JAZ's Faves of 2010

A quick wracking of the brain brings these picks to mind (in alphabetical order):

Films:

The Book of Eli. On the bible: "Don't you see? It's not a book, it's a weapon!"
Get Low. Love Robert Duvall! Deep, moving, forgiveness and the lack of it, telling the whole story once again. Plus, Bill Murray is so funny in this one.
Inception. Thought it was awesome until I saw the south park episode about it.  I just hope the director had a correct answer to the end in mind.
The Kids are Alright. Hilarious, thought-provoking, phenomenal acting.
The Social Network. Eerie, smart, made me feel bad for not being a 25-year-old billionaire, but proud of my brother Simeon, who is the theological equivalent.
Toy Story 3. First viewing is the best.
Tron 2. Just what I was hoping for.  What on earth were people expecting if not this?! The light-cycle race in 3-D was worth the price of admission.
True Grit. Got my attention the moment the narrator said: "Nothing is free in this world, except for the grace of God." The Stanley Fish piece about it posted on this blog two days ago is a must-read! The end had me in tears. "Look the other way."

TV:
Bored to Death. (no comment)
Community. Thank DZ for introducing me to this. Really creative stuff, sort of tickles the same part of my brain that used to get tickled by Arrested Development.
Friday Night Lights. Best TV by a mile! This show gives me life, like a weekly monergistic grace transfusion.
Mad Men. Season 4 was the best season yet.
Parenthood. Friday Night Lights moves to San Francisco, I kid you not.  Same folks behind it actually. This show has flaws, but it's heart is as big as Texas and it brings me to tears in almost every episode.

Music (songs):

Air - So Light Her Footfall (Breakbot remix) (youtube)
Architeq - Into the Cosmos (youtube)
Breakbot - Baby I'm Yours (youtube)
Caribou - Odessa (youtube)
Escort - Cocaine Blues (youtube)
LCD Soundsystem - Home (youtube)
Lindstrom & Christabelle - Lovesick (youtube)
Carl Sagan (ft. Stephen Hawking) - A Glorious Dawn
Sea Change & Power - Yesterday is Dead
David E. Sugar - Party Killer
Al Usher - Hilversum (youtube)

Top MBird News Pieces of 2010

In the age of the 24 hour news cycle, here are my picks for Mockingbird’s Top News Stories of 2010

10) The Rent is too Damn High, November 2010

Jimmy McMillan, candidate for Mayor of NYC, has found the solution to all of New York’s problems. The rent is just too damn high. Take the rent part out, replace it with unmerited grace, and you pretty much have Mockingbird’s philosophy of preaching- repeat the gospel over and over again till people start to change.

9) Kill the Ump! Grace & Baseball, June 2010

Jim Joyce, professional MLB umpire, blows a perfect game call for Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga. The teary eyed, apologetic ump becomes the woman caught in adultery, and while the rest of the world is ready to stone him, the Tigers extend him forgiveness and grace. The previous M-Bird post can be found here.

8) Katie’s Star Wars Water Bottle, November 2010

Katie, a first-grade gal, was bullied by the boys for having a Star Wars water bottle. Once the all-powerful Star Wars fan base heard her story, Katie was bombarded with toys, lightsabers, and Star Wars school supplies from every corner of the U.S. She was even photoshopped in a poster with a lightsaber! The Gospel in this situation? Katie, who was adopted at an early age, was so loved by her parents (and the greater Star Wars community) that her rejection by her classmates was overpowered by unmerited love of her family. (See Galatians for a further discussion on salvation & adoption)

7) Lindsay Lohan & Tiger Woods- Summer & Fall 2010

In the bound will category, LiLo, child star, actress, and Hollywood socialite, spends the second half of 2010 in and out of jail and rehab. Similarly, Tiger Woods confesses to, well, a lot of marital indiscretion. But still, at the end of the day, we’re just as addicted to ourselves and in need of just as much grace as our starlet and athlete friends. Grace and peace to you both!

6) Wikileaks, Fall 2010

While Julian Assange is no messiah, there is a familiarity about a man who exposes deep dark secrets and is suddenly the target of universal prosecution. I can’t wait till this whole saga gets turned into a movie (the Social Network 2, anybody?). While we may disagree over the moral and political consequences of Mr. Assange’s wikileak organization, let’s take note at how un-David like governments responded to this Nathan-esque situation.

5) Michael Vick's Football season, 2010

Vick’s redemption has been the subject of a prior Mockingbird post, but now that President Obama is throwing his lot in with the Philly Quarterback, it’s worth repeating again. The power of second chances and forgiveness is truly transforming (though Tucker Carlson, who said this week on national television that Vick should have been executed, might disagree).

4) Mel Gibson’s Meltdown, July 2010

Mel Gibson, actor, producer, and Passion of the Christ director, gets caught verbally abusing and threatening his ex-girlfriend/baby mommy over the phone. While other Evangelicals may look down, blush, and shuffle their feet in embarrassment, I think Mr. Gibson was the perfect person to direct the Passion. The real-life passion was meant for such a man as Mel, and truth be told, you and I are no different.

