draco's breakfast, sigur ros, and rehearsals

the other day i go to pour myself a bowl of delicious golden grahams, and i discover this on the back of my box.  that's right.  draco malfoy is now a spokesperson for the cereal we all love. 

okay, maybe not really.  but, admit it, if draco would ever smile, he would look like this.  at least, that's what my wife thinks.  that must be why she took the time to deface this cereal box with a sharpie. 

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in other news, i'm pretty convinced that there is one band who is making the most soul-wrenching, life-giving, God-inhabited music, and that  band is iceland's own sigur ros (pronounced sih-ur-rose).  if you have never heard of this band, please check them out.  their music is emotive and hopeful.  it is at once ethereal and heavenly, while somehow remaining distinctly human and earthy.  if i die and find myself walking down a tunnel towards a bright light, i fully expect that the soundtrack to that trek will be sigur ros. 

here is a version of a song of theirs called samskeyti, which could be translated as 'attachment,' and this video comes from a full length documentary of theirs called heima (home), which documents their return to iceland after a world tour, and their decision to play a series of unanounced concerts in small towns throughout iceland in places like abandoned factories and outdoors.  the film is an epic piece of visual and audio art.  i watched it last night and was completely mesmerized.  (if you are reading this in my facebook notes, and you can't see the video, please recognize that i don't write this in facebook.  this is my blog.  you can come check it out in its orange-ish entirity at http://www.agentorangerecords.blogspot.com/.  you will find the video embedded there.)

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it's a weekend of rehearsals.  i had a wedding rehearsal last night for a wedding i'm doing this evening.  then tomorrow morning we are having confirmation rehearsal for our 27 confirmands who will be confirmed on sunday morning.  it's an interesting activity, really, to rehearse worship.  in fact, some might argue that it robs the worship of its spirit when you have to rehearse it and get so tied up in details like where to stand and when to sit and which direction you should be facing, and so forth.  but i think it honors God, if done correctly.  when we rehearse, we are preparing.  we are suggesting that the upcoming moment is so important, so monumental, that we don't want to mess it up. we want to make sure the details are all worked out ahead of time, so that we can be fully present when the time arrives.  we ought to be as prepared for every worship service, every time we approach the One who turns the ordinary into holy ground.