Last night I showed "Year One" to our Monday evening Bible study. It seemed fitting. I thought it would be fun to take a break and laugh together. Besides, we had just spent five months working through Genesis and had not yet decided on what we would study next.
I had been dragging my feet on watching the film. I had seen the previews so many times that when it actually released, I didn't even want to see it. The over-promotion just killed my interest. The bits they showed over and over in the previews just made the story seem slapstick (which of course it was). I wondered if I would even laugh. My second son, Jackson felt the same way. He avoided it in the theaters and still has not sat down to watch it. My elder son, Will, did see it. And he had told us both that it was "pretty good." The problem, he said, was that the film came out at the exact same time as "The Hangover." So what ended up happening was the critics went in for the raunchy Vegas film to the expense of what probably appeared to them as a tired story about cavemen. Oh, and "The Hangover" was rated R which is always a bit of an advantage. In comedy, pitching to the absolute lowest point is generally a sure win, although I did recently see an exception. "Miss March" is perhaps the most low-ball sexploitative comedy ever made and it is really not funny.
When I finally picked up the DVD for "Year One" last Friday at Blockbuster, I saw that Harold Ramis directed the film. That's all it took, really. I wonder why they wasted all that advertising money on redundant previews when all they really needed to do was leak a story stating that this film was directed by the same guy who gave us Caddyshack, Stripes and Groundhog Day. He also wrote Ghostbusters and was one of three writers responsible for Animal House. Here's a rule: If the guy who wrote Caddyshack is Jewish and he makes a film that essentially retells some of the more curious parts of the book of Genesis, go see it. "Year One" is not the best movie ever made but if you know anything about the book of Genesis, it will make you laugh... and probably think a little as well. Which brings me back to my initial statement and/or confession.
I showed this film to my Bible study... in my office... which is in the church. It was rated PG-13 so it certainly could have been worse but there were a few words and plenty of suggestive humor. I struggled with whether or not I should show it but I wanted us to see it together... especially because we had just finished reading the very stories that Ramis was having fun with. Being able to laugh about your own story is a pretty healthy thing to do. Being able to laugh at your own religion without cheapening it is a very healthy thing to do.
The fact is we are funny creatures. Life is a funny thing. Of course, it's not all funny. I actually had to close my eyes during the scene in which Cain kills his brother Able. But the fact that Ramis did not ignore this and was able to carry Cain's character forward and allow us to laugh a bit at him, to see that the line between the monsters and the people runs right down the middle of most of us... that seems like a pretty interesting thing.
Of course, in making the film, Ramis told a story that was not exactly accurate (Sodom somehow avoids the hellfire pelting that it receives in the older version) but I sense that those who know the story understand this. They understand that a film like this is going to show things in a different light. The point is not to re-educate us. It is to entertain us--to allow us to look at ourselves and our beliefs with a little merriment.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Bang for the Buck
I recently changed my start page. I had been using CNN on and off for several years. On because I like the convenience. Off because it feels more and more like I am watching Entertainment Tonight than reading from an actual news source. So last week I decided that my brain was probably turning into that gooey stuff they use to preserve ham so I ran a super-creative search: "Best Online News Sources."
The first three suggested were BBC, The Christian Science Monitor and Voice of America. I'd never really heard or read much about Voice of America so I decided to try that for a while... The problem now is that I am so addicted to the shiny-happy-people format of CNN, I can hardly force myself to tackle all those words on the VOA homepage. I guess this means that I'd like to imagine myself as someone who really cares about solid news and reporting but I just don't have the time and attention span. UGHHHH!
Now that the confession of the day is over, on to even lighter news... CNN has those cool links that take you to the main sites of partners like Sports Illustrated and Money Magazine. I must admit, this is pretty clever and a great example of that networking thing that everyone else seems to understand. Of course, in order to participate in all that cross promoting, the companies agree (happily, I'm sure) to dummy down all the material on their sites. For example, Money does these cheesy lists--top ten this and the best and worst of that... The articles are little more than pictures and tag lines. But naturally, I am right there clicking through them. Chalk it up; they've hit the target audience right in the middle of our vacant foreheads.
This morning, Money ran a list of the best and worst places to find housing deals. Not surprisingly, the best deals are in places like Detroit, Michigan and Youngstown Ohio; the worst are in New York and Los Angeles. The funny (read annoying or irksome) thing was the houses they pictured in the article. The article boasted about how much house $105,000 will buy you in Detroit but the picture showed a house that costs $239,000! What is that? In fact, every example showed a house that cost way more than than the average they had listed for the area and well beyond the medium income of people living there. So what was the message supposed to be? ....You can find some great housing deals out there as long as your interested in the kinds of houses that are so nasty that our corporate partners won't even let us show them on this website...
