"I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
Matthew 5:44-45
"A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
John 13:34-35
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
I Peter 4:7-9
Rarely, if ever, do people see what is plainly before them. Rather, we take what is before us and interpret it through our experiences and expectations. Face value has become faceless, and the heart of the matter left beating unheeded and unheard.
I cannot say if this is true for all eras or all people, and I'm sure that some are able to see unclouded. I would like to think I am one of them, but I seriously doubt it. In fact, I know it to be untrue. I approach certain authors or topics with bias--sometimes in the extreme, and normally in the negative. I expect to disagree; therefore, I find much to disagree with, even when I must admit valid points and reasoning. However, when the author I oppose does appear convincing, I assume that I simply don't have the mental capacity to properly argue against him, maintaining my distaste and opposition to his message.
A case in point for my broader statement (and undoubtedly my personal one) is the response to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ from earlier this year. Having recently read a book about it, this example is on my mind. Showtime for the Sheep (SS, for the sake of ease from here out) addresses film as a jumping point for broader negative concepts within Evangelicalism, such as the apparent adoption of entertainment styles as normative in church services and the joining of many Evangelicals with the Roman Catholic Church.
I have not see The Passion, and with my strong distaste for gratuitous violence, I doubt I will. The author of SS converted from a devout Roman Catholic background and identifies many, if not all, of the RCC doctrines and legends presented in the movie. With that background, I can understand his offense and concern. As someone unfamiliar with specific RCC teachings, though, I have a feeling that I would never have noticed most of the Marianism and other problems (and yes, there are problems) he emphasizes.
In my overall analysis of the book, I think the author does have some very good warnings for us, cautioning the Christian public to check everything against the Bible. However, I also think that his true concern has little to do with The Passion and more to do with the absurd hyperbole Christian leaders attached to the movie. I would also caution against an unintended but creeping legalism or bias: all accusations (that I can recall) against using film as an evangelistic tool can be equally leveled at any other art form, including hymns and sermons. Taken to an extreme, his "written word" arguments fall apart, as much of a word's intended meaning, at least in modern English, is found in its inflection, and inflection has not been recorded for us in Scripture. However, the author is not alone in that difficulty: rarely can any thought hold up when taken to an extreme.
Back to the subject of understanding being a matter of an individual's interpretation of the material he or she sees, I mentioned the book to one of my roommates. He immediately began talking about his favorite scene in the movie, the extra-Biblical appearance of Satan and the snake in the Garden of Gethsemene. His understanding of the scene was nearly opposite the author's. As I understood it, SS disliked the scene not only for it's extra-Biblical nature (and the inherent unreality of film), but because the author felt that by introducing Satan to the garden, it made the Christ's internal battle to be an struggle not with obedience to the Father but with an outside force. My roommate's understanding of the scene, however, was that when Jesus finished praying and crushed the snake's head, it revealed that the prayer and struggle had nothing to do with Satan at all. He thought Jesus' action demonstrated that Satan's presence as an afterthought, the sort of near-mockery true authority can perform against a powerless pretender to the throne.
Where one found condemnation, another found understanding. Who is correct? Probably both, in some degree. Taken as literalism, I too would condemn the scene. Taken as symbolism, like the explanations and applications given in a sermon, I hope I should also find life and truth.
I find this applies to other areas as well. I truly enjoy the Harry Potter books, as many who know me will attest. I have actually prayed and thanked God for allowing me to live in an age with such enjoyable stories. Others oppose the stories as a living tool of Satan. (Some are not so extreme, simply wanting to avoid what could be offensive. Others simply aren't interested and don't care.) With imperfect knowledge, I too opposed the books (not that I claim "perfect" knowledge now). With understanding of the content rather than the surface, with thankfulness in my heart, I find goodness and happiness within their pages.
The same applies to music. Where one hears Hell, another sees Christ. Where another hears an antique obsession, another finds joy. We seem to be wired to find what we look for and see what we expect. Truly, the heart lives through the man.
