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How Art Helps Us to be Thankful
39 Plays3 months ago
Happy Thanksgiving from Artists of the Way! In this episode Jon and Nate discuss how art has helped them to slow down and appreciate the blessings of this life, as well as some of the pieces of art they are grateful for in 2025.
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Transcript
Introduction to Gratitude and Art
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey friends, welcome back to Artists of the Way.
00:00:02
Speaker
I'm John.
00:00:03
Speaker
And I'm Nate.
00:00:03
Speaker
And we are the hosts of this podcast.
00:00:05
Speaker
And today, it is Artists of the Way.
00:00:07
Speaker
Yes.
00:00:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:00:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:00:10
Speaker
Yep.
00:00:11
Speaker
Today, we are talking about gratitude.
Can Art Enhance Gratitude?
00:00:15
Speaker
Why?
00:00:15
Speaker
Because Thanksgiving's right around the corner.
00:00:18
Speaker
Woo!
00:00:19
Speaker
Insert the Thanksgiving carols.
00:00:23
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And we're back.
00:00:24
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Thankful.
00:00:25
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:00:27
Speaker
Nate doesn't want to hear my singing, I guess.
00:00:30
Speaker
That's fine.
00:00:31
Speaker
Nobody really does.
00:00:32
Speaker
You're just confirming that my voice is just... Yes.
00:00:37
Speaker
So we're talking about gratitude, but not the same way we talked about it last year.
00:00:42
Speaker
We wouldn't want you to go back and listen to that.
00:00:44
Speaker
No.
00:00:45
Speaker
More varied content.
00:00:47
Speaker
More varied content.
00:00:49
Speaker
Content, content.
00:00:50
Speaker
So Nate, what are we talking about today?
Art's Role in Fostering Appreciation
00:00:52
Speaker
Gratitude.
00:00:54
Speaker
Expound.
00:00:55
Speaker
Well, I thought it would be nice to talk about since we're an art podcast.
00:01:03
Speaker
Is there any ways, any ways at all, that art can help us be grateful, help us with the pursuit of gratitude?
00:01:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:13
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Good.
00:01:16
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No, Nate, that was my listening.
00:01:17
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Yeah.
00:01:18
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Like, I'm picking up what you're putting down.
00:01:19
Speaker
Yeah, good.
00:01:20
Speaker
Pick that up, baby.
00:01:21
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I'm picking it up and I'm going to give it to you.
00:01:24
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Because you've done a bit more thinking in general in my life.
00:01:28
Speaker
Why did you eat it?
00:01:29
Speaker
So I can digest it.
00:01:31
Speaker
People in the audio are like, what is happening?
00:01:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:35
Speaker
Yes.
00:01:35
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Yeah.
00:01:36
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Yeah.
00:01:37
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Bring us into that.
00:01:38
Speaker
Okay.
00:01:38
Speaker
Come on.
00:01:39
Speaker
Let's go.
00:01:42
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Adventure time with Nate.
00:01:45
Speaker
Well, I think that art can be helpful with gratitude to all you naysayers out there.
Slowing Down and Emotional Connection Through Art
00:01:55
Speaker
Oh, let me ask.
00:01:57
Speaker
Do you mean as a practitioner of art or as a receiver of art?
00:02:06
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I think I was thinking more of a, as a receiver of art, but I'm sure we could bring the other in too.
00:02:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:18
Speaker
I think, okay.
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:20
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I was like, I had thoughts on this.
00:02:21
Speaker
I had to go back.
00:02:22
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Where are those thoughts?
00:02:23
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And yeah, here, here's some time with Nate to get the thoughts on a walk, driving in my car, I'm walking by my car.
00:02:34
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He's driving with one foot out of his car.
00:02:36
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Hopping on the other side.
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Like it's a skateboard.
00:02:43
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One thing that art does great is it gives you focus.
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It brings you into what are we looking at here?
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Like these paintings on the wall that the audio listeners are enjoying.
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There is this hallway here.
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And beyond the frame of this hallway, there's more stars out there.
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There's maybe a dog down below.
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licking at food in a bush or a dead bird.
00:03:15
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There's a dog?
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It could be, but we're not looking at that though because the artist has focused us
00:03:21
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on this hallway here.
00:03:23
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And because we've been given a focus, we can think about it in more isolation and be grateful that that exists.
00:03:33
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Sure.
00:03:34
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And I think that's a lot of what gratitude is, is taking a second to focus on something and be glad
Intentional Engagement with Art
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that it's there.
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Yeah.
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And I think that's a lot of what art does.
00:03:50
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for us because it shows us specific things that is not everything.
00:03:55
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It shows us these people in this story.
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And it shows them having a love or it shows us the beauty of a lily pad and such.
00:04:07
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And we can notice it.
00:04:09
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And I think that helps with gratitude.
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That's why movies connect and such is because
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it delivers something to us that we can identify with and it brings an emotional response that connects to something in our life.
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And then that can either bring about sadness or joy.
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But those are still closely associated with gratitude because we're connecting with something real, noticing it.
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And then we just have to take the step of being grateful that
Community and Gratitude in Art
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it's there.
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Yeah.