3) The Chilean Miner's Dark Side, Summer 2010

For many, the story of the trapped Chilean miners was the one inspirational news story in a year of oil spills and jobless angst. But every now and then, a piece about the Chilean miners would come out detailing how the families of the miners were confronted by their husband’s secret lovers as both tried to lay claim as the significant other. It just goes to show you- there’s a dark side to any news that celebrates the achievement and tenacity of the human spirit!

2) Jet Blue Employee Quits with Style, August 2010

In a textbook case study of the relationship between law and sin, a flight attendant decided to quit his job in style. After saying a few choice words into the jet’s PA system, he grabbed a couple of beers from the beverage cart, popped the emergency shoot, slide out of the plane, walked to his car, and drove home. It goes to show you that the command to smile and be nice to rude passengers doesn't engender the ability to obey that command, but instantly feeds the desire to disobey. Just as important: the near universal response from the rest of America: “Oh, I wish I could do that…”

1) Antoine Dodson: Bed Intruder, July 2010

What started as an angry, despairing rant with the local news crew turned into an escape from the projects for the Dodson family. After youtube picked up Antoine’s rant and turned it into an autotuned remix, the Bed Intruder Song flipped what was the darkest day for the Dodson family into their ticket out of the slums. It was a true-to-life example of how the darkest day and the brightest day can be joined together- not unlike Good Friday.

Honorable mentions: The secretly Evangelical Insane Clown Posse releases Creationism Rap, BP Oil Spill is Sign of the Apocalypse, and Dallas Pastor Caught Allegedly Burglarizing a House on Christmas Eve.

Happy New Year, Mockingbird! See you all in 2011!

GuestList: Top Ten Pieces of Culture (That Impacted My Life in 2010)

Another treat to tide you over until we shift back into full-speed next week, a guest year-end list from Carl Laamanen of the excellent Losing Sight of Land blog. 

Human beings, especially those that really like popular culture, must love lists. This is the only explanation for the hundreds of year-end “best of” lists that begin to pervade the internet at the onset of December. This is also the only reason I can provide for why I find them so fascinating. Heck, Popmatters had two weeks of music lists alone, leading up to their top 70 albums of the year, and I probably read at least half of them. Instead of a top ten of the best music or film of this year, I wanted to give you all a glimpse into all of the above: the films, music and books that have had the biggest impact on my life this year. These works of art have challenged and encouraged me, and while they aren’t all from this past year, they are deserving of being remembered and treasured in any year.

The Age of Adz - Sufjan Stevens

The Age of Adz is utterly befuddling and entirely exhilarating. That is the only way to describe this conglomeration of electronic sounds, soaring vocals and personal ruminations. Make no mistake, this is Sufjan’s most personal album yet, and from these contemplative lyrics come some truly remarkable insights. I see myself and all my insecurities reflected in Vesuvius and I Want to be Well, and my spirits are buoyed by the title track and Too Much. But it is the album closer, Impossible Soul, traversing the ups and downs of life, which reassures us that a fearful life is not worth living, instead celebrating both the incredible potential and sometimes painful reality of human relationships. In fact, the whole album seems to be an exploration of the tension between celebration and sorrow and as such, offers both catharsis and counsel on how to live with it.

Sigh No More - Mumford and Sons
There is no doubt that Mumford and Sons make fantastic, grace-filled music. Their earnest lyrics manage to look the evil of the world (and the evil within us) in the eye and not back down, trusting that love and grace will ultimately defeat it. Roll Away Your Stone speaks to the very heart of the Gospel with its exploration of the darkness and fragility of the human condition that culminates in an impassioned cry for a new, refreshed soul. In one of my favorite lyrics of the year Awake My Soul reminds us of our humanity and responsibility, “In these bodies we live and in these bodies we will die, where you invest your love is where you invest your life.” Album closer, After the Storm, speaks quite frankly about human limitations, pointing to a day where love and grace will make us whole. This year, Mumford and Sons provided a much-needed dose of grace in the face of widespread cynicism, crafting an album that does not diminish this life’s hardships but makes clear that love has the final word.

How I Got Over - The Roots
While it may not be the cheeriest album of 2010, How I Got Over eloquently explores how to live in a fallen world. The album undergoes an evolution from pessimism and despair to a measured optimism that seems content with looking for the best in this broken world and thanking God for the good things that we do have. Black Thought cogently weaves philosophy, politics and theology through his carefully rapped words, never shying away from the reality of evil and pain, but also never letting it defeat him. By the time the album hits its second half, it has transformed, musically and lyrically, from a sober look at life’s problems to an emphatic statement of perseverance and pursuit of excellence as we see in The Fire. Amidst the depression and problems of the world The Roots find hope in everyday circumstances; How I Got Over inspires me to do the same.