I believe this explains much of the struggle within the Church today. We live subjectivism, yet we cannot see it in ourselves. So one calls another a libertarian or apostate as he himself is known as a legalist or a Pharisee. Both may have the same master, namely, Jesus Christ. Yet neither can claim the other as part of the same household. We forget that it is before our master that we each stand or fall. So long as the other is not opposing plain Scripture (which plainness in itself may be subjective), neither should condemn.
However, this leads to two great struggles. The first is the question of how much subjectivity Scripture can handle before it is too tainted with lies to maintain value. Either extreme (or even lack of extremity: the ubiquitous "moderate" who judges as much by intuition and inference as anyone else) can be guilty of both adding to and taking away from the words of God. How can we recognize untwisted truth when by nature we carry our own expectations and understanding into all that we do?
The only hope I can see for this dilemma is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit's illumination. As God is the source of all truth--indeed, he is truth itself--only by his work and revelation to the individual can each person know the truth.
The second struggle, as I see it, becomes the question of "openness." How much can or should I allow before reprimanding my brother? I have no easy answer, and for me, this is the far more difficult of the two problems. My practical answer is that we each seek to live honestly with one another, explaining our thoughts when others may be concerned and examining ourselves carefully when faced with questions or criticism. This too is an area of faith. We must do our best to trust one another. We must also trust God, knowing that he will separate the wheat and tares, the sheep and the goats. My knowledge of myself is imperfect. How then can I rightfully condemn my neighbor? I can disagree strongly, and when fruit ripens to reveal evil, I can condemn it and warn others of danger. But I must do so in knowledge, faith and love. I must know the Bible so that I can identify error. I must trust Jesus to keep me and cling to him in quiet desperation (as he holds me and proves that I need not be afraid). I must trust that he will truly work all things for ultimate good despite outward appearance and inward fear. And I must do my best to confront in love, intolerant of sinful error and actions while promoting what good I find.
Again I must return to faith. I cannot do any of this alone. I am but a blind and deaf goat, eyes full of splinters and ears made of wax, lying as close as I can figure to the foot of a bloody tree, needing Jesus to brighten my eyes, open my ears and cover me with a woolly coat.
"But you, dear friends, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. Have mercy on some who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; on others have mercy in fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
"Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now, and forever. Amen."
Things went surprisingly well at work today. Other than having to print out various extra handouts during the course of the meetings (that no one had told me we would need), it all went quite smoothly. No panics. No lack of food. Supper actually arrived twenty minutes early. I think I got everything we needed on minutes. Of course, I'll find that out after attempting to type them up and distribute them.
And with the joys of overtime, I should get an extra $60 or so.
Oh, and taking the bus does make a lot of sense. I drove to work today, and it saved an entire five minutes this morning (not quite sure about evening time savings). However, since it was pouring, I'm quite happy to have had the car instead of taking my normal mile hike up to First Hill or waiting for the second bus that gets me to work right at 9:00 when it's on time.
Anyway, I'm glad it's over. We have a few other events coming up, and I've been assigned quite a bit of new work due to today's discussions. But that's ok. At least I won't sit around wondering what to do anymore. :-)
Today at work I have two major meetings. Our board's executive committee is scheduled to meet from 10:00 until 4:00. The Eye Bank board is then meeting from 5:00 until who knows when. I have to say that from my end of things (food, organization, minutes, handouts), I don't feel prepared for either one.
As I told people on Friday evening after trying to tie off all the prep work, that day made me wish I were a smoker and/or a heavy drinker. Seeing that I'm neither, I had to actually deal with my stress.
Hopefully the day turns out better than I expect. It can't turn out much worse. ;-)
I went computer shopping this morning. I'm interested in Apple's iMac G5, so I went over to the Apple Store in the University District to see if anyone there could answer some of my questions. I am not impressed with the Apple Store. In my two visits to the store in less than a week, I have never yet spoken to a single person there. The clerks had plenty of business and were generally busy dealing with customers, but after twenty or thirty minutes of being ignored and just putzing around on my own--not just once, but twice--I decided I was leaving. Maybe they have a call number system or something. Maybe you have to wait in line at the counter with all the people buying things in order to get some help. However you're supposed to get help, I never figured it out. I'm generally an Apple fan, but I'm not a fan of the Apple Store. Upon leaving, I immediately headed to the Office Depot down the block to look at PCs. But I didn't like any of the PCs. I want a Mac, but I also want a store where I can get some service.
