Mine Your Own Business.
If you think there might be another line to the "environmentalism-global warming-we are ruining the planet" song, you might be interested in this trailer for a new documentary. <thanks rita!>
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January 31, 2007
...and More Snow.
These are my steps this morning after trudging to the office to tell them I'd be staying another night. I think we got maybe 2-3 inches last night and it's been snowing off and on again all morning.
I was snug as a bug last night under my three blankets with the heater spinning on every time it got below 40 degrees. That seemed to be enough to keep the water from freezing, for which I am exceedingly grateful.
So now I'll sit here one more day and see what the weather holds tomorrow. I'd like to spend some time in Sedona and Cottonwood over the next couple days before hitting Prescott to visit family over the weekend. My grandpa used to pastor a church in Cottonwood so I want to see if my childhood memories of the big white church and the big white house on the hill are accurate. ;)
Tomorrow morning I'll be interviewed for an episode of the Home Schooling Radio Show which is housed on the same system as my podcast. When I get a link I'll post it for any of you who want to listen to me stumble through my first interview. :p
Meanwhile, here's a picture from out my "office" window this morning. I have my trusty Bronco blanket on my lap and am either too cold or too hot based on whether the heater is on or not. I tell you what though, looking outside I am thanking God for a good heater!
I worked on my second book last night for the first time since November. It was pretty fun to get going again. Of course I found several things in desperate need of cleaning right before I started...but I finally got going and worked several hours.
January 30, 2007
The Grand Canyon.
I was going to begin my entry about the Grand Canyon with a big apology to my parents for yet another wonderful thing they took me to as a child that I don't remember... However! I spoke with them last night and they told me I was really young when we went there. Apology averted! ;)
Though it's not directly related to the GC, I have to say that when I was walking out of the W/M on Saturday morning with a couple supplies I'd forgotten to get the night before, I was overcome with a feeling of gratitude and well-being. I mean, more than just being happy to be off on my journey and headed toward a weekend of beauty -- I was literally walking through the W/M parking lot with tears squirting out because of this wave of emotion. It lasted most of the 60-mile drive into the park and then I guess it sort of fizzled away. Have you ever been overcome like that?
Some of the weekend highlights included a couple hour walk along the South Rim, an 8 or 9 mile hike into the canyon, trying not to laugh at the mom trying desperately to interest her teens in the view and directionally-challenged-me giving directions to someone -- and actually knowing what to tell them. If you want to read more about the weekend and see some pictures, click on the picture above.
Snow.
Well, the couple places I was planning on going in the next few days are closed due to snow. So...I'm going to make a dash for Flagstaff where it's currently flurrying. I'll hunker down there for a couple days and wait it out. Good thing I've got heat and power -- I'll just stay in my pajamas and write to my heart's content. ;)
UPDATE: Made it to Flagstaff. It's snowing, but not with blizzard proportions. If anyone had watched me trying to level Bertha they would have had a good 30-minute laugh. As it is, after all my efforts I'm still tilted both forward and to the right. I need to buy more legos to level with, I guess. I have high hopes that my newly filled water tanks won't freeze tonight. What's that sound you hear? Yeah, that's me biting my nails. :p
January 29, 2007
Alive!
I made it out of the Grand Canyon in one piece! I'm now sitting in a red dirt parking lot which should narrow my location down to a few 1,000 square miles. ;) I'm working on a GC report this evening, but thought I'd post a real quick howdy for anyone who might be mildly concerned.
January 26, 2007
Oddly Familiar.
It's Friday night at the W/M and I'm in a row of RV's listening to the occasional punk kids swearing with gusto as they walk to and from their car. It's appreciably chillier than the last time I was out and about -- I've had to haul out a sweatshirt and flick the heater on.
I drove over Hoover Dam today. Before I got there I was composing a blog entry in my head about the modern marvel...but sadly I can't follow through on that entry as I didn't see enough to be marvelled. The traffic was pretty bad and it took all my concentration to get through without squashing the bikers sitting in front of me or the pedestrians racing across the street at every opportunity. I wasn't even able to concentrate on my Coffee Break Spanish!
