I wanted to get down some thoughts about A Clockwork Orange, which I've just finished listening to on cd and Burn After Reading, now that I've seen it a couple of times. I've been interested in ACO since reading an old Mad Magazine parody many years ago. I first saw the movie the summer after my freshman year at college and have seen it a few times since. At its heart is an interesting story of dystopian, anti-heroic humanism that resonates loudly in some ways with C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength. Burgess' point in ACO is that man is not a creature to be wound up like clockwork and let go to live a determined life whether by the state or by God. Alex is a vicious criminal and hoodlum but he is that way because that is what he wants to be. If he wanted to be good, he could, and it is the very choice that makes him human and makes his actions good and evil. If society wants to "cure" him so that he not only cannot do evil but also must do good to when he desires evil then it achieves a certain short-term goal of reducing crime but does not truly thereby make itself better. In so doing it devalues the individual life it exists to protect and perhaps, to draw conclusions from the ways in which the third part of the book plays out, it may create an even worse evil. It has not eradicated Alex's desire for evil only frustrated it. It seems implied that through a bit of personal application he may in time develop a means of circumventing his conditioning. Interestingly, despite his appy polly loggy for the necessity of the final chapter to his argument (Burgess claims his American publisher originally rejected it because it was too hopeful and Pelagian) in Alex's conviction that his future son will follow in his criminal footsteps and reject his fatherly advice because that's what teenagers do, there seems to be an undermining of the whole theme of freedom. Still its a very interesting story, not least because of the invented Nadsat language that Alex and his droogs use. It was fun to listen to and I'm always open to good dystopian humanism.
One of the other things that I'm always open to is good absurdist humor a la the Coen Brothers. However, one thing Burn After Reading is not is humanist. It seems much more Ecclesiastesical. There's a definite feeling of vanity, vanity, all is vanity. It would seem that all is much ado about nothing as the different characters pursue various ends to often brutal conclusions while in the dark about what is really going on. BAR is definitely in the Fargo vein of absurd and brutally violent comedy. But it likes the stabilizing presence of a Marge Gunderson or even the tired despair of the Sheriff in No Country for Old Men. It just has that feeling of one damned thing after another with no one really knowing what is going on, even the people who are payed to know. Fargo and Lebowski are Coen movies that I'm somewhat repulsed by still enjoy either because of particular characters or techniques. No Country has a power in that it's played straight. After BAR I just want to throw up my hands in frustration and confusion like the chief spook. It doesn't make sense and those poor people are dead and it's such a nice day and there you go (that's Marge Gunderson of course, not the spook). Vanity of vanities, all is vanity under the sun.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Recent Rain and Men's Breakfast
It rained here last weekend. Apparently it rained enough that people elsewhere got worried about me even though I own a bumbershoot and am not water soluble. Still it rained from Friday to Sunday, records were set and small rivers flooded. I don't live in a place that's susceptible to flooding and never have other than the localized kind caused by bad pipes or other leaks. It was a good chance to test our library's new roof to see if it would hold up against serious rainage. Turns out all that time spent with noise and without air conditioning this summer has not fixed the main leak. It might have fixed some of them, but new leaks opened up so I'd say it's a wash.
I got to speak to a few brave souls at our church men's breakfast on Saturday morning. I talked about the importance of studying the history of the church as the story of what God has done and is continuing to do. In some ways the benefits are the same as studying any kind of history, viz. there's lots of good stories and you can learn from others' mistakes. There is an added layer as well. Throughout scripture there is an emphasis on telling what God has done. Jesus tells us that he will be with us always, even to the end of the age. By looking at our past we see the works of God in the lives of his people, sometimes despite the lives of his people, and are encouraged to worship him. A second focus was on the importance of telling our own stories to one another. The vast majority of the life of the church is not made up of Francis of Assisi or Polycarp or Jonathan Edwards but of unknown people who live day-to-day lives full of God's grace. We are those people and by telling of what God has done in our lives we glorify him and share his work with others. I also like to remember that though most of our stories are forgotten here, "The Lord knows the way of the righteous." He remembers our stories and so they are preserved forever.
