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December 23, 2004
Here We Go...
The echoes of the screamed "NOOOO!!!" I shouted when I heard the news that Disney is making the The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, are still reverberating. At least my fears of them severely butchering the books is. Here is a clip showing some of the work that Weta is putting into the project. While it is wonderful news that Weta is on board and the clip is a very small piece of a much larger whole, one hopes that they will do equally well with the good creatures of Narnia as with the baddies, which this clip primarily features.
It is much harder to portray goodness and innocence than it is to portray evil. Attempts at portraying piercing, awe-ful goodness or joyful holiness or interesting innocence often do not work. Case in point: the glorified Ewok village which attempted to be Lothlorien in the film adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring. To Peter Jackson's credit, the Shire was beautifully realized and Rivendell also.
Sadly, this all is a symptom of our fallness. It is a malady hardwired into us, into the world, since the Fall. Our very basic concept of story is rooted centrally in conflict. Can you picture a story without conflict and resolution. If one trys to imagine such a story, I think it seems simply boring. Of course there is a glory, perhaps a greater glory even, in stories which run through the arc of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation to arrive at forgiveness and resolution. God is about just such a story with the world.
Do our stories get to that point, either the ones we write or the ones we live? I hope so. Many in our day do not, or perhaps cannot, even see Goodness and a potential return to it as anything other than an abstract imaginary concept. Our serious cinema is often excellent at truly portraying the fallenness of the world. And that can be a form of speaking truth, which may be a worthy goal. If that is all that is ever produced, though, either by an individual or an industry, then that is not the entire truth that God has spoken about the world. Images of forgiveness and redemption do sometimes occur in cinema. Rare is the attempt, and rarer still the successful attempt, to take on a topic such as goodness or justice and to a commendable job. I am not an encyclopedic film buff by any means, so my sample size is very small, but films like Chariots of Fire, The Mission, some of the Jane Austen films, stand out in my mind for having some nice portrayals of goodness.
Finally, I am not, though I once was, an advocate of producing and viewing only Pollyanna-ish movies. I do want to cheer, though, when someone, either a Christian or someone who is not, portrays the themes of forgiveness and goodness well, even amidst the struggle of fallen life...especially amidst the struggle life. More importantly, I want those themes to be visible parts of my own life and the lives of my fellow believers.
Posted by jackdas at 1:14 PM | Comments (1)
December 22, 2004
Music and Spirit
I am not sure how music works, how it affects me, how much those effects are or should be mediated by lyrics. I have, in recent years, allowed music itself to affect me more and more, to appreciate the ÒmessageÓ that it brings. The very fact that I call its effects a Òmessage,Ó that I am writing this post at all, is indicative that my giving over to music has not been complete. If you are word-centered and have been rather rigidly fundamentalistic, even a little undermining of the hegemony of the Òword,Ó though, is something of an accomplishment. It has been for me. And so, my musical palette has become more varied over the past several years.
Now I cannot provide chapter and verse, but music is supposed to be more than just a wrapper for words. It can and does, for good or ill, accomplish much, much more. It works by bypassing our cognitive centers and affects us at more visceral, emotional levels. Are these levels more spiritual or emotional? Once I figure out the delineations between the two, I will get back with you. Of course, music itself, even if it is instrumental, does have a text, with structure and syntax, which can be dissected with pleasure by the more analytical amongst us. But to really appreciate the music, to know it, I think one has to Òfeel itÓ at some level beneath/above, I donÕt know which, of the cognitive.
This somewhat unconscious mode of action of music is why many are often so cautious and fearful of it. And, in some ways, there is good cause to be cautious. The problem arises, though, if one is so cautious, that one constantly must run a piece through a cognitive grid or dissect it like a frog in biology class. More often than not, these processes will kill the music itself.
A corollary to this fear of music, or perhaps the fear of music is a corollary to it, is the fear of the moving of the Spirit, specifically in a charismatic sort of ways. I will not here enter the cessationist/continuist debate regarding spiritual gifts, except to say that I am a very qualifying continuist and have never experienced any of the more ecstatic gifts myself. In fact, I fear them or any way in which the Spirit might move me which does not pass through my cognitive centers or, more presciently, any way, even if I do understand it, which I cannot control, and this includes life circumstances. I think this fear is definitely in the mix of the factors which lead many to take a cessationist position, perhaps especially in my denomination, the largely cerebral PCA (stereotype alert!).
