Labels: Other

I'm in meetings for two days this week, so I might not have time to post anything of substance on my lunch break. However, I wanted to connect some people with some cool documents floating around the interweb.

Two are from Psychology Today. They were written years ago but I think they're relevant and fascinating reading:

"Why I Hate Beauty"
"A Nation of Wimps"

I listened to these remarks from Barack Obama's Call To Renewal address a couple months ago, but my buddy Justin found what I think is more or less a transcript of that address at Sojourners. This is Obama talking about faith & politics, and regardless of your political stance I think there are important thoughts in here. The address is still available on his podcast through iTunes, but if you like reading here is the written version:

"One Nation... Under God?"

While I'm here, for one reason or another I've seen four movies in the last three days:

The Break-Up: This was billed to me as an anti-romantic comedy, which led me to believe it was going to be a dark comedy. Then I realized it was Jennifer Aniston, who, while a good actress, hasn't pushed the limits of comedy lately, so I though maybe it's a romantic comedy disguised as an anti-romantic comedy. Turns out it is a sort of dark (dusk?) character study disguised as a romantic comedy disguised as an anti-romantic comedy. There are funny moments to be sure, and I didn't hate it, but it felt like I spent time and money to watch two people yell at each other and tear each other apart in an honest and lifelike way... which, to me, isn't exactly entertainment. Jason Bateman & Jon Favreau are pretty funny and I'm not sure how Vince & Jen ended up dating after filming this, so that's interesting enough, but I wouldn't recommend anyone renting this.

Over the Hedge: I like most of the CGI comedies coming out lately, even the non-Pixar ones, and this is one of the better ones. Lots of fun and creative characters and they make the cliches and predictable parts pretty exciting. I really enjoyed watching it, just a well-made movie.

Thank You For Smoking: I wasn't sure if I'd like this, and it gets a little dark, but I ended up really enjoying it. It's not something I need to watch over and over, but it's funny, poignant, well written and well acted. Worth seeing.

The Departed. If you don't like violence, just stay away. Otherwise I think this is as good a movie as Scorsese's made (he's one of my favorite story tellers and one of the bigger reasons why I wanted to be a filmmaker growing up). I just plain enjoyed the heck out of this movie. Well-paced, well-acted, great banter and dialogue, tons of twists, I didn't know what was going to happen next at any given point in the movie. This is right up there with Goodfellas for me, maybe even better. And to give you something to weigh it against, I pretty much like every Scorsese movie I've seen (which isn't all of them, but includes Mean Streets, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York, The Aviator and various others). Mark Whalberg and Alec Baldwin make every attempt to steal the show, but in the end, Leo DiCaprio is De Niro-esque, Matt Damon has a less meaty part but is great in it, and Jack Nicholson keeps his near-perfect streak alive. But again, really, really, really, really violent.

Back to meetings. Feel free to leave comments.

Labels: Other

I plan on posting my top ten albums of the year in late December, and I'm going to try to keep it to one post and not four or five like last year. One of the reasons is because while I do want to share some cool music that you may have missed, I'm realizing how fickle my tastes can be. I looked at my top ten list from last year and I only listen to three or four of those albums with any sort of regularity.

Here's what it looked like last year:

1 - Spoon - Gimme Fiction
2 - Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
3 - Beck - Guero
4 - Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
5 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - s/t
6 - Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
7 - Common - Be
8 - Robert Glasper - Canvas
9 - John Legend - Get Lifted
10 - MIA - Arular

And here's what it would look like if I posted it now, after at least a year of listening to these albums (last year's rank in parenthesis):

1 - Spoon - Gimme Fiction (1)
2 - Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary (2)
3 - Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs (4)
4 - Broken Social Scene - s/t
5 - Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
6 - Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
7 - Edan - Beauty and the Beat
8 - The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
9 - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - s/t (5)
10 - LCD Soundsystem - s/t

With the 2005 Hold Steady album (Separation Sunday) a close 11th. I haven't listened to any of the other six in the last six months, maybe not even this year for a couple of them. I still can't get enough of Spoon though, and Wolf Parade & Andrew Bird remain weekly or bi-weekly listens after a year of hearing them.

Labels: music

"Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said.

