Wasp Jerky has an excellent post over at his place quoting Tony Campolo that includes this little gem (Campolo began a sermon with this line):
"I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."
Campolo is an interesting Baptist minister who sometimes falls to the Left and sometimes to the Right, and who is right on with his comment here.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Sunday, June 18, 2006
PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION!!!
WOAH!! Ya gotta go see it. Has anyone already seen it?
I'm talking about the movie, Prairie Home Companion, which opened a couple of weekends ago and I've just got around to seeing. It's the best movie of the year so far - easily - and probably the best of this decade/millenium.
It is, of course, hilarious. You'd expect that. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly play Dusty and Lefty to great effect. They do risque songs that drive the stage manager nuts. And, of course, Garrison Keillor is funny as always. Kevin Kline turns in a stellar performance as Noir, Guy Noir.
But there is also a Wendell Berryesque melancholy underlying it all that increases the depth of the film tenfold. And the dialogue! The words drip and ricochet about with vivid, aged color, thick and rich as ketchup pouring from the bottle. You MUST all go see it.
Has anyone else seen it yet? Am I off my nut or should it be showered with Oscars this year?
I'm talking about the movie, Prairie Home Companion, which opened a couple of weekends ago and I've just got around to seeing. It's the best movie of the year so far - easily - and probably the best of this decade/millenium.
It is, of course, hilarious. You'd expect that. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly play Dusty and Lefty to great effect. They do risque songs that drive the stage manager nuts. And, of course, Garrison Keillor is funny as always. Kevin Kline turns in a stellar performance as Noir, Guy Noir.
But there is also a Wendell Berryesque melancholy underlying it all that increases the depth of the film tenfold. And the dialogue! The words drip and ricochet about with vivid, aged color, thick and rich as ketchup pouring from the bottle. You MUST all go see it.
Has anyone else seen it yet? Am I off my nut or should it be showered with Oscars this year?
Mossy Creek
Mossy Creek
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.
We're back from a week on the West Coast. We visited Portland for several days (Donna had a wonderful conference) and then traveled to Seaside, OR for a few days where we visited the temperate rainforest and traveled along the coast spotting some magnificent monoliths. More to come on our travels and experiences.
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Life is a Bowl of Cherries
Cherries Jubilation
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.
I'm away from my blogspace for a few days and so I'll leave you with the first fruits of the year's harvest and a few delightful quotes.
For those of you who don't know, I'm a mapmaker by trade (computer-mapping, or GIS). And so I'll begin with one for the cartographers out there:
Tobler's First Law of Geography
If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.
P. J. O'Rourke
When you are right, you cannot be too radical; When you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Weaseling out of things is good. It's what separates us from the other animals....except weasels.
Homer Simpson
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
Crowfoot , Blackfoot warrior and orator
Thursday, June 1, 2006
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
What's the Fuss?
I read The DaVinci Code fairly early on, before there was much of an uproar. I enjoyed the read and didn't perceive it as an attack on Christianity because IT IS FICTION.
When I did start hearing about some churches and christians taking offense, I was a bit surprised because, after all, IT IS FICTION. The DaVinci Code is available in the library under the Fiction category. The writer wrote it as a piece of fiction. Therefore, what he claimed or didn't wasn't a big concern for me because, as I've noted, IT IS FICTION!
I finally went to see the movie last night and it occurred to me that there's another reason why I wasn't bothered by The DaVinci Code.
There's nothing wrong with it from a Christian point of view!
Even if every word in The DaVinci Code were true [SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVE MANAGED NOT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE CONTROVERSY YET!] and Jesus did marry Mary Magdalene and fathered a child, there's nothing unbiblical or un-Christian in the thought. Yes, it's extrabiblical. Yes, it is against our understanding of Jesus as a single man. But if it were true, there's nothing in the notion that should hurt anyone's faith.
Gospel writer John himself tells us, "There are many other things that Jesus did, so many in fact that if they were all written out, I do not suppose that the world itself would hold the books that would have to be written." It could be entirely possible that this story could be one of those unwritten stories and it would do nothing - NOTHING - to invalidate the Gospel as we know it.
What such a story does is challenge our traditions, and for those with a huge investment in the traditions of the church, I suppose this story is a bit threatening. But there is nothing in this story - which, by the way IS FICTION - that ought to worry anyone's little head a single bit.
Sleep soundly church. If you're having nightmares, I'd suggest it might be a chance for you to evaluate your dependencies upon traditions, as opposed to what is actually contained within the Bible.
When I did start hearing about some churches and christians taking offense, I was a bit surprised because, after all, IT IS FICTION. The DaVinci Code is available in the library under the Fiction category. The writer wrote it as a piece of fiction. Therefore, what he claimed or didn't wasn't a big concern for me because, as I've noted, IT IS FICTION!
I finally went to see the movie last night and it occurred to me that there's another reason why I wasn't bothered by The DaVinci Code.
There's nothing wrong with it from a Christian point of view!
Even if every word in The DaVinci Code were true [SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVE MANAGED NOT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE CONTROVERSY YET!] and Jesus did marry Mary Magdalene and fathered a child, there's nothing unbiblical or un-Christian in the thought. Yes, it's extrabiblical. Yes, it is against our understanding of Jesus as a single man. But if it were true, there's nothing in the notion that should hurt anyone's faith.
Gospel writer John himself tells us, "There are many other things that Jesus did, so many in fact that if they were all written out, I do not suppose that the world itself would hold the books that would have to be written." It could be entirely possible that this story could be one of those unwritten stories and it would do nothing - NOTHING - to invalidate the Gospel as we know it.
What such a story does is challenge our traditions, and for those with a huge investment in the traditions of the church, I suppose this story is a bit threatening. But there is nothing in this story - which, by the way IS FICTION - that ought to worry anyone's little head a single bit.
Sleep soundly church. If you're having nightmares, I'd suggest it might be a chance for you to evaluate your dependencies upon traditions, as opposed to what is actually contained within the Bible.
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