The Blind Side

Just got home from the movie theater, where I joined my wife and parents to see The Blind Side, which has received box-office success and decent critical reviews. It is the "feel-good drama" of the holiday season, but it is not at all superficial or cheesy.

Sandra Bullock is a wonderful actress whose work in the past has been overlooked. Initially I took her to be a "star" of comedy, action, and chick flicks, but she has since revealed a profound sensitivity and depth in films like Crash and Notorious. I feel that with this film, she is receiving long-overdue recognition, having already nabbed Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild nominations for this role. I hope to see her as one of the five Best Actress nominees on Oscar night.

The film's portrayal of committed Christians is overtly positive; it is the strong faith of Bullock's character (Leigh Anne Tuohy) that impels her and her family to take Michael Oher into their home. Their actions are among the most solid examples of specifically Christian compassion and social activism (as opposed to the many secular versions on the market today) that I have seen on film. No segment of society (the poor, the rich, Republicans, bureaucrats) is "demonized" or "blamed" for anything. (Well, there are a couple smart-assed low blows directed towards the GOP, but what do you expect from Hollywood?) The film's lack of cynicism is refreshing.

What I appreciated most about the film is the way in which Leigh Anne Tuohy's compassion for Michael Oher was not a generalized, detached sorrow for his lot in life. She invested in his life as an individual, intentionally struggling to understand who he was. And then she used what she knew about him to motivate him to excel in all areas of his life. The same could be said about her husband, her children, and the other Christian teachers depicted in the film. All of the Christians in the film are true witnesses of the way Christ loves each of us.

Props to director John Lee Hancock, the cast and crew, and the producers for having the integrity to put out such an inspiring film.

And extra props to Michael Oher for his life and his triumph. Sorry the Steelers got lucky and beat you yesterday... :)

The Grand Miracle

"The Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left."

- C. S. Lewis


"The Incarnation is the eucatastrophe of human history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the Incarnation. This story begins and ends with joy."

- J. R. R. Tolkien

Light in the Darkness

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned."

- Isaiah 9:2

This is a classic Christmas verse that we hear every year at some point during the Advent season. It has become one of those sentimental texts that hits our ears and somehow provokes a nice reaction in our hearts, without being absorbed fully in our brains. Darkness becomes light. A nice positive message over which we should rejoice, right?

Or is it?

Have you ever been in a situation of darkness for a long time, when your eyes have become totally adjusted to it and you're actually able to make your way around? What would be your initial reaction if someone immediately shined a light in your eyes? Would you welcome the light?

No! Whether you've just been awakened by someone turning on your bedroom light, or you're seeing approaching headlights while driving on a lonely, unillumined road in the dark... Your eyes are used to the darkness, and your first reaction is not to welcome it but to shield yourself from it, fearing its penetrating brightness. You must make a choice to allow your eyes to adjust to the light, in order that you might see the things the light reveals.

John's Gospel tells us that "Light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. All those who do evil hate the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed" (John 3:19-20). All humans live in a state of willful rebellion against their Creator. Until recently this was generally accepted as the doctrine of Original Sin. To such rebelliousness, the Divine light of truth is not something that is initially welcome, for it will expose those things which made darkness so appealing.

In American culture the Christmas story has become so "sanitized" that it no longer makes the impact that should be made by a bright light shining in darkness. It has become a cutesy children's tale, enmeshed in elements of paganism and commercialism, that does nothing to penetrate beneath the surface of our lives and shock us with a prophetic indictment that should accompany the proclamation of God's Word.

Can we reclaim the message of Luke 1, which tells us that the cultural, political, and religious establishment generally fails to grasp what God is really all about, and that we must be receptive to messages of Divine truth from unexpected places, from the fringe of life?

Are we willing to view Mary and Joseph in a different light...not as iconic, perfect saints but as a scared young couple willing to put everything on the line for the sake of the call God placed on their lives? Are Christ-followers willing to be more like that second option, instead of unfairly holding themselves and others to the standard of the first?

Can we discern a deeper meaning in the story of the Magi, whose faith in pagan religious practices and in their own wisdom led them to the evil dictator Herod, while it was the Word of God alone that led them to Baby of Bethlehem?

Is there a political message in the story of King Herod, who ruled with lies and fear rather than with truth and justice? Will the "Herods" of our day (of all political affiliations) learn to bend their knees before the true King of Kings and be willing to expose all their deeds to the light of Christ's truth?

