HOW MOVIES HELPED SAVE MY SOUL

I read Gareth Higgins's book How Movies Helped Save My Soul over the weekend. Fantastic work. If this interests you, I also suggest Reel Spirituality and Eyes Wide Open.

While reading How Movies Helped Save My Soul, I made a list (without too much analyzing on my part) of movies that have deeply impacted me over the last several years. In no particular order, here's my list:

Glory, Places in the Heart, O Brother, Ray, Losing Isaiah, Shawshank Redemption, Bella, Slumdog Millionaire, Field of Dreams, Cold Mountain, Freedom Writers, Malcolm X, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Apostle, Chocolat, Life is Beautiful, Seven Pounds.

NOTE: I am hoping to teach a class at Otter Creek in January on the relationship of film and scripture. It should be fun!

Random

U2, the greatest band on Planet Earth (to say it mildly) is coming to America in September. I've got my tickets to one of the shows in Toronto. This is my thirtieth birthday present from KG (who celebrated 26 yesterday--happy birthday . . . you truly are the source of joy in my life). The person who got me hooked on U2, Greg Stevenson, wrote a great couple of blogs about their music. Check them out here.

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If you have not seen The Soloist, I highly recommend it. Cut from the same cloth as Same Kind of Different as Me, The Soloist gets beyond stereo-type and cliche and into the complexity of friendship, mental illness (as in, who really has it), poverty, and homelessness. Warning: this film is not for the faint of heart. There are major portions of the film which chronicle life on Skid Row in downtown L.A. I was both moved and paralyzed by the raw feel to the film. It also brought me back to my experiences with Francis, Professor Jack, et al in Cass Park a few years back.

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If you are interested in reading a blog written by a sold-out follower of Jesus who is willing to take risks in the city, read Doug's blog. Doug and I will be teammates this fall when we join the larger mission of the Otter Creek Church in Nashville.

Film and Easter in Dialog

Film is a powerful force in our culture. Period. We can lament about "Hollywood" and movies about sex, violence, and power (which begs the question: what do we do with the Bible?). The reality is, Hollywood makes movies to sell tickets. If a movie about a cartoon character would sell more than a Bruce Willis action adventure, Hollywood is going to go with the virtual character every time. And vice versa. It's really that simple.

Occasionally, you'll have the Hollywood movie that challenges the status quo, pushes the limits of "accepted cultural norms" (which is not always a good thing, of course). Normally, Hollywood is preoccupied with one thing: money, cash, cheese, the Benjamin's, jack.

Having said that, here are (at least) three recent films worth watching. The power of Christianity's Easter Story is found in the truth that God takes the worst of this world (death, disease, sickness, murder of the innocent, and suffering) and transforms it into "all things new" (new friendship, families, possibilities, purpose, hope). These three movies, in their own creative and unique way, capture the truth that humans possess the raw ability to take on the strength of that which we overcome. Of course, for me, it's the grace of God that catalyzes this movement.

1. Seven Pounds. The main character demonstrates that love truly is the most powerful force in the world. In an unlikely twist of events (which I predicted to my friend Adam at the ten minute mark . . . let's just say he hasn't sat next to me in a movie since), this film takes us beyond the shallow waters of self-preservation and security.

2. Bella. I just watched this film a few nights ago with some dear friends. I'm still speechless. A truly remarkable film, I'm awe-struck by the manner in which this film seeks to convince us that life consistently offers us ways in which we can "be good again" (to borrow language from The Kite Runner) no matter how bad our past might be. Set as a "day in the life" of a few average dwellers of the Big Apple, Bella has a healing pace, with one of the best soundtracks I've ever witnessed.

3. Gran Torino. Not for the faint of heart. Eastwood does a masterful job of capturing the sharp edges of living in Detroit, racism, stereo-types and the deterioration of family systems. However, the real genius of the film lies in its ability to show the power of laying down one's life for another. This movie, at least in one interpretive school, powerfully imagines a way in which the cycles of violence are quenched. Ironically, this "way" is the Jesus Way.

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Film is here to stay. It's shaping the language and meaning of life for many Americans. Christians don't have to swallow the bones, but we'd better understand why film is so meaningful and central. Moreover, how we might enter into the dialog happening all around us.

Slumdog Millionaire

Five reasons to go see Slumdog Millionaire:

I think it's wonderful that Slumdog beat out Milk, Nixon, Reader, and Benjamin Button and for the Oscar Sunday night. I was able to see all of the movies nominated for Best Picture . . . and . . . for the first time in a long, long time, I got it right. Or I should say, I guessed right.

