Heart Song
Soaring
Everything was kind of muffled. Nasty head cold turned into both ears becoming infected. The anti-biotics are helping but all of the pollen in the air is making the process seem longer and a little bit confusing. Am I still sick? Or is it now just about having bad allergies?
Who really cares… it all feels bad.
Last Friday night I thought about going up to Starbucks and drawing for a little while but my ears … blech. I needed to go to the store instead. So I popped some DayQuil, pulled on a sweatshirt over my t-shirt, baseball cap, wore flip-flops and jeans … jumped in the car for .6 miles and headed in to the store.
I felt like a total middle aged bachelor on a Friday night. All I cared about was getting some kettle corn popcorn, diet 7-up and … whatever else was on my mental grocery list. Buying groceries and renting the movie Precious … those were my big Friday night plans.
I walked in the door and went to get a buggy and I noticed someone had left a two gallon jug of milk in one of them stacked several deep. Not only did someone forget that jug of milk, someone else had shoved more carts in line without even noticing. I dug the jug out and took it up to customer service.
The Book of Eli – Movie Review
Last night I went to a very nice theater in downtown Orlando to see The Book of Eli. My eight word review is:
Hallelujah! … oh ok … now that was gross. Hallelujah!
I will do a general review and then a more specific review after the jump so as to not reveal any spoilers for those that haven’t seen the movie.
I loved it. I love artsy symbolic movies. I love action movies. I love obvious good vs. evil movies. I love epic movies, self-sacrifice movies and movies with a really good twist I didn’t see coming. Big Hollywood said the twist was silly. When the twist was revealed I literally shed a tear or two. I thought it was beautiful … absolutely heart-wrenching and definitely close to the level of the plot twist at the end of The Sixth Sense that completely changed the context of the whole movie.
I love Christian movies because at least they are trying to put the eternal transcendent into artistic form and that is just simply not an easy thing to do. This is very much a Christian movie. It’s about the last Bible on the post-apocalyptic earth and the voice of God leading a man on a journey of faith to secure the Bible well into the future.
I tried to impose some literal interpretations of the symbols onto the movie and they might be worth exploring (I’ll do so a little after the jump.) Yet after sleeping on it I think the overarching symbolic message is that The Word of God is alive and powerful to bring Light and Life to men. It is worth fighting off the world system, powers of darkness and personal despair in order to protect it as we go on our life’s journey. God’s word will survive because He has ordained it to be so and for no other reasons. Others will try to abuse it for power but only those who have “eyes to see” will actually be able to receive the true life giving power of the Holy Spirit inspired and empowered scriptures.
The Word of God is worth dedicating our lives too and sharing with others who might not “look” or “act” like church folk, but have a pure faith and an undeniable spiritual zeal to know the Truth. We can abide in and embody The Word, emulate Christ and pass off this noble, sacrificial and beautiful faith to others so they might take it back “home” to those still left in chaos and bondage.
Everything I wrote in the two preceding paragraphs are symbolized very very well in the movie.
That was the general review. More, including spoilers, after the jump.
Bible Branding – A Good Thing?
Would you look at this! Even Hippy Libbers and Rabid Rightys can worship the same God! (my humor is not being delivered in a hostile tone at all. I love many hippy libbers and rabid rightys … and no … I am not a meandering mooshy moderate either. 
)
This picture was actually taken right before Christmas. At the time I was going to post it just for fun … because it is funny. However, I completely forgot about it being on my iPhone until today. I still think it is funny but today it hit me that this is actually worth pondering a bit beyond a grin fueled roll of the eyes. The imposition of “patriot” and “green” to contextualize the Bible … really? Is this a good thing to do?
I have several translations of the Bible and one of them fits perfectly into this type of Bible Branding (the Recovery Bible.) I liked it when I was a brand new Christian because it was helpful. It spoke a language I understood (having been in “recovery” 12 step groups) and help me process some of the scripture in a personal way.
But, I am wondering, I don’t believe we as Christians should use any descriptions to contextualize our Christianity outside of Christ. I am not a white post-gay southern bapticostalutherpalianite Christian. I am a Christian. Do I really need a “Patriot Bible” or can I just read … the Bible?
This is the thing I am pondering on my lunch break.
Oswald Chambers on Loving God and Neighbor
“The eternal truth is that God created me to be distinctly not Himself, but to realize Him in perfect love. If I allow that God teaches me to walk in His will, I shall allow my neighbor, whom I love as myself, the same certainty, although his way may seem so different. “What is that to you? You follow Me.” – Oswald Chambers in Christian Disciplines – Chapter 1 The Discipline of Divine Guidance