Random quotes:
"Those who don't study the past will repeat its errors. Those who do study it will find new ways to err." I believe my St. Olaf History Dept. t-shirt attributed this quote to Charles Wolfe.
"In the end nothing is lost. For good or ill every event has repercussions forever" Will Durant on the fall of Babylon.
"It's like watching Shakespeare." An anonymous friend on watching British movies starring Jason Statham (her intent was to compare the experience of being unable to figure out the language at first and then somewhere in the middle realizing that you're understanding. I can see the point and I am a Statham fan but I bet it's pretty rare that Snatch or Mean Machine get compared to the Bard)
Worship haiku:
Miraculous grace
Drips from the wounds of Jesus,
Healing His broken.
I got to speak to a few brave souls at our church men's breakfast on Saturday morning. I talked about the importance of studying the history of the church as the story of what God has done and is continuing to do. In some ways the benefits are the same as studying any kind of history, viz. there's lots of good stories and you can learn from others' mistakes. There is an added layer as well. Throughout scripture there is an emphasis on telling what God has done. Jesus tells us that he will be with us always, even to the end of the age. By looking at our past we see the works of God in the lives of his people, sometimes despite the lives of his people, and are encouraged to worship him. A second focus was on the importance of telling our own stories to one another. The vast majority of the life of the church is not made up of Francis of Assisi or Polycarp or Jonathan Edwards but of unknown people who live day-to-day lives full of God's grace. We are those people and by telling of what God has done in our lives we glorify him and share his work with others. I also like to remember that though most of our stories are forgotten here, "The Lord knows the way of the righteous." He remembers our stories and so they are preserved forever.
Random quotes:
"Those who don't study the past will repeat its errors. Those who do study it will find new ways to err." I believe my St. Olaf History Dept. t-shirt attributed this quote to Charles Wolfe.
"In the end nothing is lost. For good or ill every event has repercussions forever" Will Durant on the fall of Babylon.
"It's like watching Shakespeare." An anonymous friend on watching British movies starring Jason Statham (her intent was to compare the experience of being unable to figure out the language at first and then somewhere in the middle realizing that you're understanding. I can see the point and I am a Statham fan but I bet it's pretty rare that Snatch or Mean Machine get compared to the Bard)
Worship haiku:
Miraculous grace
Drips from the wounds of Jesus,
Healing His broken.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Cohen's Dedication
This morning I got to be part of the dedication for my nephew, Cohen. Cohen will be four weeks old tomorrow. Geron and Lydia decided that since we'd all be down for Cora's birthday this weekend they would go ahead and dedicate Cohen as well. I was really moved as Pastor Matt spoke about the dedication and it being an act in accord with Jesus' welcoming of the children and as Geron's dad, Preston, prayed for Cohen and the family. I was particularly challenged when Matt charged us as the family to see that Cohen be reared in the way of the Lord. I love Cora and Cohen but I hadn't considered my responsibility toward them before. As their uncle I too am called to instruct them and to encourage and support Lydia and Geron as parents. Obviously the distance involved limits what I can do directly but that only increases my call to prayer for Geron, Lydia, Cora and Cohen. Cora's not just this cute little girl that's fun to play with, she is a precious child to be reared in the love and fear of the Lord. I wasn't there for her dedication, but I am committed to her as well. I love them both and am honored to be a part of their lives even from so far away.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Inadvertently Profound Quote and Leaders' Retreat
We had our Trinity Community Church Student Ministries Leaders' Retreat this weekend in Round Lake, IL. It was a really powerful time. Friday night after we ate we started at 7:30 into a time of intentional encouragement. Nate had asked us to write something encouraging down beforehand for each of members of the leadership teams for 3-D (middle school ministry) and/or Third Place (high school ministry) depending on our involvement. During the encouragement time we went around and people shared their encouragements for each leader and often pitched in even if they hadn't written anything. This time was scheduled for about 90 minutes. We finished around 12:30 a.m. It was amazing listening to the student leaders encourage one another and the adult leaders. It was a powerful and convicting time as I realized again how much influence God has allowed me to have in the lives of the students and leaders in 3-D. I love watching kids that I knew as shy or goofy 6th graders grow into leaders in the church and in their schools. Later that night we watched Juno until most people were asleep.