High Violet - The National
There’s just something about the music of The National makes that forces me to confront the ever-present ache within my soul, a reminder that we will never be completely fulfilled in this age. Their music strips away the veneer of self-sufficiency, trading the façade for a deep, painful look into the insecure human psyche. All their albums are full of authenticity, and High Violet is no different. Afraid of Everyone serves double duty as a condemnation of the American tendency to be afraid of the unknown and an uneasy questioning of the pursuit of safety. The album’s last three songs, a veritable casebook on the fragmented postmodern individual, leave a devastating mark that is both depressingly realistic and surprisingly hopeful.

I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers
I’m not sure why I didn’t start listening to The Avett Brothers until this year, but I am certainly glad that I did, as I and Love and You has been a constant companion. The Perfect Space is one of those songs that expose the inner workings of a misunderstood mind in exquisite detail. The brief album-ending Incomplete and Insecure closes the record with an honest realization of our limited powers and the need for someone or something greater to spur us on and lift us up. Add to these insights hopeful songs like the title track and Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise, and some stirring insights on love like Kick Drum Heart and Tin Man, and you have an album capable of speaking to the soul at any point in time.
[CONTINUE READING]

Badly Drawn Boy covers "Do They Know It's Christmas"

Narrative and the Grace of God: The New ‘True Grit’

Stanley Fish is doing our job for us over on the New York Times Online OpEd Section. Fish, an academic known for his postmodern literary criticism (think interpretive communities) and guest writer for the NYT, wrote a piece entitled Narrative and the Grace of God: The New ‘True Grit’ which sounds like something Nick Lannon would write about here at Mockingbird. Be Warned: Dr. Fish's article contains spoilers though this post does not!

I haven't seen the new Coen Brother's movie yet, but rest assured that will be remedied in the next few days. Until then, I figured I'd post a few of Fish's comments to hold us over:

"The springs of that universe are revealed to us by the narrator-heroine Mattie in words that appear both in Charles Portis’s novel and the two films, but with a difference. The words the book and films share are these: “You must pay for everything in this world one way and another. There is nothing free with the exception of God’s grace.” These two sentences suggest a world in which everything comes around, if not sooner then later. The accounting is strict; nothing is free, except the grace of God. But free can bear two readings — distributed freely, just come and pick it up; or distributed in a way that exhibits no discernible pattern. In one reading grace is given to anyone and everyone; in the other it is given only to those whom God chooses for reasons that remain mysterious...

...A third sentence, left out of the film but implied by its dramaturgy, tells us that the latter reading is the right one: "You cannot earn that [grace] or deserve it." In short, there is no relationship between the bestowing or withholding of grace and the actions of those to whom it is either accorded or denied. You can’t add up a person’s deeds — so many good one and so many bad ones — and on the basis of the column totals put him on the grace-receiving side (you can’t earn it); and you can’t reason from what happens to someone to how he stands in God’s eyes (you can’t deserve it).What this means is that there are two registers of existence: the worldly one in which rewards and punishment are meted out on the basis of what people visibly do; and another one, inaccessible to mortal vision, in which damnation and/or salvation are distributed, as far as we can see, randomly and even capriciously."

I can't wait to see what the Coen Brothers do with this world they've created: especially with this last line about random and capricious grace. If you've seen the movie, what did you think? Did Stanley Fish get it right? What are your thoughts?

Coming Attractions

Here are seven movies being released on DVD in Jan/Feb (most of them on Jan 11 or 18). I haven't seen them yet -- but they all feel like home runs.

Get Low. "A deft blend of dark humor and poignancy" and a huge standout from a MB perspective. Read this great Christianity Today interview with Robert Duvall about it.

The Social Network. Making either #1 or #2 in many of critics' Top Ten lists around the country. Our DZ and the NYT comment here.

The Town. Great action/thriller. Also making many critics' top ten lists.

The Other Guys and Cyrus. Two comedies that each sound like a huge amount of fun, with MB favorites Will Ferrell (The Other Guys) and John C. Reily and Jonah Hill (Cyrus).

Animal Kingdom. Looks like another wonderful performance by Guy Pearce, with great ensemble work all around. Winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize at Sundance. Close study of how love from a father-figure can affect a young man in danger from the world.

The Tillman Story. True story of a young football player who turned down a 3.6 million dollar NFL contract to enlist in the Army, following the 9/11 attacks. Possibly the best documentary of 2010, at least from our perspective, dealing as it does with grief, identity, loss, and truth in the lives of particular people.

And, although it probably won't be released on DVD for another four months, let me give some love to The King's Speech, which is my favorite thing I have seen this year. Lovely, touching, and true meditation on how demand and grace play out in more than one life. Released last weekend in most theaters.

Mikhail Bakhtin and Glee on Identity

"I cannot manage without another, I cannot become myself without another; I must find myself in another by finding another in myself (in mutual reflection and mutual acceptance). Justification cannot be self-justification, recognition cannot be self-recognition. I receive my name from others, and it exists for others (self-nomination is imposture)."
(Taken from: Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics, p. 287-288.)

