The SNL Generation

In a deleted scene from Juno the title character said a line that resonated with me. Some dude yelled at her incomprehensibly from his car and enjoyed a self-satisfied laugh as he drove off. She observed "the problem with most people is they think loud equals funny." Juno had a point.

I blame it mostly on a handful of movies by ex-Saturday Night Live members. No jokes? Just yell, swear, or make a silly sound. You've got box office gold.

I also believe it extended from "funny" to "meaningful". If you want to be heard, loud and offensive is the way to go. This philosophy seeped into Christianity as well.

Pastors now talk about "breaking noses" to keep deacons in line. That's the love of Jesus.

Others are saying Christians don't talk about sex enough and proceed to talk about nothing else. The point is valid, but is swinging to the other extreme the solution?

To be honest, I can't think of many more. Everyone's shouting, and it's blending into an immeasurable wall of noise. What ever happened to the still, small voice?

Lord, teach us how to listen.

As Seen on TV

This was too good not to share.


Plight Of Missing Hikers Will Make Great Movie

Book Review: The Pursuit of God

Those friends who ask me if I've read anything good lately are still there. I could mention Watership Down, but since I'm not that far in, and it's hard to convince grown-ups a book about bunnies can be worthwhile, that's a no go. It is good, by the way. I'm just unusually busy enough to not read too much. It can happen.

A weekend or so ago, I did have the opportunity to read another Christian classic, The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer. I hadn't read anything by him before, but I'd often heard his writings quoted and admired. After this reading, I'm not dissappointed.

There's something comforting and unsettling about reading books like this or Augustine's Confessions. Comforting because I can see these others struggling with many of the same questions I have about Christ making a difference, and disturbing as I think of the many around me who don't.

Tozer's description of churches and how they teach us to "be content with little", spiritually speaking, is still too familiar. I'm reminded of the Onion article "I'm Not One of Those Love Thy Neighbor Christians" and how the fictional author seemed more interested in memorizing biblical facts and random church history ("you know, common sense stuff") than putting faith into practice. Only by pursuing more of Him can we hope to do the latter.

If worship feels like ritual, or even like a shell of something better, read this biblically-based book and be refreshed as I was. If you find it unsettling, you're not alone.

I probably should tie in the bunny book somehow, but as I said before, I'm only 30 pages in. My apologies.

You Should Have Never Trusted Hollywood

Okay, so I never went to film school or movie critic academy or whatever it takes to be a respected "expert". I have watched a lot of movies, and I think I know a good one from a bad one. I guess I wouldn't make it in Hollywood.

The Oscar nominations are in, and I'm quite dissappointed as usual. Slumdog Millionaire is nominated for best picture and best director, but Wall E and The Dark Knight got shafted. At least we can celebrate depressing historical epics and melodramatic fluff passing as fantasy in their place. Why break with tradition?

I'm rooting for Slumdog, hopefully a clean sweep. I rooted for Juno last year, however, and that didn't win. But Slumdog is a movie about hope, so you never know.

Bad Teeth and Good Music

So I found a song that kicks butt, and felt obliged to share it. I never heard much of this band before, but thankfully I was looking for a testimony that had something to do with grace. I'm looking for a sermon and find a secular rock song to treasure. And treasure it I will.

Checklist

I've had a personal goal for some time that I wouldn't whine about something if I'm not willing to do something about it. I can say it's going well, but that's with a bit of lying involved. For the most part, I'm at least breaking even.

The funny thing is, I have quite a few strong convictions that I'm prevented from doing anything about. These aren't just good things, either. They're full-blown, "someone should do something and yes I realize someone may be me" burdens. I rant and rave, I look into doing something about it, and I can't. It tends to put a damper on my checklist.

Coffee is a good example. I recently felt burdened that my purchases should reflect God's love for others, and buying coffee that actually helps the people who grow the beans would be part of that. Coffee is a very substantial purchase for me, if for some reason you are a stranger who doesn't know. That would be a great way to live out the difference He makes, right?

Wrong. They don't sell fair trade coffee in Korea. I could order from the US, but then we'd be flirting with the poverty line ourselves. We could always join the farmers after that, but I like the classroom hours.

If I'm wrong, I pray the burdens would be lifted. If I'm right, I pray for the ability to do something about it. Therein lies the issue.

Going back, God gave me quite a few burdens over the years without the current means to do anything about it. Stuff White People Like identified awareness as one of those things. I believe He uses that, once we add agonizing and prayer to the mix.

In the end, I stand by my general no whining rule. Minus the checklist.

Squashed by Bowling

I've been trying to find a substitution for squash since I stopped paying way too much to play it. The other day I decided to try bowling, which is in no way similar but a good deal cheaper. I need something active to do, and throwing heavy objects around a couple of days a week might do the trick. I could throw the dog around the living room for free, but my wife tends to frown on that. Something about cruelty to animals.