On Saturday morning we had a great time of worship and prayer (originally scheduled for the night before) and then had a discussion about what kind of students we wanted to see graduate from our ministries and what kind of disciplers we needed to be in order for that to happen. After lunch we had a brainstorming time to determine our fall teaching series for the two groups (for organizational purposes we teach the same series in both groups, though we adjust the material to the different age groups) and then split into ministry groups to dream about possibilities for our ministries. This was also a very encouraging time as we shared about how we can be more intentional about connecting with the 3-D kids outside of our Wednesday night group time.
During one of the morning sessions one of the adult leaders mentioned that "Shame is often a major tenement in many religions." Obviously he meant to say "tenet." Nobody mentioned the mistake at the time (amazing for me) but as I thought about what he said I realized it carried a lot more meaning than he intended. I had this image of decrepit, neglected building in a slum filled with people who had moved in but were unable to move out because of their poverty and life circumstances. For a lot of people their shame is a really nasty place that they can't see any way to move out of so they live in the squalor and despair. I don't want to say which religions he was referring to, but that can often be very unfortunately and ironically true of evangelical Christianity. Even though we claim to be "evangelical," i.e. gospel based and oriented, too, too often we load people down with a weight of shame instead of the gospel of freedom. As another friend said a couple of days ago our guilt is often more powerful than others' because we get it both ways. We feel guilty for what we've done wrong but then we compound that by feeling guilty about feeling guilty since we're supposed to be all about grace. We just don't believe Jesus when he says, "It is finished!" It's time we piled our stuff on Jesus' back and moved out of the tenement.
Anyway, this retreat is becoming one of the highlights of my August. It's really only surpassed by the annual Labor Day trip to Tennessee to see Ann and Daniel and Lydia and Geron.
Verse of the Day:
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2 (ESV)
On Saturday morning we had a great time of worship and prayer (originally scheduled for the night before) and then had a discussion about what kind of students we wanted to see graduate from our ministries and what kind of disciplers we needed to be in order for that to happen. After lunch we had a brainstorming time to determine our fall teaching series for the two groups (for organizational purposes we teach the same series in both groups, though we adjust the material to the different age groups) and then split into ministry groups to dream about possibilities for our ministries. This was also a very encouraging time as we shared about how we can be more intentional about connecting with the 3-D kids outside of our Wednesday night group time.
During one of the morning sessions one of the adult leaders mentioned that "Shame is often a major tenement in many religions." Obviously he meant to say "tenet." Nobody mentioned the mistake at the time (amazing for me) but as I thought about what he said I realized it carried a lot more meaning than he intended. I had this image of decrepit, neglected building in a slum filled with people who had moved in but were unable to move out because of their poverty and life circumstances. For a lot of people their shame is a really nasty place that they can't see any way to move out of so they live in the squalor and despair. I don't want to say which religions he was referring to, but that can often be very unfortunately and ironically true of evangelical Christianity. Even though we claim to be "evangelical," i.e. gospel based and oriented, too, too often we load people down with a weight of shame instead of the gospel of freedom. As another friend said a couple of days ago our guilt is often more powerful than others' because we get it both ways. We feel guilty for what we've done wrong but then we compound that by feeling guilty about feeling guilty since we're supposed to be all about grace. We just don't believe Jesus when he says, "It is finished!" It's time we piled our stuff on Jesus' back and moved out of the tenement.
Anyway, this retreat is becoming one of the highlights of my August. It's really only surpassed by the annual Labor Day trip to Tennessee to see Ann and Daniel and Lydia and Geron.