At any rate, I think music works in a similar way. And so, to continue the linkage I made with its modus operandi with that of the Spirit, it is perhaps appropriate to Òtest the spirits.Ó I do not know exactly what such testing might entail. It does not mean, however, to kill by dissection, and so to not experience the life and vitality of the thing itself.
Posted by jackdas at 1:41 PM
December 17, 2004
Blog Card
Posted by jackdas at 2:29 PM | Comments (2)
December 15, 2004
"Float Like a Butterfly"
This is not a post about the wonder of Monarchs or the beauties of Swallowtails. No, the title is the first part of a Muhammad Ali's tag line, "Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee" (which occurs to to me would be a good example of a simile in class). It is also a confession of a minor fascination that I have with the brutal sport of boxing.
And it is brutal. Think about it. There is no other sport in which almost every successful move or action, i.e. every punch, though of course footwork is also vital, results in either muscle tissue damage or, more frighteningly, death of brain cells. It is no coincindence that Ali developed Parkinsons at such a young age.
Yet, still I am attracted to the sport. Not to the blood and gore it sometimes displays, and definitely not to the bloodthirst of an audience. I think it is the striving that is attractive. And, boxers have to be in fantastic shape. I have always thought that six months in a boxing gym would do me wonders. I would like to try and see what happens. And, then, watch out.
What I am more certain about is that my view of the sport is primarily constructed from movies. OK, I liked the Rocky movies back in the day. Particularly, Rocky IV which in many ways was the quinticessential Cold War movie, Red Dawn, World War III, The Hunt for Red October, and all the Bond movies of the time being examples of others. (One day I will post about my mixed feelings at the end of and nostalgia for the Cold War. Yeah, you read right. I will explain.)
No, as boxing movies come out, I continue to find myself attracted to them. I don't watch everything to do with boxing. I have not seen the classic Raging Bull, for example, and I passed on that recent one with Meg Ryan being the manager for some boxer. I think I tend to pick out the ones that showcase gritty determination, and those that are rather bleak. The story around the boxing is just as important, which is why Rocky won the Oscar and all of its successors have become a running national joke.
Well, enough dancing around the ring. Here is my very brief list of boxing movies and links to a trailer of one that is coming out and looks very good and to Roger Ebert's review of it.
The Boxer (1997) With Daniel Day-Lewis, who is fantastic, as he is in In the Name of the Father, and the intense and beautiful Emily Watson. Now unfortunately the movie really makes you pull for adultery, or rather divorce and remarriage, so that's not good. But, there is a lot of aching longing in the movie and bleak Irishness, which I also kind of have a thing for.
Girlfight (2000) With Michelle Rodriguez, as a kick-butt, no nonsense girl boxer. Not as much of a favorite as the above, but still good. Replaces inter city grittiness for Irish bleakness.
The Power of One (1992) Not so much of a boxing movie and a bit melodramatic in bits, but a good film about overcoming adversity and a good film about Apartheid.
Here is the link for Million Dollar Baby, the up and comer or the contender if you will (with and directed by Clint Eastwood and with Morgan Freeman and Hillary Swank), and to Ebert's review.
Posted by jackdas at 11:49 AM | Comments (2)
December 14, 2004
Dude!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6676586/
Posted by jackdas at 9:17 AM
December 10, 2004
Getting Fitted for the Feast
Last night I laid down another $100 or so for the honor of standing up with a friend as he is wed. And it is, indeed, an honor. As for the $100 bucks and the rest of our extravagant American nuptial practice, that must wait for another post. Suffice it to say that between being a best man(this makes the fourth time, and what is that saying...4 times a best man, never a...oh, my mistake, that's with the bridesmaids), and the third or fourth time as groomsman (I am too lazy to count), and also numerous times "ushing," I have spent enough on rented formal wear and fake shoes to put a child through a semester of college (assuming its a state school and with compounding interest).
No, what I was reflecting on last night as I was being fitted was the politeness of the people who measure you and the wonder of a Tuxedo. Think about it. They see all shapes and sizes of folks, good looking and not, and yet, in my experience at least, they are always invariably polite, as they gently guide you through the ignominy of being measured. And I imagine it is ignominious for most men, at least at some level, unless you are Hugh Jackman or Ewan McGregor or Clive Owen or whoever is to be the next Bond and will wear Tuxedos for a living. These tuxedo measurers, though, never say, "Hey, bub, keep it up and next time you might need to bring your own tape measure. Yeah, the round one with the little metal dealy on it. Yeah, from the hardware store."