"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.""
- John 11:38-42 (NIV)

Moving the Stones

I've seen people struggle with their healing process for years, making headway little by little each month, and I've seen people miraculously healed of stuff they've struggled with for years in one prayer session. I don't know why God works in different ways, although I'm sure that we could make some useful observations fairly quickly (I'll leave those up to you). My own healing is coming in the little by little means.

I've been begging for God to break into my life in a Lazarus-type way for awhile now and I keep hearing things like "be patient." and "the Lord is moving." It's simultaneosly invigorating and maddening. When I get prayer now I expect to be a different person at the end, but that's not how God's worked in this process. However, he is moving.

When I watch Jesus at work raising Lazarus, I see different roles we play. Martha, the sister who out of love and deep grief wants to close this chapter in her life (we'll get to her later), Jesus, the miracle worker and the people he uses. This passage is one of my favorite examples of God using people to bring Heaven to Earth. Jesus does the healing, but he tells the others to move the stone.

Using a crude example, what would life be like for Lazarus if the stone wasn't moved? To be extreme, he would spend the rest of his living days inside a cave bound in linens. Due to its previous role as grave, I'm guessing the cave isn't stocked with water and food, and I read somewhere that not having enough light can drive a person literally crazy.

Last night my friends prayed for me and even though it wasn't the life-changing prayer I crave, I could feel them moving stones in my life, preparing the way for the Lord.

So in this story the other people are used to move the stones and to unbind the graveclothes. Not a bad job description as Christians, right?

Labels: Favorites, Jesus

I'm trying out a new look, let me know what you think.

I'll be back to posting regularly soon - still collecting my thoughts and rethinking some things as a result of the conference this weekend. I'll leave you with three thoughts from Lance Pittluck's messages this weekend:

"Maturity is adjusting to reality."

"You can't attain the maturity you want without some sort of prayer life."

"...where prayer is our life and we do things in the midst of praying."


So I'm in a Blur mood and that means it's time to put together my all-time Blur playlist. This is heavily weighted towards Blur and 13, as those are my favorite Blur albums. Anyway, if you have a spare 18 bucks, you could theoretically download all of these on iTunes. Maybe a couple of you will have these albums and can share in the Tuesday Blur love.

the Blur on the street Playlist

1 - Trimm Trabb - 13
2 - Song 2 - Blur
3 - Pop Scene - Modern Life is Rubbish
4 - There's No Other Way - Leisure
5 - Caramel - 13
6 - Beetlebum - Blur
7 - Death of a Party - Blur
8 - Coffee & TV - 13
9 - Sweet Song - Think Tank
10 - No Distance Left to Run - 13
11 - Parklife - Parklife
12 - To the End - Parklife
13 - The Universal - The Great Escape
14 - Chemical World - Modern Life is Rubbish (make sure to stay for the last minute or so)
15 - This is a Low - Parklife
16 - Tender - 13
17 - Stange News from Another Star - Blur
18 - Mellow Song - 13

Labels: music

Graveclothes

John 11:43-44

He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." (NASB)

And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!" (NLT)

I tried to do a little research on burial clothes in first century Judaism, and I didn't come up with much. Here's what I know: when someone died they were wrapped head to foot in these heavy linens, and the linens were tucked into the body. I've seen that these linens were far too heavy to be lifted by someone who had lost some muscle mass, adding some new meaning to Jesus folding his grave clothes before he exited the tomb.

(The next couple sentences may be too graphic for some, feel free to skip to the next paragraph) So Lazarus has been dead for four days, which means rigor mortis has set in and subsided, at some point he was bound in these linens and covered with a shroud. After four days, his body structure has begun to collapse and decay is well under way.

Jesus apparently shouts (the New King James Version gives the impression that he cried out at the top of his lungs, which is worth noting for a later post) and Lazarus comes out of his tomb, still wrapped in his linens. He was apparently so weak and bound so tightly that Jesus told the others to take the grave clothes off of him so that he could go free.

Unbound

I feel bound. I feel like the things I need healing for have me wrapped up tightly and my system is unmoving. Today, in this story, I am Lazarus. And what I need is for Jesus to come crashing into my life and cry out "David, come out!"

