July 4

Today is the 4th of July. It might be my favorite holiday. But not because I am overly nationalistic. I simply love that it is a time each year for us to celebrate our culture and history as Americans. I do think that our identity is important.

For as long as I can remember, my family has thrown a huge party on the 4th. We have BBQ and go watch fireworks. I look forward to it each year. Since I spend a pretty good bit of my summers in Mexico, I have missed that party more than once. And I always regret it. This year we are taking a break from the party scene, but next year things will get back to normal. I can’t wait.

Last year I read a fascinating post about the 4th of July on Richard Beck’s blog in which he quoted Walt Whitman’s views on America. I recommend its thoughts as my own. You can view it here.

I am taking a little more time than I thought away from the blog world. At this point I am spending a pretty good bit of time resting and getting ready for yet another school year (but this time as a teacher!). I’ll be back soon enough, though.

May the God of grace bless you all richly. And happy 4th of July.

Summer’s Rediscovery

Well, it is official. I am finished with the most intense semester of my life. I have a few more classes that I need to take in order to graduate in December, but the worst is definitely over.

So now, summer is approaching. And I have to admit that I am having to re-learn how to be me. The load of the semester completely consumed me. I probably turned in 250 pages, and I read and reflected upon thousands. It was rough. It kept me from reading for my own spirituality, and limited it. And obviously it kept me from blogging. I still kept up with reading my favorite blogs, but I was not able to really think for myself and I had no desire to write just for fun.

As I am getting geared up for this summer, and the traveling and working that it will bring, I am more excited than I have ever been to read. I have a stack of novels (McCarthy and Vonnegut) and books on spirituality (mostly Merton) that I am going to read. But there is one book above others that I am so excited to read: the Bible.

I have been a full-time student of theology for the past four years. I have literally read tens of thousands of pages of theological literature. But I have not read the Bible very much in these past four years.

But I am, for the first time in memory, no longer a full-time student of theology. And it is time for me to “re-discover” the Bible.

I have been thinking about 1 John a lot lately. Perhaps I will begin there.

Pray for me as I rediscover not only the Bible, but also myself this summer.

Pacifism Tested: Violence in Art

I love movies—especially Coen brothers movies. As you know, they just came out with another called No Country for Old Men—most of you have probably seen it. I must admit, it was intense; but I could not turn away. I have seen it three times! It is a wonderfully made movie. And it has gotten wonderful reviews. They really needed this after the past few flops they have had!

The movie is based on a novel by the same title by Cormac McCarthy. I anticipated the movie so much I decided to read the book before going to see it. I could not put it down. I read the whole thing in about two days. Granted, it is not that long of a book, but that is still pretty good for me (I am a slow reader). The book read like a movie, and I just kept looking for excuses to read more and more.

But the book and movie also presented some pretty real struggles for me. They were both incredibly violent. Profoundly so. From the very first pages of the book, and the first scenes in the movie, we are bombarded by violence.

I realize that McCarthy is one of the most respected living American authors. So as I read the book and watched the movie, I was really trying to read between the lines to get to what he was saying through this story. I know he wasn’t just putting violence out there for the sake of violence—as is so common in movies, television, and video games. This is a story that is intelligently saying something. And there are some important themes presented throughout the story. (I will save my interpretations of the story for another post.)

As many of you know, throughout the past few months I have been thinking a pretty good bit about the issue of pacifism and non-violence. I have even published here on the issue. And when I return to those issues and put them in conversation with No Country for Old Men, some real questions begin to emerge: can violence (in art) have a redemptive function? In other words, can I accomplish a valid artist goal by using violence in my art—as McCarthy has done? Or has he? Is that valid for Christians?

And where does this stop? I mean, if I argue that No Country for Old Men can/should be used to make some real and important statements about humanity, America, or God, then can I use something as senselessly brutal as Halo as well? What is the difference? Is it that McCarthy actually has intelligently placed violence before me? Does the intelligence (or intentionality) behind something validate it more?

You see where I am going with this. I just want some consistency here. Am I going to find it? How?