Also, Tuxedo's are pretty sharp and provide a pretty good sermon illustration. Leaving aside all the fuss and expense and bother (remember, that is for another post...maybe), they make anyone look good, look sharp even. Of course, there are those who can make them look really good, ala "Bond, James Bond," but even for those of us whose wardrobe has been, at times, their entire room i.e. every invisible inch floor space, it makes us clean up pretty good. And, that is, indeed, their point, to make somewhat glorious, the not so glorious.
Scripture does not talk about what a bridegroom's friends would wear, although I imagine it was several steps above daily wear, but it does talk about what the guests at a wedding wear. They wear a robe that is given to them by the host. And if they happen to neglect to put it on, they don't get to come to the party. No, worse yet, they get thrown out into the darkness.
Now, that robe I imagine is like nothing you've ever seen. It would likely seem so simple, that the extravagantly dressed would grumble at having to put it on. Most of the poor, though, would gladly give up their rags and slip it on. All, would eventually find that it was the finest thing that they had ever worn. And, halfway through the feast, as the really good wine was being brought out, they would look up at their Glorious Host and realize they had on the very same thing. And, oh they all just looked so fine!
Now, for some truly good descriptions of clothes describing glory, go read some C. S. Lewis. Yeah, and my wedding? It's either thrift store splendour or kilts (as if I could ever be so lucky and be permitted such). Or, maybe kilts from thrift stores. Nah, I never seen a man's one in any thrift store, and believe me I have been looking.
Posted by jackdas at 1:12 PM | Comments (1)
December 9, 2004
A Few Thanksgivings Ago and a Quote for Today
The Sunday Before Thanksgiving
Today, twice I watched my sensitive nephewÕs lower lip stick out ever so slightly and quiver, as he valiantly tried to fathom and control disappointment. First, as we sat down to dinner, his Veggie Tales plate was being given to a visiting cousin as there were only three and there were four children. I saw the lip and the frightened sadness in the big brown eyes. This time it lasted only a moment as the older of the cousins sweetly offered him her Veggie Tales plate, taking the ceramic ÒadultÓ plate for herself.
Later, the sadness was not so easily quelled. The visiting cousins were being given a sizeable chunk of his and his sisterÕs video collection to help them pass the time at GrandpaÕs house. He went to his room and quietly began playing with his toys, but that lip and those eyes illuminated his soul, and when his Daddy came in and picked him up, the flood that the lip was trying to keep at bay overflowed in heaping sobs. His Daddy said that it was OK. OK to be disappointed and OK because the tapes would be back. Andrew clung to his Daddy in the full contact way that children do when the hurt is strong, burying his teary face into his DaddyÕs shoulder. He stayed that way until we left, his Daddy softly assuring him.
So often I feel like Andrew, like a little boy with what I wanted taken from me. Will I ever get my plate back? Will I ever hear that it will be OK? I want my Father to hold me in my disappointment and whisper softly in my ear.
____________________________________
Quote today from Into the Wardrobe:
"He really loves the hairless bipeds He has created, and always gives back to them with His right hand what he has taken away with His left." C. S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters.
Posted by jackdas at 8:08 PM | Comments (1)
December 6, 2004
Broken Poem
OK, perhaps this will be a recurring segment like "Photo Bonus" is for random pictures and "Stereotyping" might become for making sweeping, generalizing statements, which have the preemptive cover of being labelled "Stereotyping."
At any rate, if this segment flies, I will include a poem that just doesn't work either in my mind or because someone else (my one poetry teacher or an honest friend) has told me so. You might be thinking, "Hey, I can think of some of your past posts to which you might consider applying this label to retroactively." Indeed, that is likely true. Perhaps, every poem post could be a titled such.
For "Broken Poem" posts, though, or for any poem post for that matter, if you want to post suggestions to help "fix the poem," that would be kind of cool. Assuming there is a collective "you" out there that actutally read these things.
________________________
This poem uses parts and speech and islands breaking off from mainlands as symbols for people, which is all rather abstract, so that might be why it does not work. It is part of a longer "Journey" poem. I did change the word to "subjects" in the first line from "phrases," and stanzas 1 and 4 and 2 and 3 are paired. And, I like adding "to you" at the end of line 13, but perhaps that is too juvenileish. Why bother fixing this. I think it has some nice images and lines.