In the above quote, Russian Philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin promotes a relational understand of the self whereby who I am is dependent upon who and what I encounter. If you've been watching Glee recently, you'll see this first hand in the relationship between the OCD/Mysophobic Emma Pillsbury and Dentist Carl Howell. Through her relationship with the adventurous and spontaneous Carl, Emma has discarded her vices while assimilating Carl's daring. She cares less about hygiene, attends a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and even elopes to Las Vegas. Emma has changed almost effortlessly and without any struggle. Carl did for Emma what no self-help book could do. Most importantly, Carl hasn't even tried to change Emma. He's loved her without any preconditions.

In other words, who can resist the gravitational pull of love? You unexpectedly meet someone new, or by chance see someone in a different light and its as if the world has been turned upside down. You lose yourself in them, thereby discovering a new self. You find you tolerate Grey's Anatomy (or UFC!) more than you thought you ever would. Even your work seems like its been more enjoyable than normal.

What is true in general is also specifically true about God and Christianity. When the love of God is truly grasped, when it is recognized that God no longer regards us as sinners (thought we are!) it changes everything. We are no longer the same people: we are given confidence where we were shy, thankfulness where we were bitter, or new love in place of our cold hearts. We become reflections of the people God sees us to be. In the same way that God renamed Abram and Saul to be Abraham and Paul, or Jesus renamed Simon to be Peter, a new identity is given and effortlessly received in a radically new way.

That's Christmas!

With Christmas now upon us, something I posted last year that (for me at least) sets the right mood for the season:


That's Christmas! from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

The Twelve Thank You Notes of Christmas

An imaginary (and increasingly hostile) series of letters to someone's True Love.  Hoping it will inspire you in your thank you notes this season.

Another Christmas Arrives: DFW on Federer, Pinsky on Donne, Gervais on Atheism, The National Bible Bee, Backfiring (!) Smoking Bans, and Troubled Childhoods

Just the links this time, for some holiday reading:

1. On Slate, if you have time for a mind-bender, The Philosophical Underpinnings of David Foster Wallace's Fiction (hint: rhymes with Littgenstein). For some prime DFW himself, check out his renowned profile for the NY Times, "Roger Federer as Religious Experience." For all of our posts on DFW, click here.

2. Also on Slate, in a column entitled "Nearer, my God, to Thee", former poet laureate Robert Pinksy takes a look at man's relationship to the divine via two Jeremiah 12-based sonnets, one from John Donne and one from Gerald Manley Hopkins.

3. Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais, a favorite of ours, offers a pleasantly humane/funny explanation of his atheism over at the Wall Street Journal. Almost makes up for the ueber-preachy "The Invention of Lying" (ht JD).

4. In the Atlantic, an amusing and highly informative look at The National Bible Bee.

5. From the NY Times, a harrowing reality-check about infidelity and its fallout, A Roomful of Regret and Yearning (ht VH).

6. A post on the Times' Freakonomics blog asks the question, "Do Smoking Bans Lead to More Fires?" A recent paper responds... yes.

7. According to a new poll by the Center for Disease Control (last seen in The Walking Dead), 60% of American adults claim to have had troubled childhoods.

8. Finally, there's this:

Nativity Scene FAIL - watch more funny videos

And with that, Merry Christmas from Mockingbird! Thanks for reading this year. We'll see you in January (if not before).

Christmas Cheer, According to T.S. Eliot

The following is from Eliot's "The Cultivation of Christmas Trees." While less popular than Eliot's other Christmas poems, it is his last- and probably his most insightful.

There are several attitudes towards Christmas,
Some of which we may disregard:
The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,
The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),
And the childish---which is not that of the child
For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel
Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree
Is not only a decoration, but an angel.
The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:
Let him continue in the spirit of wonder
At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;
So that the glittering rapture, the amazement
Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree,
So that the surprises, delight in new possessions
(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell),
The expectation of the goose or turkey
And the expected awe on its appearance,
So that the reverence and the gaiety
May not be forgotten in later experience,
In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium,
The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure,
Or in the piety of the convert
Which may be tainted with a self-conceit
Displeasing to God and disrespectful to the children
(And here I remember also with gratitude
St. Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire):
So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas
By "eightieth" meaning whichever is the last)
The accumulated memories of annual emotion
May be concentrated into a great joy
Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion
When fear came upon every soul:
Because the beginning shall remind us of the end
And the first coming of the second coming.

Eliot seems to strike the appropriate tone when it comes to the long-held debate about proper celebration and meaning of Christmas. He advocates the innocence and simplicity of an unabashedly sentimental celebration of Christmas – filled with a beautiful tree, bountiful feast, and (yes) new toys. Yet this almost naïve celebration ironically corresponds with both the reality of life and reverence for Christ’s first and last comings. We must embrace this childlike wonder to silence the burden of later experience (Matt 19:14?). The spirit of the season is not idolatry, but a truly Christian “happiness and cheer” in the midst of a loveless world in need of saving.