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I like that a lot.
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I'm just going to adjust your mic slightly.
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Just point it up.
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There you go.
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Love it.
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A little peek behind the scenes.
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We have to aim our microphones.
00:04:57
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No, I like that a lot.
00:04:59
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I think maybe the only thing that was coming to mind, not because I didn't believe that we could be grateful because of art, just because
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I'm tired.
00:05:16
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But yeah, this idea of like art helping us to slow down.
00:05:19
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Yeah.
00:05:20
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I think slowing down is something we hear a lot about, but we're bad at because of the day and age that we live in.
00:05:28
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But I think art helps us to do that.
00:05:32
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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especially when you intentionally engage with it, right?
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When it's not just I'm throwing on Netflix and I'm scrolling on my phone.
00:05:40
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Right, right.
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But when it's like, I'm going to a movie theater, save the cinema.
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Or I'm going to an art gallery.
00:05:46
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Yes.
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I'm sitting and reading a book, and my phone is in the other room.
00:05:53
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It isolates you.
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It isolates you.
00:05:56
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But that isolation, oh.
00:05:58
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I don't know if, I think I know what you mean by isolate.
00:06:02
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It isolates you into a moment.
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Yeah, it doesn't isolate you from the community.
00:06:04
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It focuses you.
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Yeah.
00:06:07
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It sort of locks you in so that you have to
Expressing Gratitude for Ordinary Joys
00:06:13
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reckon with this thing.
00:06:14
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Yes.
00:06:16
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That's something I'm very excited about for one of my birthday parties is I'm throwing on Conclave, which people will know.
00:06:22
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So I've gotten a group of my friends together who are all, I don't know what they're gonna make of this movie other than you, because we've talked about it.
00:06:32
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You know that'll make it.
00:06:33
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I do, but I'm just like,
00:06:37
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I think we often don't make time to just lock ourselves in and think through something or appreciate something.
00:06:45
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We see a thing, we come to a decision and we scroll.
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We come to our conclusion so fast.
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And then we move on from life.
00:06:54
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We see a good update from a friend.
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My health has improved.
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And we like it and then we move on.
00:07:01
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Yeah.
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But yeah, art helps us to slow down and say, okay.
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There's a real story happening here.
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Let me just absorb this.
00:07:14
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I wonder, are there ways...
00:07:17
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Are there ways to bring that slower pace into our everyday life or ways to maybe let our walls down a little bit more to the world around us?
00:07:28
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Because I think that's another thing.
00:07:29
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That's the
Spiritual Reflections and Art
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goal, right?
00:07:30
Speaker
Right.
00:07:31
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Because art, quote, Lewis, in a not...
00:07:37
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Sorry, your pleas was amusing.
00:07:40
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I don't even know why.
00:07:42
Speaker
Stealing past the watchful dragons idea, right?
00:07:45
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That doesn't even just have to be my guard against the spiritual.
00:07:48
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That can be my guard against opening myself up to anything, you know?
00:07:53
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But art can steal past those watchful dragons and hit us somewhere emotional.
00:08:01
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Yeah, and I think Lewis is a great example of...
00:08:06
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of how he can really help with gratitude.
00:08:09
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And I think other good authors do this is because they –
00:08:13
Speaker
they draw out things from either the mundane or the fantastic that make that make you appreciate them like how a good artist can really describe the blowing of the the wind or like flying a kite or um how lewis is really great at describing heaven and that can make us grateful for our coming um
00:08:39
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Yeah, for our coming salvation, our eternal state, which is something I've been grateful for lately.
00:08:48
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I went to a men's breakfast the other day and a guy shared a little devotional there.
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He's a missionary from India, but young guy, just a little older than me, really pleasant.
00:09:04
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And what he shared about was
00:09:08
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Um, when Jesus sent out the disciples and they did all these amazing miracles and they came back and they're like, wow, this is amazing.
00:09:19
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Even the demons are subject to us.
00:09:21
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And Jesus is like, yes, nice, but don't rejoice that the demons are subject to you.
00:09:29
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rejoice that your name is written in the book of life.
00:09:33
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And he took that as that that's really the thing to be focused
Deep Emotional and Spiritual Connections
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on.
00:09:38
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Like, instead of like focusing on like, I want to be a missionary that has like people like write books about later.
00:09:45
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It's this kind of thing.
00:09:46
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But it's like, no, that shouldn't be my focus.
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I should be
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focused on my relationship with Christ and what he has done for me, what he has for me.
00:09:56
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My name is written in the book of life and just stopping to think about that.
00:10:03
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Like I've done a couple of times, it's made me like verbally like yelling out excited, like, ah, yes.
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It's incredible that that's a real thing that if we believe in Jesus, that our name is in the book of life and we have a guaranteed ticket to spend eternity with Christ and new heaven and new earth, and it's going to happen.
00:10:29
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And that is the best thing that like dwarfs every other thing that we have.
00:10:39
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How did that tie into?
00:10:41
Speaker
No, you were talking about Lucas and his description of heaven.
00:10:45
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Yeah, that's right.
00:10:46
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Description of heaven.
00:10:48
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And yeah, so it's nice when art can help us recognize these good
Cherishing Small Moments
00:10:53
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things in life.