Enter the Mac Store, an apparently new establishment between the University District and my house. I noticed it while driving to the Apple Store last weekend. I was going to stop in this morning but didn't want to mess with the extremely limited parking. Post-Office Depot, though, I figured I would just try to make it work to see if I could get an answer for my fairly basic questions.
After about three minutes of looking around on my own, an older man finally came up to me and asked if I had any questions. I asked him about whether or not the Mac OS has a built in firewall for internet browsing. He said, "I'm glad you asked." Taking me over to one of the iMac G5's, he made about three clicks and showed me where to find it. I wanted to make sure I was understanding what I saw and asked, "So it doesn't need any of that extra protection software?" as I pointed to one of their shelves. He smiled widely and shook his head.
He spent ten or twenty minutes answering my questions and showing me different things around the store: Finale 2005, a MIDI to USB adapter, printers. They don't have any financing set up yet but said that should be available from their store in about two weeks. That's ok because I don't really want to buy a machine without all of the money in-hand anyway, and the holiday season with its varied expenses is quickly approaching.
When I do buy a computer, it will probably be an iMac, but it almost certainly won't be at the Apple Store. Parking difficulties aside, the Mac Store is the place to buy Apple in Seattle.
Today is my first-ever-in-memory Veterans Day wherein I have not had school or work as usual. Today is my first ever no-strings-attached paid holiday. It isn't actually helping me celebrate our freedom or honor our veterans, but it's a change for me. One of my housemates, who actually happens to be a veteran, has to work. That seems a bit unfair to me.
Unfortunately, today is feeling very Sunday-like, which is not a good thing. Sundays tend to be my loneliest, darkest days. They have been at least since I was in grad school and for what I can remember of college. I don't really remember much of Sundays from high school.
Someday I will have a happy Sunday. But for now, Sundays are my least favorite day of the week.
I'm settling into my new place, though I still have a good bit of organizing to do in my room. It's interesting trying to fit your stuff into a new space. I'm borrowing time on a housemate's computer, which is just pushing me toward the inevitable: I need to buy my own computer again.
Anyway, posts will probably be even more infrequent than usual over the coming weeks. If you would like an automatic e-mail message notifying you whenever I do happen to post, just contact me via the "Jonathan" link on the upper right of the main Epiphany page. I'll add you to my list.
I've been wanting to see the movie Finding Neverland since I first saw the trailer for it this past summer. Supposedly it came out on October 22, but it didn't make it to Seattle until the 30th. If ever there was a movie anyone could go see without any kind of offense whatsoever, this is it. It is completely clean.
The story is about J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan (Peter and Wendy, for those of you who have also read the book). I've heard that it isn't horribly accurate, but accuracy aside, it is beautiful. Not perfect, but still a beautiful, beautiful movie, utterly charming. Yet, like "Life Is Beautiful," it reveals pain as deep as grief itself. We as the audience laughed out loud and cried together as we ran the full gamut of emotion. It wasn't a packed house, but I wouldn't expect many people to assume they'd enjoy it. It's a quiet film and has been advertised as such. Hype would be difficult. But those who miss it are indeed missing out.
The acting was top-notch, even--or especially--the children. The youngest of the four boys was, well, young but cute. The eldest played his development
nicely. Poor Jack didn't get a huge amount of screen time. Peter, second youngest, was smashing. His potrayal of a wooden little boy, trapped in a shell of adulthood since his fathers death, was honest, entirely believeable as his emotions would break through, whether in forgetful play, anger or deepest
sadness.
The special effects were a bit odd but well in keeping with the story. In fact, they were really quite inventive, considering the desperate attempts at realism too many films try to take. The score carried the emotion well without being imposing.
I wouldn't be shocked to see some Oscar nominations from this film. In fact, I'll be surprised if it's overlooked.
Beautiful.