This Day At the Vicarage 9-8-20

September 8, 2020September 8, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / 4 Comments

I often write with music playing softly in the background. Somehow the rhythm and the sound help me to focus on what it is I need to say. It is like the sound draws the words out of me.

Maybe that has something to do with my years as a worship pastor. I remember one of my mentors teaching me that in order to lead worship effectively, I needed to be able to move beyond the place where I played music into the place where the music played me.

Yesterday I wrote to an Epic Celtic Album on Youtube. Tonight I am playing the Easters. Somehow their music fills me with hope and just a touch of melancholy. Those things might not seem to go together. Maybe they don’t. Maybe they are polar opposites like the yellow and purple on a color wheel.

Maybe that tension is what I am looking for when I write or when I sing or when I do art. Maybe it is what I need. Maybe it is what is required for me to move into my muse. The muse would be God ,so I guess that makes sense. The tension….the inner conflict somehow drives me to seek the Lord and in that seeking I find my creative spark. And that creative spark is the pathway to the music playing me instead of me playing the music or in this case it is the pathway to the space where the Writer reveals to me my story rather than me striving to make it up.

There’s a whole book in there somewhere. The tension is rising within me and that means the story is about to arrive.

Now I am really looking forward to tomorrow dear friends.

Pastor J

The Change Of the Age Changes Our Creative Bent

July 22, 2020July 22, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

Here is the link to last night’s video. All the other videos in the series are linked to that.

The Glory Of Story Pt. 3: Restoring the Elders

May 31, 2020May 31, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

Friday LIVE from The Bridge!

May 16, 2020May 16, 2020 / Brenda from the Bridge / 1 Comment

Hello everyone,

125 artists are now a part of the Bridge Artistic Network!!! I am super excited to see how this continues to grow and become!!!

One thing I know is that Artists/Creatives never stop creating….pandemic or no…the art inside of us refuses to be hindered!

Meme storm

Let this time clear the path so that you can engage all those creative spaces and places that lay deeply planted inside of you. Keep going. Keep creating. Keep becoming more YOU!

SHINE THAT LIGHT!!! Go forth and create!

Peace,

Brenda J.

Remind, Reimagine, Reframe, Remember

May 14, 2020May 14, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

This post is taken from a lecture by Prof. Joe Corey entitled, “Cultivating Our Practice Amid Covid-19”. I have reoriented the points to apply specifically to The Vicarage but he taught me the thoughts.

LAUNCHING IN 5,4,3,2…. | Notes From the Vicarage

April 23, 2020April 23, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

The Bridge Artistic Network has just officially been LAUNCHED as a FACEBOOK Group! It is for artist of every ilk and all ages. We all remember what it felt like starting out…and we know what it feels like being where we are…COME JOIN THE COMMUNITY AND ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION…And Help each other to GROW AND…
— Read on notesfromthevicarage.com/2020/04/23/launching-in-5432/

The Trouble With New | Notes From the Vicarage

April 21, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

We read “His mercies are NEW every morning.” We hear “You learn something NEW every day.” We know He is doing a NEW thing and right now it is springing forth! NEW. Everything is made NEW! Today is a NEW day! We want NEW clothes, a NEW car, a NEW house, a NEW job! We…
— Read on notesfromthevicarage.com/2020/04/21/the-trouble-with-new/

Artsy

March 29, 2020March 29, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

In my afternoon prayer time the Lord said, “You are beginning to slow down enough to become more consistently creative.”

It is true I have been attempting to be more creative on a more consistent basis. My goal, for the longest time, has been to create a piece of writing and a piece of art everyday.

A fellow artist began posting simple drawing techniques to play with when the stay at home order began. It was then I thought to myself. This time apart could help me establish some of the new habits I have been attempting this year. The dog above was drawn by first writing the number 61 on the page.

One of my problems artistically has always been my consistency. I tend to create in fits and starts. The idea of taking time…prioritizing time everyday has seemed nearly impossible.