00:10:55
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And I sometimes been thinking about how like the Psalms tell us to like shout to the Lord.
00:11:01
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And it's like nobody ever does that.
00:11:04
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it seems.
00:11:06
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You know, like, make a joyful shout to the Lord.
00:11:09
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Right.
00:11:10
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And...
00:11:11
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Maybe we should.
00:11:13
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And it just seems like that's not what we do.
00:11:15
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That's just weird.
00:11:16
Speaker
But I've tried it a couple of times and it's nice.
00:11:19
Speaker
And we can, and art can help bring about, remind us of those things of what we have to be grateful for, what we should shout to the Lord about.
00:11:27
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And it's a nice connecting with him and not just intellectually, but then our bodies and our souls are engaged at the same time.
00:11:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:36
Speaker
Yeah, art can be almost like celebratory of these things.
00:11:40
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:11:40
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:11:41
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And help bring us into that.
00:11:42
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That's a good way to put it.
00:11:43
Speaker
I think we just spoke with Josh Reisner.
00:11:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:47
Speaker
That will either have been the last episode or the next episode.
00:11:49
Speaker
Who knows?
00:11:50
Speaker
Time is weird.
00:11:51
Speaker
Time is weird.
00:11:52
Speaker
It's kind of like, to quote The Flash, time's like a big bowl of spaghetti, and all the different points are touching each other, and there's a bunch of marinara sauce, and you're like, what's happening?
00:12:02
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Now people are wondering why I'm quoting The Flash.
00:12:04
Speaker
Oh, man.
00:12:07
Speaker
I don't know I'm quoting The Flash either.
00:12:08
Speaker
That movie doesn't deserve to be quoted, but here I am.
00:12:13
Speaker
And now I've lost my point because of a silly quote.
00:12:16
Speaker
Oh, we just spoke to Josh Reisner.
00:12:18
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Yes.
00:12:19
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And he talked a lot about like the pursuit.
00:12:22
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of some kind of treasure in the art.
00:12:26
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He wants to create a treasure.
00:12:28
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Yes.
00:12:29
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And I loved that word treasure and just thinking about art as reflective of a treasure and thinking about all these little things as treasures, the little moments are treasures.
Personal Stories of Gratitude
00:12:46
Speaker
So you and I recently just saw Leif Enger at an author event.
00:12:51
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Yes.
00:12:53
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Who's probably my favorite author.
00:12:55
Speaker
Him and Tolkien are locked in eternal combat.
00:12:58
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It's amazing.
00:12:59
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A currently working author.
00:13:00
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I know.
00:13:01
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He'd be our favorite.
00:13:02
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I know.
00:13:04
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know.
00:13:06
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I think him and Tolkien will be locked in combat forever.
00:13:08
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That's fair.
00:13:10
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I think Lewis is still number one for me, but oh man, I'm enjoying life.
00:13:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:16
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1.25 books in.
00:13:17
Speaker
It's just beautiful.
00:13:18
Speaker
And just, of course, people on the podcast have heard me talk about it before, but books like that, which are slow-
00:13:30
Speaker
Not in a painful pacing sense, but in a just, we're enjoying the world.
00:13:35
Speaker
It's relaxed.
00:13:35
Speaker
Books like that, which are relaxed, which take their time with beautiful prose, really can help you enter into this celebratory posture towards these treasures which we have been given from God.
00:13:52
Speaker
A lot of what Leif writes about is people.
00:13:55
Speaker
And then we can just really appreciate.
00:13:57
Speaker
He's just examining humanity and appreciating it.
00:14:04
Speaker
And that's good.
00:14:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:08
Speaker
No, it is just beautiful.
00:14:11
Speaker
I just keep coming back to that idea of...
00:14:15
Speaker
Do we just not take enough time to appreciate these things?
00:14:19
Speaker
And do we need to take more time with art?
00:14:22
Speaker
I think of Our Town.
00:14:27
Speaker
Kentwood.
00:14:28
Speaker
What?
00:14:29
Speaker
Kentwood?
00:14:30
Speaker
No, the play Our Town.
00:14:32
Speaker
Oh.
00:14:34
Speaker
There's a scene at the end.
00:14:36
Speaker
I knew that.
00:14:39
Speaker
There's a scene at the end where all the characters have died and now you're watching them walk.
00:14:43
Speaker
Whoa, I've not seen Our Town.
00:14:44
Speaker
Okay.
00:14:46
Speaker
They all die of old age.
00:14:48
Speaker
They die the most boring way possible.
00:14:50
Speaker
Okay.
00:14:53
Speaker
Sorry, I'm spoiling Our Town, I guess.
00:14:56
Speaker
It's a classic.
00:14:57
Speaker
You should read it or watch it.
00:15:01
Speaker
But one of the sort of perspective characters throughout the play has just recently died and is coming into the graveyard with all these characters that she's known throughout her life.
00:15:11
Speaker
And she's looking back on her memories and then she's seeing these people again and she's just watching...
00:15:17
Speaker
The like one of the memories she steps into is because they're like, you can go back and revisit whatever you would want to, but you probably don't want to because it's probably going to be too painful for you, but you can.