Since this is one of those stories we all know by heart, sometimes the details get tweaked a bit. For instance, I thought the next line was Jesus telling Lazarus to take off his grave clothes and go free. It turns out that the people around him had to do that for him, that Jesus directed them to. And I imagine they were quite happy to help.

In the coming weeks I'll look at Jesus' part in this, but to keep it simple for today, let me share the lesson that shook my system: If you've been bound for a period of time, you may not be able to get the things that bound you off by yourself. Jesus can bring me back to life and he may provide others in my life to help me sort through it and shed the inner-wrappings so I can go free. Emotional healing isn't a one-stop-shop, but rather a process that leads to life. And sometimes I feel like if Jesus can provide the first move, I can handle it from there, but the truth is I need people to travel with, to help me out. To unbind me and let me go.

Over the next month I want to think about the healing process, about Jesus, about the others and about all sorts of crazy stuff we can learn from these 44 verses. I'm hoping that some of you will find truth and life from these words as well. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Labels: Favorites, Jesus

"Lazarus, come out!"
I want to work through the story of Jesus raising Lazarus over the next month or so. This of course will be interspersed with random posts about whatever, but I'll try to post a few thoughts on this story every week.

About a month ago someone told me that Jesus is raising me like he raised Lazarus, and without overstating it, it cut right to the core of where I am and who I am. Since then I've spent many nights reading and re-reading this story. Normally I would pull out all the commentaries and learn what the people who've studied this story far longer than me have to say. And there's some of that going on, but I felt like I should spend more time thinking and praying and journaling about what this ancient text is saying that is making me feel so alive and well in the year 2006, and then temper, integrate and cultivate my thoughts with the thoughts of others later.

It occured to me at some point that there's a simple power in reading this story from finish to beginning, understanding it in reverse order. So that's how I'm going to blog about it. Because as each layer is added, it is important to understand two points about the end of the story and seeing how everything leads up to that.

First I want to just state it simply and then maybe later today I want to talk about some of the specifics about the end of this story and why it's speaking to me in such a powerful way.

Reading the Last Page First

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
- John 11:43-44

This is the end of the story you've probably read a hundred times. To say absolutley nothing new, Jesus raised a guy from the dead. So Lazarus was dead, Jesus shows up, says a few words and suddenly the guy is not dead. That's one powerful Rabbi.

And that's the hypothesis to begin what may become a lengthy reading on the first 44 verses of the eleventh chapter of the Gospel according to John, the disciple of Jesus. If this were a movie, this is the stylish opening scene where you see Jesus raising a guy from the dead and then how that happened is slowly revealed over the next two hours. Movies begin this way because part of the dramatic tension is created from wondering how we got from point A to point Z, or, from verse one to verse 44. In Memento, the opening scene is the end of the story and each subsequent scene is what happened just before that scene, and the next, what happened right before the second scene.

I'm opening this way because I think it's important to keep in mind throughout the story that in the end, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. I think that fact makes everything that I'm about write much heavier and hopeful. Because, truth be told, the beginning of this story, when all the facts are on the table, has a bleak outlook for Lazarus, who, as I previously posted, was kicking back with Jesus enjoying a meal just a short while later.

Anyway, we'll get to all of that, hopefully sooner than later.

Labels: Favorites, Jesus

Random note part one

October 7 - beautiful sunny day, reaches upwards of 80 degrees.
October 12 - snowing.

(fill in your own commentary here)

Random note part two

Michael Emerson plays "Henry Gale" or "Ben" (or "Benry Gale" as he's being called by the fans who read hundreds of posts about 40 minutes of television each week, apparently) on Lost, a show that I'm completely obsessed with. This character is my fourth favorite character, and potentially my second. Given the company that puts him with is a high complement - John Locke, Desmond Hume & Mr. Eko being the top three, in that order.

Anyway, I wanted to see if he'd starred in anything else after I read this interview at Blender, in which he says that Radiohead constantly surprises him and The Stooges rock his face off - and I shout "AMEN!" - and it turns out that he's from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, about an hour from my hometown. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice.