Tomorrow I'll head into the Grand Canyon, wherein I'm prepared to be seriously amazed. Unless I can catch some miraculously random signal, I won't be posting until Monday.
whereisjodi on the move again.
I woke up this morning with a wierd sense of anticipation. Yes, I technically left home last week, but as I was only coming to my brother and sister-in-law's in Vegas it didn't seem like I was really too far gone. In a couple hours I'll be back on the road with not many familiar faces for the next few months. I guess that accounts for the anticipation....as well as the nerves! :p
For me there's a real difference between knowing in my head that God will take care of me, guide me, etc., etc., and actually feeling it in my heart enough to move forward without trepidation. I know in my head He will do those things as I get behind Bertha's wheel today. I guess I'll just have to wait for my heart to get on board as I watch events play out every day. One thing I know for sure, it will be an interesting drive!
January 25, 2007
Testing Meebo.
If you notice a change on the left side of the screen...it's a new widget I'm trying out. It should show you whether I'm online or not -- if I am you can chat with me. :)
Of course, I picked a poor time to test this out -- I'm heading toward the Grand Canyon tomorrow where cell service is pretty much nil.
Alternative Media.
If you've got an extra 15 minutes and want to see a slightly more upbeat version of what's going on in Iraq than you get from the average nightly newscast, you might want to check out a couple videos. Here's one that's about five minutes long and gives a cool perspective on what our soldiers are up to on a daily basis. Here's another that's about 10 minutes and contains several Iraqis talking about what they think is going on in their country. Very interesting perspective about democracy in Iraq causing surrounding Arab countries to shiver...
540 or 580?
This post is for my pinochle-loving family. ;)
This was one of my hands yesterday when I spanked Grandma two games to none right before taking her to meet the shuttle. I know it's not 1,000 aces or a double fam, but I melded my entire hand! Grandma and I counted it as 580 because we counted a 240 round robin in addition to the fam, but Jason counted 540 when he saw the picture this morning. I'm thinking it's probably 540 after all, but thought I might take a family poll. :p
Morning Roundup.
Americans spend more time with their computer than with their spouse. My favorite statistic? "A majority of Americans (52%) describe their most recent experience with a computer problem as one of anger, sadness or alienation." Read more.
You can sign up to have Amber Alerts in your area come to your cell as text messages. Might be a good thing to consider. Read more.
In one of the more moderate Arab countries in the world, Jordanian men do away with their daughters and nieces approximately 20 times a year in "honor" killings. Unwed sex is considered such a stain on the family's reputation that they would rather spend six months in jail than live with the embarassment. That is, until public pressure made the government get rid of the special penal code that gave "honor" killers as few as six months in prison. Now the practice is regarded as any other homocide. Harsher punishments have been discussed, but "conservative lawmakers argue that tougher penalties would lead to promiscuity." Read more.
January 24, 2007
The Island.
Just for laughs I've posted my first post-school short story. I wrote it eight years ago for my mom for a Christmas present and I have to say, it was somewhat painful to leave grammatical and spelling errors and things I might have written differently looking back... ;)
It's called The Island and if you want to check it out, it's posted in the timw section.
UPDATE: I probably should have told you that it's an allegory and it's about four pages long.
Another X-treme Sport.
January 23, 2007
Balderdash.
We played Balderdash tonight -- the game where you make up answers and then go around and vote for which one you think is right. I nearly died laughing when I was in charge of the question "What is the movie Case of the Lucky Legs about?" Can you guess the right answer?
1. A shipment of frog legs finds its way to the doorstep of a young boy who wins the lottery.
2. A pair of ugly mannequin legs that tries to be famous and at the end gets displayed in Victoria's Secret.
3. A centipede.
4. A paralyzed woman wins a set of legs.
5. A 1950s based film about a Cuban immigrant who becomes an international track star.
6. Perry Mason goes after a beauty pageant promoter who leaves town with the prize money.
If that doesn't convince you that Balderdash might be a good option for family game night, I don't know what will. :)
Sundance, part two.