00:15:28
Speaker
Oh.
00:15:29
Speaker
And so she revisits.
00:15:31
Speaker
Christmas morning where her and the man that she married at that point were just kids with a crush on each other and her mom has a present for her that she's just trying to wrap and they're just trying to figure this out and
00:15:47
Speaker
The daughter's just trying to reach the mom to just be like, just take a moment.
00:15:52
Speaker
Can we just have a moment to appreciate this and appreciate each other?
00:15:55
Speaker
And of course, the memory just keeps on going because that's all it is, a memory.
00:16:00
Speaker
And she comes out of that and she's just like, nobody, I don't remember exactly the line, but it's something to the effect of nobody really realizes, nobody really sees that.
00:16:12
Speaker
Do they?
00:16:13
Speaker
And the woman she's talking to, I believe is her mother-in-law says, no, they don't.
00:16:19
Speaker
And it's just heart-wrenching, but also such a great reminder.
00:16:22
Speaker
I was just this morning, I got up early before work to work on some Artist of the Way stuff, and I had Arthur up with me.
00:16:29
Speaker
And so I just laid him down on his play mat.
00:16:31
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And I just had a moment of just like, man.
00:16:34
Speaker
This is just not going to be forever.
00:16:36
Speaker
I'm not always going to be able to just lay down my son on this play mat and just watch him have so much fun grabbing a ring and seeing himself in a mirror while I just do a little bit of work and can just look over and see him there and just have him look at me and smile.
Physical Acts and Emotional Bonds
00:16:51
Speaker
And that's like the most important thing is just that little smile that we get to share.
00:16:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:58
Speaker
And we so often blow past that because we have projects to get done and work to do.
00:17:07
Speaker
But I think art is good at helping us slow down.
00:17:10
Speaker
It's just hard to get that slower pace into our lives and to take the time to appreciate those things.
00:17:17
Speaker
It is.
00:17:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:19
Speaker
I agree.
00:17:20
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:17:22
Speaker
But it doesn't have to take much time.
00:17:24
Speaker
No, that's true.
00:17:25
Speaker
Sometimes it's just a couple seconds.
00:17:27
Speaker
A couple seconds to smile at your son.
00:17:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:30
Speaker
We can do that.
00:17:31
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:17:32
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:17:34
Speaker
Unless you're unable to smile, in which case I'm sorry for our insensitivity.
00:17:37
Speaker
And we'll... We'll do better.
00:17:41
Speaker
We'll do better.
00:17:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:42
Speaker
You're smiling again.
00:17:44
Speaker
Ah, dang it.
00:17:44
Speaker
I'm sorry.
00:17:47
Speaker
Anyways.
00:17:49
Speaker
Yeah, no, it can be...
00:17:51
Speaker
just a little pause, a little moment of connection.
00:17:55
Speaker
Like I think about, there's like a scientific fact that if you just hug for 30 seconds, like you get so much more, like you're so much more healthy.
00:18:04
Speaker
If you just hug somebody for 30 seconds a day.
00:18:06
Speaker
Wow.
00:18:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:08
Speaker
And it, and it takes, sometimes it takes that 30 seconds for your brain actually to like fully relax into it.
Upcoming Christmas Event
00:18:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:16
Speaker
But if you can take like 45 seconds to just hug, um,
00:18:19
Speaker
your best friend or your significant other or your child um just hug for 45 seconds those are such meaningful moments i've had those where like i had my parents over and then they're leaving and my dad has just hugged me for like feels like a minute and it's like oh my goodness that was wonderful yes
00:18:45
Speaker
This Giving Tuesday, we're giving you a break from all the craziness of the last couple months of the year.
00:18:51
Speaker
Join us on December 2nd from 6.30 to 8.30 for a cozy Christmas kickoff with Artists of the Way.
00:18:57
Speaker
We're doing this at One Church in Caledonia, and it's going to be a wonderful event.
00:19:01
Speaker
It's going to be some delicious hot drinks.
00:19:03
Speaker
We're going to have some live jazz.
00:19:06
Speaker
We're going to have a bunch of resources for you to be able to enter into Advent with you.
00:19:12
Speaker
a spirit rooted in Christ and in the reason for the season.
00:19:16
Speaker
Some great meditative prayers that you'll be able to take home and integrate into your own preparation for the season.
00:19:23
Speaker
And
Art Celebrating Life and Community
00:19:24
Speaker
what I'm most excited about, just providing a space for fellowship with each other as we enter into the celebration of the arrival of our Lord and Savior.
00:19:34
Speaker
It's going to be a beautiful night.
00:19:35
Speaker
It's going to be very homey, very cozy again.
00:19:38
Speaker
some wonderful music.
00:19:39
Speaker
I am just so excited and I want to see all of you there.
00:19:42
Speaker
So don't miss it.
00:19:43
Speaker
Go to our website or to our social media to find out more information and we will see you there.
00:19:52
Speaker
That's one of the great things about art and about prose is those small moments.
00:20:01
Speaker
I think it's those small moments that make heaven.