Okay, hopefully I'll have a new post about Lazarus up tonight. In the meantime, go rent seasons one and two of Lost and try to get caught up by Wednesday, okay?

Labels: Other

Not much time today, just wanted to mention that I posted my October playlist on iTunes. The link is over on the right column. This is just what I was listening to in September - most of these albums are older and much of it you've probably heard before.

iTunes continues to publish the list in alphabetical order, so I'll just leave it that way.

Ambulance LTD - "Primitive"
Athlete - "Modern Mafia"
Beck - "Bottle of Blues"
Beck - "Nausea"
The Black Keys - "Black Door"
Blur - "Trimm Trabb"
Constantines - "Nighttime/Anytime (It's Alright)"
Gorillaz - "Dare (DFA Remix)"
Grizzly Bear - "Little Brother"
The Hold Steady - "Stuck Between Stations"
John Mayer - "Vultures"
Nomo - "Nu Tones"
The Rapture - "Whoo! Alright, Yeah... Uh Huh"
Subtle - "The Mercury Craze"
TV on the Radio - "Hours"
The Whigs - "Violet Furs"

There were four songs this month that iTunes isn't offering that are worth seeking out.

Scanners - "Lowlife"
The Guillemots - "Redwings"
Sugababes - "Overload"
Tripping Daisy - "Waited a Light Year"

and I was going to include "Pass the Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind" by Yo La Tengo, but it's long enough that they don't sell it as a single. Anyway, there's the list.

Real quick plug - on Tuesday, the full length Cold War Kids comes out. It's called Robbers and Cowards and it's one of my two or three favorite albums released so far in 2006. Highly recommended. If you want to take a one song sample, start with "Hang Me Up To Dry". I'll post some YouTube and other links on Monday. Happy listening!

Labels: music

Have you ever seen one of those boxing matches where the guy in the yellow trunks is getting absolutely pummeled but somehow he's not getting knocked out? Somehow, maybe through a divine intervention of God Himself, he's holding on, staying up, even though his opponent has landed punch after punch and all the guy can do is not fall down?

That's kind of what life feels like a lot for me.

What's that guy's strategy exactly? At some point, he's going down right? Maybe it's to wait until his opponent gets tired. Or maybe it's just to stay up long enough to make it to the bell so he can have some dude pour water on him as he spits out his mouthpiece and hopes a tooth doesn't come with it.

But really, unless something miraculous happens, his opponent will eventually knock him out, or the fight will end and the judges will score it as a win for his opponent, who almost certainly landed more solid punches. What's that guy's hope?

Lazarus

Over the next month, I'm going to be writing primarily about Lazarus. In the eleventh and twelfth (how do you spell twelfth? spellcheck, that's how) chapters of John's Gospel, there is this miracle that actually happened on the same earth that you and I walk on where this guy named Lazarus dies and then Jesus comes and raises him from the dead. And all this crazy stuff happens from the beginning of the story to the end of the story involving Judea and grave clothes and odors, but today I want to focus on the end of the story. We'll get to the beginning eventually, maybe Memento-style. But tonight I just want to focus on the end. The part after Lazarus is raised from the dead.

John 12:1-2
Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.

This was a man who was dead, for four days, and who is now reclining at the table with Jesus.

Reclining at the table with Jesus.

That word reclined is transliterated as anakaimei, which means to lie at a table, eat together or dine. It comes from the word kaimei which means 'to lie', like an infant lies in his crib, or one buried lies in his final resting place or like a city quietly lies on a hill. It also means things that were set into place - like the baby by his mother, the buried by his loved ones or the city by its creator. The other half, ana, means 'in the midst' or 'among'. Reclining brings up images of sitting around and watching the football game with your friends, or coming home after a long day's work and sitting down for a moment of rest and relaxation.

So here's this guy who for four days was dead and now he's dining with Jesus. Or maybe we could say that now Jesus has sat him next to him. Maybe we could even say that this guy was now hanging out, enjoying his life.

We'll get pretty deep into the story of Lazarus over the next month, but for now let's return to the guy in the yellow trunks...

Hope

This pummeling feeling has been going on for years and years. I used to think my strategy was to just try to avoid getting knocked down. But now I realize that my strategy is actually to win the fight.