Stille Nacht Day 5: John Denver and the Muppets

Luther on the Nativity

From Martin Luther's Christmas Book:

Let us, then, meditate upon the Nativity just as we see it happening in our own babies. I would not have you contemplate the deity of Christ, the majesty of Christ, but rather his flesh. Look upon the Baby Jesus. Divinity may terrify man. Inexpressible majesty will crush him. That is why Christ took on our humanity, save for sin, that he should not terrify us but rather that with love and favor he should console and confirm.

Behold Christ lying in the lap of his young mother, still a virgin. What can be sweeter than the Babe, what more lovely than the mother! What fairer than her youth! What more gracious than her virginity! Look at the Child, knowing nothing. Yet all that is belongs to him, that your conscience should not fear but take comfort in him. Doubt nothing. Watch him springing in the lap of the maiden. Laugh with him. Look upon this Lord of Peace and your spirit will be at peace. See how God invites you in many ways. He places before you a Babe with whom you may take refuge. You cannot fear him, for nothing is more appealing to man than a babe. Are you affrighted? Then come to him, lying in the lap of the fairest and sweetest maid. You will see how great is the divine goodness, which seeks above all else that you should not despair. Trust him! Trust him! Here is the Child in whom is salvation. To me there is no greater consolation given to mankind than this, that Christ became man, a child, a babe, playing in the lap and at the breasts of his most gracious mother. Who is there whom this sight would not comfort? Now is overcome the power of sin, death, hell, conscience, and guilt, if you come to this gurgling Babe and believe that he is come, not to judge you, but to save.

(This remains for me of all Christian meditations the one that touches me in the sore place of my heart, and which lets me inside the stable, so to speak.  My apologies for posting it two years in a row. -- SD)

30 for 30: Marcus Dupree, Theologian of the Cross

In the brilliant ESPN documentary collection, 30 for 30, to me the crown jewel is The Best That Never Was. The documentary chronicles the life of Marcus Dupree, perhaps the greatest running back ever in high school football.

Dupree was the center of the most heated recruiting frenzy in the history of college football back in 1981. Nearly 100 schools hotly pursued Dupree’s signature before he ultimately landed in Norman, Oklahoma with the Sooners. With the expectation that he would evolve into the greatest running back ever to play college or professional football, the star did not disappoint in his freshman year. Marcus rushed for over 1,100 yards and 13 touchdowns, while only starting six games, and was voted 2nd team All-American at age eighteen.

However, the promising career began to collapse over the course of several years. First, Dupree left Oklahoma after a contentious relationship with coaches, primarily head coach Barry Switzer, who routinely demeaned Dupree in the media. Then, the running back discovered that he would not be allowed to play for two years at Southern Mississippi, where a malevolent advisor, Kenneth Fairley, recommended he transfer.

His career seemed rescued when he signed a lucrative, six million dollar contract, with a USFL franchise. However, his financial fortune was squandered via the alleged exploitation and deceit of his advisor, and his career essentially ended with a catastrophic knee injury. While Dupree did make a noble and modest return to football, playing limitedly with the Los Angeles Rams for two seasons, he never reached the potential, wealth, or fame expected. The certain stardom amounted to an All-American freshman season, some success in the USFL, and nothing more. The documentary concludes with Dupree’s current life, where Marcus lives a middle class existence, working as a commercial driver and oil spill clean up laborer.

While the title of the documentary, The Greatest Player That Never Was, insinuates that Dupree will be deemed a failure, the documentary paints a broader picture of his life. The conclusion includes sound bites from coaches and journalist declaring that Dupree failed to measure up, with Switzer stating that he “didn’t have it.” So much glory and wealth seemed so close but was never realized. Society only can define this as tragedy and failure.

However, as the film continues, one starts to see the kindness and meekness of Dupree’s heart. The true culmination of the documentary includes a touching theme carried throughout the film, focused on the relationship between Marcus and his brother Reggie, who never could walk fully due to cerebral palsy. One journalist believed that Marcus worked so hard in sports as a means to support his brother, who had limitations in his youth due to disability. The film ends with Marcus crying with compassion for his brother, saying that he only wanted to succeed as a means of serving and inspiring his mother and brother. The moment reveals that the fabric of the heart of Marcus Dupree is love, loyalty, compassion, and sensitivity for his brother.

When asked in an espn.com interview with Lynn Hoppes about an assessment of his life, Dupree replied, "I can't really complain. God puts things in the way. And it only makes you stronger. If God had wanted it to happen for me, he would have made it happen for me...I'm really happy with my life." Instead of embracing self-pity or bitterness, God seems to have given Dupree and contrition, humility, and contentment.

The world calls Dupree’s life a tragedy, while the theologian of the Cross sees the truth and beauty of God’s hand in this situation. In terms of God’s Kingdom, a real tragedy would have been for Dupree to grow in wealth and prosperity in football, while growing a prideful hard heart. The theologian of the Cross calls the “bad” (failure, weakness, unrealized potential) “good” (the preservation of a heart dependent on God).