00:20:05
Speaker
You know, when I think about eternity and
00:20:08
Speaker
I'm like, really the things that I'm most excited about are just going to be able to just being able to share small little joys with people forever in eternity and in New Earth.
00:20:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:20
Speaker
Just being able to be like, Nate, look at this cool tree I found.
00:20:23
Speaker
Yes.
00:20:23
Speaker
Isn't this amazing?
00:20:24
Speaker
And then I'm talking about it.
00:20:25
Speaker
Yes.
00:20:27
Speaker
That praise to God and celebrating this beautiful thing that he created.
00:20:32
Speaker
Being able to sit around a fire.
00:20:34
Speaker
Dude, what do you want to go do in heaven?
00:20:37
Speaker
What are we going to do?
00:20:39
Speaker
What shenanigans are we going to get?
00:20:41
Speaker
Well, I do want to jump off of a really tall thing because I want to see what it would be like to fly.
00:20:50
Speaker
Do you think we'll be able to fly anyway?
00:20:53
Speaker
Well, that's just conjecture at that point, so I don't know.
00:20:56
Speaker
I tend to be very waffly on...
00:21:00
Speaker
eschatology.
00:21:01
Speaker
I stick to the basics, which is like, we're going to get a new heaven and a new earth.
00:21:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:06
Speaker
And, and God's going to reign.
00:21:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:08
Speaker
Um,
00:21:09
Speaker
And it's going to be great.
00:21:10
Speaker
And that's, which is, I probably need to, it's probably not very responsible of me.
00:21:16
Speaker
I should probably think out a more recent eschatology.
00:21:19
Speaker
How about you and I?
00:21:21
Speaker
In New Earth, we go and we climb a big tall cliff.
00:21:27
Speaker
I think that sounds great.
00:21:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:29
Speaker
Then we jump off.
00:21:29
Speaker
And then we jump off it.
00:21:31
Speaker
Should we do it?
00:21:32
Speaker
I think we should do it.
00:21:33
Speaker
I think that'd be great.
00:21:36
Speaker
We've made a deal.
00:21:37
Speaker
Cool.
00:21:38
Speaker
And you audience can join us.
Art and Personal Growth
00:21:41
Speaker
That's a great.
00:21:42
Speaker
Wow.
00:21:42
Speaker
That was just like a really moving thought for me all of a sudden.
00:21:45
Speaker
Just that's another thing that's great about like art is just the community that is formed.
00:21:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:52
Speaker
And just.
00:21:54
Speaker
And I think art has an ability to connect people to each other, but there is still some sort of barrier, right?
00:22:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:07
Speaker
There's a connection, but there's also a disconnect.
00:22:09
Speaker
There's a connection here with you guys as the audience, and there's also a little bit of a disconnect of time and all of that.
00:22:19
Speaker
Being able to live into the fullness of that community.
00:22:22
Speaker
I think art gives us snapshots of these things.
00:22:25
Speaker
But being able to live into the fullness of community with each other and community with God.
00:22:33
Speaker
Forever, which we already get in the church to some degree when it's functioning well.
00:22:41
Speaker
We just see through mirror darkly now.
00:22:44
Speaker
And I think that's part of what art does is it gives us these flashes of heaven, you know, still dimly.
00:22:53
Speaker
But it's good to have.
00:22:56
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:57
Speaker
Are there any specific works of art that you've been thankful for this year that have been, that have been moving for you this year or have been like, oh, this is, this was needed.
00:23:09
Speaker
I've been really enjoying Leifanger books.
00:23:12
Speaker
Bring it back to Leifanger.
00:23:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:14
Speaker
I'm reading Virgil Wander right now.
00:23:16
Speaker
And earlier this year I read Peace Like a River.
00:23:21
Speaker
Um,
00:23:22
Speaker
And those are just very rich experiences.
00:23:26
Speaker
Yeah, what else?
00:23:34
Speaker
Let me see.
00:23:35
Speaker
How about you?
00:23:36
Speaker
I'll see if I can think of anything else.
00:23:37
Speaker
I knew you were going to turn it back around on me.
00:23:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's just been such a dense year that I'm struggling to think through, like, what have I really connected with artistically
Music's Impact on Gratitude
00:23:50
Speaker
this year?
00:23:50
Speaker
I have one.
00:23:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:53
Speaker
Andrew Peterson's album, The Burning Edge of Dawn.
00:23:57
Speaker
I forgot about music.
00:23:58
Speaker
How did I forget about music?
00:23:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:59
Speaker
That is a lovely album.
00:24:01
Speaker
It's really good.
00:24:02
Speaker
It's this great, like, things are hard right now, but I think they're going to get good.
00:24:09
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:24:10
Speaker
album and it kind of plays both that middle both one side and both the other side yeah in the album and it's just very cathartic so i like that album a lot yeah i have i'm glad you mentioned albums because i think music has been the art that's been the most enriching to me this year there's two one and they're sort of a double feature in my mind even though they're not at all related but
00:24:36
Speaker
Two new albums came out this year by my wife's favorite band or one of them.
00:24:41
Speaker
She doesn't like to rank things, but I think it's her favorite band.
00:24:44
Speaker
21 Pilots.
00:24:45
Speaker
And then my favorite musician, John Van Dusen, came out with an album.
