Scary Clown

Funniest. Commercial.  Ever.

One of My Favorites...

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
   whose trust is in the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
   that sends out its roots by the stream
and does not fear when heat comes,
   for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
   for it does not cease to bear fruit.
- Jeremiah 17:7-8 (ESV)

Avatar Plot Draft - Spoiler Alert!

Courtesy of Nikki Finke at www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com. Heh.

Drew Barrymore Interview

I came across this clip the other day, and I had apparently forgotton how funny Will Ferrell can be.  It made me giggle.

As We Walk Through the Valley

A friend recently raised a discussion about 2009: If you had the choice, would you do it all over again, just the way it was? Or, are you just glad to be rid of it?

The question runs deep. As Christians, we are promised trials in this world, and we can rest in the promise that our Savior has overcome the world (John 16:33). And though we may believe the truth in that verse, though we may have intellectually assented to the truth in that verse, the hurt and pain resulting from the trials we face is not necessarily diminished. We know what it means to feel sorrow in the loss of a loved one, heartache from a rift with a friend, fear in the face of the unknown.

As a result, then, the question immediately made me think of three things. The first, a quote from Ravi Zacharias, in The Grand Weaver:

"You cannot always live on the mountaintop, but when you walk through the valley, the memory of the view from the mountain will sustain you and give you the strength to carry you through."*

The second, a beautiful song I came to know through a friend of mine, by singer/songwriter Ginny Owens. Here's a live performance and a stanza or two:

It may not be the way I would have chosen

When You lead me through a world that's not my home,

But You never said it would be easy

You only said I'll never go alone.

So when the whole world turns against me

And I'm all by myself

And I can't hear You answer my cries for help.

I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through

And I will go through the valley

If you want me to.

The third, a favorite psalm of mine, also highlighted in The Sound of Music. I'm using the KJV, just because I like the poetry of it:

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,

from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the LORD,

which made heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

A friend and I once talked about this verse, and he pointed out that the very fact the psalmist needs to lift up his eyes means that while in the valley, he had been looking down, away from the Lord.

At the very least, we know this: In His grace, God reveals to us that the grief we suffer in our trials may prove our faith genuine and result in praise and glory to Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:6-7). The thing is, we're never going to be able to escape the valleys in life. That we know.

But what mercy the Lord shows us in that we'll never go alone.

Zacaharias, Ravi. The Grand Weaver. Grand Rapids, 2007. pg. 41

The End of an Era

Last night, senior Tim Tebow played his last football game at the University of Florida. Urban Meyer coached his last game before taking an rather vague leave of absence. Charlie Strong coached his game as the Gators defensive coach before heading off to don the cap as the head coach of Louisville.

And boy, what a way to go.

As of now, the SEC hasn't been doing so well this bowl season when matched up against some of the other conferences (granted, S. Carolina, Arkansas, and Alabama still have to play), but Florida certainly strutted its stuff last night as it trounced the #3 Cincinnati Bearcats 51-24. Tebow arguably had his best game ever, with 482 yards and four touchdowns, and he and this senior class will be fondly remembered by Gator Nation for years to come. The end of an era for all Gator fans.

That said, I'm always surprised at the rather visceral level of hate directed at the Gators, who are now the first team in FBS history to have back-to-back 13-win seasons. It goes beyond the regular hate reserved for rivalry games; as a friend noted, there just seems to be an across the board hate from many who are not Gator fans. I'm even more surprised when individuals elevate this hate past a team and drape it across Tim Tebow. It's no big secret that after the Gators' devastating 19 point loss at the SEC championship, the camera found Tim with two minutes left, face red and eyes wet. Almost immediately, Facebook groups sprouted up, defaming and mocking Tim for showing his passion. Then, over the following three weeks, I had at least eight or ten people make it a point to find me and gleefully point out his humiliation, reveling in his heartbreak. Of course, I'm sure those folks would would do SO much better if they had put their everything into a team, only to watch its defense crumble on a national stage against an Alabama team clicking on all cylinders.