(title) lambert international
1 a thousand subjects out of context
2 sit in these padded chairs
3 dreaming of verbs
4 to be and do
5 a thousand islands float
6 detached from mainlands
7 forming these strange archipelagos
8 these strange bays and headlands
9 and soon
10 i too will float
11 severed
12 trailing a muddy wake
13 streaming back
14 diffusing with the distance
15 into clear blue
16 soon i too
17 ripped from my context
18 will struggle just
19 to be
20 bleeding my dependencies
Posted by jackdas at 4:48 PM | Comments (2)
December 4, 2004
Sterotyping-Engagement
I think that some rigidly conservative people have the tendency to write people off, and then not engage them. On the other hand, while some liberal people theoretically accept everyone and everything, they also do not engage people.
Where am I on that spectrum? Or, more pertinently, where does Jesus call me to be?
I donÕt think I can ever choose to write any one off. There may be situations in which it is either fruitless or impossible or even unwise to engage someone, but I should never write them off as hopeless in my heart. That is GodÕs prerogative alone. And, I am not privy to his counsels.
On the other hand, while on a fundamental level I must always accept someone, I can, and indeed must, choose to not only Ònot acceptÓ but rather Òactively rejectÓ behaviors and philosophies which run counter to GodÕs will. And, this, not only in the lives of others but in my own life. Especially in my own life.
There are correctives for whatever side of the spectrum upon which one finds oneself. And while engagement is not the key to, it must be the path for a healthy spiritual life.
We must never write off people, never condone sin, and always be open to engaging people, no matter how different they our from ourselves. Hey, we donÕt know what GodÕs got up his sleeve for them or us.
Sermon over.
Posted by jackdas at 3:55 PM
December 2, 2004
Violent Femme
This was not inititially meant to be a part of a pair, but I intend it to be such with a poem of similar structure about a modern woman. I hope that who this is about is evident. If not, then "Ye should familiarize yersel' wi' the only Shakespeare set in Scotland, laddie."
___________________________
she mocked his manhood
declaring it an impotent thing
that lacked resolve
to project action from its desires
to clasp to himself the witches' dreams
so great was her resolve
she killed herself
strangling each thought of nurture,
love and care
each soft thought
leaving her severe and bare
and prepared for the violence
her faltering, noble husband
still might shun
and so the deed was done
v i o l e n t f e m m e
we pity her
as she walks the halls
wringing her hands
to wipe the stain
that wiped
and wiped
and wiped
still remains
we pity that she cannot,
or will not, wake
to sue for mercy,
to hope for softness,
to weep,
and feel each tear melting hardness
pity those who will not wake to weep
Posted by jackdas at 9:06 PM
Photo Bonus--Miscellany
I never was a great fan of Christian t-shirts, indeed, of most of the stuff sold in a Christian bookstore. Keith Green decried the creation of "Jesus junk" over 30 years ago and it has only gotten worse. I particularly dislike t-shirts that commit copyright infringement in the name of the Lord. Nor do I think most Christian t-shirts really accomplish much in the way of evangelism, but generally only act like the secret handshake of the Masons in helping in identifying one another, only, unfortunately, they are not that secret.
Before introducing my slightly edgy, pseudo-Christian t-shirts, I must confess that I am a pro-life t-shirt wearer (on occassion) and a pro-life bumber sticker sticker (only I put them on little boards in my back window which have little suction cups). Like Christian t-shirts I don't know how much good they do and actually may make people less receptive to my case on abortion, which I believe is quite nuanced and winsome (arrived at through some trial and error of coming across as boorish and unyielding). This past election season, on several days when I was feeling my oats, I wanted to go register to vote at Vintage Vinyl's "rock the vote" effort in the U City loop wearing my Rock for Life shirt (which rocks). I already sometimes joke that I am in a bussing program to the Loop, in which, for the sake of diversity, they transplant token conservatives (a label, I must add, I match up with only unevenly). I never managed to do that, which is probably just as well.
The first t-shirt is a result of my love for punning, and an excuse to say "Hell no," without actually uttering an oath.
The second is just a bit of postmodern style play. And, for the record, I think it is stealing.
The clever reader, no doubt, will note that I am obviously using the Napster logo without permission. True, true. With some more time and inclination, and to add to the them, I would bend the Napster cat's ears in to look like a devil, and then perhaps I could get away on a parody law or something. It is a cat, right?
Posted by jackdas at 6:00 PM
December 1, 2004
Ache for Eternity: Its Introduction and Conclusion
I still have some more stuff from AFE to come, although some of the poems are a bit more archaic and stilted as they are early works. Here, though, is the intitial introduction to the piece, which is quite idealistic and simplistic in some ways but has some good stuff in it. The conclusion was written about 4-5 years after the introduction and it has some instructive stuff in it too, I think.