Most importantly, are we willing to acknowledge that so much of what we define as Christmas today...commercialism, entertainment, obligatory gifts, and wanton busyness...that these things have nothing to do with the One whose birth we celebrate and whose life we claim as our standard of everything that is true and good.

May the light of Christmas break through the darkness of sin, injustice, and apathy, that we may truly sing, "Joy to the world! The Lord is come!"

Reflections on "The Sing-Off"

This past week my wife and I became engrossed in NBC's new talent competition, "The Sing-Off." What an incredible display of vocal talent by very diverse groups of singers! You don't have to be a musician to appreciate how tough it is for a group to sing a cappella music well, and these groups have nailed it each night!

My two favorite groups are "Nota" (who have given a distinctively urban grit to a cappella music) and "The Beelzebubs" (who combine off-the-wall college-boy antics with superior vocal stylings, and they project the simple fact that music is just plain fun). Going with my gut, I'll predict that "The Beelzebubs" will take the grand prize, but I think "Nota" will give them a tough fight till the end.

Even though I am staying away from theology books until January 1, I've been reminded through my reading of secular books that anything can provoke theological reflection, for God has saturated every inch of His creation with clues to His character and truth. One only needs to seek, and he will find. (I think I read that somewhere...)

With that in mind, here is a nugget of theological wisdom that "The Sing-Off" has helped me to clarify:

The human voice is the only musical instrument that God made without any help from human beings, and it is without a doubt the most beautiful instrument of all. As my wife and I watched "The Sing-Off," we marveled at what those human voices were able to do musically, without any help from man-made pianos, guitars, or drums. And yet it is not so marvelous, when one considers that God specifically designed the human voice for the high and holy purpose of worshipping Him.

Our voices also have more power than any other instrument--for good or evil--to touch us on the deepest levels of our being. But therein lies a profound tragedy, for I believe that part of our rebellion against God is the misuse of our voices. In today's culture, so much of our speech and our singing is focused downward, towards the basest and most sinful elements of life. Ben Folds is one of the judges on "The Sing-Off," a very talented composer, pianist, and singer...and yet his songs are replete with gratuitous profanity, sexuality, and hedonism which make it difficult to respect the serious ideas that his lyrics (sometimes) contain.

Unfortunately, even Christians (including myself) have a way of misusing our voices: communicating anger rather than joy and peace, speaking words of judgment and hostility rather than words of grace and reconciliation. We raise our voices in these improper ways, and yet on Sunday mornings we do not raise our voices with the same level of intensity in our worship to God. That is, in my opinion, sinful, and it reveals the fallenness of the human voice and its need for redemption. If every Christian congregation sang with the same fervency and joy as "Nota" or "The Beelzebubs," I believe the world would be converted in no time.

Indeed, what Christian churches might learn from "Nota," "The Beelzebubs," and the other groups on "The Sing-Off" is how to incarnate an ensemble that resounds with the sonorous harmonies of the Gospel. For I believe if you asked any of those a cappella groups how they got to where they are, they would answer the following (in substance, if not exactly in form):

1 - Ensembles work only when each individual brings forth the best of who he or she is. Slackers, in the long run, will do more harm than good.

2 - Ensembles do not come into existence overnight. When you join a new ensemble, do not be too quick to judge if it does not perform exactly the way you think it should. Perhaps it is you who needs to alter your expectations.

3 - Becoming an ensemble is hard work: you must get to know and appreciate each others' voices, you must commit to learning your part of the score, and you must find a way to blend all the parts harmoniously, knowing when to hold back your own part and when to stand out.

4 - Becoming a good ensemble requires both task-oriented work (learning the music, perfecting the vocals, etc...) and relationship work (encouraging each other, learning to work together in a positive, affirming manner, etc...), and the leadership must be diligent in intuiting which type of work is called for.

5 - Coming together for rehearsal should never be seen as an end in itself. The purpose is always to go out and share the ensembles' gifts with others. If our music is only being heard by our own ensemble, why the heck are we bothering?

Serenity, Courage, and Wisdom

"God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."

It has been over seventy years since that prayer was first penned by Neo-Orthodox theologian/ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr. Since then it has been adopted as the official prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous and is respected by individuals of different religious backgrounds...indeed, even by those of no religious background. The atheist philosopher Ayn Rand praised it as being "profoundly true, as a summary and a guideline: it names the mental attitude which a rational man must seek to achieve" (Philosophy: Who Needs It. New York: Penguin, 1984, p. 23).