00:24:49
Speaker
The 21 Pilots album was called Breach.
00:24:51
Speaker
And it's just this really...
00:24:55
Speaker
Interesting.
00:24:55
Speaker
It feels like a reconstruction of their faith happening in this album.
00:25:01
Speaker
Shay and I think it feels like you can see them wrestling with like, wow, we're in the music scene.
00:25:10
Speaker
We are some of the top artists and we're in this weird community that's maybe not helpful for us.
00:25:16
Speaker
And maybe we've sort of drifted.
00:25:18
Speaker
If you don't know 21 Pilots, I won't blame you because I don't know a huge amount about them, but Shay has shared a lot with me.
00:25:24
Speaker
But their albums have sort of like, there's like some stories to them at times and they've got kind of an inner lore to them.
00:25:31
Speaker
And as they've gone, it's like, it's gotten pulled more and more in that.
00:25:36
Speaker
And then this album just again, feels very raw.
00:25:38
Speaker
Like they are just wrestling with their own things.
00:25:41
Speaker
And so that just hit me at a point where I was,
00:25:44
Speaker
just a little overwhelmed and a little depressed and a little angsty and just this sort of like crying out to God of like, I'm not doing good enough and you're super important.
00:25:53
Speaker
And also I don't feel like everything's quite working out with you the way that I thought it was quite supposed to, but I need to get back to that.
00:26:01
Speaker
Like has just been so in, I've like listened to it on repeat so much.
00:26:06
Speaker
It's just like,
00:26:08
Speaker
Nice.
00:26:09
Speaker
And then that moved into John Van Dusen's album, which came out like a month or two later, which is just a just beautiful, worshipful album.
Albums with Emotional Resonance
00:26:19
Speaker
Like it is all about praise.
00:26:23
Speaker
Okay.
00:26:24
Speaker
Like if there was one word I could really boil it down to, and it's weird because it's John Van Dusen, so there's weird like punk rock stuff.
00:26:32
Speaker
I think you would really like it.
00:26:33
Speaker
What's it called?
00:26:33
Speaker
I do like punk rock.
00:26:35
Speaker
As long as I am in the tent of this body, I will make a joyful noise, part one.
00:26:43
Speaker
Well.
00:26:43
Speaker
It's a pretentious word.
00:26:45
Speaker
I got it.
00:26:46
Speaker
All right.
00:26:48
Speaker
As long as I'm in the tent of this body, I will make a rejoin noise part one.
00:26:51
Speaker
I highly recommend it, though, to everybody.
00:26:53
Speaker
Just look it up.
00:26:54
Speaker
Every song is just really beautiful.
00:26:56
Speaker
There's one of my favorites is a poem by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
00:27:01
Speaker
As long as you love me, Justin Bieber.
00:27:03
Speaker
No, no.
00:27:06
Speaker
There's one that he turned into a song that was a poem by Bonhoeffer while he was in prison.
00:27:11
Speaker
And that's where the title of the album comes from.
00:27:16
Speaker
And it's just so powerful.
00:27:19
Speaker
It's just this great reminder of like, no matter where you are, you know God is with you.
00:27:26
Speaker
And it culminates into this sort of bridge.
00:27:29
Speaker
And it is just Bonhoeffer's poem put to music.
00:27:32
Speaker
But the bridge is, as long as I am in the tent of this body, I will make a joyful noise.
00:27:38
Speaker
And that, in the context of Bonhoeffer, being a month or two away from being executed in Nazi Germany, is insanely powerful, man.
00:27:48
Speaker
Wow.
00:27:49
Speaker
Just insanely powerful.
00:27:49
Speaker
But there's just some really beautiful relational music about Jesus.
00:27:54
Speaker
And it's a very praise-focused and love-filled album, I think.
00:28:02
Speaker
Wow, beautiful.
00:28:02
Speaker
And so that with Breach has been a very...
00:28:06
Speaker
interesting and sweet double feature, I think, for me.
00:28:08
Speaker
So those are probably the two pieces of art, other than rereading Leif Anger's books throughout the pregnancy.
00:28:15
Speaker
I think those are the two pieces of art that have been the most resonant for me.
00:28:22
Speaker
Though I also saw RRR recently.
00:28:24
Speaker
You are very grateful for RRR.
00:28:26
Speaker
I am, because it's just epic and awesome and amazing.
00:28:28
Speaker
It's crazy.
00:28:30
Speaker
Yes.
00:28:31
Speaker
Any others for you?
00:28:33
Speaker
Art pieces?
00:28:34
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:28:36
Speaker
I mean, okay, I have art that I've enjoyed.
00:28:41
Speaker
Right.
00:28:42
Speaker
Like I've been really into Mumford and Sons this year.
00:28:45
Speaker
Me and Ellie together, which is fun.
00:28:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:48
Speaker
And their album that came out this year, they had an album come out after like years of no albums.
00:28:54
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:28:55
Speaker
And it also had some like...
00:28:57
Speaker
Like one of the two of the songs seemed like very like, oh, this is like a worship song.
00:29:02
Speaker
And so that was cool.
