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| Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 | | 2:27 am |
Just finished the first half of my Presbytery's psych evaluation paperwork. Professional psychological evaluations are a requirement in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for ordination, and I'm scheduled to have mine formally conducted at Baptist Health Center in Columbia, South Carolina in a little less than two weeks. I'm working a little slower on the required pre-consultation paperwork portion than I'd hoped. It's a huge packet to go through, filled with questionnaires, essays, personality tests, etc., but I'm very confident I'll have it done by the deadline. The psychological evaluation is one of those hoops you have to jump through as a seminarian (and thank God we do - this is a very wise "filter" for the pulpit our denomination has put in place if you catch my drift). However, after 15 months of being psychoanalyzed in C.P.E. (Clinical Pastoral Education in a hospital chaplaincy setting), I'm really not sure what the psych evaluation is going to reveal about me that I don't already know. I feel like I can probably name most of my big issues that I struggle with (although nobody's perfect at this) after having studied them pretty closely for over a year. "You know, Marc, we think there's a real potential here for thinking your neighbor's a ghost and sado-masochistic tendencies towards farm equipment." I'm not trying to be vain or presumptuous here, but many of these questions feel a little redundant. I've already taken the Meyers-Briggs several times over the last year (this will be Round Four), I've done at least three genograms, and I've undergone three years of pastoral counseling as well as 15 months of CPE supervision. I guess there's always more to learn, which is what I hope I'll get out of this. After I fill out the paperwork, I will mail the packet back to the Baptist Health Center (probably either Thursday or Friday), and then the Monday before Christmas I will drive up to Columbia from Sumter and go in for the one-on-one session where they will review the results of my tests, which will take anywhere between four to six hours. Anyway, I know all of this is terribly fascinating, but I'm a seminary student. Such is life. Sigh...it's a very strange life we live... -Marc | | Monday, December 7th, 2009 | | 7:21 pm |
| | Sunday, December 6th, 2009 | | 10:56 pm |
First professional magic gig! Plus new tricks! Play by play...
I just pulled back into Decatur a few minutes ago from Roswell, GA. A friend of mine hired me to do an hour-long magic show for his youth group over at the church he works at as the youth director. Overall, the show went really well, and the kids were really nice and really responsive to a lot of the tricks. I did a pretty standard mix of old tricks that I've been doing forever and ever. I did the Houdini straight jacket escape, I sawed one of the boys in the senior class in half, which got fun reactions from the crowd, but I also tried out some new stuff. I've been putting together quite a lot of new material for the big seminary magic show in the Spring, so I figured this was as good an opportunity as any to give some of the new tricks a test drive and see how they play in front of a live audience and hopefully glean some helpful feedback for the big show. All in all, the new tricks went over fine, although one of them fumbled and flashed the method, and a few kids up front shouted out the secret. Now, no performer is perfect. We can all practice a trick a thousand times (and believe me, I do), but inevitably this is going to happen at some point. The way I see it, there's a few ways a magician can play this when the method is flashed, and I have done each one of these at some point in my life. #1. They can just ignore it and pretend like nothing has happened and continue on with the trick as if it was perfect. Nothing could be more sad. Except maybe... #2. The magician can become upset that the trick has fumbled and become irritated with the kid that shouted the method. Even worse. or... #3. If the method is flashed, and the kid shouts it out, the magician can do what I call "pulling a Conan O'Brien" and just laugh it off and turn it into a joke (like it's part of the show). This is what I prefer to do because honestly you're screwed, and where else is there to go really? Might as well at least be able to laugh at yourself rather than just becoming a complete jackass to your audience. Sometimes with some close-up magic, when you make a mistake, you can actually covertly switch gears and pull a surprise twist magic trick at the end to save it, which of course gets an even bigger reaction. This is obviously ideal, but it's extremely difficult to do on the spur of the moment particularly with stage magic. So, the method flashed with the new bit, the kid shouted out what he saw, and I just winked to him and pretended to do some secret playful "Shhh!" banter back and forth with him in a stage whisper and then just did the rest of the trick very broad and tongue-and-cheek and moved on. There were several new pieces and gags in the show including one called "The Audience is Psychic." "The Audience is Psychic" is a new piece that I've been developing and changing for about a year now. The trick was actually on the set list for the magic show at the seminary last year, but it was struck at the very last minute because I finally decided it just wasn't strong enough, and there was too much margin for error. The piece has gone through several different incarnations to the point that the original version was literally a completely different trick from what the audience saw tonight. Of all the new pieces that I added tonight, "The Audience is Psychic" is by far the strongest piece of magic, I think. It's very heavy audience participation. The execution was smooth, and there was one moment in particular (I'm going to be deliberately vague here on a public internet forum) where even though I didn't have to, I tried some very shady / very ballsy / potentially very stupid misdirection just for the sake of adding a little more impact to the trick. The kid helping me out was completely oblivious and played into it perfectly. The execution was smooth, the method was great, and the whole thing worked out exactly as I rehearsed it. Seriously folks, this is a damn strong piece of magic. And it got absolutely zero response from the crowd. Nothing. Literally silence. You could hear a cricket chirp. It wasn't until I asked them to give a big round of applause for my volunteer that they crowd even said anything. (That's a fun little trick of keeping the energy up even when a trick necessarily doesn't). This is really interesting to me because the trick is really, really good, and I can say it's really really good without any vanity because it's not a Marc van Bulck original. Seriously, the first time I saw it, I thought, "Wow, I need to learn that trick." So, why did it tank? I know the method didn't flash. Personally, my theory is that my patter probably just needed some work and could have probably been smoothed out ("patter" is the story or dialogue a magician goes through with the audience while they're doing the trick. Kind of like when you do that "Four Robbers" trick with a deck of cards. That story about the four robbers is called the patter). Or it could just be that maybe I, as a magician, think the trick is really good, but a lay crowd wasn't as impressed by it. But I'm not sure that this was the case. Personally, I think a decent portion of the folks, particularly further back didn't see it. I also think the patter could use some smoothing out. Whatever the case, I'm going to keep the trick in the show because I'm convinced whatever it was, it wasn't the trick's fault and was just mine. We'll see... The tricks that got the biggest reaction from the crowd were Vanishing Coke Bottle and Cut-and-Restored Rope. Vanishing Coke Bottle is a really great stage piece, which usually gets one of those kind of "Beat-and-then-delayed-reactions" after you do it. The fact that Rope Trick got as big a reaction as it did surprised me, particularly, because I did something kind of funny with it.
Here's what happened. I have a sixteen-year-old boy up onstage helping me with the trick, and his face is about six inches from the rope. Suddenly, just for giggles, I get nervous and become self-conscious about the sleight-of-hand.
"This trick is ridiculous," I think to myself, "Anyone with half a brain can clearly see what I'm doing. Why am I trying to get away with this?"
So, I looked up at the audience and TOLD THEM HOW I WAS DOING THE TRICK AS I WAS DOING THE TRICK. Literally. I just looked up and pointed out what was going on with literally no idea of where to go from there or how to use that. I just went, "Screw it. This is what I feel like doing."
I take a beat, giving the audience enough time to absorb what I've just told them. They look up at my hand, and after a few beats, they acknowledge what I've just pointed out and start to laugh and clap in acknowledgment.
Just so we're clear, this is not like some kind of Penn and Teller "I-Just-Explained-How-It's-Done-But-I'm-Going-So-Fast-You-Can't-Follow-What's-Going-On" kind of jive. They are literally laughing, "Yes, we see what you're talking about, and now we know how it's done."
I do the move, put the rope back together again, and then PANDEMONIUM. The sixteen-year-old kid next to me literally goes, "What?!" and starts spazzing onstage, and I'm, like, "Dude, I just told you the method." The whole audience gives this huge collective "WHOA! GASP!" in one of the most spectacular displays of Alzheimer's I have ever seen.
Hmmm...
Overall, the show went really well. The folks gave a standing-O at the end, which was really sweet of them considering they didn't know me and one of the tricks kind of flubbed up and I didn't really have a particularly strong ending (I ended with straight jacket rather than "Time Travel" or "Razor Blade Roulette"). But the crowd stayed and chatted for a long time, and several kids asked what happened to the Coke bottle after it disappeared, and the parents all had very nice things to say.
Overall, my buddy was really sweet in letting me do this gig, and I learned a lot from the stuff that went haywire, which is always helpful. Yay, magic!
TTFN.
Marc | | Monday, November 16th, 2009 | | 12:33 am |
| | Monday, November 9th, 2009 | | 2:08 am |
Unnecessary MP3 of my sermon this weekend
Preached "The Holiness of Vulnerability" again in Mississippi this weekend. It's basically just a slightly different delivery of the exact same sermon I posted here a few months ago. There's a few more ad libs this go around, but I also slipped up a few times, too. Got great feedback from the folks there, and they really seemed to enthusiastically like it. Pastor there seemed really impressed, too. Very kind compliments from the seminary representative as well. If you're morbidly interested, here's the audio. Take care, Marc "The Holiness of Vulnerability"
Matthew 27: 45-46
By Marc van Bulck
First Presbyterian Church
Cleveland, Mississippi
Sunday, November 8, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/yajv3xk | | Monday, October 26th, 2009 | | 12:41 am |
I need to write about this for just a moment. I can't not. I'll keep my remarks brief. Andrew Lloyd Weber, composer of Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and Jesus Christ Superstar has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Anyone who knows me knows that I've had a love / hate relationship with dear Andrew. I fell in love with the theater at eleven years old in New York City to Phantom of the Opera. Jesus Christ Superstar knocked the wind out of me when I first saw it at seventeen years old and profoundly shook the way I thought about Christ.
