ruminations and illuminations

This is my current reading list:

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I've been consistent in picking them up this summer. Between Netflix and 24, there simply isn't enough time to allow the mind to expand. Nevertheless, my time here in Milwaukee has been a drawing board of sorts and these two books have been my medium for thought.

Now on the horizon of my wedding day (seven days), I find these books to be a fascinating combination. As an artist, I am encouraged to CREATE and CULTIVATE! As a man entering into marriage, I am encouraged to SERVE and BE HOLY! By way of mediocre analogy, I feel as if I've been presented with large whitewashed canvas called "married life" and given Scripture and the ability to serve as my medium. In what ways can this marriage be presented as an original work of art? What brushstrokes or chalk marks or sculpting might need to take place order for our life together to be seen as beautiful?

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I recently watched a documentary called Man On Wire, about Philippe Petit and his experience tightrope walking across the World Trade Center Towers. His girlfriend at the time described that he loved to live life in such a way that everyday was a work of art. Petit later shared rather exuberantly, "The only way to become an artist is by having no choice."