Another entry in the "artists have the right to explore anything category" came to my attention this morning. Dakota Fanning is currently appearing at Sundance in a movie called Hounddog, which features a scene where she is raped. She was 12 at the time and, according to both the filmmakers and her mother, the scene was "carefully choreographed."
I don't know what "carefully choreographed" means exactly, but I'm a little sick to my stomach that anyone would consider it filmworthy material to make a 12-year old girl pretend she's being raped. I'm not denying that 12-year old girls (and younger) are raped every day, I'm just not sure a film showing the act is the best way to get the message out. You can read more here.
January 22, 2007
Forwarding.
Ok, we all know about e-mail forwarding and how ludicrous it is -- at least most of us -- I happen to know several forwarders who need to take an etiquette class. What gives me the biggest laugh is the wrap-up at the end after you've looked at some cute pictures, or read a touching appeal for money from a kid dying of a rare disease in England, or even signed a petition to make sure the government doesn't start charging a fee for each e-mail you send...
There's the straightforward "send this to 10 friends or a piano will fall on your head." Or the "you'll receive a check from Bill Gates worth five cents for every person you forward this to." But my favorites are the religious wrap-ups that say something along the lines of "you forward cute pictures of cats to all your friends, why won't you forward this special blessing? Remember if you deny Christ now, He will deny you later."
Along those lines, my sister-in-law just sent me a great one. So as not to besmirch her good character, I should add that I asked her to forward this one after she told me about it because I wanted to share it here:
"You don't have to share this with anybody, no one will know whether you did or not, but you will know and so will He."
I, of course, immediately deleted the e-mail.
Sundance.
I've often thought that the Sundance Film Festival is a showplace for all that is envelope-pushingly awful in Hollywood. At least one of this year's entries seems to confirm that opinion. Zoo is a documentary about bestiality in general and a Washington man who died in 2005 after having sex with a horse in specific. In an article I read, the director states:
"A lot of people looked at me as if I was an exploitative person, dredging up something for profit, and that bothered me. I was certainly asked many times, often with a wrinkled brow, 'Why are you making this film?' It was something I did resent; I thought artists had the opportunity to explore anything."
His last statement sums things up for me, both for Hollywood and for our culture at large. Explore anything, no limits, no moral boundaries.
January 21, 2007
Las Vegas.
There's nothing like good company to make a long journey tolerable, even enjoyable. Such was the case during the 12-hour drive yesterday when grandma and I chatted so much that we were surprised every time we noticed 3 hours had passed. :) Much quicker trip than when I drove back to Boise recently by myself!
We arrived to news that Vegas has been quite cold, but it seemed lovely to me after Boise's recent deep chill. I wore a short sleeve sweater to church and wondered a little why they had the air conditioning on, while my sister-in-law was shivering in her sheepskin coat.
I have to say, it's nice to be back on the road...even if I've only made one hop to familiar territory and I'll be here a few days. I'm excited to see what new "divine interruptions" God will place in my path as I travel along these next few months.
January 19, 2007
No Spanking Zone.
On the heels of the Governator's universal healthcare plan, lawmakers in California are also writing a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to spank your child if they're under 3 years old. I tend to agree with this quote:
"Where do you stop?'' asked Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, who said he personally agrees children under 3 shouldn't be spanked but has no desire to make it the law. "At what point are we going to say we should pass a bill that every parent has to read a minimum of 30 minutes every night to their child? This is right along those same lines.''
Or maybe we pass a bill that every parent has to teach their children to be tolerant of all religions and lifestyles. Oh wait, that's my book. ;) My favorite quote of all is this, regarding the woman who is sponsoring the bill:
For the record, she does not have children and says she was not slapped as a child. But she does have a cat named Snoop, which her veterinarian told her never to hit. "And if you never hit a cat,'' Lieber said, "you should never hit a kid.''
Nanny state, here we come. Read more here.
Stovepipe.
