The Millennial Jedi

(Yes, the title would make great clickbait in present popular parlance. Maybe I should add "10 Things You Won't Believe About..." to assure this post's procreation.) Well, it's been a month to the day since I first saw The Last Jedi, and I'm finally getting to blog about it! I have intentionally avoided any reviews (still have the last 20 minutes of a podcast from December to listen to), and have only discussed the film with friends in an attempt to keep my thoughts as clear, cogent, and unique as possible. Spoilers after the jump.

Protestant "Lent"

As I've done during past Lents, I'm going to record some of my reflections upon this year's liturgical occasion; however, this time around, I have gained some new perspective on why Lent is significant to me, largely in response to what it does not signify.

Of underdogs and the redeemed

Watching Super Bowl LI last Sunday, I was rooting for the Falcons. Like most, I enjoy a good underdog story (no pun intended with Michael Vick in mind...), even though both the Patriots and Falcons had excellent seasons. So, by "underdog," I mean simply that the Falcons were not favoured to beat the Patriots. And man, the first 3 quarters of the game were exciting and hopeful for anyone who wanted to see the Patriots served their comeuppance for being lousy, rotten cheaters! Of course, as things turned out, the Patriots won. And that got me thinking...

To Be Titled

Being a summary of my thoughts on The Lord of the Rings,  A Song of Ice and Fire, and The Magicians trilogy, as relates to their themes, similarities, and divergences.
Updated 2016.6.13 with Part II: "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things."
Updated 2016.11.13 with a few thoughts from A Clash of Kings
Updated 2017.2.5 with even fewer comments on A Storm of Swords

Delaying gratification

Last Halloween, I met a student at my new school who also shares my interest in A Game of Thrones (though she's only seen the show, and hasn't read the books), and our first conversation lasted about 45 minutes, with her writing questions in dry-erase marker on a whiteboard, and me responding verbally. (She was in full makeup as a zombie for Halloween, so she couldn't move her mouth enough to talk without risking displacing her gorey makeup.) Her questions ranged from speculation about future plot incidents and story lines to my opinion of certain characters and events. At one point, she asked about the current state of a certain character in A Song of Ice and Fire - whether a situation has been resolved or not in the books, as opposed to the show. This post will be about how that question, my response, and her reaction converged on Ash Wednesday this year to make me think about the importance of having a penitent mindset before the exultation of Easter. But for the sake of not spoiling anything for those concerned with the series, I'm going to make the section break here, so if you click to read on, you do so at your own risk of spoilers.

Undiscovered Country

I was deeply saddened to hear of Leonard Nimoy's death last Friday, and since Jess and I had already seen Wrath of Khan, we watched The Undiscovered Country on Tuesday night in memoriam. To avoid becoming maudlin, and since I've already blogged about sojourning and the city with foundations, I'll just say that the themes of walking into an unknown future while reflecting on a painful past (or present) resonated strongly with me because of what's going on in my life right now.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The last 5 months have flown by as we anticipate the birth of our daughter in February. Never before has it seemed like a semester has gone by so quickly (not that I'm counting down the 15 days till Christmas break), or that work-week cycles ended & re-started so abruptly. It seems like having a long-range goal that's got a due date I cannot control or change has really put a lot of things in my life into perspective, or perhaps thrown them into sharper relief. As today marks the first Sunday of Advent, the season of year when Christians look back to Christ's birth and anticipate His return, I find myself pondering long-expected arrivals.

Let's go to the movies...

Growing up, I loved to emulate my heroes from the movies. I'd imagine I was Davy Crockett, the Lone Ranger, or Luke Skywalker, fighting the bad guys and saving the day. And while that common experience probably says a lot of superficial things about my personality, I've noticed over the last few years that there are some very subtle ways in which I continue to emulate the movies I like. I'm not talking about things like waving my hand like Ben Kenobi when I want to persuade someone, or asking "Do you wanna build a snowman?" in a particular rhythm. No, these are far-more subtle, geeky ticks.