Verse of the Day:
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2 (ESV)
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Random Thoughts and a verse of the day
Warning: This post is not mistitled. There is no thread.
I played Wii and guitar hero over the weekend with some friends from church. We bowled, golfed, played tennis, and some short weird Japanese games. It was fun and I can imagine how it could become seriously addictive. Fortunately, Steve and I don't have one. I also discovered a fun Yahoo word game called Bookworm. It's like a version of Boggle. It too is seriously addictive.
In my LIFEgroup we've been studying The 10 commandments. The last two weeks have focused on the first two commandments. I was struck by the idea that in prohibiting the worship of other Gods and of the use of idols in worship, God is reserving to himself the right to define himself. We are not to worship our ideas and desires, or imaginings of God, but only the true God as He reveals Himself. It's a very logical extension of His response to Moses. Moses' asks God's name at the burning bush and God responds, "I am Who I Am." It's only in the context of His relationship with Israel, the incarnation in Jesus, and the presence of His Spirit in the church that He will reveal Himself and be encountered.
I think it's neat the way different babies can be cute in different ways.
One of the things I've observed while being part of weeding over 11000 items out of our library in the last three months is that at some point in the 1930's several American publishers of religious books began using Roman numerals instead of Arabic for the publication dates. Books published by Doran, Revell, or Abingdon-Cokesbury in the 1910's or 20's and later in the 50's have publication dates like 1923 or 1918. Books published by those same publishers in the 30's-40's have dates like MCMXXXVIII or MCMXLV (Yale books have MDCCCCXXII). I just find that a curious practice. It might be an interesting thing for someone to research sometime, but I can't think of a good reason to.
One of the books I weeded today was titled That They May Have Live. I had to search that title three times. The first time I entered "That They May Live." That got no results. So I looked at it more closely and realized my mistake. I entered, "That They May Have Life." Again no results. My mind couldn't wrap itself around the apparent typo.
I finally got around to reading Ender's Game this summer and have gone on to The Speaker for the Dead. I've liked the other Orson Scott Card stuff I've read and I was tired of having my sf fan credentials questioned any time I mentioned I hadn't read any of the Ender books. I'm really impressed. I enjoyed Ender's Game, and I really enjoyed TSftD. I would never have expected to like a book that focused so much on interpersonal and family relationships as well as I did. I think Card does a good job setting up the parallel of the humans inability to understand one another with their inability to understand the aliens. I also enjoyed the way biblical allusions fall seamlessly into the story, especially this one about Ender's role in the xenocide:
"Yes, well, it's nothing mystical," said Ender. "I think of it as being like the mark of Cain. You don't make many friends, but nobody hurts you much either."
Have you heard about Cuil? It's a new search engine built by some former Google employees. Supposedly it indexes 3X as many web pages as Google and is attempting a completely different approach to determining relevance and claims to be less reliant on popularity. I like some of their ideas but I've gotten nothing out of performance. So far it's taking forever for me to access the search screen and I've only seen numbers of results, no actual links. I hope that it can get better and maybe if traffic slows down the site'll work better in the Trinity environment. The general consensus on the cataloging lists I follow says, "Wait for 'Cuiler.'"
That's it for today's episode of "Random stuff bouncing around Everett's head."
Verse of the day:
"And God spoke all these words, saying,
I played Wii and guitar hero over the weekend with some friends from church. We bowled, golfed, played tennis, and some short weird Japanese games. It was fun and I can imagine how it could become seriously addictive. Fortunately, Steve and I don't have one. I also discovered a fun Yahoo word game called Bookworm. It's like a version of Boggle. It too is seriously addictive.
In my LIFEgroup we've been studying The 10 commandments. The last two weeks have focused on the first two commandments. I was struck by the idea that in prohibiting the worship of other Gods and of the use of idols in worship, God is reserving to himself the right to define himself. We are not to worship our ideas and desires, or imaginings of God, but only the true God as He reveals Himself. It's a very logical extension of His response to Moses. Moses' asks God's name at the burning bush and God responds, "I am Who I Am." It's only in the context of His relationship with Israel, the incarnation in Jesus, and the presence of His Spirit in the church that He will reveal Himself and be encountered.