But I'm sure these persons have good reason. After all, who wants their kid to grow up to have the character of a guy like Tim Tebow? We'd much rather elevate individuals like Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick, Michael Phelps, Marion Jones, and now Tiger Woods, who has more recently added his name to this illustrious list of stand-up athletes. For goodness sakes, guys like these are just ATHLETES and happen to be particularly skilled at throwing around a ball or swimming a couple of laps. But we follow their every move, can recite their every statistic, and pay them like they are gods. They may be physically at their best, but they have no obligation to be the moral lighthouses society often expects them to be. It's not like the kid down the street has a picture of Sir Alexander Fleming on his wall. No, he has Mike Tyson, who bit part of an opponent's ear off, served time for rape, and dealt with domestic violence charges.

So please forgive me if I fail to understand why some who hate the Gators channel their energy to a complete vilification of Tim Tebow. He will go one as one of the greatest players to every play the college football game. And if he's not considered the best college QB of all time (with his 2 national championships and Heisman trophy spearheading the list of his many record-breaking achievements), he'll certainly be considered in the conversation. He was put on a pedestal of expectation by the media and the college football world, and he has been subjected to more hype, coverage, and pressure than few else in recent college football history. And even despite all of that, he still chose to stand unashamedly for the truth in a world and in a particular sector of society where it is so easily rejected. Whether you believe in God or not, he's a man who has used his position and relative fame to minister to those in need, to serve others, and to inspire others to be better. If you do believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ, you should be praising God that He has placed a man in such a position to spread the Gospel and to boldly speak the name of Jesus.

Don't get me wrong; Tim Tebow is a sinner just like the rest of us, and I have never once heard him boast about his merits as though they were the result of his own effort. In fact, I never once heard him boast about anything he's done. He was asked in last night's post-game conference what he hoped people would remember about him. He said he hoped they would remember how much he loved his team and coaches, that he loved other people, and that he loved the Lord.

I'm not naive; people will continue to hate Tebow after all this. But I wonder, at the end of the day, whose poster they'd want on their kid's wall.

Avatar

When I first saw the trailer for Avatar and it's blue-toned protagonists, I was less than enthused and resolved to wait for the DVD, if I'd even make it there. Give me a Julia Roberts rom-com or a long, drawn-out period piece any day of the week; I'm there. However, swayed by the glowing reviews of some friends and my brother, I finally buckled this morning and went to see it. I knew of one individual who called the IMAX 3-D showing the "greatest movie-going experience" he'd ever had. That, coupled with director James Cameron's reported $200-300 million production budget (not to mention the extra couple hundred million spent for publicity), left me with some unusually high expectations. But I figured, hey, James Cameron is the king of the world when it comes to movie magic. What's there to lose?

So I trucked off this morning (shaving $4 off the evening ticket price, thankyouverymuch) with a couple of friends to my local IMAX, donned some 3-D glasses, and immersed myself into the world of Pandora for over two and a half hours. Here are some succinct, if not quite finished, observations about the film:

1. Graphics: Visually, the film is unbelievably stunning, and Cameron has created a world in which colors explode off the screen. In the first half of the film, Jake Sully the avatar explores this new world and it's clear that Cameron wants the viewer to feel, or at least come close to feeling, the awe and wonder that Jake feels with each step, leap, and flight. And Cameron succeeds. Each and every carefully crafted shot utilized to show off this rainforest-like world is breathtaking. And at night, his world of Pandora is literally aglow. He has no doubt raised the bar for film making, much like the Wachowski brothers did ten years ago with a little red pill.

2. Plot: Although the film takes its audience to new and soaring visual heights, the same can't be said of the plot, which works its way around a combination of tired plots we've all seen before, from hints of Pocahontas and Fern Gully to much less subtle throwbacks to Dances with Wolves (side note: one message board strain called the film "Dances with Smurfs." Heh.). If you've seen the trailer, you can probably predict the high points of the movie without much stress. That said, with all of its groundbreaking graphics, perhaps an innovative plot isn't all that needed for those who will be content with high-powered action sequences tossed deftly throughout.

