The last Dec Pic Project photo is up. Thank you for following. See you next year. Hope this one was everything you wanted it to be. And that next year will be even better.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Sorry I'm late on these. Slipped my mind. Were taken on the correct day. Enjoy.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Today's photo is up for your enjoyment.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Today's photo is up for your enjoyment.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

This post is largely for Emily. She wanted to hear my thoughts about the movie "What would Jesus buy?"

I saw this movie a few months ago, but I found today an appropriate time to reflect on it.

It was an interesting watch. And I haven't talked about it until now because I didn't really think too highly of it. Let me unpack that a bit.

I half way agree with the movie and the message presented. Well... I'm going to nitpick this film and say that there are a few things that I can gleam from it, but ultimately my thinking comes from outside the movie and not the movie itself.

If you've never heard about the movie it revolves around a "personality" (for lack of better term), who goes by "Reverend Billy", I use quotes due to the fact that I am not convinced that Billy is a Reverend of anything other than his own admission. He has a "church" if you can call it that, that embarks on a mission to spread the message of "buy nothing" around the country on a 2 week pilgrimage of sorts from coast to coast.

It is shot in a documentary style and I believe that Morgan Spurlock of SuperSize Me fame was one of the producers on the film. You can sense his fingerprints on much of the film.

While I whole-heartedly agree with the idea of trying to spend less as a consumeristic society during the holiday season, I have to completely disagree with the methods and even the message that this film portrays. I won't go into the details of the exploits that the "church" goes on during the film, but overall I felt that they were mainly annoying and actually somewhat offensive in getting their message across. In my mind I compared them to "street evangelists" who stand on street corners and accost people walking by, without relationship or understanding of who the people they are trying talking to or trying to get their message to.

My main beef with this film, is there is no substantial justification for why people should buy less, other than America is a greedy, affluent, consumeristic culture. To me this explanation lacks substance and depth. More so, if this is a so called "church" I don't recall hearing anything about Jesus, at least in the sense of how Jesus would respond to poverty in other places in the world or his reaction to the current cultural climate of America. As much as I kinda don't want to say it, it lacks gospel.

Also there is no call towards alternatives. We do not see the urging for people to seek out those who have less and divert their spending from goods to needs. If I have to be a proponent of a buy nothing style of life. It is absolutely going to be inspired by Jesus and the work of God. The simple call of meekness and compassion. It is one thing simply not to buy anything, yet it is an entire other thing to give your time and energy and money to causes that are working to help those who can benefit from out abundance. When I read about Jesus, I see someone who was attune to the poor and disenfranchised, the others and outcasts. I see someone who challenged the social norms for the benefit of the Kingdom. When I think about the things that God cares about I find a deep sense of compassion to know people and be known by people. Not to blindly shout at people and hope that my words and not my relationship will change people’s hearts and minds.

Being passionate about a cause is something that I respect, and seek for my own life. But I have come to a place to really try and stop and examine my motives and my methods. We muse be able to listen to those around us, before we speak. We must earn trust through relationships before we even think of expounding our views and attitudes. This is the Jesus whom I follow. The Christ that knows the inner heart and life of a person who he interacts with. A God that knows the number of hairs on our heads before he desires to call us his own.

So What Would Jesus Buy? I don't think it would be nothing. I think it would be gifts that empower, instill hope, give dignity, and show unconditional love. Jesus shops to transform, he shops to heal and he shops to give undeserving grace to those who need it most. All because he loves us, more than anything in the world.

Today I celebrate the birth, life and death of Christ. Whom has changed my life all for the better. I give thanks to a God who is greater than all understanding and who I can only hope to know a little more each day. I promise never to have it all figured out, and I am sorry for when I seem like I do. I seek your forgiveness, grace and love, on this day, the day Jesus was born. Blessings to all of you.

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Here ya go today and last night... Today's has 2 parts, cause it's Christmas.

Here's what I wrote on Twitter last night...

jesus was born this night, and it means the world to me.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Here ya go today and last night... Today's is a special treat. You'll see why.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Sitting alone, no one else here except for my thoughts.

It seems I've reached an impasse, my emotions and thoughts are not aligned. My desires and my reality are in conflict.

I have no solutions, yet I yearn to find an answer.

Am I resigned to find my self in situations where I continually yearn for things that time will not align for? Over and over I seem to find myself in a state of unrest. Deep conflict and mourning for what could have been.

Maybe it's that I dwell too much on the missed potential of a situation. Maybe I know what I want and when those things elude me, my soul finds solace in solemnness.

I long for joy, I seek hope, and I know these to be true.

My understanding of singularity grows deep, the loneliness that resides there, how quickly it consumes and devours. Seeking what is beyond the now, is what continues to drive me, the idea of completeness and fullness.

Left to my thoughts I remain. Drifting and pondering I continue to make progress. Day by day and hour by hour, I begin to recognize that which is around me. The slowness of quiet allows me to take in the details. The warmth of the sun pulls me towards what lies ahead. Allow thine eyes to scan the horizon for the thing that I wish not to miss.

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Here ya go today and last night...

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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Here ya go today and last night...

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Today's photo is up for your enjoyment.

Yes I know the actual post date is later than the picture date... I've been working too hard and too long, been getting home past 3a most nights. I hope that changes soon. Thanks for following along. Still much more to come in the Dec Pic Project.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Here ya go today and last night...

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Yesterday's photo is up for your enjoyment. It's a 2 part-er, first time in DPP history... Sorry it's late, was a looooong weekend, but good.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Today's photo is up for your enjoyment. Sorry yesterday's is late, too much relaxing happening.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Today's photo is up for your enjoyment.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Today's photo is up for your enjoyment.

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

Just posted this tweet (on twitter).

just realized TODAY is my actual twitterversary signed up 12/2/07 5002 updates in 366 days = 13.666666 day wow!!!

Realized that I've posted 5000+ times. I can't check to see what my first tweets is at www.myfirsttweet.com since I have too many twitters. Sorry, can't fully celebrate this momentous occasion.

It's been a fun year with twitter. Look forward to more. Thanks for all the great stuff.


Follow me: www.twitter.com/andrewseely

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andrew+seely personal project photography picture december

I've decided to rename the photo project, instead of the December Photo Project, it will now be referred to as the Dec Pic Project or DPP for short. Hope you enjoy this year's flurry of pics of me. (If anyone wants to buy me a really, really nice DSLR for x-mas you are more than welcome to).

Today's photo is up for your enjoyment.

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Note: I will not use any mobile/iphone/twitpics as part of the dec pic project. All shots will be taken on a real camera not the iphone.

andrew+seely personal project photography picture december