakedpastor.com” is tucked away in very small letters off to the side. I don’t blame them. Not one bit.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
I’m pleased to announce that this cartoon is going to appear in the print issue of August, 2009 Christianity Today. I find it interesting that one of my most innocuous cartoons was selected, and certainly not one of my best, in my opinion. But it is going to be published there, and I am happy about that.
I remember when I first started drawing cartoons just a couple of years ago. One of my personal thoughts was, “Wouldn’t it be cool if one of my cartoons got published in something like Christianity Today?” So, yesterday I received the check in the mail. It all came true.
Which I find interesting. Lately I’ve been wondering about the usefulness of nakedpastor. I don’t spend an inordinate amount of time with it. But I do wonder how productive the time is that I do spend on it. I realize my cartoons are, for the most part… as my friends as well as enemies say… outside the box and often offensive. And the stuff I write about isn’t mainstream material that lots of people would find useful for the modern church agenda. I’ve come to conclude that, for the most part, I’m basically writing and drawing for the choir. I do appreciate those who write to tell me how much it has helped them. But I really don’t think, generally speaking, that nakedpastor is making a difference in the world.
I didn’t predict the problems my z-theory would cause for me personally. I’ve had all kinds of interesting things said to me, again by friends as well as enemies, concerning my attempts to understand the faith and my faith. Few realize that one of the greatest motivating factors is not just for my own understanding, but to find a common ground of understanding that all people everywhere could stand on. It is profoundly interesting to me how something that has brought me considerable peace of mind has also brought me considerable turmoil. I still plan on pursuing a clearer articulation of it… for my own sake and for the sake of those who might be interested. I believe we are all one and are all being reconciled. I need to understand that. I’m looking for the deeper, more fundamental singular actuality, and trying to articulate it for everyone.
So… back to what I started out to say… one of the things that I thought would be the pinnacle of achievement for this blog… having a cartoon published internationally… has caused me to wonder what might be next. Do I continue on? Or do I climb back down this mountain and find another one? Just thoughts.
Check out my t-shirts HERE. I’m growing my inventory all the time. And check out my contemplative art here.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
Check out my t-shirts HERE. I’m growing my inventory all the time. And check out my contemplative art here.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
Here’s my paraphrase of Isaiah 40:8…
“People come and people go, but the word of the Lord stands forever!”
Here’s a painting I completed. It measures 6.5″x20″ (17cm x 51cm). It is a watercolor on Arches 140lb. paper. Even the hills, apparently, can fall into the sea. Nothing is permanent! Remember that.
This painting is available in my etsy store at an affordable price.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
We’ll continue to argue and debate and fight with one another, perhaps never realizing that on a deeper level we are one.
I’ve switched back to my original Journalist theme for this blog. Lots of feedback. I prefer this theme to Thesis… for this blog anyway. I use Thesis over at my other blog, haywardART, and will probably stick with it there.
Check out my t-shirts HERE. I’m growing my inventory all the time. And check out my contemplative art here.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
The z-theory is obviously written from my perspective. I am a middle-aged white North American Canadian Protestant Christian male. And that’s not all. I again submit that all theories are provisional and falsifiable. The z-theory may mean nothing to everyone else, but it doesn’t to me. It has furnished me with a deeper and more unified clarity of reality, and for that I’m grateful:
God is the Unsubstantial. I conclude, so far, that there is Mystery, the Undiscoverable and Unknowable above and beyond. All that we can discover or know about the Unsubstantial is somehow graciously offered and received. But the Unsubstantial is completely unsubstantiated. Like the iceberg, 10% of which is above water and 90% below. The more that is discovered or exposed about the Unsubstantial, the more that we realize is undiscovered and unknown about the Unsubstantial. The ratio of 10/90 is always maintained: as the 10% of what is discovered in exposed, we realize the 90% grows in proportion and always remains by far the greatest part.
Jesus represents, however, the Incarnational and Testimonial aspect of the Unsubstantial (the two sides: the revelation and reception of the incarnation). The Unsubstantial has become, willingly, substantial. Some say there are many incarnations or substantiations of the Mystery, the Divine, the Such-ness or Is-ness, the All-in-All, etc. But I conclude, so far, that there is only one way the All-in-All is incarnate, and that is by self-investing completely and totally into history… human history. Incarnation is how the Insubstantial becomes Substantiated. So all incarnations are actually one… refractions of a deeper and more singular reality. It is the Word become flesh, the dwelling among us. However, this is completely subjected to the “testimonial” of people. There are many witnesses and testimonials concerning the incarnation of the divine or the Other or the Mystery or the UnDiscovered into human history or theory or truth. Even the Christian story of Jesus is a testimony of incarnation. It is the story of the self-dethronment, the abdication, the Unsubstantial’s condescension into substantial human history and life. Therefore, this is where we hold the greatest debate.
Where the z-theory has the most practical importance for me is in the realm of the experiential. I would call this the realm of the Spirit, the experiential aspect of the Unsubstantial. I conclude so far that the Spirit is only experienced. The Spirit is the investment, the incarnation of the Unsubstantial completely and totally into history, the human story, and relationships. It is the “in all” of the All-in-All. Relationships IS the Spirit and we know of the Spirit in no other way. Although, I conclude so far, there is “spirit” above and beyond, a great mystery beyond our knowing, it is totally invested into the experiential realm of life. The Spirit is no longer “out there”, but completely and totally invested in the love, forgiveness and reconciliation of all things.
Check out my t-shirts HERE. I’m growing my inventory all the time. And check out my contemplative art here.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
Check out my t-shirts HERE. I’m growing my inventory all the time. And check out my contemplative art here.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
Check out my t-shirts HERE. I’m growing my inventory all the time. And check out my contemplative art here.
Contributions to nakedpastor are greatly appreciated.
David Hayward is a pastor artistically stripping to the essential.
