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Ron Block commented on the post, Spirit & Sound, Part 5: The Preposition of Love 6 months, 1 week ago
Yes – I’ve told this story quite often. A friend of mine was in a band that did lots of Gospel, though not necessarily all believers. A woman came up and gave him a cassette (in the days of cassettes). She said, “The Lord gave me this song.” He said he put it in on the way home, listened to the song, and thought, “Wow. God’s a really sh—y…[Read more]
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Ron Block commented on the post, Spirit & Sound, Part 5: The Preposition of Love 6 months, 1 week ago
I loved this, beautifully written, the idea of breath coming through an instrument. The instrument retains all of its created character. Light works on the same principle – it is really seen in its interaction with objects in the environment.
I’ve heard people complain that “Christ in me” means something like losing our personality, our…[Read more] -
Ron Block commented on the post, The Lost Art of Listening, Part 1: Ubiquity & Scarcity 9 months ago
Bonnie Raitt’s Fundamental record was one I didn’t like on first listen. I decided to listen to it while walking every day. Three days later it was one of my favorite recordings, and still is.
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Ron Block commented on the post, The Lost Art of Listening, Part 1: Ubiquity & Scarcity 9 months ago
As a teen and in my twenties in California I would buy four records (LPs) from the mail order company County Sales in Virginia that cost me $40-something bucks with shipping, and they took two or three weeks to arrive. I listened to some of those records so many times the grooves were dug out – I still have them all. Scarcity – Joni MItchell sang…[Read more]
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Ron Block commented on the post, Pathmaking, Forgetfulness, and the Recovery of Memory 11 months ago
I loved this. The true path is often the intertwining of tradition and innovation. I find this to be true in playing bluegrass. People often play what I call “reproduction music,” where they’re trying to exactly replicate old bluegrass, or they completely abandon the roots entirely and just make a bunch of stuff up with banjos that has more to do…[Read more]
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Ron Block commented on the post, New BibleProject Video: "Tree of Life" 11 months ago
Wonderfully done. “You…you mean…it isn’t solely about ‘being forgiven’? We…we can experience…new life? Now?”
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Ron Block commented on the post, Battle Hymn of the Body 1 year ago
That said, there is a time to use force.
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Ron Block commented on the post, Battle Hymn of the Body 1 year ago
All true, and beautifully written.
As AP says during the BTLOG show after reading Scripture, “This is the Word of the Lord.” Thanks be to God.
Luke 9: The Samaritans “did not receive him…And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elij…[Read more]
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Ron Block wrote a new post, Rise and Walk 2 years, 4 months ago
Rise and walk. He was saying this to a man who had lain there begging in dirt and filth for years. It was ridiculous to expect any action at all. To require such a man to rise, and even walk, was beyond any sense […]
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Ron Block commented on the post, Wrestling the Giant: Why I Deleted Instagram 2 years, 5 months ago
Wendell Berry’s comment on writing poetry is the same with times of true worship. The moment my focus goes from God to my own feelings, I’ve lost my grip on the worship. The moment I am Instagramming about this or that family scenario, I’m out of the family scene.
This is why it is probably best to take photos quickly (if we take them at all)…[Read more]
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Ron Block wrote a new post, Trouble Go Down: "O, How I Love Jesus" 3 years, 6 months ago
When we were rounding out the record at the end of the process Jeff mentioned this hymn written Frederick Whitfield in 1855 and recorded it as a short interlude to go after “Come Away With Me.” Jeff on piano, […]
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Ron Block wrote a new post, Trouble Go Down: I Am Hidden Away In The Bosom of Christ 3 years, 6 months ago
The song “I Am Hidden Away In The Bosom of Christ” began with Rebecca Reynolds’s poignant lyrics that speak of having peace and assurance in troubled times. She sent them to me in an email, and one day I was u […]
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Ron Block commented on the post, Artists of a Large and Wholesome Vitality 3 years, 7 months ago
Thanks, Jilly!
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Ron Block wrote a new post, Artists of a Large and Wholesome Vitality 3 years, 8 months ago
I saw a quote-photo posted on Twitter the other day:
“I dread writing poetry, for, I suppose, the following reasons: a poem is a terrible journey, a painful effort of concentrating the imagination; words are a […]
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So good–thank you!!
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Thanks, Jilly!
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Love this- thanks for wording this reminder so well…
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I can’t believe that I’ve never heard this perspective on creative work before. I shared this post on Facebook, and many people (both artists and non-artists, if there is such a thing) expressed their gratitude and said it was just what they needed to hear. I know it was just what I needed to hear.
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I’m (appropriately enough) thankful for this perspective. What I especially liked is how it also made me consider how I approach “non artistic” endeavors (specific moments in climbing and the start of each day of parenting came to mind as I read).
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Thanks for your great words, Ron. I’m reminded of your earlier comments about a sense of discovery and adventure. And how important the sense of sufficiency is. Sometimes it’s enough to just let those strings oscillate on their own, outward, forever, and to feel that wooden box vibrate against your chest (talk about your sympathetic resonance!). There’s music there, simple and free.
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Ron Block commented on the post, Hutchmoot 2.0 3 years, 10 months ago
I used to go to Christ Community, from about 1991 until around 2001. Though I’m sad for us to leave Redeemer, because I have such great memories there, CCC is a great facility, lots of room for Hutchmoot (Our kids went to Jennifer’s writing classes there for awhile).
Plus, on an utterly selfish note, it’s less than 15 minutes from my h…[Read more]
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Ron Block commented on the post, The Mad Truth of <em>La La Land</em> 3 years, 10 months ago
Jennifer, you nailed the heart of the movie. I related to La La Land a lot, having grown up in Southern California wanting to be a bluegrass banjo/guitar player and having many people try to talk me out of it. “No one plays banjo! Why don’t you play something else?” “How will you ever own a home or raise a family?” It has been a life of joys,…[Read more]
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Ron Block commented on the post, On Being "Original" 3 years, 11 months ago
This is such a good subject to put “out there.” When I do workshops, I often ask the students, “Do you transcribe Earl Scruggs?” What I often hear is, “Well, yeah, but I just sort of learn the song but do it my own way.” I say, “Well – if you transcribe Earl’s way exactly, and then J.D. Crowe’s way exactly, and Sonny Osborne’s way exactly, then…[Read more]
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Ron Block commented on the post, My True Name 3 years, 11 months ago
More thoughts – when Eustace tells Puzzle, “If you’d spent less time saying you weren’t clever and more time trying to be as clever as you could…”
When we believe a false name, “I AM: Not Clever,” we manifest it.
But it’s equally true in most cases that we waste a lot of effort and thought and time trying to disprove the false name.
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Ron Block commented on the post, My True Name 3 years, 11 months ago
Beautiful post, Jennifer. I especially like that you point out we are named before we ever see the manifestation of the name in our lives.
I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about names I have accepted that aren’t mine – names from childhood and onward – and reversing the curses of those names by meditating on my true names (really we all…[Read more]
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Ron Block wrote a new post, Trouble Go Down: Alight Thou In Me (featuring Ellie Holcomb) 4 years ago
One day Rebecca Reynolds sent me these poetic lyrics combining the imagery of a dead leaf falling to the ground, evensong floating out from a cathedral, and sunlight through stained glass, evoking thoughts […]
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