This got me thinking about real bargains--you know, things that might fit the criteria of say, desirable AND affordable. Right? 'Cause a fire sale on yachts or a yard sale in front of a strip club really only appeal to small or curious subset of people. So here's my list:
BEST BARGAINS for people who don't furnish their yacht with used brass from foreclosed strip clubs:
10. A sensible key chain: By this, of course, I mean something that you can lift. But beyond that, how about something that has some meaning to you. I admit, it seems a bit insignificant. But think about it. You touch these things every day. Why not get something meaningful? You have to have this thing in your pocket or purse so why not make it something that lifts your spirit or reminds you who you are? At the very least, keep it simple so you don't wreck your ignition.
9. Carbonated Soda: It's not good for you and I am by no means suggesting you start drinking more of it but it is actually less expensive than it was when I was growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And I am not talking about inflation; a can of pop literally cost less than it did 30 years ago. The same is true for Levi's and many other things but I am pretty sure the reasons are different. I think Coke and Pepsi are produced stateside and do not involve the messiness of child labor. The exceptions here are craft sodas made with cane sugar rather than corn syrup and diet sodas of any kind. I know a lot of you drink diet soda but I don't know if you're really getting a deal here.
8. Calvin Klein Underwear: This is sort of the other side of #7. Jones Soda is without question better tasting than Coke or Pepsi but one bottle of Jones for the price of twelve Cokes? A treat maybe but not really a bargain. So how can $20 underwear be a bargain? I am not sure where they get the cotton and I'd rather not know who is sewing it together and under what conditions. But I'm saying, the stuff is better. But, Mark, you can get so much more for your money at Wal-Mart or even Target. How is a $20 pair of grunders a good deal? All I can say is, have you ever worn this stuff? It's only the TOTL boxers though--not the weird and crazy stuff that's everywhere at Marshalls.
7. Fish Food: This one almost doesn't qualify. But the obscurity is overcome by the math. How many fish (even Betas which are pretty durable) will you be flushing before you need another batch of this stuff?! You could go through a lifetime (yours not the fishes) and never need another one of those containers.
6. Air Purifier/Humidifier: Huge difference in price and purpose but both can be well worth the money. This rationale is similar to the underwear. As a rule, you shouldn't really skimp on things that go on your body or pass through your lungs.
5. FJ80 Series Toyota Land Cruiser: Of course I have one; this is a blog, right? These were produced from 1991-1997. But what about the "no yachts!" objection? I hear ya, but these things are like fish food. You don't want to buy one new--unless, of course, you can. But look at the value now. At $60K they were worth every penny--they'll go anywhere and outlast years of abuse... Today, you can buy them for under $10,000. Sure, you will probably get a vehicle with worn seats and a few scratches but remember these are the same vehicles they are still driving around the deserts in Africa and yours has spent the last fifteen years parked in some doctor's three-stall garage. Caution: This is not a politically correct bargain. And don't buy the Lexus version. Those are just decadent.
4. The National Park System: Biggest bargain in the world, at least in terms of size and it will be here for millions of years...provided we resist the temptation to trade it away... You can buy an Eagle Pass for less than $100 and visit every National Park, Monument or Historic site in the country for one year and you can return as many times as you like. The experience will bless you in the moment and spawn memories that will last a lifetime.
3. Pie and Coffee: O.K., it doesn't have to be this exactly... But taking time to enjoy a conversation with a friend or a moment of peace and quiet... UNDERRATED! This is the bees knees people! Call a friend and meet them. Call your mother or your dad or pick you kid up from school in the middle of the day. This is the stuff that Mastercard commercials are made of. Apart from my Land Cruiser and Swiss Army key-chain, I'd trade just about anything for coffee, pie and a good conversation. Or I should anyway.
2. An Education: Make no mistake--Schooling can be a terrible deal. Lots of people borrow or spend tons of money to go to college and then waste the investment. The truth is that most learning is actually free. [Stick your finger in a spinning blender sometime and you'll see what I mean.] But sometimes an education does cost money. College, especially, can be very expensive. So when can we call it an actual "bang for the buck?" Two answers: When it helps you follow a dream and when you begin to appreciate learning for its own sake. The real deal is not in the diploma or credentials. It's in learning to value education itself.
1. A Pet: I am thinking of dogs and cats but as long as we're talking about companionship, the return on the investment is unquestionable. You can even get a pet for free but there will be a maintenance cost that you really don't want to avoid. I know that people sometimes have trouble with their pets. But these folks are probably excluded by the "companionship" rule. Besides, the carpet stains and obedience issues are probably their fault anyway.
