Where's my blackberry?

Saturday morning required an early start for the aCross Creation film crew. A 5:00 a.m. wake up to be exact. We knew we needed to arrive at Bridal Veil Falls close to first light because by mid-morning, especially on a Saturday, it would be packed with people. As much as we like to share with others about aCross Creation it really is easier to film without an audience. The early wake up along with our scouting work on Thursday afternoon created great success. We didn't see another hiker until we were wrapping up the shoot about 10:00 a.m.

Amy and Nannette Berg were troopers and joined us for the early morning start and we, of course, put them to work. They also brought their dog, Jackson. I don't think he made it into any of the footage on Saturday but he was also around the shoot at the O-Zone Friday afternoon (sorry I forgot to mention that Bubba) and he was probably caught on film there. You can look for him when that episode is used in worship at Woodland on February 27, 2011.

Bridal Veil Falls, though only an easy 1/3 of a mile hike from the parking lot, is a wonderfully secluded and lush locale. It looks like Oregon is supposed to look with a rocky river, a pounding waterfall, ferns and moss covering everything, plenty of shade and cool. Along with being an ideal spot for the episode it was a great place to hang out for the morning. An extra bonus was the name. The meditation was about the nature of love and I used a passage from the Song of Solomon which tells the story of two enraptured lovers. Greg couldn't get over how appropriate it was that we were at a place called "Bridal Veil."

As has become the custom, filming went very smoothly (not that it's fast, you understand, just smooth. This is still at least 3 hours of work on location). We found a good way to tell a short "story" with the video footage even while I was making the preaching point. When we filmed our first episode on the banks of the Arkansas river a year ago none of us really understood how important it would be to have props or interactive elements. We are learning. I can see now that in order to capitalize on the power of using video for preaching we need to have more than me standing still and talking in front of a beautiful backdrop. Because of the medium we can tell the viewers things without having to say them. The better we do that, the more impact the episodes will have.

While we were working away, Nannette took Jackson for a little exploring and found bushes full of wild blackberries. Never mind the fact that they were on property owned by the railroad and access required scooting around a locked gate. Never mind, I said! When Amy Berg heard the words "wild blackberries" she was off like a shot with a small pan in hand to go picking. I followed her and braved the thorns to collect enough blackberries for a post-filming treat for the crew. They were sooooo good. So good in fact that we had to go back for a second pan full to take home. Berg promised me she would make blackberry scones later. And those scones were worth every scrape I got picking the berries.

The work done, the berries eaten, it was time to take a photo of the whole crew and then part ways. I was off to have a few days of vacation and a few more lattes with my friends. Martzes and Sullivans were off to explore Oregon for a bit before heading home to Wichita. It was great to have time to relax and do important Portland things, like visit Powell's, before returning to Kansas.

It has been a great year working on aCross Creation. We have filmed 19 usable episodes (and three unusable ones). I have grown creatively, personally and spiritually by working on this series. I have been repeatedly surprised by grace and bowled over by the support we have received. And I know the best is coming because starting Sept 12 we will finally be sharing aCross Creation with the people we have had in mind all along, congregations and those exploring Christian discipleship. To that end, pray for Greg, would you? He has hours and hours of editing work ahead of him in the weeks to come to deal with all this footage we have been collecting in the past 12 months. Better pray for Janet too, while you are at it.

If you are in Wichita, dear reader, I invite you to come worship at "Daybreak" (starting Sept 12 at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday at Woodland United Methodist Church, 1100 W 15th St N) to see aCross Creation for yourself. If you can't come to worship, stay tuned. We still have quite a bit of work to do to get the episodes ready for distribution to other churches and small groups, but we are working on it! I hope we will have our first release by February.

Thanks for reading all about the Oregon trip, please pass this blog address on to anyone you know who might be interested. Next up, tales of me standing in a sunflower field Labor Day weekend.

Peace.