Dupree’s talent projected at least one Heisman trophy, NFL Pro Bowls, and millions of dollars; in essence, the ability to “gain the whole world.” Coaches in the film referred to his running ability as beautiful. The greatest beauty in the documentary, though, was that of the meek Marcus Dupree, crying with compassion and loyalty for his brother. It is the work and protection of God that the precious heart of this man was not ruined. The greatest gift Marcus Dupree received from God was not his athletic ability, but the love of his heart, which does not wear with age or injury.

(Not to be believed) Awesome Christmas Funk!

"Who can say they don't need help in any way?  Who can show me someone who's strong enough today?"
"We all need somebody to lead us... We need a brand new Christmas right away."

"Christmas," a poem by John Betjeman

The bells of waiting Advent ring,
The Tortoise stove is lit again
And lamp-oil light across the night
Has caught the streaks of winter rain.
In many a stained-glass window sheen
From Crimson Lake to Hooker's Green.

The holly in the windy hedge
And round the Manor House
the yew Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
The altar, font and arch and pew,
So that villagers can say
'The Church looks nice' on Christmas Day.

Provincial public houses blaze
And Corporation tramcars clang,
On lighted tenements I gaze
Where paper decorations hang,
And bunting in the red Town Hall
Says 'Merry Christmas to you all'

And London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.

And girls in slacks remember Dad,
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children's hearts are glad,
And Christmas morning bells say 'Come!'
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel.

And is it true? and is it true?
The most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me?

And is it true? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant.

No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was Man in Palestine
And lives to-day in Bread and Wine.

‘Tis better to give than to receive'...or so they say!

During this time of year I am always reminded that it is better to give then to receive. Not because it’s what we’re supposed to do, but because I feel good when I give and I have a hard time receiving. For years my family and friends have thought my giving/receiving theory was neurotic, but now science has proven me right.

A recent study from Harvard University found that when one gives a gift to another, the brain releases dopamine, (the same response your body has to eating a piece of chocolate cake or being intimate), eliciting a feeling of satisfaction that would not be felt if you were the one receiving the gift. But beyond the physical response, though I am grateful science is now on my side, there is the spiritual side to giving and receiving that our lives testify to.

There is no worse feeling in the world than to be left empty handed. Have you ever received a Christmas gift from someone and not had one to give in return? Our reaction, typically, is to lie. ‘Oh, I accidentally left yours at home!’ ‘The manufacturer is late in shipping it.’ Then you hurry out and buy something for them, or you recycle a gift that someone else has given you.

At this point in your life you are prepared for most of these encounters. So, you spend your time Christmas shopping buying gifts for others who are going to get you something, not because you want to get them something, but because you don’t want to be left empty handed. You don’t want to simply be the receiver. There is no worse feeling in the world than to receive without the ability to give back; to be able to reciprocate.

If this is the case for you (as it has been for many, myself included), no longer can the thing given be called a gift, but an attempt to ‘keep things even.’

Many spend their lives keeping things even. When you go out to lunch with a friend and you pick up the check, after a lot of tug of war, there is an unwritten rule in our hearts that says, ‘They pick up the next one.’ The next lunch rolls around and the tug of war over the check ensues. Except somehow, you end up with the check again. In your mind you think, ‘Ugh, I picked it up last time,’ while you cheerfully put your credit card down to pay.

If in receiving we feel that we need to give and in giving we feel that we are entitled to receive, then there is no such thing as a ‘gift.’ In our society, there is no understanding, practically speaking, of ‘something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned’ (www.dictionary.com). This is what makes Christmas feel like an obligation to some and Christianity too much to handle for many.

Most of us can make up the occasional lunch to our friends and can go out and get the gift (that is not really a gift at all) for the neighbor who gave you a garden gnome, but when it comes to God, we are incapable of giving anything to him in return for the gift he has given us in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the ultimate gift that is without equal.

It requires a great deal of humility to receive a gift and my prayer this Christmas is that we would receive into our hearts the greatest gift of all, salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And thereby, enable our hearts to give without expecting anything in return, and receive gifts for what they are, undeserved.

Silent Night Day 4: Phil Spector

Perfect Power Casts Out All Love

Two excerpts from the biography Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore chronicling the early religious education of Joseph Stalin:

The Empire's seminaries were "notorious for the savagery of their customs, medieval pedagoguery, and law of the fist," comments [Leon] Trotsky. "All the vices banned by the Holy Scriptures flourished in this hotbed of piety."

The seminary was to pull off the singular achievement of supplying the Russian Revolution with some of its most ruthless radicals. "No secular school," wrote another seminarist, Stalin's comrade Philip Makharadze, "produced as many atheists as the Tiflis Seminary." The Stone Sack (nickname for the seminary - DB) literally became a boarding-school for revolutionaries.