Happy hunting! Now let's hear some of yours...
The first three suggested were BBC, The Christian Science Monitor and Voice of America. I'd never really heard or read much about Voice of America so I decided to try that for a while... The problem now is that I am so addicted to the shiny-happy-people format of CNN, I can hardly force myself to tackle all those words on the VOA homepage. I guess this means that I'd like to imagine myself as someone who really cares about solid news and reporting but I just don't have the time and attention span. UGHHHH!
Now that the confession of the day is over, on to even lighter news... CNN has those cool links that take you to the main sites of partners like Sports Illustrated and Money Magazine. I must admit, this is pretty clever and a great example of that networking thing that everyone else seems to understand. Of course, in order to participate in all that cross promoting, the companies agree (happily, I'm sure) to dummy down all the material on their sites. For example, Money does these cheesy lists--top ten this and the best and worst of that... The articles are little more than pictures and tag lines. But naturally, I am right there clicking through them. Chalk it up; they've hit the target audience right in the middle of our vacant foreheads.
This morning, Money ran a list of the best and worst places to find housing deals. Not surprisingly, the best deals are in places like Detroit, Michigan and Youngstown Ohio; the worst are in New York and Los Angeles. The funny (read annoying or irksome) thing was the houses they pictured in the article. The article boasted about how much house $105,000 will buy you in Detroit but the picture showed a house that costs $239,000! What is that? In fact, every example showed a house that cost way more than than the average they had listed for the area and well beyond the medium income of people living there. So what was the message supposed to be? ....You can find some great housing deals out there as long as your interested in the kinds of houses that are so nasty that our corporate partners won't even let us show them on this website...
This got me thinking about real bargains--you know, things that might fit the criteria of say, desirable AND affordable. Right? 'Cause a fire sale on yachts or a yard sale in front of a strip club really only appeal to small or curious subset of people. So here's my list:
BEST BARGAINS for people who don't furnish their yacht with used brass from foreclosed strip clubs:
10. A sensible key chain: By this, of course, I mean something that you can lift. But beyond that, how about something that has some meaning to you. I admit, it seems a bit insignificant. But think about it. You touch these things every day. Why not get something meaningful? You have to have this thing in your pocket or purse so why not make it something that lifts your spirit or reminds you who you are? At the very least, keep it simple so you don't wreck your ignition.
9. Carbonated Soda: It's not good for you and I am by no means suggesting you start drinking more of it but it is actually less expensive than it was when I was growing up in the late 1970s and early 1980s. And I am not talking about inflation; a can of pop literally cost less than it did 30 years ago. The same is true for Levi's and many other things but I am pretty sure the reasons are different. I think Coke and Pepsi are produced stateside and do not involve the messiness of child labor. The exceptions here are craft sodas made with cane sugar rather than corn syrup and diet sodas of any kind. I know a lot of you drink diet soda but I don't know if you're really getting a deal here.
8. Calvin Klein Underwear: This is sort of the other side of #7. Jones Soda is without question better tasting than Coke or Pepsi but one bottle of Jones for the price of twelve Cokes? A treat maybe but not really a bargain. So how can $20 underwear be a bargain? I am not sure where they get the cotton and I'd rather not know who is sewing it together and under what conditions. But I'm saying, the stuff is better. But, Mark, you can get so much more for your money at Wal-Mart or even Target. How is a $20 pair of grunders a good deal? All I can say is, have you ever worn this stuff? It's only the TOTL boxers though--not the weird and crazy stuff that's everywhere at Marshalls.
7. Fish Food: This one almost doesn't qualify. But the obscurity is overcome by the math. How many fish (even Betas which are pretty durable) will you be flushing before you need another batch of this stuff?! You could go through a lifetime (yours not the fishes) and never need another one of those containers.
6. Air Purifier/Humidifier: Huge difference in price and purpose but both can be well worth the money. This rationale is similar to the underwear. As a rule, you shouldn't really skimp on things that go on your body or pass through your lungs.
5. FJ80 Series Toyota Land Cruiser: Of course I have one; this is a blog, right? These were produced from 1991-1997. But what about the "no yachts!" objection? I hear ya, but these things are like fish food. You don't want to buy one new--unless, of course, you can. But look at the value now. At $60K they were worth every penny--they'll go anywhere and outlast years of abuse... Today, you can buy them for under $10,000. Sure, you will probably get a vehicle with worn seats and a few scratches but remember these are the same vehicles they are still driving around the deserts in Africa and yours has spent the last fifteen years parked in some doctor's three-stall garage. Caution: This is not a politically correct bargain. And don't buy the Lexus version. Those are just decadent.