3. Conservative backlash: The very fact that some on the far right have cried out against this film is the reason some hate us conservatives so much. I was told of a radio program where conservatives called in, lambasting the film as a cut against the American military. One woman on the program even claimed to have walked out of the film because she was so offended. This fellow finds the film "anti-military" and "anti-American" because the "bad guys in the movie are the United States Marines." First and foremost, let's clear up some plot inaccuracies - the bad guys are NOT U.S. Marines. The film makes that explicitly clear at the beginning when Jake the narrator indicates that the military-like folk on Pandora are former military brass and thus rendered as nothing more than thuggish mercenaries, hired out to a corporation looking for a very valuable mineral that just so conveniently happens (see #2) to be found under the home of the indigent population, the Na'vi.

Now, the mercenaries are wicked and relentless, with their leader's hatred and rage toward the Na'vi backed by a very obvious corporate greed, a concept all too familiar these days. Enron, anyone? Wall Street? Bernie Madoff? I digress.... But rather than striking me as a blow to the military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the complete destruction rained upon the Na'vi as they are forced by an utterly violent attack from their homes reminded me most tragically of the Trail of Tears as the Cherokee were forced to move West in the first half of the 1800s. Not to mention the peoples that were displaced in the 1600s and on as Europeans moved west to colonize "savage" nations...

I wouldn't be surprised if Cameron had politically left leanings, though. One phrase that struck me as particularly odd came out of the mercenary leader's mouth nearer to the final battle of the film - "We must fight terror with terror." I'm surprised Cameron left that bit of dialogue in the film, as it did not make any sense whatsoever within context. The Na'vi could not be considered "terrorists" in the modern sense of the word as they had not committed any acts of "terror" against the humans on Pandora. If anything, it seems that Cameron is commenting more about the environment and imperialism as a whole than specifically American policy overseas, especially when he discusses it.

4. Spirituality: The Na'vi bear striking resemblances to Native Americans of yore, from their dress to ceremonial garb, from their tribal arrangements to their war paint and weapons of choice. Perhaps most significant real-world correlation in the film is the continued return to the Na'vi's spiritual core, the goddess Eywa, or the Great Mother. Although it is of course not specifically named, pantheism is a theme revisited time and time again. Energy fills Pandora and connects the Na'vi to the forest and the animals and Eywa herself, who makes herself known through the Tree of Souls. A human scientist rationalizes this as a bio-genetic link, but the Na'vi know better. At times, they lose themselves in Eywa, swaying and chanting to the beat of her song. They can even hear the voices of their dead ancestors as they connect once again to the Great Mother.

I do give Cameron credit for creatively finding a way to manifest this connection of all things to each other. The Na'vi can use special tips at the end of their long braid to physically become one with the animals of Pandora, Pandora's memories, and even Eywa herself.

That said, this type of religion (and make no mistake; pantheism is a religion for some), which can be commonly found in today's New Age mantra, is an ersatz faith. Of course, it works in fluid conjunction with the environmental message also found in the film, and pantheism is

probably the least offensive religion to give to movie characters in our tolerance-is-king society. After all, if I want to be a god, who is to tell me my experience is invalid? However, it was G.K. Chesterton who said that when "Jones shall worship the 'god within him,' [it] turns out ultimately to mean that Jones shall worship Jones." And boy, isn't he right. Pantheism leads to nothing more than full-on self-worship.

In addition, Alister McGrath highlights the worldview's "irrationality" and its tendency to allow "no means of entry for criticism or evaluation."* McGrath is also right to note that a philosophical discourse alone will not be enough to dissuade the New Ager, but rather a proclamation of Christ. I'm reminded of Colossians 2:8, which says, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

I asked in the first paragraph if there was anything to lose by seeing Avatar. If one is clear-minded and aware throughout the film, then I don't think there is anything at all to lose. Enjoy your 2.5+ hours of escapist fare. I did. James Cameron certainly has a tendency for making films that become ingrained in our pop culture (re: Terminator, Alien, that one about the boat...), and if anything, I hope that Avatar will bring about chances to discuss the hollow philosophies found within and use that as an opportunity to share the gospel and to thus give a reason to anyone who asks for the hope within me (I Peter 3:15).

*McGrath, Alister. Intellectuals Don't Need God and Other Modern Myths. Grand Rapids: Michigan, 1993. pg. 184.