I've been busily running around getting things ready to head out tomorrow. It's still bitterly cold so I grabbed one of my mom's 70's era ski caps to go with my several layers and worked outside about an hour before stopping to laugh out loud when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror -- the cap rode up so much that it stood almost a foot on top of my head. It's a good thing I don't have paparazzi stalkers or more people would see my ridiculous self than just the neighbors. ;)
January 18, 2007
Personality vs. Character
I'm a procrastinator. I always have been. In 8th grade I wrote an entire semester's research paper in one night. In college I pulled more all-nighters than I can even remember and I'm not sure a single one was strictly necessary if I'd paced myself as some of my more organized friends.
This can be summarized best by the following, frequently occuring scenario. My mom and I have a project to work on, as well as a movie I rented for the evening's entertainment. Mom wants to get the work done, then watch the movie. I vote for the opposite. When we do it her way we occasionally don't get to watch the movie. When we do it my way we end up staying up way too late because the work took longer than we thought. I'm sure that's not terribly shocking. :p
So my deep, introspective question for the night is this: is procrastination a personality trait that is just in my blood or is it a character flaw that I should be working on? And just to clarify, I'm not talking about procrastination to the level that you don't get the job done -- I know that's 100% bad -- but if you still get the job done, if you don't inconvenience other people (which I'm not saying I've never done!), is it something that should be worked on?
I know this seems like somewhat of a silly question, but it represents something deeper to me. If God created us with certain personality traits just as He created us with blue eyes or brown -- are these areas that we can just live with and not worry about? Almost every day I struggle with one area or another that God is nudging me to fix, but the job seems endless. I guess I'd like to know that there are a couple things about me that I don't need to worry about.
And by the way, I should clarify that this isn't a poor-me-depression-question -- it's just something I was thinking of because, in my usual way, I have quite a few more things to do to get ready to leave on Saturday than I should, owing to the fact I've been lounging around since Christmas!
Bertha is ready to go...and so am I!
It's been so cold here that these icicles didn't melt for a couple days, even under direct sunlight. Of course, I'm heading to Las Vegas where I hear it's been below freezing, then to Arizona where I hear it's 8 degrees. So much for sticking to the south to avoid winter driving!
Looks like the date is set -- Saturday morning I'll be loading up Bertha, Cali and my grandma, who will be a guest on the way to Vegas before she ditches me the cold weather for the warmth of Needles. ;)
January 15, 2007
Wisdom from Hollywood.
I was reading alumni excerpts from my school's new blatant attempt to join the 21st century blogroll when I came across someone quoting this speech from a recent episode of CSI:
The truth is a moral compass that can only point you in the right direction. It can't make you go there. Our culture preaches that you shouldn't be ashamed of anything you do anymore. And unfortunately this city is built on the principle that there's no such thing as guilt. Do whatever you want. We won't tell. So without a conscience, there's nothing to stop you from killing someone. And evidently, you don't even have to feel bad about it. - Gil Grissom, CSI, Season 7 Episode 4, "Fannysmackin"
How completely true and how completely unexpected. I don't watch CSI so I wouldn't have come across this quote without stumbling onto it this way -- that's one thing I love about the blog world!
Protect Life.
I think I've mentioned before that my church is working its way through Exodus. Yesterday's sermon was on the last six of the Ten Commandments and I found it really good in terms of food for thought. Obviously I've heard sermons on the Commandments before, I also slugged my way through them a few times in Bible College...but I'd never heard anyone turn them around into positive action statements.
In all the thoughts that ever crossed my mind about the command "thou shalt not murder," I knew I was a-ok Old Testament-wise but felt there was no real way to correct myself New Testament-wise. After all, the NT tells us that hating someone in your heart is the same as murdering them. I try to work on not hating and not having anger and bitterness, but...
Our pastor suggested another way of looking at things by saying that the command, in essence, is actually to protect life. You protect life when you don't drive drunk, for instance. Or look at abortion as another example. We believe that abortion is the murder of an innocent, but we're not working to protect life if we attack those who have broken the commandment. If we're really working to protect life then we will try to protect all life, maybe by volunteering at a Crisis Pregnancy Center, maybe by working in a political office trying to effect legal change.