4. The National Park System: Biggest bargain in the world, at least in terms of size and it will be here for millions of years...provided we resist the temptation to trade it away... You can buy an Eagle Pass for less than $100 and visit every National Park, Monument or Historic site in the country for one year and you can return as many times as you like. The experience will bless you in the moment and spawn memories that will last a lifetime.
3. Pie and Coffee: O.K., it doesn't have to be this exactly... But taking time to enjoy a conversation with a friend or a moment of peace and quiet... UNDERRATED! This is the bees knees people! Call a friend and meet them. Call your mother or your dad or pick you kid up from school in the middle of the day. This is the stuff that Mastercard commercials are made of. Apart from my Land Cruiser and Swiss Army key-chain, I'd trade just about anything for coffee, pie and a good conversation. Or I should anyway.
2. An Education: Make no mistake--Schooling can be a terrible deal. Lots of people borrow or spend tons of money to go to college and then waste the investment. The truth is that most learning is actually free. [Stick your finger in a spinning blender sometime and you'll see what I mean.] But sometimes an education does cost money. College, especially, can be very expensive. So when can we call it an actual "bang for the buck?" Two answers: When it helps you follow a dream and when you begin to appreciate learning for its own sake. The real deal is not in the diploma or credentials. It's in learning to value education itself.
1. A Pet: I am thinking of dogs and cats but as long as we're talking about companionship, the return on the investment is unquestionable. You can even get a pet for free but there will be a maintenance cost that you really don't want to avoid. I know that people sometimes have trouble with their pets. But these folks are probably excluded by the "companionship" rule. Besides, the carpet stains and obedience issues are probably their fault anyway.
Happy hunting! Now let's hear some of yours...
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Kingdom of God
On Sundays, we have an 8:30 and a 10:30 service here at St. Francis. Sunday school meets between the two services. I have been visiting in the adult classes the last few Sundays and discovered that two of the four classes are using curriculum that is led by the same person, John Ortberg. In addition to his work as a pastor, Ortberg has had success writing and teaching on Christian formation. While the Sunday school studies were different, both dealt with real-world challenges and offered practical suggestions on how we can live more fully and faithful as Christians in the world.
There is a hunger for this kind of teaching in the Church. People sense that we live in a secular age. There are many aspects of our lives that mitigate against spiritual health and, because of this, believers are grateful for any kind of practical advice that will help them navigate the challenging spiritual climate of modern society.
As I watched Ortberg's discussion of pride on the class' DVD, it struck me that what he is doing looks and sounds a lot like modern psychology. In that, what he is offering believers are helpful and practical coping strategies. And in a way this makes a lot of sense. We live in a time that has a corrosive effect on people's lives. The values, practices and patterns of modern secular life are not only antithetical to the Christian life, they are in a lot of ways destructive and inhumane regardless of what people might believe about God. Pointing to Jesus' life and teachings, Ortberg explains central Christian values and practices such as humility and service. Embracing and employing these not only helps believers live more faithfully, it also helps us cope with the inhumanity around us.
For example, Ortberg notes that pride, an age-old sin, often parades as a value in our time, even though it ultimately serves neither our spiritual health nor our happiness in the world. Ortberg suggests that the way that we cope with pride is by becoming a servant. He suggests that nothing overcomes our tendency toward pride more effectively than the practice of service.
In this way, we cope with the challenges of the secular world through the employment of Christian principles. Nothing wrong with this and it is certainly understandable why Ortberg's books and curriculum have sold so well. Modern people like practical answers. We like the idea of coping strategies. And I celebrate what leaders like John Ortberg are doing here. At the same time, I have a slightly different take on all this.
The underlying assumption behind Ortberg's approach, and, indeed, a great deal of strategy or self-help counseling is that it imagines the world as a largely God-less place. That is, the world is a place where God isn't so it is up to us to sort of fight it off through our faith and our coping strategies. The assumption here is that we are largely on our own against the inhumanity or the world.
While there is certainly an inhumanity about the world. Christians also believe that God is working to redeem the world. Indeed, the Church teaches that the Father has sent the Son into the world to save it. Jesus himself proclaims that the Kingdom of God has come near. Other translations read, "The Kingdom of God is at hand." The reference is specifically to Jesus--his coming, his teaching, his authority and leadership.
In this way, perhaps our problem with things like pride and competition and selfishness is less about coping and more about seeing. That is, if the kingdom is indeed near to us, then perhaps we simply need to believe in it, embrace it and, thereby, enter into it. If we can do this, then the world is no longer a place where we have to cope so much as it is a place where we can enjoy our fellowship with God and serve as ambassadors of Christ to those who do not yet see what is in fact very near to them.
