Arts Conference III

We did three sessions today;

1. 526,000 minutes: Seizing Moments in Everyday Life (Nancy Beach with Lincoln Brewster)
2. Looking for the Next Right Answer: Capturing Moments (Dewitt Jones)
3. The Making of Sunday Morning Moments (Bill Hybels, Nancy Beach and a ton of other people)

As awesome as the first session was (Nancy is a great teacher and the opening nature montage was stunning) my favorite sessions were 2 and 3.

I loved session II because, as a visual artist, Dewitt's amazing photographs and his ideas about art really resonated with me.

He told us "it's not trespassing to go beyond your own boundaries." That seems like a simple statement but I know, in my own art, how easy it is to get comfortable and stop pushing yourself.

He insisted that every problem has more than one right answer. That is something that is so contrary to my instincts, but which my own painting has been teaching me. So many times I think I've hit a dead end, but then I take a break and come back to it and suddenly new possibilities are there. Dewitt pointed out how when we start to see this truth we lose our fear of failure.

My one line take away from Session II is "keep looking for the next right answer."

Session III was the most powerful session. It was some of the years best dramas, videos and music rolled into one, with some passionate and edgy commentary offered by Bill Hybels and Nancy Beach. "edgy" would mostly be describing Bill, who was suffering from some kind of cold or flu and was a little less than graceful toward worship leaders, making caustic references to repetitive and theologically unsound worship leaders.

He did make many very encouraging comments. At one point he spoke very earnestly to the artists in the room, saying something like "I don't know how you view your roll; you may think the politicians are the ones with the power, or the business men on wall street; but you are the ones with the power to shape the way people think." I couldn't help wondering if Bill was thinking of Bono.

If Lynne hadn't met Bono at the cafe in Dublin, if Bono hadn't come to Willow on his heartland tour a few years ago, what would Willow Creek Community Church be doing about AIDS? For that matter, what would America be doing about AIDS in Africa if it weren't for the artists like Bono who have cast a vision of what we CAN do if we try?

Well, it's after midnight so it's time to hit the sister's couch. First thing up tomorrow morning is John Ortberg and Nicole Nordeman, can't wait!