Appendix E-J

We’re a week into our second No Words November. We’ve deleted music with words from the Everyday Joe’s music computer. We’ve added more without words. The first No Words November was great. This one is shaping up to be. It’s a month of maybe keeping the jumble out of your head and listening to what you might hear. And from there…well who knows.

Really, it’s a month to encourage and get in the practice of the act of listening. When we listen, we might be led places or we might lead places. Or to things or from things.

And here is what’s interesting:

On November 1st, Derek Webb (we think his music is nice) released Feedback. It is an entirely instrumental/electronic album with each track based on a section of the Lord’s prayer. An interesting concept regardless of what you believe, as it is an interpretation. From Webb’s official site:

Worship is a complicated idea.  Arguably, it’s what we all do, 24 hours a day (regardless of what we’re worshipping).  And I’m aware of a lot of “worship product” in the marketplace I sometimes occupy.  So I was cautious when I first started receiving the coordinates that would lead me to make ‘Feedback’.  It was immediately conceptual and ambitious, so much so that I genuinely wasn’t sure I could do it.  But this seemed to be the perfect posture in which to create something worthy of being called a “worshipful” piece of art.  So I studied, meditated, struggled and prayed my way through this creative process, and it’s easily the most challenging thing I’ve done in my career. But I believe it’s been worth it, even just for the ways it’s stretched both my creative process and my faith as a follower of the Way.

Interesting…this talk of receiving coordinates.

It looks like a film based on the album based on the Lord’s prayer is also coming down the pipes. There are also companion paintings. You can see the preview for the film below, and the paintings at the album purchase page. We’ll be playing the album in the shop this month…if you want to hear it just let us know.

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Let’s keep this brief, shall we?

This month at Everyday Joe’s, we are taking part in No Words November. It is a month to use less words and see what comes out of that. Hopefully listening to each other & hearing more than we normally might. It is exciting to imagine what we could hear.

This idea has been brewing in the head of a member of the Everyday Joe’s family for some time now, inspired by some of the themes of Sleeping At Last’s latest album Storyboards. For the month of November, there will not be any music played on the house speakers that contains words. This is a practical application of the idea of No Words November, encouraging the volunteers to listen to what is happening in the building and to see what they might hear. I wonder what customers think, or if they even notice.

Here is an idea for participating in No Words November that we would like to pass on to you…

Pick one day this month to fast from unnecessary words. Do not ignore others. This is not a vow of silence, but a vow to quiet down. To listen more and see what we hear. Perhaps this one day will translate to two days and then a week and then a month and then it could keep going. I think we may love each other more through it.

The coffee house is a place meant for conversation and relationship. But, we often sit on the other side of the table, calculating what we will say next. Let’s listen more.

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