I promised earlier that I would pen my thoughts about the movie True Grit (which I enjoyed). I have seen both the old version and the new. Both have their merit but what makes the new different is that it breaks out of the typical western genre. Here the modern version, while a period piece, uses the western as a modern exploration of virtue and morality in a seemingly cruel and unforgiving universe.
My suspicion is that the Coen's are relying on their Jewish upbringing to use their craft as a dialogue about the nature of life. The movie, rather than feeling overtly nihilistic (as some charged that No Country For Old Men was), actually is getting us to explore morality. Hence, you have Mattie who has religious leanings and a deep sense of conviction about justice (and Matt Damon's character as a noble Texas Ranger) juxtaposed against the morally ambiguous Rooster Cogburn. He's neither completely virtuous nor completely vicious. This is the stage that the Coen's use to explore virtue in this life much like a young man would ask a Rabbi about the moral nature of the universe. While it might be unsettling because it's not black and white (like the old westerns), it leaves us with great questions to explore.
What makes up a person who is truly heroic?
Is God's grace really free? It seems like everything else in life is "deserved".
is revenge ever justified? Under what circumstances?
When it's all said and done, what role does religion have in our lives? In particular, what is the point of the old hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" at the end?
I'm keeping it short here because a friend of mine posted this article from the NY Times written by Stanley Fish. I thought I should share it with you because it contains some wonderful thoughts. If you have the time take a read!
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/27/narrative-and-the-grace-of-god-the-new-true-grit/
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Missions and Haiti
I am convinced that missions trip based on both compassion and evangelism are critical to college ministry. If missions are not grounded in the gospel then they can easily become disconnected with God's redemptive work. I sense that as evangelicalism seeks to regain credibility that it's lost over the years, it's easy to swing the other way entirely and travel to other countries just to do good works with no thought looking for opportunities to communicate the radical life-giving message of the gospel.
College students eagerly desire to take part in missions. In fact, if a college ministry is not actively involved with partnering in mission around the world where the needs are great then I don't think it's too strong to say that is a college ministry that will become so internally focused that it dies. Missions is God's heartbeat not only around the world but here in our own communities. We don't necessarily need to travel around the world to be involved missionally. However, that being said, I do not think it's entirely just to conclude, "We don't need to go anywhere in the world when there are people here." In my thinking, there is room for both. We ought to be mingling with the marginalized here as well as around the world. We ought to be living out the gospel and speaking the gospel to those here as well as going to places around the world where some (if not most) have never heard.
So when the opportunity came up to travel to Haiti this January, I was thrilled! A team of twelve of us were handpicked by God ready to head out to offer both relief work and words of relief - that God has broken into this world and offers new life and the resources to be able to experience this in a way that, as some would say, causes us to flourish. We were ready not only to give our all to help an orphanage in Leogane with new building projects but also to give our all in living the gospel and sharing it with kids.
That said, I'm sad that our trip has been postponed because of political unrest in the country. I was preparing my heart with God to be with the kids for a week helping them see and experience the deep love that Christ has for them. I was assured that the project will be there when we try it again sometime hopefully this spring. While I am disappointed, all I can conclude is that God certainly is guiding this process and He's not caught off guard. It's part of what happens when you send teams to really hard places. Now this is a time for me to continue to process the importance of missions in the lives of college students, helping them connect their hearts to God's heart. And when disappointments happen, together we trust that God is still at work in the lives of people as we rally to pray for Haiti and other hard parts of the world that God sends us.
College students eagerly desire to take part in missions. In fact, if a college ministry is not actively involved with partnering in mission around the world where the needs are great then I don't think it's too strong to say that is a college ministry that will become so internally focused that it dies. Missions is God's heartbeat not only around the world but here in our own communities. We don't necessarily need to travel around the world to be involved missionally. However, that being said, I do not think it's entirely just to conclude, "We don't need to go anywhere in the world when there are people here." In my thinking, there is room for both. We ought to be mingling with the marginalized here as well as around the world. We ought to be living out the gospel and speaking the gospel to those here as well as going to places around the world where some (if not most) have never heard.
So when the opportunity came up to travel to Haiti this January, I was thrilled! A team of twelve of us were handpicked by God ready to head out to offer both relief work and words of relief - that God has broken into this world and offers new life and the resources to be able to experience this in a way that, as some would say, causes us to flourish. We were ready not only to give our all to help an orphanage in Leogane with new building projects but also to give our all in living the gospel and sharing it with kids.
That said, I'm sad that our trip has been postponed because of political unrest in the country. I was preparing my heart with God to be with the kids for a week helping them see and experience the deep love that Christ has for them. I was assured that the project will be there when we try it again sometime hopefully this spring. While I am disappointed, all I can conclude is that God certainly is guiding this process and He's not caught off guard. It's part of what happens when you send teams to really hard places. Now this is a time for me to continue to process the importance of missions in the lives of college students, helping them connect their hearts to God's heart. And when disappointments happen, together we trust that God is still at work in the lives of people as we rally to pray for Haiti and other hard parts of the world that God sends us.
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