Monthly Archives: October 2012

Ferris Bueller remembers the Sabbath

24 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Movies, Pop

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Torigian… Torigian…

Well, of course I’m here!

I was the youth with semesters of perfect attendance and involved in MANY after-school activities.  I wouldn’t be the student wanting to take the day off to head to the Cardinals game, head to the Hill for lunch or traipse around the St. Louis Art Museum in an effort to skip history class.  In fact, opportunities for Sabbath seemed slim since I was involved in so many activities.

Now that I’m getting to the age where I could easily be a parent of a high school student, I have begun to look at Ferris Bueller as the slacker kid that decides to skip school one last day before high school graduation.  Could I be more judgmental and more wrong?

Maybe Ferris just needed the day off because he needed some “self-care”.  Would Jesus take a day off for some self-care?  Scripture shows that Jesus needed to get away from the enthusiastic crowds for some “chill” time.  He didn’t work every hour of every day.  Granted, we don’t see him riding on a float in a parade, but we do see him riding on a donkey in a parade…

If you were to stop and create a fun and relaxing day off, what would your true Sabbath look like?  Would you take a road trip to Chicago to catch a ballgame or ride a float in a parade?  Would you walk in a park, see a matinee or just go home to take a nap?

“Life moves pretty fast… If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Sabbath gives us each a chance to see the details of life.  When we stop to see the small moments, we see God much clearer.  Could Ferris experience the presence of God while singing to thousands in downtown Chicago?  Could Ferris experience God’s presence while staring at the works of art? Maybe “playing hookey” isn’t the most ethical way to spend time.   However, remembering to take time to rest, spend with friends, value our lives and look for God is needed.  When our work swallows any Sabbath and any chance to relax, it could be time to reevaluate our lives and our schedules.

While I’m only taking days off when I’m actually sick or scheduled a vacation, sometimes, it’s worth taking ten minutes, twenty minutes or an hour to take a walk, get a cup of coffee or drive through a park.  Maybe that super-short Sabbath will shine a stronger light on God’s presence.  Maybe we will refocus our minds to discern God’s call with more clarity.

Or maybe we will just cherish life a little more…  just like Ferris…

There may not be crying in baseball… but there is God…

19 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by in Pop, Sports

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October.  Postseason bliss.

I’m a St. Louis girl living in the Cincinnati area.  So, this year, I’m ecstatic that two of my teams were in the postseason blitz.  Yet World Series success can happen to only one of my teams now that Cincinnati’s dreams are gone.  While I am pretty sure that God doesn’t choose one team over another in sports, sometimes God calls us to see lessons in the last few innings of baseball.

  • It’s all mental.

The Reds were doing a phenomenal job defeating the Giants on their turf.  Yet when the Reds returned back to Cincinnati, the Giants returned the favor… the first night… the second night… the third night.  World Series dreams ended for the Reds as the Giants moved forward.

Could the Reds have come back?  Or after each defeat, were they expecting another loss?

Do we play our lives like the Reds did in this postseason?  Do we assume we will lose the next game, and the one following?  When we catch momentum, do we find it easier to sail to the next step?  Does our mind win or lose our game for us?

  • Is the game over yet?  Not for the Cards.

Two years in a row, the Cardinals have been outs away from being defeated.  Yet they come back.  And it was a comeback of record proportions.

How close are we to our final out but then find our second wind?  What does it mean to us that even when facing defeat there’s still a chance for us to win?

The Cardinals have taught me to hope in the face of loss.  Even when the fans are in locked rooms like the apostles after the death of Jesus, hope appears to them.  That’s what it means to be a Cardinals fan in the 2010’s.

  • Resources don’t necessarily matter.  There’s still a chance to win!

The Yankees have the highest payroll, yet the Tigers, the team with the fifth highest payroll, defeated them in the ALCS.  The Cardinals lost Pujols, yet they are back in the NLCS this year.  While having greater resources tends to give advantage, it doesn’t always guarantee a win.

In our society, those with the most resources win more often.  But more money and more power doesn’t mean that person will always win.  Sure, the Yankees are the empire of Major League Baseball.  Do they win every year?  No.  Sometimes the underdog wins.  Sometimes the least likely person wins.  Sometimes, it’s our turn to win.

With God and a dash of hope, there’s always a chance of winning.