The example that I used to explain this to the class was the monastic life. When we think of those who intentionally seek to embrace and live the Christian message full-time, we might think of a monastery or an abbey. We imagine monks or nuns living extraordinarily faithful lives because we assume that it is only in such a protected place that this could even be an option. We believe the world to be simply too compromised, competitive and inhumane for full-time Christianity. We figure that whatever the Kingdom is, it certainly must be very different and very far from the harsh, secular world that most of us know.
But what if Jesus really is correct? What if the Kingdom has come in Jesus and continues in the life of the Church? What if we really can follow Jesus and embrace the ways of the kingdom--not merely to cope but to celebrate God's good work in our midst? In other words, perhaps what we need is not a good set of coping mechanisms but rather a bunch of monks and nuns who have the faith to leave the monasteries and abbeys. Men and women who are willing to make their homes in the world, trusting that the real kingdom is beyond those protective gates and, in fact, among the very people who are suffering the inhumanity of a world that simply does not yet see.
There is a hunger for this kind of teaching in the Church. People sense that we live in a secular age. There are many aspects of our lives that mitigate against spiritual health and, because of this, believers are grateful for any kind of practical advice that will help them navigate the challenging spiritual climate of modern society.
As I watched Ortberg's discussion of pride on the class' DVD, it struck me that what he is doing looks and sounds a lot like modern psychology. In that, what he is offering believers are helpful and practical coping strategies. And in a way this makes a lot of sense. We live in a time that has a corrosive effect on people's lives. The values, practices and patterns of modern secular life are not only antithetical to the Christian life, they are in a lot of ways destructive and inhumane regardless of what people might believe about God. Pointing to Jesus' life and teachings, Ortberg explains central Christian values and practices such as humility and service. Embracing and employing these not only helps believers live more faithfully, it also helps us cope with the inhumanity around us.
For example, Ortberg notes that pride, an age-old sin, often parades as a value in our time, even though it ultimately serves neither our spiritual health nor our happiness in the world. Ortberg suggests that the way that we cope with pride is by becoming a servant. He suggests that nothing overcomes our tendency toward pride more effectively than the practice of service.
In this way, we cope with the challenges of the secular world through the employment of Christian principles. Nothing wrong with this and it is certainly understandable why Ortberg's books and curriculum have sold so well. Modern people like practical answers. We like the idea of coping strategies. And I celebrate what leaders like John Ortberg are doing here. At the same time, I have a slightly different take on all this.
The underlying assumption behind Ortberg's approach, and, indeed, a great deal of strategy or self-help counseling is that it imagines the world as a largely God-less place. That is, the world is a place where God isn't so it is up to us to sort of fight it off through our faith and our coping strategies. The assumption here is that we are largely on our own against the inhumanity or the world.
While there is certainly an inhumanity about the world. Christians also believe that God is working to redeem the world. Indeed, the Church teaches that the Father has sent the Son into the world to save it. Jesus himself proclaims that the Kingdom of God has come near. Other translations read, "The Kingdom of God is at hand." The reference is specifically to Jesus--his coming, his teaching, his authority and leadership.
In this way, perhaps our problem with things like pride and competition and selfishness is less about coping and more about seeing. That is, if the kingdom is indeed near to us, then perhaps we simply need to believe in it, embrace it and, thereby, enter into it. If we can do this, then the world is no longer a place where we have to cope so much as it is a place where we can enjoy our fellowship with God and serve as ambassadors of Christ to those who do not yet see what is in fact very near to them.
The example that I used to explain this to the class was the monastic life. When we think of those who intentionally seek to embrace and live the Christian message full-time, we might think of a monastery or an abbey. We imagine monks or nuns living extraordinarily faithful lives because we assume that it is only in such a protected place that this could even be an option. We believe the world to be simply too compromised, competitive and inhumane for full-time Christianity. We figure that whatever the Kingdom is, it certainly must be very different and very far from the harsh, secular world that most of us know.
But what if Jesus really is correct? What if the Kingdom has come in Jesus and continues in the life of the Church? What if we really can follow Jesus and embrace the ways of the kingdom--not merely to cope but to celebrate God's good work in our midst? In other words, perhaps what we need is not a good set of coping mechanisms but rather a bunch of monks and nuns who have the faith to leave the monasteries and abbeys. Men and women who are willing to make their homes in the world, trusting that the real kingdom is beyond those protective gates and, in fact, among the very people who are suffering the inhumanity of a world that simply does not yet see.
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