April 3 for 3 [2022]: the stage mother edition
Andrew Murphy & Avery Moore host The Joke of Painting satellite show for Moontower Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Austin.
April is our favorite month to visit our kids in Austin. We keep our heads down in prayer and ministry work through the snowy days of Lent, lift our Easter heads in the almost spring of New England, and then hit the road for the wildflower highways of Austin in April. The last few years we haven’t been able to keep the tradition, and maybe we shouldn’t have this year either, but we snuck into town anyway. We stayed long enough to eat a few good meals, take a couple of walks, and watch a couple of movies with our sons and daughter-in-law. We cheered at our godson’s nail-biter of a baseball game, crashed a birthday party, and drove too many frustrating miles on I-35. We’re decidedly not cut out for ATX, but we like to enter the nostalgia of our five life-changing years of living and working and worshipping in the confounding energy of this bright city.
Another perk for visiting in spring? We get to pretend we’re festival types and show up to Andrew’s Moontower Comedy sets. This year he got us into the sold-out Joke of Painting and we felt like a pretty big deal telling the door guy we didn’t need tickets to get in because we were Andrew Murphy’s parents. He apologized for not recognizing us (?!?) and introduced us to two festival volunteers who made sure we had drinks and showed us to our reserved table. I didn’t burst any buttons but I did rip my jeans which is a story for another day. Afterward, we introduced ourselves to Andrew’s hilarious co-host and she mistook us for another comic’s parents and we decided to just let her think we were them. Clearly, we’ve got to keep working on our stage parent visibility. In the meantime, here’s a little Moontower Festival highlight reel that includes a shot from Andrew’s show (which is hilariously fun, by the way).
3 for 3: what I’ve been working on and enjoying lately
On Holy Saturday, our church invited the neighborhood to an Easter egg hunt (with the blessing of the Jewish congregation who own and share their building with us). Because of the pandemic, this was the first time we’d attempted a community event like this one so we didn’t know what to expect. We hoped for 10-20 neighbors to show up for crafts, free ice cream truck and an egg hunt. 350 ice cream cones later we’re still giggling at God’s silly good hospitality to all of us!
Also, if you know Brian, you know how much he enjoyed using this bullhorn. ;)
Worship God
Spiritual Direction & Practices | Liturgy & Church Calendar | Daily Work & Callings
1. Easter sermon at Church of the Apostles, Bridgeport, CT (en Español) - Begin around minute 30 with the Gospel reading. In my humble opinion, Brian excels at Easter sermons, yet this may be my favorite (not only because of his illustration around minute 37). In close second is his Easter 2020 sermon to an empty room. When I think of Jesus’ resurrection, I will never not think of Brian’s enactment around minute 39.)
2. Holy Week Vigil blog series which you can now see on the new Lament Stories archive page I‘ve created. I’m so grateful to this year’s contributing storytellers and I hope you were able to join us. May we all know the resurrection beauty Christ makes from the ashes of our grief.
3. Beautiful. How Disability Changed What Easter Means to My Family by Amy Julia Becker for Time
You may or may not know that our little Anglican church, Church of the Apostles in Bridgeport, CT, does not have a church building to call our own. After many years of frustration to find a place to call home, it was a large synagogue with a small congregation who took us in. We rent a permanent worship space from them and share office space with them and work together to serve our neighborhood together and attend each others’ special services together. Our friends at Congregation Rodeph Sholom have invited our congregation to join them in commemorating Yom HaShoah, remembering the Jewish People who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust of World War II. And to lament this atrocity and others committed against our Jewish friends throughout history including the acts of violence against synagogues in recent memory.
We joined our friends in this meaningful practice by lighting a candle this evening (Wednesday, April 27) and extinguishing the candle on the evening of April 28. We also read together “My Mother's Secret: A Novel Based On A True Holocaust Story” by J.L. Witterick. (Highly recommend!)
From Cantor Niema Hirsch:
“The Jewish People are committed to memory. Our entire historical consciousness is based on the memory of our people’s lives throughout history. In our generation, it is our task to remember the Shoah, the horrible destruction of our people during World War II. What was destroyed were not only human lives but human potential, not only Jewish culture but new possibilities for Jewish creativity, not only six-million Jews but the generations that might have come from them.”
Shalom and Lord, have mercy.
Amen.
Love People
Family, Friends, Church & Neighbors | Peace & Justice | Wholeness & Healing
1. I know the title doesn’t sound like loving people. Just trust me. Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid - It’s not just a phase. By Jonathan Haidt for Atlantic
2. You guys, the Ukrainian zoo story. Well Someone Had to Do SOMETHING!, episode 766 of This American Life
3. One of our Anglican n neighbors! The Impact of Illiteracy on Children w/ Gabrielle Beam for Peace Talks series with Center for Formation, Justice, and Peace
View from hiking St. Edward’s Wild Basin Nature Preserve with Alex and Rebekah during our visit. Somehow, I’d never visiting this trail while we lived in Austin and it made me SO HAPPY to know that my kids can get glimpses of shady green all year round. What a sweet way to practice resurrection together.
Enjoy Beauty
Look, Listen, Make & Do | Creators & Cultivators | Reading & Writing
1. Gave me helpful language for my creative work. Our Tech Superpowers Are No Match for ‘Flow’ - From jet planes to social media, modern technology gives us the alluring but empty sensation of power without effort by Andy Crouch for WSJ
2. Just borrowed this book from a friend and didn’t even know it was already a series. The Many Forms of Love in Pachinko by Juhea Kim for LitHub on the Series Adaptation of Min Jin Lee's Bestselling Novel (Trailer) (Bonus: We also enjoyed this in April.)
3. Sign up while you still can. Landscapes of Life: Exploring Still Life, Portraits & Landscapes In Art Zoom class with Hannah Wong (preview here)
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Eastertide is for practicing resurrection!
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