One of the great arguments of the theology of the cross is that God clearly reveals Himself in creation (Rom. 1) but, contrary to the teaching of a lot of natural theology, the human condition (or our skewed reason) is such that all of that becomes academic. He is as imperceptible to us as He could possibly be. For that reason, we go into Romans 2 and 3.

The interesting thing is that, even though God reveals Himself in suffering in the cross, clear revelation doesn't register at all. We are still so impressed with power and assertion that we turn the Christian insight, which is clearly the opposite of our idea of power, into power. If we could only convert Congress to Christianity, then everything would be OK. We would have the power brokers on our side. If we could only get people to behave a certain way, everything would be OK. So, we'll really earnestly engage in behavior modification.

The problem is that when Christianity is the vehicle of what impresses us (or if it becomes the manifestation of we believe to be right... Romans 2 and 3 again), then it ceases to speak to us and begins to scold us. Take the seminary that Joseph Stalin (!) attended. It was stifling. They forbade Hugo, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and a variety of other profound authors and engaged in coercion to try and produce the sort of behavior they wanted. Almost utterly devoid of the sort of love and encouragement that the Christian faith embodies. The place where last-ness meets last-ness. And we got Joseph Stalin and a bunch of revolutionary Bolsheviks.

It's the same result with the Crusades (we are dealing with the repercussions of that today!), power-wielding prelates, and hard-ass Bible colleges and seminaries that try to mold people into their own image (how many atheist and wounded refugees from that world have I spoken with? It's heartbreaking.).

Anytime straight-line (Capon) power and Christianity are mixed, disaster happens. What impresses us is just not right. What we stumble on and decry as foolishness is, in fact, what is right and profound. And every Christmas, we see it. Right there in the manger. Pure vulnerability, weakness, love, and compassion. Last-ness reaching out to last-ness. Why do refugees from the Church come back on Christmas? Well, it's just not too hard to figure.

Alcohol and Pills

Fred Eaglesmith's Alcohol and Pills

Fame doesn't take away the pain
it just pays the bills
And you wind up
on alcohol and pills

Galli: God's Favor to Miserable Little Disciples

A new article from Christianity Today's Mark Galli, keynote speaker at the upcoming 2011 Mockingbird Conference, has this typically scorching humdinger on the annunciation and what it says about God's grace to us:

"This announcement to Mary comes completely out of the blue, as if it were an act of sheer grace. Indeed, an act of grace to Mary and to us. Before we could decide for or against God, before we could show him how religious we are, before we could ask forgiveness for our first sin, before we were the apple of our parents' eyes, before the foundation of the world, God favored us. Not because he knew we would blossom into greatness. Not because he saw that we would become good Christians someday. Not even because we were humble enough to know we are not good Christians (which is really a kind of stealth pride!). No, we were favored when God knew well enough that we would fail to live up to our potential, that most days we would be miserable little disciples. Yes, in spite of the fact that we would be sad, fearful, doubting, anxious, and sinful people, he favored us."

Fa la la la law. . .

Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t have a big problem with the (so-called) “commercialization of Christmas.” The world’s economy has to be based on something, and that it rests on a season where people are, ostensibly, buying gifts for others, well, it could be worse! To hear some people, you’d think that attempt to express relationships (or lack thereof) in material terms was invented by Hallmark, but they seem to ignore the long history of giving gifts to pay homage, respect and even, yes, love (gasp). What’s more, we have gifts enshrined in the very Christmas story itself, and given the stability of gold, you can count me in as a very, very traditional Christian with respect to gift giving; none of those pagan-influenced poly/cotton blend socks for me! Sure, there have always been dandelion necklaces and candy rings, but “true love,” has always involved sacrifice, and two-months of your salary really does say something about where your heart is.

It is just this connection between love and

sacrifice that makes a Christ-less Christmas so tragic, because the true "reason for the season" has been lost: freedom. Every cost/benefit gift calculation about how much to spend to express your love, or resentment over not enough love (i.e., an Amazon Kindle) received, is a further symptom of the abiding inner darkness that can not be overcome by twinkle lights, but can be endured with copious amounts of eggnog. And, the “I’m rejecting Christmas” people are no better, because, as we often point out, being captivated or repulsed by the same thing is still bondage. The Law, as it were, takes no prisoners. We are, literally, dammed if we do and dammed if we don’t to a life where there is always a catch and nothing is truly free. 

Whatever the motivation for people coming together on the 25^th of December, Christians can celebrate the fact that, because of the Cross, they are under no obligation to celebrate Christmas in any way other than the one that they choose, because all such celebrations have been made value-neutral by the end of sacrificial giving to God. The true message of Christmas is that “Christ Jesus has come into the world to save sinners,” and that includes sinners for whom law based gift giving continues. But, in Christ, there are no more honors, no more sacrifices, no more bargaining with God, just a message to be heard: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”Mark 1:15.