1. SM is a great story.

2. SM is about globalization.

3. SM is about poverty and hope.

4. SM is about (remarkable) music.

5. SM is about love being the most reckless of all human capacities.

Film

Three interesting movies out right now. I'll try not to spoil the plot.

1. Gran Torino. Essentially, it's the story of violence and hate lived out in communities and neighborhoods all over the planet. One man decides that there's a way to end the violence. Unfortunately, his method is viewed as archaic and naive by most modern, sophisticated folks. Warning: this movie has a lot of slang/cussing/offensive language. Just had to make that note. Eastwood is outstanding.

2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Overall, an intriguing story. The film could've been edited (but so could half my sermons). I like that the movie wants to ask big questions: what does it mean to truly live? What does it mean to die well? How do we love for a lifetime? It is paradoxical that we are wiser in the season of our lives in which we are less likely to act. Brad Pitt is a great actor.

3. Seven Pounds. Sometimes, the cost of atonement is a price we are not willing to pay. A well-crafted story of the power of guilt and love. Will Smith is fantastic.

Acedia, Movies, and Keeping Sabbath

I just finished Acedia and Me by Kathleen Norris. Overall, the book pales in comparison with The Cloister Walk and A Vocabulary of Faith. Norris has established her as one of the top spiritual writers of our day. I think she took a step backwards with this book. However, many of her insights into acedia (apathy, indifference rooted deep in the soul), depression, anxiety, and the "dark night of the soul" are helpful. As always, she provides a historically rich perspective of spirituality.


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Here's one movie critic's top ten all-time U.S. films. My list would've been totally different. It would have lots of Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Robert Duvall. Apparently, this person is infatuated with all films in the 1940's and 1950's.

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Rubel Shelly spoke in the opening chapel at Rochester College yesterday. He talked a great deal about the recent financial scams in NYC with Bernard Madoff. Here's an excerpt:

Rabbi Benjamin Blech, a long-time professor of philosophy at Yeshiva University, made this interesting comment about the whole sorry episode: “Just because you eat kosher and observe the Sabbath does not make you good. If you cheat and steal, you cannot claim you are a good Jew.”

Rabbi Blech’s observation is consistent both with what the Old Testament prophets said for centuries before the birth of Jesus and with Jesus’ own comments about religion. He called some of his contemporaries hypocrites and told others to their faces that they were guilty of observing the minutiae of the Law of Moses about tithing their garden herbs and neglecting the “more important matters of the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness.”

Why do those of us who publicly embrace religious devotion – Muslim or Jew, Catholic or Protestant, you or me – so frequently expose our piety to be a shallow veneer for a life that is so self-serving that it is willing to exploit others? It is certainly not distinctive to Judaism. I might echo the good rabbi this way: “Just because you have been baptized and go to church does not make you a good Christian. If you break the moral law, you are not honoring Jesus as Lord.”

Authentic religious devotion is not about private, otherworldly spiritual practices that have nothing to do with our political, ethical, and social lives. Quite the contrary, the God of Abraham who was incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth cannot be separated from the concrete realities of how we treat one another in our particular time, place, and culture. The partitioning of faith from reason, spiritual from practical, and private devotion from public behavior too often yields a sort of wicked selfishness that embarrasses even unbelievers.

Baby Graves, Film, Music, Flannery O'Connor

The excitement we've felt from our family and friends has been encouraging. Thanks to everyone who wrote an e-mail, commented on the blog, posted a note to Facebook, left me voice-mail/text. We are truly blessed to have so many people who are sharing life with us.

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Tomorrow, I present a film I've been working on for almost a year at the Lipscomb Preaching Conference. My good friend and tech whiz, Sean Stockman, helped me put this video together. I think it's one of the best projects we've worked on together.

When David Fleer asked me to do this I said "yes" without hesitation. I'm fascinated with the relationship and connection of images, music, and film. I'm convinced that part of the church's future (especially regarding preaching and teaching) is to a) understand the way in which the medium is the message and b) the way in which various mediums can be used to further the cause of deep spirituality, grace, love, hope and justice.

I did some of this at the Nashville ZOE Conference a few weeks back if you are interested. Knight Media Group handles all the CD distribution (615.459.8087).

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The reading I take with me is a sacred selection. I thought about taking this classic. But, after reading a bit, I did not think it would get the job done as I move in and out of Nashville and Atlanta. So, I went with a writer Thomas Merton once referred to as a truly legendary writer "for all time and all generations," (my paraphrase). I'll be taking Flannery O'Connor with me.