I think it's neat the way different babies can be cute in different ways.
One of the things I've observed while being part of weeding over 11000 items out of our library in the last three months is that at some point in the 1930's several American publishers of religious books began using Roman numerals instead of Arabic for the publication dates. Books published by Doran, Revell, or Abingdon-Cokesbury in the 1910's or 20's and later in the 50's have publication dates like 1923 or 1918. Books published by those same publishers in the 30's-40's have dates like MCMXXXVIII or MCMXLV (Yale books have MDCCCCXXII). I just find that a curious practice. It might be an interesting thing for someone to research sometime, but I can't think of a good reason to.
One of the books I weeded today was titled That They May Have Live. I had to search that title three times. The first time I entered "That They May Live." That got no results. So I looked at it more closely and realized my mistake. I entered, "That They May Have Life." Again no results. My mind couldn't wrap itself around the apparent typo.
I finally got around to reading Ender's Game this summer and have gone on to The Speaker for the Dead. I've liked the other Orson Scott Card stuff I've read and I was tired of having my sf fan credentials questioned any time I mentioned I hadn't read any of the Ender books. I'm really impressed. I enjoyed Ender's Game, and I really enjoyed TSftD. I would never have expected to like a book that focused so much on interpersonal and family relationships as well as I did. I think Card does a good job setting up the parallel of the humans inability to understand one another with their inability to understand the aliens. I also enjoyed the way biblical allusions fall seamlessly into the story, especially this one about Ender's role in the xenocide:
"Yes, well, it's nothing mystical," said Ender. "I think of it as being like the mark of Cain. You don't make many friends, but nobody hurts you much either."
Have you heard about Cuil? It's a new search engine built by some former Google employees. Supposedly it indexes 3X as many web pages as Google and is attempting a completely different approach to determining relevance and claims to be less reliant on popularity. I like some of their ideas but I've gotten nothing out of performance. So far it's taking forever for me to access the search screen and I've only seen numbers of results, no actual links. I hope that it can get better and maybe if traffic slows down the site'll work better in the Trinity environment. The general consensus on the cataloging lists I follow says, "Wait for 'Cuiler.'"
That's it for today's episode of "Random stuff bouncing around Everett's head."
Verse of the day:
"And God spoke all these words, saying,
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
"You shall have no other gods before me.
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:1-6 (ESV)
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Bought With A Price
From Nicolas Cabasilas The Life in Christ, bk. 7, s.13:
"The blessed Paul makes all things clear in a brief saying, 'You are not your own, you were bought with a price.' He who has been purchased does not regard himself but him who has purchased him, and lives according to His will. In the case of men, the slave is bound to the wish of his master, but only in body; in his mind and reason he is free and can use them as he pleases. But in the case of him whom Christ has bought it is impossible for him to be his own. Since no man has ever bought a complete man, and there is no price for which it is possible to purchase a human soul, so no one has ever set a man free or enslaved him save with respect to his body. The Saviour, however has bought the whole of man. While men merely spend money to buy a slave, He spent Himself. For our freedom He surrendered body and soul by causing the one to die and by the depriving the other of its own body. His body suffered pains by being wounded; His soul was troubled, and that not merely when the body was slain, but even before it was wounded as He said, 'My soul is very sorrowful even to death.'
"So in giving Himself completely, He purchased the whole man. Therefore He has purchased the will too, and it especially. In other respects He was our Master and had control over our whole nature; but it was by our will that we escaped from His service, and He did everything to capture it. Because of the fact that it was our will which He was seeking, He did no violence to it nor took it captive, but He bought it. Thus of those who have been bought, no one will do right by using his will for himself , but will commit an injustice to Him who has bought him by depriving Him of His possession. It is by the self-will and by rejoicing in that which is one's own that one would use one's will for oneself.