I thought it was beautiful. I still do. I taught children during my summers home from college in Sumter, SC in my very first job with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I'm probably the only Emerson graduate or even Emerson student ever that has and still does love Cats. And I, like the Frankenstein monster, turned against my creator when he decided to write a sequel to the music that I fell in love to. I still that's an awful idea.
My thoughts and prayers are with Andrew. I don't care what anybody says.
-Marc
| | Sunday, October 25th, 2009 | | 3:30 pm |
THE SCENE: MARC, SARAH, and CLAUDIA are driving to downtown DECATUR to get lunch. Marc looks out the window and sees a woman walking a yorkshire terrier. Marc spazzes out in front of the car window and yells really loudly.
MARC: Aaaahhhh!!! Look!!!! Everyone else jumps. MARC: A yorkshire terrier! CLAUDIA: That was so loud! MARC: I love yorkshire terriers! We used to have one. SARAH: Aw. MARC: Yeah. He's dead now. SARAH: Aw! That's sad. CLAUDIA: ( Under her breath) You're pathetic either way. MARC bursts out laughing.
I keep very strange company. SCENE. | | Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | | 12:05 pm |
Sermon from this morning at CTS chapel. "Feed My Sheep"
John 21: 1-17
By Marc van Bulck
Columbia Theological Seminary
Decatur, GA
October 20, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/yg86rq4 | | Monday, October 19th, 2009 | | 4:27 pm |
MP3 Download of my sermon this afternoon...
Not the most polished sermon I've ever done. This one is a little redundant, and I think the main point that comes at the end could have been expanded. I would have liked to write one more draft of this, but it was for class, and I ran out of time. I'm also working on yet another sermon for chapel tomorrow morning. I'll post that one, too, as soon as it's up. "What's In Your Heart?"
1 Samuel 16: 1-13
By Marc van Bulck
Columbia Theological Seminary
Decatur, GA
October 19, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/ykdzufn
| | Friday, October 9th, 2009 | | 1:56 am |
| | Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | | 5:10 pm |
This was for class. It was posted earlier but was deleted.
“1 SAMUEL 17: 33-37”
By Marc van Bulck I remember I had a friend who once said, “sheep don’t care.” Maybe he’s right. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that sheep can panic. Any animal can panic when it feels like its life is in danger. It’s survival. It’s instinct. Everybody knows what fear feels like, and sheep are very difficult to control when they’re scared. Especially when you’re someone my size.
The mountain cat moved slowly at first. Quietly. Calculating. I can remember looking into the eyes of the mountain cat and knowing. Just knowing. We both did. We moved slowly at first. Circling each other. Almost serene. I could taste the sweat of my own fear, but the mountain cat did not stop. I did not stop. “Sheep don’t care.” And then she sprang.
The world started moving really fast. It’s hard to remember what happened. Sheep wailing. Adrenaline. Panic.
The momma cat sunk its teeth the neck of one of the flock, and it’s cry was terrible. In an instant, I was on the momma cat’s snout. I don’t remember how or why or even where the movement came from, but in that moment, everything mattered.
My fingers peeled back the lips of the momma cat. I remember the first glimpse of the blood on her teeth.
I cannot kill a mountain cat.
And then I looked into her eyes. Powerlessness. The same powerlessness I felt looking into the of seven older brothers. The powerlessness of wondering what the favor of a father tasted like.
“Only real men join the army.”
Emptiness. Helplessness. What is the worth of a man?
I looked into the eyes of this mountain cat, and anger and fire filled my body like the heart of the sun.
“Never again,” I whispered.
And I tore its jaws apart.
This must be what God feels like.
The frightened sheep managed to wriggle free and run, panicked, back to the others. And that was the first time I remember seeing a mountain cat look afraid.
But it was too late. It was too late for mercy. Too late for grace. I would never be called a boy again. I would never feel fear or helplessness ever again, and this time the monster would know what fear tasted like. Forevermore, the monster would know what fear tasted like.
That was the first time I remember feeling powerful.
