I’m sitting here somewhat engrossed in the fifth movie in the “Harry Potter” series (for those of you who haven’t been keeping up with all things Hogwarts that would be “The Order of the Phoenix”) and I’m asking myself why this particular movie world has become so popular for so many people.
I guess it could be the quality of the product. I’m not much of a movie critic but each of the films in the series seems to be fairly well produced, decently acted, with nice special effects and fairly true to the book on which it was based.
What I think is happening is that there is something appealing about a world filled with magic where nothing about life is set in stone. How many of us grew up wishing we could wave a wand and change the size of our noses or whisk off a few extra pounds? There was a time in my life when I actually wanted to be a “wizard.” It was an irrational dream but I was young and insecure and thinking about it today reminds me of how desperate life can be.
I’m starting to think that we want to believe in a Harry Potter world because life is hard and we are weak.
Some people would say that we believers in God do so for the same reasons but I see it as just the opposite. In the Harry Potter world I either have magical powers or I don’t, some are blessed and some are not. In God’s world all of us have been equally invited to belong to Him. All of us can know his love and forgiveness in our lives. In a Hogwarts world I manipulate the world to make it what I want it to be. In God’s world I have come to learn that God is the author of all creation and that I have been invited to be one of his stewards. In a Harry Potter world I escape from reality. In God’s world I come face-to-face with the person I really am.
I still like a good fantasy. I have been a sci-fi guy since I picked up my first Superman comic but I understand the difference between make believe and reality and I am here to testify that it doesn’t get any more real than Jesus.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
Isn't God Amazing?
I was reading an interesting article in the most recent “Christianity Today” about a man who was moved to return to faith through reading the writings of Albert Camus, a French philosopher (and atheist) who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. It reminded me a little bit of my own faith journey.
I’m not trying to suggest (or even imply) that I was filling the quiet moments of my teenage years reading the works of Albert Camus, I had never even heard of Camus until I was in college, but one of the big players in my spiritual journey was the rock musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” a musical and dramatic piece that was never thought of as being that complimentary to the historic Christian faith.
“Superstar” was the only thing that I asked for on my 18th birthday. I listened to it incessantly and after years of singing in Church choirs this was the first time that I consciously remembered hearing about people like Caiaphas (the High Priest in the temple in Jerusalem) and Judas Iscariot (the disciple who betrayed Jesus.) I learned the story of Jesus passion from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
I didn’t give my life to Jesus because of “Superstar” but I did hear the story in a way that I had never heard it before. No matter how inaccurate (or inappropriate) “Superstar” was socially or theologically it became a piece of the spiritual puzzle that I was struggling to understand.
In 1 Corinthians 10 the Apostle Paul said, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial” and I believe that to be true. There are lots of things that can influence us away from hearing or following after Jesus. Not everything is helpful, but I wonder if we sometimes dismiss things too quickly. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I believe that God is able to use an amazingly diverse collection of things to draw us closer to Him and we should never underestimate what God is able to do with ordinary things and in the lives of ordinary people. I guess what I’m trying to say is, “Isn’t God amazing?”
I’m not trying to suggest (or even imply) that I was filling the quiet moments of my teenage years reading the works of Albert Camus, I had never even heard of Camus until I was in college, but one of the big players in my spiritual journey was the rock musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” a musical and dramatic piece that was never thought of as being that complimentary to the historic Christian faith.
“Superstar” was the only thing that I asked for on my 18th birthday. I listened to it incessantly and after years of singing in Church choirs this was the first time that I consciously remembered hearing about people like Caiaphas (the High Priest in the temple in Jerusalem) and Judas Iscariot (the disciple who betrayed Jesus.) I learned the story of Jesus passion from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
I didn’t give my life to Jesus because of “Superstar” but I did hear the story in a way that I had never heard it before. No matter how inaccurate (or inappropriate) “Superstar” was socially or theologically it became a piece of the spiritual puzzle that I was struggling to understand.
In 1 Corinthians 10 the Apostle Paul said, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial” and I believe that to be true. There are lots of things that can influence us away from hearing or following after Jesus. Not everything is helpful, but I wonder if we sometimes dismiss things too quickly. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I believe that God is able to use an amazingly diverse collection of things to draw us closer to Him and we should never underestimate what God is able to do with ordinary things and in the lives of ordinary people. I guess what I’m trying to say is, “Isn’t God amazing?”
Friday, August 6, 2010
Sailing Through Life With A Smile
I was driving home from Church a few weeks back and I happened to glance in the rearview mirror and realized that the woman behind me, driving a rather large SUV, was flossing her teeth. With two hands doing the flossing there were no hands left for the steering wheel. I’ve heard some car companies suggest that their vehicles practically drive themselves. At this particular moment I was hoping the claim was true.
And, to make matters worse, while I was using my rearview mirror to check on what was going on behind me (something my Driver’s Ed. instructor told me I was supposed to do every eight seconds) this woman was using hers to check her smile.
Now, I have nothing against good oral hygiene, but I wanted to say to the woman with the clean teeth, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” And then I found myself praying for a complete stranger in a big SUV who happened to have a nice smile.
This picture in my rearview mirror was also a reminder to me that the world around me is outside of my control. I can order my own life to the best of my ability (keep both hands on the wheel and pay attention to where I’m headed) and still be run down by someone who thinks they are somehow exempted from common sense.
This, in turn, reminded me that I really do need to trust in someone who is bigger than me; someone who is bigger than SUV’s and inattentive drivers.
Some people might call this need for someone to order my “order-less” life a weakness but I think of it as just being smart. If I know that there are large segments of my life that are beyond my control it seems to me that I (we) need to give control to someone who can take the randomness of our lives and make it meaningful.
I’m not talking about a self-centered protectionism. This is not a relationship that exempts me from the stupidity of the people around me. But, this is a relationship that can help to make sense out of the stupidity that we see lived out every day. In His own miraculous way, our God is able to take the “out-of-control” and use it to transform the world. I’m just saying. You have to pay attention.
And, to make matters worse, while I was using my rearview mirror to check on what was going on behind me (something my Driver’s Ed. instructor told me I was supposed to do every eight seconds) this woman was using hers to check her smile.
Now, I have nothing against good oral hygiene, but I wanted to say to the woman with the clean teeth, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?” And then I found myself praying for a complete stranger in a big SUV who happened to have a nice smile.
This picture in my rearview mirror was also a reminder to me that the world around me is outside of my control. I can order my own life to the best of my ability (keep both hands on the wheel and pay attention to where I’m headed) and still be run down by someone who thinks they are somehow exempted from common sense.
This, in turn, reminded me that I really do need to trust in someone who is bigger than me; someone who is bigger than SUV’s and inattentive drivers.
Some people might call this need for someone to order my “order-less” life a weakness but I think of it as just being smart. If I know that there are large segments of my life that are beyond my control it seems to me that I (we) need to give control to someone who can take the randomness of our lives and make it meaningful.
I’m not talking about a self-centered protectionism. This is not a relationship that exempts me from the stupidity of the people around me. But, this is a relationship that can help to make sense out of the stupidity that we see lived out every day. In His own miraculous way, our God is able to take the “out-of-control” and use it to transform the world. I’m just saying. You have to pay attention.
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