The OOC

I don’t know if anyone else was there, or if those who were there thought this, but I have never been so humbled at church than I was at Bette’s memorial service.

Bette kept all her prayers, you see, in journals. Ron read several of them, and each one started something like:

Dear Heavenly father,

Good morning Lord! I love you so much. I want to be with you so badly. . /

And on from there.

Here’s Bette, afflicted her entire life, expressing her unfailing confidence in the unfailing love that God had for her. This rock solid childlike faith just overwhelmed all the cares and frustrations of my day. I felt that something holy was before me. I felt God’s pleasure at these prayers. And I can tell you that it has and will continue to make a difference in how I approach God in prayer.

Any thoughts?

The latest genetic research regarding the “origins” of homosexuality has produced the most bizarre pro-life bill. First, we have research on a fictional concept, now we have legislation on the possible future discoveries of said research. Amazing!

Erin Layton is an OOC-expatriate living in New York. She recently sent an email with her observations on The Gates Project there. She writes (posted with permission):

I saw the Gates on Sunday afternoon, the last day of the exhibition. Makoto Fujimara, a painter and writer at Village Church, spoke briefly about the impact of such an exhibit for Christians, especially Christians in the arts. He encouraged us to experience the Gates on our own because he likened the exhibit to kingdom glory. He showed slides of the orange fabric that spread like a sleeping serpent through Central Park. The infinite nature of the Gates, he said, should encourage us involved in the arts to bring glory to God through our gifts. Look at how much glory this has brought to the city, he said, why shouldn’t we strive for the same purpose in our individual pursuits?

This word glory meant little to me, in terms of art, until I witnessed the Gates on my own. I think I have lost some understanding of what it means to truly glorify God through art. I don’t know the spiritual beliefs of the artists who put this piece together and I honestly had not read much on their vision/purpose of such work. When I walked up the stairs from 59th Street and Colombus Circle Subway station I gazed upward to a sea of orange enveloping New York City. Since this was the last day for the exhibit it had attracted the largest crowd I had seen in New York. The strange thing was the entire park fell silent under the spell of the color. People touched the fabric as they walked by with a certain respect as if they were touching the cloak of a great king or prophet. Even though it as a bitter cold afternoon the Gates lent a warmth that comforted our souls. We weren’t trying to get somewhere fast. We all walked with the same slow pace. I noticed people standing in the middle of the park with tears streaming down their faces as they gazed upon the expanse of orange. I can’t tell you why the gates were so moving. I felt as though the people who attended were embracing their dead, each gate representing the souls of those who perished. Maybe it was a memorial for the Tsunami disaster, again each of the gates a tribute to the orphaned children, the families who perished together, the mothers, the fathers. Or maybe it was the safety that we felt as a brotherhood, sisterhood walking into a sublime protection from the outside world. For whatever reason we felt moved by these pillars of hanging orange fabric whether it be personal or universal, it united the city. This city so full of glory and sadness was represented by a single motif repeated over and over all across metropolitan New York. Truly glorious.

This is an amazing story, Baby Stable After Second Head Removed, and a more amazing picture. I wonder if there was any thought that the second head was a living human being. Any thoughts?

Wichita Eagle 02/27/2005 Park City man held in 17-year killing spree

I grew up in Wichita. I lived there from 1974 through 1992, which overlapped exactly with the reign of terror that was BTK. Sometimes, my sister and I would play a childish (and cruel) game with each other whenever we heard one of those strange, misty noises in the night. We’d take turns telling each other that it was BTK just outside our home. Some days, in the early 80’s, we didn’t have to suggest it very loudly before each of us believed it–right to our souls.

Police now have captured Dennis Rader, whom they say is responsible for the BTK murders, and I have to tell you, that he looks nothing like how I pictured him. He looks like. . .everyman, and that’s just the problem. In his book Blue Like Jazz: Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, Don Miller relates a tale of a friend reflecting on the genocide taking place in an African country, and his friend asking whether he (Don Miller) was capable of such a thing. The quick answer was “No!” but as his friend pressed him on the implications of his answer, Miller reflects:

“Tony had me on this one. If I answered his question by saying yes, I could commit those atrocities, that would make me evil, but if I answered no, it would suggest I believed I am better evolved than some of the men in the Congo. And then I would have some explaining to do.”

That’s the crux of the problem of sin (not just the problem of evil–that’s too easy for us to get out from under: “Oh, I’m not evil.”). Each and every one of us has it within us to be a thief, a liar, a murderer. That’s the point of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:21-23

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

It’s all within us. Any of us could be BTK. Don’t believe me? ask those he worked with. Ask those at his church. Ask his pastor.

You’ve probably heard the buzz about Disney’s attempt at producing the big-screen interpretation of The Chronicles of Narnia. An article in the New York Times raises the issue of the work’s Christian worldview, vis-a-vis the “marketability” of the film. The whole commercial element of Disney’s motivation rubs me the wrong way, though of course they’re entitled to it:

Having been criticized for failing to cash in on the merchandising opportunities offered by 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” Disney is preparing for the kind of all-encompassing drive it hasn’t mounted since 1994, when it turned “The Lion King” into a pop cultural event that still reverberates in its retail stores and on Broadway.

But the real issue — to the players in the story, including the author — is how “touchy” the matter of the Christian aspect is:

But this time, the pros at Disney are wrestling with a special challenge: how to sell a screen hero who was conceived as a forthright symbol of Jesus Christ, a redeemer who is tortured and killed in place of a young human sinner and who returns in a glorious resurrection that transforms the snowy landscape of Narnia into a verdant paradise.

I was amazed at how ignorant the author and Disney execs seem to be about the nature of movies and worldviews: namely, that every film has one. The idea that Disney “stays out of the culture wars” or is apolitical is preposterous. Just because a movie isn’t Christian doesn’t mean it doesn’t present a religion or particular worldview. Plenty of Disney movies have very clearly defined worldviews.

It’s just sad that people’s overfunctioning political correctness prevents them from enjoying/producing a perfectly great, redemptive work of literature, just because someone told them it was “Christian.” I’m hopeful that it will be faithful (no pun intended), but I’m not holding my breath – Disney’s track record doesn’t bode well (I challenge readers to give me some examples otherwise).

Now if Mel G. decides to make a version of Narnia…

Hurray! Coffee is good for you! Now where’s that research on donuts?

This is truly amazing and wonderful. Hat tip to the World Mag Blog for posting this story.

I found this article to be interesting in its own right, but especially following Ron’s sermon on Sunday (which by the way, I found to be very compelling). I know that Ron wasn’t focusing on the same issues as this article, but the theme of order vs. authenticity is very present in both. What Mr. DeGroat labels as authenticity in his article, seems to some degree to be what Ron was calling order – a longing for a return to a more structured, liturgical church with historical roots and away from the pop-culture reflections of church that has proliferated over the past 25 years or so. This is something that I have been seeing for at least the last 10 years as several of my college friends (including me) looked very closely at Anglicanism, Catholocism, and Orthodoxy as a way to counteract what we perceived as a watered down Christianity that seemed to focus on exerience.

If anyone else has read this, I’d love to hear thoughts on it.

Just a quick post on how much the we (the Nelson family) enjoyed the time last Friday at the Milligan house.The music was fantastic and I wanted to say a big thanks to Rene who put it together as well as the musicians for providing us all a terrific evening.

Max especially was enthralled and expected us to do the same thing on Sunday morning. When we got to church, he informed us that he wanted to stay upstairs and sing – then when church was over, he was ready to go over to the “Migilan” house to sing some more.

Thanks to all who contributed!