The Rabbit Room

In October, one of my favorite artists, Andrew Peterson, created this new website and I highly recommend it. Here'e the link: www.rabbitroom.com

It's set up as a blog so that readers can comment. Most of the contributers are singer/songwriters, pastors, and writers. All of them have an appreciation and passion for reading great books, listening to good music, and admiring tasteful and thought-provoking art. The room itself feels like a place of community and "kindred spirits".

The original "rabbit room" was in the back of an Oxford Pub where the likes of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and other friends met to discuss the books they were writing.

Most of the reviews of each creative piece, be it book, album, or art, become quite lengthy and introspective as the artists share how these mediums touched their lives, challenged their spirits, and revealed to them truth and beauty in their walks with the Lord.

I strongly urge those of you who read a ton of literature and listen to a vast array of music to add this page to your favorites. Here is a snippet of the vision from the founder, Andrew Peterson:

I believe strongly in the value of the artists in this world. I believe that when someone who was made to strive to create beauty in the world is, as Brennan Manning said, “ambushed by Jesus,” the art that results bears a God-given power that draws men to Christ. I have encountered that power in the sub-creations of Christ-followers countless times. (I’ve also encountered it in the works of those who haven’t yet succumbed to the source of their gifting.) Those works of art have helped me to better understand the Bible and its author, they have given me the tools with which to worship, to serve, to revel in the greatness of the Maker.

Those works of art are the fruit of obedience to the artist’s calling. The burden God places on each of us is to become who we are meant to be. We are most fully ourselves when Christ most fully lives in us and through us; the mother shines brightest with her child in her arms, the father when he forgives his wandering son, and the artist when he or she is drawing attention to grace by showing the pinprick of light overcoming the darkness in the painting or the story or the song.

The world knows darkness. Christ came into the world to show us light. I have seen it, have been blinded by it, invaded by it, and I will tell its story. I cannot help but see that story everywhere I look. I see it when I am full of joy and weightless as a cloud, and I see it when grief and self-loathing root me to the cold earth; it is remembering the story, Christ whispering it in my ear, that kills the despair, sets me gently on the donkey, and takes me to an inn to recover from the wounds. How can I keep myself from singing?

The Rabbit Room is a place for stories. For artists who believe in the power of old tales, tales as old as the earth itself, who find hope in them and beauty in the shadows and in the light and in the source of the light
Andrew Peterson (The Proprietor)

Here is where I've discovered a new found joy in reading and explored books I would have never picked up. Here, I first heard an amazing review of Sara Groves new album "Tell Me What You Know", which I wholeheartedly recommend and have been listening to almost nonstop since I purchased it on itunes!

I'll leave the rest for you to discover, but I can think of so many of you that are "kindred spirits" to me that would truly benefit and be blessed, inspired, and challenged for visiting this room regularly......ENJOY!

Thanks Andrew Peterson.....