00:29:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:03
Speaker
And they have another album coming out in February.
00:29:05
Speaker
Just another like boom.
00:29:07
Speaker
Love it.
00:29:07
Speaker
Love it.
00:29:08
Speaker
I've just been enjoying that.
00:29:10
Speaker
So I'm grateful.
00:29:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:11
Speaker
That's been nice.
00:29:12
Speaker
Yeah.
Creating Everyday Beauty
00:29:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:13
Speaker
Sounds like it's been a big music year for us.
00:29:16
Speaker
Step it up over art forms.
00:29:18
Speaker
Superman tried.
00:29:19
Speaker
Superman was real good.
00:29:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:22
Speaker
I don't know if I'm like grateful for Superman because it was just really great, but I don't know if it like
00:29:27
Speaker
Not full of great.
00:29:29
Speaker
Great.
00:29:30
Speaker
I just don't know.
00:29:31
Speaker
I don't know how much deep, rich stuff it did for me.
00:29:34
Speaker
You know, it was a great, wonderful.
00:29:36
Speaker
It's probably my favorite movie of the year.
00:29:38
Speaker
That's true.
00:29:39
Speaker
That's true.
00:29:40
Speaker
I take it back.
00:29:41
Speaker
I am grateful for Superman because it was very joyful.
00:29:44
Speaker
Yeah, you're right.
00:29:46
Speaker
I feel like there's another movie that I've seen this year that I was like, wow, this is great.
00:29:51
Speaker
And I can't remember what it was.
00:29:53
Speaker
I mean, Fantastic Four was a good, oh, Thunderbolts.
00:29:55
Speaker
That's probably what I'm thinking about.
00:29:56
Speaker
I just watch superhero movies.
00:29:58
Speaker
That's all I do.
00:29:59
Speaker
I'm just so uncultured.
00:30:03
Speaker
I host a podcast about art.
00:30:06
Speaker
And I'm like, well, I watch comic book movies.
00:30:09
Speaker
That's it.
00:30:10
Speaker
It's art.
00:30:12
Speaker
I think it's art.
00:30:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:18
Speaker
Something we were talking about earlier.
00:30:23
Speaker
About like enjoying appreciating the little moments like you mentioned in our town coming back and realizing, oh, like these little moments are the things that that matter.
00:30:38
Speaker
I was thinking about something similar with like my work.
00:30:43
Speaker
Like I'm a graphic designer, but the
00:30:48
Speaker
The things I make, they're just like brochures and billboards and stuff.
00:30:53
Speaker
They're not like these big expressive pieces of culture, cultural art.
00:30:59
Speaker
But I've always tried to do a good job with them.
00:31:03
Speaker
And that matters to me.
00:31:05
Speaker
And I've wanted to like, it's a little like the little place where they go.
00:31:10
Speaker
I just want to like.
00:31:13
Speaker
life to be better because this was done beautifully, even if it's just a little thing.
00:31:18
Speaker
Um, and sometimes can feel like, Oh, I'm not really doing much artistically impactful kind of thing, like a big thing.
00:31:31
Speaker
Um, but I had a thought, I think it was this morning.
00:31:36
Speaker
Um,
00:31:37
Speaker
about maybe like, maybe I'm kind of like just painting the corners in the room in life.
00:31:47
Speaker
You're cutting in.
00:31:48
Speaker
Well, just like the edges of a piece, like just making this over here beautiful.
00:31:57
Speaker
It's not like in the center.
00:31:58
Speaker
It's not this big thing.
00:32:00
Speaker
And I think it's a little thing.
00:32:03
Speaker
And I think our lives are full of little things and we need to paint those things beautifully and appreciate the beauty that God gives us.
00:32:14
Speaker
In those little places, because really, like in our town, like those that's those are the places that we return to that we think that that was a joyful place.
00:32:24
Speaker
That was what mattered.
00:32:25
Speaker
It's not that.
00:32:27
Speaker
necessarily the big accomplishments and such that we strive for.
00:32:32
Speaker
And it's good to have goals and things to push ourselves towards.
00:32:37
Speaker
But that's not what's ultimately going to satisfy is when we reach this peak, reach this goal.
00:32:45
Speaker
It's the...
00:32:47
Speaker
It's the things along the way.
00:32:48
Speaker
And so are we painting those corners, those little spaces beautifully?
00:32:55
Speaker
And are we taking a step back and appreciating the people who are in our little corner and realizing that maybe this is the main piece of art actually?
00:33:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:07
Speaker
That's a good thing to think on.
Expressions of Gratitude and Community Support
00:33:09
Speaker
I'm going to think on that.
00:33:11
Speaker
And you guys should think about that too.
00:33:13
Speaker
Um,
00:33:15
Speaker
I think that that's the episode.
00:33:18
Speaker
So thank you guys for listening.
00:33:21
Speaker
Thank you, Nate.
00:33:22
Speaker
We're grateful that you guys listened.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yes.
00:33:24
Speaker
I'll take this opportunity to say, audience, I'm grateful for you.
00:33:27
Speaker
You guys are great.
00:33:30
Speaker
It's just such a blessing to sit and think that, oh, people do get some benefit from this.