And I would never let that go. | | Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | | 3:31 pm |
I wrote a monologue today for Anna's class about David (Yes, King David. Yes, David and Goliath David) about the moment when David goes to the Dark Side. Anakin, noooo!!! I'm a huge nerd. | | Sunday, September 20th, 2009 | | 11:04 pm |
| | Saturday, September 19th, 2009 | | 3:52 pm |
| | Monday, September 14th, 2009 | | 5:04 pm |
Andrew Lloyd Webber, You have not followed my instructions. I will give you one last chance. Should these commands be ignored, a disaster beyond your imagination will occur. I remain, sir, your obedient servant. -MVB http://www.loveneverdies.com/october8th/ | | Friday, September 11th, 2009 | | 3:38 pm |
| | 1:24 am |
I think the title of the next seminary magic show needs to be Marc van Bulck's Disco-Monkey, Offensive, Sexy Vegas Magic Spectacular.
Especially since it doesn't apply. I wish it did. -Marc | | Thursday, September 10th, 2009 | | 11:29 am |
"A Heresy"
By Marc van Bulck Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha were sitting around in the living room while their children sat on the floor examining a gift wrapped present, trying to deduce what might be inside. One of the children finally decided to take a peak inside the box. "I see it!" the child exclaimed, "I know what's inside!" "What is it? What is it?" The child looked up from the box. "It's a long grey trunk! With two large tusks attached!" The other children started becoming excited. "Let me see!" another one said and took a peak from the other side of the box. "No, it's not," the other child said, "it's a long, gray tail. I can see it. I'm looking at it right now." "No, it's not!" the other child snapped back. But a third child was already taking a peak inside the box. "You're both wrong. It's a big gray head with two very large, floppy ears." "That is not what's inside!" the other two argued, "Look, I saw a grey trunk with two tusks, and that's what it is. I saw it with my own eyes. What I saw is completely different from what you saw, and they are not the same thing. A long trunk with two tusks is not compatible with a big head with floppy ears." "Are you calling me a liar?!" the other child asked, and he pushed the first child over. "Ow! Stop it!" And that child pushed back "Ow, quit pushing me!" "You pushed me first!" A fourth child had been sitting, watching the entire time. "I don't even think there's anything in there," that child said, "I think the box is empty. I don't think there is a present inside." "Um, if you took the time to look inside the box," one of the other children said indignantly, "you might have seen that there is!" The fourth child became quiet. "Maybe if you didn't push so hard, I would have had the chance..." he whispered. The children picked up the box and started fighting over it. "Give it back!" "It's mine!" "No, it's mine!" "Give it!" Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha stood up. "Children!" they said, "what did we tell you about fighting over the present?" The children started to pout. "If you keep fighting over it," the grown-ups said, "none of you will be able to see what's inside." Muhammad turned to Jesus, "Mom says hi, by the way." "Yeah, she sends her regards," Buddha added. Jesus looked down and smiled. "Le-chayim," He said. | | Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 | | 2:58 pm |
| | Saturday, September 5th, 2009 | | 5:08 pm |
"A Parable"
By Marc van Bulck Inspired by and adapted from an anonymous parable. Jesus was sitting on a park bench when He was approached by a gentleman in a business suit who was not amused. He said, "Jesus, the pastor at our church was talking about Scripture and how Scripture is something that can be interpreted. That Scripture is something that could somehow have different meanings." Jesus listened and looked down at the ground. "I have spent my entire life going to church and being taught that this is what the Scripture says, and I don't want some preacher coming in here telling me it's any different! I don't want somebody telling me that it might mean something else. The Scripture says what it says, and that's the way God wanted it said. If we needed to interpret it or find out what it really meant, I think God would have given us those tools, don't you?" The gentleman pulled a photograph out of his pocket. Jesus turned and watched him. "This," the man said, "is a portrait of my wife. And this is exactly what she looks like. No wishy-washiness. No back-and-forth, well-maybe-it-could-have-been. This is exactly who she is." Jesus looked at the picture. "Who's Ronald Reagan?" Jesus asked. "Oh, sorry, this was taken back in the 80's, I think." "She wants to elect Ronald Reagan?" Jesus asked. "Well, no. I mean, she did. He was running for president at the time." "Does she still want to elect Ronald Reagan?" "No, Jesus!" the man barked back indignantly, "Those were the issues of the day. Ronald Reagan isn't really a topic right now. This just sort of tells you a little bit about what she's like." Jesus looked at the photograph some more and frowned. "These are the clothes she wears?" "No," the man said, "those were the kind of clothes we wore back then. We don't behave the same way today. You have to think about context, Jesus." "Oh," Jesus said. "Look," the man said, "the point is, this is a photograph of my wife, and it is precisely, exactly what she looks like." Jesus took the photograph in His hand and frowned a little bit. "She's rather small," He said. |
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