Personally, this prayer ranks as #3 on my list of favorites, right behind The Lord's Prayer and The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. However, like all prayers (including the two aforementioned), The Serenity Prayer can take on the quality of a rote, formulaic mantra devoid of any personal meaning when uttered inattentively or without full understanding of its substance. Here is my humble attempt to shed light on the deep philosophical and theological meaning of the three separate statements in this prayer:

Serenity to accept the things we can not change. This seemingly simple statement involves the deepest issues of philosophy (specifically, the fundamental branch of metaphysics). For at its root is the acknowledgment that reality is what it is, that facts are what they are, independent of our own wishes or feelings. So much of the misery in human life comes from our psychological, emotional, or willful evasion of the plain facts of life, such as:

• God is quite willing to allow a great deal of suffering to take place out of respect for our own free will
  
• Human beings were made to be creative and productive, not to coast through life doing "as little as possible"
  
• Actions (and inactions) have consequences whether we like it or not


• No one else, and nothing else, can make us happy; we must choose happiness for ourselves and take responsibility to do those things which will make us truly happy


• We cannot force anyone to see things our way or to believe anything they don't want to believe

These are fairly commonsensical notions, yet people consistently contradict them in their daily lives when they question God and His will every time tragedy besets them, or when they make irresponsible decisions regularly and then wonder why "life" treats them so unfairly. This prayer challenges us to examine and confess every negative attitude we hold, discerning whether that attitude is a legitimate gripe or merely a spineless unwillingness to deal with hard truth.

Courage to change the things we can. If the first statement addresses the metaphysical issues of life (God and reality), then this statement addresses life's moral issues (personal responsibility). While there are certain fundamental facts about life in general that we can not change, God has granted each individual the freedom of choice concerning his or her own life for which each individual is personally responsible. In making these daily choices, most individuals resort to their "whims" or "feelings" as guides for what they will do, or they default to habits which may or may not be good ones. Then, when the undesired consequences of these choices are made manifest, rather than confess their responsibility, those same individuals assert that it was a situation "beyond my control," or they blame their bad choice on their upbringing or their brain chemistry, or they want the government to save them from the consequences, or - my favorite cop-out - acquiescently asserting that "shit happens."

It takes real moral courage to move beyond this victim mentality, to look at every moral situation we encounter, and then to face squarely the following questions:

1. Which aspects of this situation are directly within my power to choose and change, and which are not?


2. Based on my God-given reasoning ability (and the advice of others when available), what are the logical consequences of each option I have to choose, and am I personally willing to bear responsibility for those consequences?


3. Which option and which consequences seem most consistent with the teachings of Scripture?

This is truly the only way to effect significant "change" in our lives.

Wisdom to know the difference. This final statement addresses the practical issues of judgment and discernment. In many situations, knowing the difference between what we can and cannot change is merely a matter of common sense. But ultimately, wisdom in any situation comes to us when the chief emotion of our hearts is reverence (fear) of God. In other words, our ultimate focus should not be on the problem we face, but on the One who provides us with ultimate meaning and hope for our lives. Put another way, we should interpret the specifics of life through the lens of the general purpose of life, not the other way around. To give two specific examples:

• At this moment a major source of worry in my life are two individuals for whom I care a great deal, but who have been making a lot of unwise choices that are bringing upon them an immense amount of pain and depression. My worries impel me to rush head on to "save" them, to fix the situation and literally preach at them to make them see the folly of their ways. I confess that I have lost sleep over both of these dear people. Yet as I step back and allow wisdom to have her way, I see that both situations are things that I can not change and must accept with serenity. Both individuals are free agents who are responsible for their own lives and their own happiness: I can bring them to the throne of grace in my prayers, asking the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts. But I must let go of my worries, or my thoughts that I can do more than I actually can.
• Historically, I have not been very good at processing my own anger. I often allow it to become bottled up inside of me, and then it comes out all at once when one little thing sets me off. In the past, I have been good at blaming that one little thing for my outbursts. But as I have matured in wisdom, I have come to realize that this is an area of my life over which I alone am responsible. While I certainly need to rely on the graceful, sanctifying power of God, I acknowledge that this is an area in which I needed to make a change...I needed to process my negative emotions in a more godly way.

In a nutshell, my challenge to all of us is to pray the Serenity Prayer, but let us not pray it in the manner of a pious platitude. Let us pray it, rather, fully understanding the nature of the serenity, courage, and wisdom that we are asking God to grant us.