00:33:37
Speaker
And they tune in.
00:33:39
Speaker
They're like, do they?
00:33:41
Speaker
That'd be nice.
00:33:44
Speaker
I guess.
00:33:45
Speaker
Or we're just more content.
00:33:46
Speaker
They keep coming back.
00:33:48
Speaker
But no, seriously, I'm just so grateful for all of you who listen, who support Artists of the Way, who supported us through gospel, who are supporting us in this next chapter.
00:33:57
Speaker
And Nate, I'm thankful for you and grateful for you.
00:33:59
Speaker
It's been a blast having you on the podcast.
00:34:01
Speaker
Oh, man.
00:34:01
Speaker
As a co-host, it's been great.
00:34:03
Speaker
I think, an upgrade for the podcast.
00:34:06
Speaker
Thanks, buddy.
00:34:07
Speaker
Nobody has reviewed to say otherwise yet, so...
00:34:10
Speaker
Or to say so in the positive.
00:34:14
Speaker
But yeah, grateful for you too.
00:34:16
Speaker
Thanks, man.
00:34:16
Speaker
I'm really grateful I get to be here with you, even just to be able to sit and talk to my friend.
00:34:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:22
Speaker
It's a great, nice thing.
00:34:24
Speaker
Yes.
00:34:25
Speaker
Thank you guys for listening.
00:34:28
Speaker
If you would like to support Artists of the Way in everything that we do, Giving Tuesday is coming up because Black Friday is coming up, so that means Giving Tuesday comes up after that.
00:34:37
Speaker
Yes.
00:34:38
Speaker
So we have our Christmas concert on Giving Tuesday.
00:34:42
Speaker
You can find out more information about that.
00:34:45
Speaker
But that is just going to be a very warm, homely, inviting atmosphere for you to come in and just enter into the season of Advent, the season of Christmas, and prepare your heart.
00:34:56
Speaker
We're really just trying to curate like a little cozy corner of the world for us to step into that season together.
00:35:02
Speaker
So we're really excited about that.
00:35:04
Speaker
Come see us there.
00:35:07
Speaker
We're trying to fundraise enough so that we can put on our production of bandstand and grow the organization.
Audience Engagement and Support
00:35:14
Speaker
So any amount, either as a monthly donor or a one-time gift,
00:35:20
Speaker
would be appreciated.
00:35:21
Speaker
So you can go to our website for that.
00:35:24
Speaker
And if you like the podcast, share us with your friends and your family, because that's how we get new listeners.
00:35:31
Speaker
Leave a review and we'll read it.
00:35:34
Speaker
We could read it on the podcast.
00:35:36
Speaker
I know.
00:35:36
Speaker
People do that.
00:35:37
Speaker
They do do that.
00:35:38
Speaker
Yes.
00:35:39
Speaker
We could say, Jan4567 said, nice.
00:35:41
Speaker
Good job.
00:35:41
Speaker
Yeah, nice.
00:35:42
Speaker
Nice.
00:35:46
Speaker
Yes, leave a review or maybe a YouTube comment and no, we'll just read the reviews.
00:35:50
Speaker
But leave a YouTube comment and then- We could read that too.
00:35:54
Speaker
Why not?
00:35:54
Speaker
We could.
00:35:55
Speaker
We'll read a YouTube comment if you leave a nice or a mean, either one, a nice or a mean YouTube comment.
00:36:00
Speaker
But it has to be, if it's just a mediocre YouTube comment, it won't be worth our time.
00:36:05
Speaker
You're just promoting your Etsy business.
00:36:07
Speaker
We're not going to be reading that.
00:36:08
Speaker
The HTTPS colon backslash backslash.
00:36:15
Speaker
One, two, three, four, Joey.
00:36:18
Speaker
Backslash Etsy.
00:36:20
Speaker
I feel like I've done this wrong.
00:36:21
Speaker
Hang on.
00:36:22
Speaker
Backspace Etsy.
00:36:24
Speaker
Backslash one, two, three, four, Joey.
00:36:27
Speaker
Quilter.
00:36:28
Speaker
Quilter.
00:36:31
Speaker
Backslash three, four, eight, P, Q, J, L, E, Q, equals sign, W, three.
00:36:38
Speaker
I said we're not going to read another podcast, man.
00:36:43
Speaker
We'll put something up here that you can click on for one, two, three, four, Joey Quilter.
00:36:50
Speaker
Now he is going to comment.
00:36:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:53
Speaker
You better one, two, three, four, Joey Quilter.
00:36:54
Speaker
I hope that somebody is like dedicated enough to make a new YouTube account or a new like Apple podcast account.
00:37:01
Speaker
That's one, two, three, four, Joey Quilter.
00:37:03
Speaker
If somebody does that, you will, you will be featured on the next episode.
00:37:09
Speaker
For sure.
00:37:09
Speaker
That is recorded.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yes.
00:37:11
Speaker
Anyways, thank you guys for listening.
00:37:15
Speaker
God bless.
00:37:16
Speaker
We hope you have a great, wonderful Thanksgiving.
00:37:19
Speaker
And we look forward to stepping into the season of Advent with you guys.
00:37:22
Speaker
Yes.