"So it remains that none of the virtuous and righteous loves himself, but only Him who has bought him. It must be that at least some, if not all, of those who have been purchased should be thus disposed. How could it be reasonable for such an awesome purchase to have been made in vain? For those who love only Him it follows that they should enjoy all pleasure unalloyed with trouble, since He whom they love does nothing contrary to their desires. They are moved with an exceedingly great and supernatural divine power of joy and this power finds complete fulfilment, and that which delights them surpasses every abundance of grace."
Cabasilas has been my breakfast reading for the past few months (I don't eat breakfast regularly) and has been an interesting read. Essentially The Life in Christ is about the power of the sacraments in the believers' life. As a 14th century Orthodox Greek, Cabasilas has a much different view of sacraments and how they work than we do. Nevertheless, there have been times when I've found some of his ideas showing up as part of my own worship, especially during communion. The idea that in communion God is joining me together with the rest of the worshipping body has been a powerful one. As we share the one bread, we become one body. The last book (chapter) focuses on the joy and perfection of a man who is shaped by the Spirit's power through the sacraments. The whole is more perfectionist and works oriented than I am but it has been interesting and encouraging. Especially when I read the quoted passage above and then heard a message on 1 Cor. 6:12-20 the next morning. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who sends His Spirit that ruined sinners might become His temples.
"The blessed Paul makes all things clear in a brief saying, 'You are not your own, you were bought with a price.' He who has been purchased does not regard himself but him who has purchased him, and lives according to His will. In the case of men, the slave is bound to the wish of his master, but only in body; in his mind and reason he is free and can use them as he pleases. But in the case of him whom Christ has bought it is impossible for him to be his own. Since no man has ever bought a complete man, and there is no price for which it is possible to purchase a human soul, so no one has ever set a man free or enslaved him save with respect to his body. The Saviour, however has bought the whole of man. While men merely spend money to buy a slave, He spent Himself. For our freedom He surrendered body and soul by causing the one to die and by the depriving the other of its own body. His body suffered pains by being wounded; His soul was troubled, and that not merely when the body was slain, but even before it was wounded as He said, 'My soul is very sorrowful even to death.'
"So in giving Himself completely, He purchased the whole man. Therefore He has purchased the will too, and it especially. In other respects He was our Master and had control over our whole nature; but it was by our will that we escaped from His service, and He did everything to capture it. Because of the fact that it was our will which He was seeking, He did no violence to it nor took it captive, but He bought it. Thus of those who have been bought, no one will do right by using his will for himself , but will commit an injustice to Him who has bought him by depriving Him of His possession. It is by the self-will and by rejoicing in that which is one's own that one would use one's will for oneself.
"So it remains that none of the virtuous and righteous loves himself, but only Him who has bought him. It must be that at least some, if not all, of those who have been purchased should be thus disposed. How could it be reasonable for such an awesome purchase to have been made in vain? For those who love only Him it follows that they should enjoy all pleasure unalloyed with trouble, since He whom they love does nothing contrary to their desires. They are moved with an exceedingly great and supernatural divine power of joy and this power finds complete fulfilment, and that which delights them surpasses every abundance of grace."
Cabasilas has been my breakfast reading for the past few months (I don't eat breakfast regularly) and has been an interesting read. Essentially The Life in Christ is about the power of the sacraments in the believers' life. As a 14th century Orthodox Greek, Cabasilas has a much different view of sacraments and how they work than we do. Nevertheless, there have been times when I've found some of his ideas showing up as part of my own worship, especially during communion. The idea that in communion God is joining me together with the rest of the worshipping body has been a powerful one. As we share the one bread, we become one body. The last book (chapter) focuses on the joy and perfection of a man who is shaped by the Spirit's power through the sacraments. The whole is more perfectionist and works oriented than I am but it has been interesting and encouraging. Especially when I read the quoted passage above and then heard a message on 1 Cor. 6:12-20 the next morning. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who sends His Spirit that ruined sinners might become His temples.
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