The Rebirth of Ben Affleck

10 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Pop

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I’ve had a crush on Ben Affleck since 1998.

Maybe it was Chasing Amy or Armageddon that captured my heart.  In any case, I’ve adored Ben since then.

I’ve seen the ups and downs of his career.  He captured the Oscar for best screenplay in 1998.  Who remembers this great Oscar acceptance speech with Matt Damon?

Dogma is one of my favorite theological movies.  Scenes like this from Ben, while expressive in explicit language (NSFW), give great lamentation and expression on free will and forgiveness.

Then came the years of Gigli and other blockbuster flops.  His life became tabloid fodder.  Ben’s existence was in a fishbowl.

With a series of career mishaps and personal life failures, Ben’s career seemed close to over.

Yet, in life there are second chances and resurrections.  And Ben’s second act was just starting.

First there was the brilliant performance in Hollywoodland.  Critics were surprised by his performance, but it was easy to tell that his focus was switching to smaller, quality roles (rather than feature roles in blockbusters).   Gone Baby Bone was the spark of Ben’s creativity in directing.  Then came The Town.  This weekend, Argo is released throughout the country, and Oscar buzz is already surrounding the film and direction.

Ben’s work now seems authentic to who he is.  On top of all of this, he seems like he is in a healthy relationship with much less paparazzi interruption, and Ben is dedicated to his work with the Congo.

Actual resurrection is hard to see sometimes.  The beautiful metaphor of Easter seems so far away – two thousand years to be exact.  Yet in each of our lives, we experience resurrection.  God is the God of second chances.  And thanks to the public life of Ben Affleck, we can see that multiple failures do not mean a life that’s over.  It means that there’s a chance for resurrection to happen, for the Holy Spirit to work and for inspiration surround us with creative new beginnings.

Ben turned 40 in August.  My 40th birthday is exactly six months away.  Thanks to Ben, his persistence and creativity, act two looks more promising than act one, and I can anticipate the same for mine as well.

Go On … We all need our communities

07 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in Television

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Since the beginning of the new television season this Fall, I’ve been watching the show Go On.  Ryan King (played by Matthew Perry) is a sports radio commentator  and is in the peak of his grief over the death of his wife.  Because of an outburst as a result of grief, he is ordered to go into counseling.

Enter the support group.  Each member of the group is quirky.  While Ryan tries to resist the help at first, he becomes part of this community as they struggle together through their mourning.  From his presence, some begin to speak about their grief.  The diverse and quirky group of grievers become closer and lean more on one another.

Their fearless leader, Lauren, seems as if she has it together.  But even her quirks seep through the cracks as she sits with her community.

This week’s episode “Do You Believe In Ghosts…Yes!” pointed to one of her faults.  While she doesn’t want to lean on the group for her problems, being within a community, they find out that she has test anxiety and can’t pass her real estate exam.  Her group values her presence and wants her to succeed.  They work with her to pass the test, and, yes, even sit with her during the exam.

In many cases, as pastors and other types of leaders, we are required to facilitate a one way support system.  Because of our boundaries, we don’t lean on others (and ethically know it’s not our place to be their burden).  Yet, being in community and being human, boundaries don’t always have perfect edges.  Our quirks will rise.  Our problems will occasionally become transparent.  While we work hard to keep boundaries, we are human, they are human, and humans need humans to thrive.  God didn’t create pastors to be robots.  Sometimes our humanness seeps through.  And sometimes it is us pastors who need prayers from those for whom we often pray.

Even Jesus needed his community.  As he prayed in the garden the night before his death, he needed his buddies around him.  During those painful moments, he needed the love, energy and support of his followers to survive.

The greatest isn’t the greatest alone.  Leaders aren’t leaders in a box.  We all need each other.  Yes, we can keep boundaries and be their support system.  But because God is relational, and we are made in God’s image, we are relational too.

In this Go On episode, Ryan comments:

“Something magic about a great team.  Jordan needed Pippen… Never won without him.  Labron never won before Dwayne Wade.  Some people got game they never knew they had before the right person came along and made them step it up and just be better.  Sure you can be like Kobe – send away Shaq, Bill Jackson – think you can do it yourself… but… don’t be a hero.  Take the help.”

As the support group sits with their leader during her exam, Ryan says to her “You are great with us around you.  Be great.”  Watching this show as a pastor, I see how the love of my community makes me a better pastor.  I thank God for that love.