I'll try bowling again, but I do have one observation from my first attempt. My fingers and Korean bowling ball finger holes are not a good combination. The bowling ball is clingy and wants to take me with it down the lane.

Oh, well. Next time I'll go pro.

Speaking English

Here's another one of those funny images I keep tucked away. Someone showed it to a group of us teachers over the summer, and it's kept me laughing (and quoting) since.

Book Review: Confessions Of Saint Augustine

We were able to take advantage of the chance for free books a while back. One of them was The Confessions of Saint Augustine. I started reading it in September, and wasted no time in underlining the crap out of it. A couple hundred pages later, I lost momentum a bit. Between then and a couple of days ago, the reading had slowed to a stop. Then friends asked me "Have you read anything good lately?" and I didn't feel like discussing The Road or Watchmen. That wouldn't necessarily count as "good" in their books. That successfully guilted me into reading the last hundred pages, give or take.

I know people say classics are classics for a reason, and I guess this counts as one, at least in Christian circles. It takes a lot of patience to read, but it has some good food for thought swimming in some delightfully confusing whirlwinds of reason. My favorite example is at the end, where he wonders for at least ten pages how exactly memory works. I was begining to question the theological or practical importance of this when he phrased an immortal question for the ages: do we remember when we forget? I felt like I was in my dorm room talking to my roomates again. Ah, the memories.

The payoff for patience in reading that part was the last few pages, where he reflected on the lusts of the flesh and eyes, and the pride of life. He made a comparison to the lust of the eyes and curiosity, and how gossip seemed to fit in that category. His description reminded me of celebrity "news", and reminded me of why I don't care much for that sort of thing.

He even had some interesting points on food and music and how they could be sinful if they became distracting. If that's really what he struggled with at that point, I'm impressed and challenged.

I also felt challenged by the context of his famous "...not yet" quote. For many years and hundreds of pages he was on the verge of conversion to following Christ. However, he didn't want to change his life, as he enjoyed partying and making babies out of wedlock. So at one point he said, "Give me chastity and self control, but not yet."

I never before realized this quote was prior to conversion. How many of us seem to have this at least in the back of our minds after we've "made a decision for Christ"? Augustine knew what it meant, that it would cost him something to follow Christ. Eventually he did, and became a confusing but influencial servant of the Truth.

I'm also challenged by the examples of his mom, who never stopped praying for and agonzing over his salvation, and Christian friends and other believers Augustine heard of who were above reproach. A friend told him and another unbeliever about some of these Christians, and they couldn't deny these "uneducated men" were making more of a difference in the world than they ever could with education and rhetoric alone. Challenging stuff.

Hopefully, by writing some of these tidbits down, I won't forget. Of course, if I do, will I remember that? If only I had the patience to ramble about it.

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Maybe I just like India. I enjoyed the trip there last year, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to take a group there this year as well. And with all that's happened there lately, every time I read BBC news I check up on India, to make sure they're okay. All that to say, this review may be a bit partial.

Some viewers may be put off by heavy accents and a healthy helping of subtitles. If those are hurdles, climb over them and you have a good story.

Most of Slumdog Millionaire takes place in Mubaii. While it's different than and a good distance from where I've been/am going, having been in the country helped eliminate certain questions, such as why is an Indian game show in English? Now I know, so I'm happy.

It's told with flashbacks and flash forwards, yet doesn't feel suspiciously like an episode of Lost. I'm thankful for that.

It follows a young man through a rough life, struggling to find a better way to survive than his brother. The movie cuts between that and the first young man all grown up on an Indian version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Nobody expects him to win because he's a nobody. And... cue suspenseful music... watch it and find out.

This is a good story, and it's unapologetically optimistic, overall. It makes the list of three I have with The Dark Knight and Wall E as one of the best this year. I love the fact that some of the best movies this year have a glimmer of hope to them. Hopefully, the trend will catch on.

Literary Reflections

So, I just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy and I need a laugh. If you've ever heard of The Road or anything else by Cormac McCarthy you would understand why I need a laugh. It's a well-written book, just grim and very heavy. So here's my less-than-publishable take on a very well-respected but sad-faced book.

The story takes place years after some great fallout. We know that everything's post-apocalyptic, as everything is a wasteland and covered in ash, and most of the sparse people left are thieves or worse.

Whatever happened, it took a good deal of punctuation with it as well. All of the world's quotation marks and commas were laid waste long before the story takes place. And some apostrophes. Some make it, some don't. There almost seemed to be a rule to it, and I thought I figured it out, then I'd turn the page and see my rule broken. I guess that's why Mr. McCarthy is Mr. McCarthy, and I'm not. He alone holds the mystery of the apostrophes.

Spacing in quotes must have been nuked as well.

I wish I could talk to the author about this rule to see if I could sneak away with some of his secret. I can picture the conversation going as follows.

Tell me how to write quotes the way you do. No. Please? Since you asked nicely let me think about it. No.

I guess some secrets are best left undiscovered. I stopped quoting, by the way. Man, writing like that is tough.