Introduction
Poetry doesn't seem to have much of a place in our busy lives these days. It is true much of the music we enjoy is poetry to one degree or another, but for the most part we leave poetry to professionals such as English teachers and those strange intellectual types. This we do to our great loss, however, because poetry is about life; its most piercing joys and its deepest sorrows; its most perplexing struggles and moments of brilliant epiphany. Poetry, well written, like no other media, presents thoughts, emotions, and ideas in their very essence in an attempt to move the reader in the same way the poet has been moved. If this occurs then a poem is successful.
The type of poetry we enjoy will largely depend on what we believe and feel. Poetry, it is true, is a reflection of life, but those who reflect life will imbue it with their own ideas and meanings. It is my hope that my poetry is imbued with ideas and meanings that are not only my own but that also reflect ultimate realities. It will readily become apparent that my way of viewing the world is through Christian eyes and, in as much, I hope my poetry reflects on the beauty and tragedy and pathos of life in a manner that is not only compelling but in a way that is true and good. The command of scripture in Paul's letter to the Philippians is to dwell on that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. In attempting to order our thinking life in this manner, however, it becomes clear that what is truth, rather what is reality, may not always be lovely or noble. The message of Paul's exhortation, however, is not to ignore the harsh realities of our fallen world and sinful natures, but rather to address them and in so doing tell the truth and give the reason for hope, the good news of Jesus Christ. It is my hope that each poem in this little collection reflects on one of three summarizing values we are to dwell on: beauty, truth and love.
In conclusion, some words about the structure and title of the book. Regarding the structure, each poem is coupled with a little meditation which further reflects on the theme of the poem. If you are a poetry purist, you are welcome to skip over these, which may seem as unpoetic intrusions of explanatory prose. However, on the whole, I do not think they take away from the impact of the poems, but rather further enrich them. The poems, for lack of any tidy system of arrangement, are presented in order they were penned, from the late years of High School to the present, with the only exception being the final poem. Concerning the title, there is a longing in every human heart that is put there by God. St. Augustine described this longing saying, "Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and we are restless till we find our rest in Thee." Truly it is the Lord we must hunger after and partake in if we are to be filled. We have an ache then for God but also for eternity when we will enjoy Him and his saints forever. Hopefully these poems are a reflection of that hunger for God and the appreciation of his creation here now and a looking forward to the full experience of Him in eternity. Secondly the book is "A Journey in Verse," because that is what it chronicles: a journey, a process, a growing into grace and understanding that has yet to be completed. The journey is a personal one and you will catch glimpses of where I have been, but hopefully the poems will resonate in experiences you have had on your journey as well. To be sure, our journeys are all hills and valleys, but the overall direction is upward by virtue of God's grace and mercy.
Finally, a word of encouragement reflecting again on the nature of poetry. Poetry is all around to be appreciated and enjoyed in the very fabric of life. One poet has said regarding poetry, "We are all born poets. What is surprising is the number of people who stop being poets." The phrase is an old one but it still bears true, we need to "Stop and smell the roses," and also the stench of fallen life and, above all, the perfume of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So read, write and enjoy poetry in the enjoyment and appreciation of God, His good creation and His redemptive work.
I write this conclusion at least four years after the document above was written. Perhaps, the most obvious thing that I have learned since that time is that the conclusion is never really the conclusion, at least this side of eternity. As you may have gathered from reading the remainder of my homepage [my college era page], I have written some writing that is decidedly different in tenor and content. That comes, I believe, from having experienced life a little more and from having ventured a little out from the safe bubble of my childhood into a world that is more complex and painful than I had imagined. Do I still believe in all the goodness portrayed in these poems and devotionals? Do I still believe in the solutions to difficult problems that are at times offered somewhat glibly in these works? The answer is "Yes." It is not perhaps a resounding of a "Yes" as it might have been at one point, but it is a "Yes" nonetheless. I hope that even in the darkest night that I will always hope for the Lord, even if that hope is only a smoldering wick. And far more to the point, I want to be one who truly shows the light of God, a light that is both revealing and warming. And, hopefully, His light will not only be reflected by me like the sun's light by the moon, but infuse me and cause me to be afire with Him, as if the sun's rays suddenly pierced the surface of the moon and caused it to glow like a star. Oh, I want goodness and rest so much, but amidst the pain of this world, so that others may experience it as well. The ache continues...
Posted by jackdas at 2:33 PM