Culture "Wars"

I've been bugged for a while now by the claims of evangelical Christians that America is a godless country that needs to return to its Christian origins. The dead horse of how awful culture has become - homosexual marriage, sex & violence in the entertainment industry, and of course the shame of substance abuse - is trotted out to be beaten to death on right-wing media outlets. And as a Christian, I agree, these are terrible depredations. But what of it? How are we as Christians to interact with the culture? A recently popular article on Facebook made the claim that the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) slogan should have us passing another beer to a friend who was already drunk, but is that Biblical?

Striving after wind

In ten years of driving, I have never owned a vehicle with working air conditioning. In Texas, A/C is virtually a must-have for a car. During the summer, your options are either functioning A/C, or sweat trickling down your back and soaking through your clothes before you've driven twenty minutes. So, when I got a new-to-me vehicle about two months ago, one of my first fixer-upper projects on it was the air conditioning. Buckle your seat belts; this one's a saga.

The land of my sojourning

Sojourn is a great word. It means to travel through a place, even live there temporarily, but not to make one's abode in that location. Throughout this season of Lent, I've been reflecting on sojourning, awaiting a future kingdom where moth & rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19; I've previously written about this concept here). Reading about Joseph's life, I've been struck by how God worked to bring about great good in a terrible situation, orchestrating His purposes when Joseph could not have possibly seen how good could come from being thrown in a pit by his brothers and sold into slavery.

Frozen: The Agendas and the Story

Over the course of the movie Frozen's theatrical release, it drew much acclaim and criticism, some of which I think was warranted, and some of which was nonsense. An alleged "gay agenda" was decried by a well-behaved Mormon grandmother and negated refuted quite well by a gay dad. It received several awards, and was labeled Disney's most progressive movie to date. Unfortunately, for all this buzz, little of praise or complaint was substantiated with evidence from the story itself. Certainly, "Let it go" and other elements of the film could be used to promote an out-of-the-closet mentality, a 3rd-wave feminist perspective, or a more general rebellion against parental authority. Whether or not Disney had these things in mind, I can't say. What I can say is that the story does lend itself to one approach with ease if you examine the flakes in the flurry, rather than allowing your biases to turn the snow of this story yellow. [Be warned: yer on the DVD-end of the release, so here there be spoilers.]

To serve in Heaven

     Through serving at church and much prayer, I am learning to see the genealogies of I Chronicles as something more than a delineation of family lines. Now when I come to chapters twenty-three through twenty-seven, I begin to see the lists of Israelites as a testimony to God's faithful servants...

bin Laden and the Bible

Why are people celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden?

Things were not always thus: Cynicism & Solipsism

Wow, it's been a while! Fortunately, even though I've not had time to blog, I've made notes of topics I want to write about.

Some time back, I was told that I am a "gung-ho kind of guy" and "not cynical." I had to pause in the conversation and gather my thoughts, because I'd become accustomed to priding myself on my sceptical outlook on life which the Austin College student ethos encourages.

Wishful thinking

Those of you who know me know how much I enjoy analysing movies, many of which are films about wars. For all the glorious battle-deaths and dramatic self-sacrifices on film that have moved me, it wasn't until today that I felt a genuine terror of death.

Inhibitions: Of Singing & Dancing

"O frabjous Day! Callooh! Callay!"
~ Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll

Back in February, I saw the new Alice in Wonderland, with Johnny Depp as the The Hatter; initially, I was sceptical, expecting at best a mediocre film, but in watching it, was intrigued by the liminal space presented. Another "liminal" (in the pop culture interpretation of the term) space I'm loving: jump breaks in blog posts!

Inspiring Courage

"Fear profits a man nothing"
 - The 13th Warrior

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about fear. [I in fact meant to post this on the 15th of January, but the words just didn't come...They have now arrived.] Fear paralyses us from attempting what we think is impossible. It "freezes the blood" in our veins, "makes our hearts sink," and "destroys our will" to act.

No lasting city

While typing this, I received word that a friend of mine from high school passed away this morning from a brain aneurysm. I dedicate this post to Paul Pruszynski: May he rest in peace in that city which is to come (Hebrews 13:14; 12:22-24)

How we know what love is

"The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me."
~ Jesus praying to God, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as recorded in John 17:23