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Silent Night Day 3: Tom Waits

Nine Musical Discoveries of 2010

Most of these have been fairly well documented on here. But just in case you missed it (lucky you!), here are nine or so particularly fertile areas of the musical landscape that I've explored this year:

9. Mary Star of the Sea - Zwan. 2010 was the year my anti-Billy Corgan snobbery finally bit the dust. While Mellon Collie was the initial vehicle of reappraisal (it's good!), it was this 2003 outing that's stuck with me most. That the lyrics have more than a passing (and sympathetic) mention of spiritual matters doesn't hurt. Favorite tracks: "Declarations of Faith" and "Lyric".

8. Butterfly - The Hollies. Don't let the psychedelic pretense fool you, this is ridiculously tuneful and straightforward stuff, start to finish. Commercial and fun, and totally consistent release from some increasingly unsung pop gurus. Favorite Tracks: "Away Away Away" and "Step Inside" (but not "King Midas in Reverse").

7. Slaid Cleaves. Brokenhearted country-rock of the highest order. With such a keen eye for tragedy (and ear for melody), one would expect it to be a bit more of a downer, but Slaid's conflicted relationship with grace keeps a note of uplift resounding in the background. Favorite Tracks: "One Good Year" and "Temporary" and for its Mbird-relevance "Sinner's Prayer".

6. Montage. The "follow-up" project from Michael Brown of The Left Banke, a billing which this little-known album surprisingly lives up to. Favorite Tracks: "I Shall Call Her Mary" and "Grand Pianist".

5. Overnight Angels - Ian Hunter. I'd always heard this referred to as "Overblown Angels" and had therefore stayed away from Mr. Mott's third solo record. By no means his best, but that doesn't mean it's not still pretty phenomenal! Bombastic sure, yet full of Hunter's trademark sneering vulnerability. The Roy Thomas Baker production has dated remarkably well. Favorite Tracks: "Silver Dime" and "Shallow Crystals".

5a. The Artful Dodger - Ian Hunter. Released only in Norway, the first impressive gasp of Hunter's "third wave," when he emerged as the pioneer of aging gracefully. Favorite Tracks: "Michael Picasso" and "Resurrection Mary".

4. Chris Knight. Oy vey, this dude is heavy. Fortunately the talent matches the subject matter. When David Browder posted the insanely good "Love and a .45" (one'll kill you/one'll keep you alive) last year, my ears perked up. But nothing could prepare me for the deep, dark, Christ-haunted world of Chris Knight, the real McCoy if ever there was one. Favorite Tracks: "Send a Boat", "Love and a .45" and:
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O[MG!] Holy Night

A "special" version of "O Holy Night" has been popping up on YouTube in various forms over the past few years. Many have tried their hand at lip synching this utterly dreadful rendition of the Christmas classic. The best version going is from highly talented Mockingfan, Martin Landry. Bringing you a bit of much needed humor this season:



On a more serious note, notice the difference between the popular John Sullivan Dwight (unitarian) version and Adolphe Adam's original.

Writhing and Sur-Thriving: A Tough Season for Believers

Interesting editorial from Ross Douthat of the NY Times, "Tough Season for Believers", using the season as an opportunity to look at two books, American Grace and To Change the World, which take the pulse of Christianity in America. In the conclusion, he gets at some of our (probably naive but hey, it's Christmas) hopes for Mockingbird.

Christmas is hard for everyone. But it’s particularly hard for people who actually believe in it. In a sense, of course, there’s no better time to be a Christian than the first 25 days of December. But this is also the season when American Christians can feel most embattled. Their piety is overshadowed by materialist ticky-tack. Their great feast is compromised by Christmukkwanzaa multiculturalism. And the once-a-year churchgoers crowding the pews beside them are a reminder of how many Americans regard religion as just another form of midwinter entertainment, wedged in between “The Nutcracker” and “Miracle on 34th Street.”

These anxieties can be overdrawn, and they’re frequently turned to cynical purposes. But they also reflect the peculiar and complicated status of Christian faith in American life. Depending on the angle you take, Christianity is either dominant or under siege, ubiquitous or marginal, the strongest religion in the country or a waning and increasingly archaic faith.

Thanks in part to this bunker mentality, American Christianity has become what [UVA sociologist and To Change the World author James Davison] Hunter calls a “weak culture” — one that mobilizes but doesn’t convert, alienates rather than seduces, and looks backward toward a lost past instead of forward to a vibrant future. In spite of their numerical strength and reserves of social capital, he argues, the Christian churches are mainly influential only in the “peripheral areas” of our common life. In the commanding heights of culture, Christianity punches way below its weight.

Both books come around to a similar argument: this month’s ubiquitous carols and crèches notwithstanding, believing Christians are no longer what they once were — an overwhelming majority in a self-consciously Christian nation. The question is whether they can become a creative and attractive minority in a different sort of culture, where they’re competing not only with rival faiths but with a host of pseudo-Christian spiritualities, and where the idea of a single religious truth seems increasingly passé.

Or to put it another way, Christians need to find a way to thrive in a society that looks less and less like any sort of Christendom — and more and more like the diverse and complicated Roman Empire where their religion had its beginning, 2,000 years ago this week.