Looking at the command in this light expands it much farther, which inherently makes it more difficult to follow, but somehow it makes much more sense to me. And, of course, I won't be able to follow it completely anymore than I do any other commandment, but I can keep trying. His Grace is sufficient for me!
Decision Making and the Will of God.
Sorry for the complete lack of postage over the past several days. I can't even pretend I've been snowed in without electricity or locked under 4-inches of ice like my cousins in Oklahoma. To be honest, I just haven't felt like I had anything to say that wasn't completely inane. I think this was mostly to do with a head-in-the-sand mentality. You know the one. Big change coming your way...fear and trembling abound...maybe if I hold my breath and pretend it isn't happening it will go away! ;)
My previous little two month book tour was a successful minor-risk experiment. I found out that God would provide for me and arrange divine appointments. He would protect me in the parking lots of various W/M's. He would throw little clues my way in order to lead me in the right direction. But even with all of that, the truth is, I'm still oh me of little faith.
Now I'm looking at heading to the East Coast which is a heckuva lot farther away from home and several notches up on the risk of failure scale. I've got a couple hundred bucks in my bank account and a whole lot of boxes of books in the motorhome. Besides that, all I have to go on is this feeling that I should continue what I started, that God is still leading me in this direction.
When I was in college I had a professor who wrote a 500+ page book entitled Decision Making and the Will of God. I purchased it in the first flush of freshman naivete because I thought it was so cool that I had a professor who'd written a book. Of course I never read it -- it was too hefty and I too weighed down by schoolwork -- but maybe I should have. Maybe I would have gleaned that one pearl of wisdom that would teach me the tried and true method for knowing God's will.
I've been reading 1 Samuel the past week or two and it makes me long for the kind of audible relationship Samuel had with God. That seems to me such an easier way to live. God: Samuel? Samuel: Speak Lord, your servant is listening. God: Samuel, go over and I'll point out the kid I've picked to be king. Samuel: Ok.
What a relief that kind of relationship would be. Instead I lay in my bed at night and ask God if I'm doing the right thing and I try to make my mind still and open myself to hearing from Him...and even if I feel He's sent me some guidance in the form of a thought streaking in that I'd never have come up with...even then there is room for doubt about whether I was tuned to the right channel.
I know God hears my prayers and I know He gives guidance -- whether or not I'm paying attention is another matter! He gives guidance through the Word and through wise counsel and through His Spirit within me. I know I shouldn't complain just because I don't audibly hear Him telling me what to do on this day or that, but whenever I'm looking at taking a big leap I start to wibble wobble. Oh me of little faith indeed.
I think often of that...centurion was it? who asked Jesus for healing for someone and he said "I do believe, help me in my unbelief." I do believe Lord. Please help me in my unbelief!
January 11, 2007
Don't Hate Me...
...but in the continual effort to make a living, I'm now including google ads on my site. I will, of course, remove them once I get on the Times Bestseller list (ha ha), but for now Bertha needs some gas BAD! ;)
On a positive note, I experienced another grim sign of aging today when the optometrist diagnosed astigmatism in my left eye. I had to wander around Costco with a pager for awhile, waiting to see if I could adjust to the new contact which felt like it was bigger than my eyeball. It's weighted somehow, but I'm sure knowing that had nothing to do with the fact that every time I blinked I felt like the weights were spinning crazily around the bottom. I was asked for a 1-10 comfort scale and gave it a 6, somewhere between wanting to gouge my eye out and not feeling anything.
Of course, when I said what I was looking for, the doc cheerfully assured me that hardly anyone gets to that elusive place where you don't know you're wearing them. With my expectations thus demoted, we tried the next brand and it seems to be a lot more comfortable. In fact, as I type this almost two hours later I can hardly feel a thing.
January 10, 2007
Video!!
Finally figured it out! :)
Nero vs. Peter
A few final thoughts about Quo Vadis, now that I've finished it. First of all, this was a novel not the Bible, so I take it with as much faith as I take most well-researched historical novels I read -- it may have happened this way, but maybe not. In this case, I've done some other reading about Nero and the Roman persecution of the followers of "The Way" and this story seemed pretty accurate.