That road block which has plagued me for so many years has been removed and I am finding that while I may be classified a beginner my heart is in this. I am having fun creating.

The other day I wrote a poem and I actually took time to rewrite it using a formal poetic form. It was so much fun!

I am finding the more I practice the better I get. I really like my cat.

The Lord is using art to help me keep my mind off of the worries of these present days. What is God laying at your feet to help you shift from worry to joy? If you haven’t found anything take out a piece of paper and a pencil or pen and try your hand at drawing.

Ready! Set! Draw!

February 29, 2020February 29, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Morning came early today. By 6:30 I had showered, walked and fed the dogs, had breakfast, done laundry, got the bills ready for mailing and loaded the car for the dump run. By 7 I was at prayer in the church and by 8 I was loading the car with my travel piano in preparation for the funeral I am performing this afternoon. By 9 I was peeling potatoes for the potato salad I am taking to the funeral. Then, I headed off to the bank to make a deposit and to withdraw money for mom’s daily needs for the next few weeks.

Brenda had a great night in Southington CT. Two more people gave their hearts to Jesus last night and she got to pray with a man who has had five strokes and lost his voice.

That is the power of story. That is the power of art launched into conversation.

I think it is for this reason I have felt over the last several months that I need to spend more time in two things: Prayer and creation of art.

Sometimes I just practice my hand at simple things I think I will have to draw a lot

This image I actually saw in a vision I had before one of our recent board meetings.

I am learning God has skills He would make available to us if we would both seek Him and practice. These skills remain latent in us until we need them and choose them for the purposes of His kingdom! Who knows but maybe this is one of the reasons for the shifts going on in my life right now. I am being called out of certain things in order to help my mother. That said perhaps I am also being called into other things by the shifting which will make me of greater use for God’s kingdom.

The Story

February 28, 2020February 28, 2020 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

No photo description available. — By artist: Lisa Johnson

Today was the final day of our Church artist group’s month long art show at The Gardner Public Library. I think we averaged about a tour a week and we had lots of people sign our guest book. So I would call the show a critical success.

Image may contain: plant, nature and outdoor — By artist: Wendy Brouillet

We approached this show very differently from the way we have approached other shows. I have been telling the other artists in Ccada that our art should create conversations. It should raise questions. It should help us start relationships with people in order to show the love of Jesus.

So with this show we decided to gather groups of people together and view the art while telling the stories the different pieces held within them. Sometimes the story was as simple as an interesting technique the artist used to create the piece. The piece above for instance required a styrofoam cup, some green paint, some black paint and a fine toothed comb,

Believe it or not this is actually an enhanced photograph. Would you want to live there?

We live in a world that has forgotten the art of story telling and the gift of story listening. We like our graphs and pie charts. We love the headline and the sound byte. We will read anything as long as it is 300 words or less and we listen to any report that doesn’t take more than 7 minutes of our time.

But just because the art of story is forgotten doesn’t mean it’s lots its power.

Image may contain: plant, flower, tree, outdoor and nature — By Artist: Wendy Brouillet

As a race humans are hard wired for story in a way that even our hurried culture cannot undo. We have questions and we are prone even in the midst of our busy lives to stop and discover the answers.

So with this art show I told the stories behind the works. I asked the questions that made the pieces come alive. For instance…What time of day is it in the painting above?

As humans we don’t live in sound bytes. We don’t live in mathematical equations. We live in stories. We seek out themes and ideas that give our personal stories meaning.

Tonight my sister is at a church in Southington telling the story of Cory TenBoom yet again.

Her story resonates with so many people because it shows in real time how any story that intersects with God’s story can become filled with power, adventure, hope and above all love.

At the Vicarage we are becoming more dedicated everyday to telling the story of how Jesus’ love has intersected each of our stories in a radical way. We don’t know where the telling will lead us exactly. Oh we know the end of the story pretty well (we skipped ahead and read the last page). It’s all the steps in the middle that are a little fuzzy. That said, maybe it’s not all about the temporary outcomes. Maybe it is about just being faithful to live out and to tell the story.

What’s your story?