Super Tuesday, There Will Be Blood, Lent

Things get real interesting now.

Hillary and Obama are in for a "heavy-weight" fight. Many so-called experts are giving Obama the edge, but I don't buy it. Hillary isn't going away that easily . . . If Hillary gets the nomination, I don't know if I could vote for her.

McCain, now likely to get the Republican nod, is creating all kinds of waves within the more conservative wing of the party. One friend pointed out this article to me recently--Rush Limbaugh is now saying he'd rather have a Democrat in office than McCain. This is better than anything else on television.

I guess I'll have to change my election final four in the left-hand column.

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In other news, I watched There Will Be Blood (Daniel Day-Lewis) last night with a group of friends. No, I did not go to this movie to off-set the recent Chick Flick-Gate. I was sincerely interested in the plot and I was not disappointed. The film is a great comparison of two opportunists--one a pastor, the other an "oil man." Both are relentless in their thirst for power, money, and influence. Besides a rather weak ending, this movie deserves Oscar considerations.

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Lenten Season is upon us. A time to focus on the things that distract us from encountering God in our daily lives. Some people give up chocolate. Some abstain from sports, gambling, drinking, and the consumption of specific foods. Last year, I gave up Dr. Pepper (a harder task than I thought it would be). This year, I'm working on my speech: I want to speak only that which love requires. I want to avoid the occasional cuss word, cynical remarks, and negative "put-downs" (my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Cizmas, used to say, "NO killer statements").

I have a feeling that giving up Dr. Pepper will prove to be an easier mountain to scale than the one I've selected.

Chick Flick

What constitutes a Chick Flick?

I taught at our mid-week service recently on being “in the world, but not of it.” At one point I used the film Chocolat as an example of different ways of engaging culture. The two main characters, the Comte and Vianne, provide a rich example of the difference between religion and spirituality. (NOTE: I’m using those two words as they’ve emerged in our current postmodern lexicon).

At lunch this week, some of my fellow staff members (Patrick, Dana, and Chris) suggested that this film is of the proverbial “Chick Flick” genre. And an ensuing assault upon my masculinity occurred. I'm over it. Really. I am.

I disagreed vehemently.

During the teaching time under consideration, I asked the church “Who’s seen this film?” About a hundred hands went up—of the hundred, approximately eighty-five were women.

Afterwards, a few men came up and said, “Hey, Josh. We’re going to see 27 Dresses at 9:45 p.m.—want to come?”

So, I’m asking you . . .the educated, savvy cultural aficianado—what are the criteria that must be present for a film to be labeled “Chick Flick"?

Baseball, Adventure, and the Titanic

Three thoughts from the World Series. First, Boston won five of the first fifteen World Series at the onset of Major League Baseball. In the last eighty-nine years (or thereabouts) they’ve won a grand total of two. Second, from 2004 until present day, the losing team in the World Series has won a grand total of 1 game. The Red Sox swept the Cardinals in 2004. TheWhite Sox swept the Astros in 2005. The Cardinals won in five against the Tigers, and the Rex Sox swept the Rockies in 2007. That’s an amazing statistic. Last, why do we still call it a world championship, when a MLB, NBA, or NFL team wins their American championship? Is it truly a world championship?

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I viewed the film, Into the Wild, on Friday night. It’s an amazing film. It is a bit slow in parts but the story line is excellent. I wish I would’ve read the book first because the book is always, always, always, better than the movie (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Cold Mountain, Band of Brothers—just to name a few). My favorite line from the film, "I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau, 'Trust, forgiveness, passion, beauty, justice, reason are wonderful. I desire truth.'" That's my paraphrase.

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I remembered a sad but true story this weekend from my marathon training of two years ago. I was running in THE CRIM, a big race in the Flint area in prep for the 26.2 miles I was about to endure less than two months later. Upon the last major stretch of the ten mile race, I stumbled (not literally) upon a sad metaphor which captures the state of some of our American churches.

After several churches passed out water, food, gel boosters, etc, I came upon a church that decided during a grueling race that they would contribute to the running experience by blessing the runners with a barrage of hymns.

That’s right. No water, Gatorade, granola bar, or slice of an orange—this church brought “God is So Good” and “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.”

While others were meeting the needs, they brought hymns to the party.

I suppose that’s not completely bad for music is powerful. I simply wonder if that’s not a scary parallel to the way some churches still function. While divorce, H.I.V., S.T.D’s, depression, and poverty wage war, some stand on the top deck of the Titanic blessing each other with hymns.