I don't know how to accuratley articulate this, but I am absolutely sure that I'm going to win this fight. I don't know how. I have no idea where I'm going to get the energy to come back and win this thing, but I know that it's not just a matter of holding out until my opponent is tired. I know that it's not just getting through the round so that I can have some of that life-giving water squirted about my head, neck and shoulders. I mean, there are days where that's true, but it's not the end of the story.

Sometimes I think God will tag himself in like a divine Hacksaw Jim Duggan and wallop my opponent with his 2x4. I don't know, maybe I'll actually somehow get the strength to land a punch or two. Frankly I don't care. But I have hope that I'll get there. Here's why:

The Cast of the Lazarus Story

The cast of the Lazarus story is sprawling. There's Lazarus, there's his mourning and believing sisters, there's the disciples, there's Jesus, there's even Judea, where Jesus was almost stoned.

During different times in my life I have been all of those things. Sometimes I'm all of those things in the same day. I'm Lazarus, whose only hope is Jesus. I'm the sisters, interceding for my friends, I'm the disciples - aloof but committed, I'm (kind of) Jesus, helping others find healing (I'm not Jesus, but you understand what I mean there), I'm Judea, bringing hell to earth instead of heaven.

Right now, I'm Lazarus. And Lazarus is raised from the dead and then he kicks back with a glass of water, a sloppy joe, some tater tots and a couple ears of corn with Jesus afterwards.

I have hope. Because Jesus is going to rescue me. I don't have hope that he will, I have hope because I know he will. It may seem like semantics, but it means something completely different to me.

And friends, he wants to rescue you too. Because, and this is why I'm going to spend the next month thinking and reflecting on this story, I think everyone who has ever lived has been Lazarus at some point in their life. And the Word on the street tells me that there's hope. God's Kingdom is here and the rules have changed. So get out your gloves and get back into the fight.

Still lots more ground to cover. Thanks for sticking with me. Be blessed... be loved...

Labels: Favorites, Jesus

Most of you won't care about this, but maybe I can connect with a couple of Cubs nuts. This year I came pretty close to being done with the Cubs. Just a disgusting year with injury after injury, young players not getting a fair chance, constant lineup changes, constant whining and complaining. This follows up a forgettable 2005 when I started the year thinking this was our year; a 2004 where I watched way too much baseball and prayed for things like "please keep Mark Prior healthy"; and 2003 where we came just a few outs from going to the world series in a heartbreaking pair of losses to end what seemed to be a magical season.

Anyway, this year I watched maybe a few innings here or there. I didn't go to any games. I didn't try to get tickets. I just barely cared (and mostly just for the purpose of winning my fantasy league - which I did, for the second time in three years - go me.) Granted, a lot of that was due to being engaged and getting married. But some of it was just... I don't know, I was out of energy.

So yesterday the President of the Cubs resigned/got fired and a new guy named John McDonough, the former vice-President of Marketing, was named interim President of the Chicago Cubs.

Here are some quotes from the press conference (pulled from the Cub Reporter):

"The greatest fan experience is winning. It's not about marketing. It's not about being creative it's not about bringing people into the ball park or the seventh inning stretch or any of these other things. It's all about winning. Winning is the greatest marketing idea of all time."

"Well, Realistically, you want to go into every season thinking you are going to win the World Series. Our goal is to win the World Series next year and the year after that. I think you have to be careful and realistic, but with the resources we're given and with the decisions that need to be made. I think that the Cubs will win the World Series, and I think the Cubs will win the World Series soon."

"We need to reward these people. These are the greatest fans in the history of sports. We have not won the World Series in 98 years. We have a terriffic General Manager in Jim Hendry. Jim will get all the resources that he needs. It's time to win."

I think I speak for all of Cubdom when I say: Boo-Yah! Bring on 2007!

Today, Dusty Baker was fired. Tomorrow, Subtle, Beck, the Hold Steady & DFA Remixes Chapter 2 hit the music store racks. It's a good week for the superficial part of life that I get a kick out of.

Oh, and not to kill the mood, but there should be a new post on hope tonight. And I'm gonna take it deeper than before. Gear up, it may get bumpy.

Labels: Other