I was reminded again how truly evil Nero was. The book took up the story closer to when Christian persecution began, so it only referred back occasionally to some of Nero's early crimes, like the killing of his mother and wife. There was quite a bit of time spent explaining his actions and the culture of the day -- enough that you could get a good understanding of why he would order that Rome be burned. He fancied himself the finest artist in the world and was frustrated that he couldn't describe great destruction in a poem he was composing...thus, a toady offered to set Rome aflame in service to his art.
When the Roman citizens were threatening to riot, Nero spread the rumor that Christians were responsible and arrested thousands. And then came the games, when Christians were killed in so many different ways to satisfy Roman bloodlust. I'd read before of the human torches Nero made to light his parties, but it was just as shocking to read of it again.
And yet! Although Nero was the ruler of the world with immense power and resources...although he could and did kill scores of people at his every whim and lived such a depraved life that history has scarcely known his equal...his kingdom was stripped from him and he remains only a historical footnote.
One of the side characters in Quo Vadis was the Apostle Peter, whom tradition tells us was crucified upside down. There's a passage toward the end where Peter has been urged by the few remaining believers to flee Rome and continue the work of the Church elsewhere. He struggles with this, feeling he should remain and "feed his sheep," but finally gives in. On his way out of Rome he has a vision of Christ walking toward the city and he asks "Quo Vadis Domine?" which is where the title of the book comes from. "Where are you going Lord?" The Lord replies, "if thou desert my people, I am going to Rome to be crucified a second time." Peter gets up, turns around and walks back to Rome. A few days later he is arrested and crucified.
Right before he dies there's a very interesting section where Peter is praying and claiming the city of Rome from Nero by the blood of the martyrs. Whether events really happened that way or not -- I think that passage is true in spirit. Nero is long gone and the city of Rome remains to this day the center of the largest church in the world.
I was inspired by this book in a couple different ways. First, Rome was a society of corruption, depravity and immorality and it dominated the world. It was nearly impossible to live in a moral way as that caused you to stick out and possibly open yourself up to a death sentence from Nero. Morality aside, being unwilling to bend your knee to the "god" Nero or the other Roman and Greek gods was also a cause for death. Who could stand in a society like that, against the ruler of the world, and live? It was an impossible situation. Yet, in the long lens of history, events have been remedied.
I was also inspired by descriptions of Christians who went to their deaths willingly rather than deny the Lord. Within a 100 years after Christ's time on earth the flame of Christianity could have been extinguished were it not for those brothers and sisters who would not recant, even on pain of torture and death. Those were saints.
January 09, 2007
Queen Jodi.
I'm now accepting donations toward the purchase of my own country. Currently, the nation of Sealand sits just seven miles off the coast of England, but once I obtain it I plan to rechristen it. Perhaps Jodlandia. Maybe The United Country of Cowles. ;)
January 08, 2007
Roundup.
A few interesting articles, some new, some I held onto during my no-bad-news-for-Christmas moratorium:
- A restaurant chain in Texas will soon be accepting Mexican pesos for payment, rather than the traditional greenback. Read more.
- All My Children is introducing a transgender character who will be transitioning from man to woman. GLAAD consultants were brought in to help the writers so that they wouldn't do anything offensive like refer to the man as "he." Read more.
- Naked parties in the Ivy League. How nice to know these are some of our future statesmen. Read more.
More Thoughts from Quo Vadis.
In the long slog that is Quo Vadis, I've made it 2/3 of the way through. There's only about 200 pages left and I must say, it's been easier since I got used to the "thees, thous and wilt thous." :) I ran across another quote that jumped off the page at me. The main protaganist is trying to decide whether to accept Christianity, but he finds the religion:
"...opposed to the existing state of things, impossible of practice, and mad in a degree beyond all others."
Amen to that!
It always gives me a good feeling when I run across statements from long ago that seem to resonate with the way I feel about God, the practice of Christianity or the way of the world. It makes me feel in my gut the truth of the words in Ecclesiastes, that there is nothing new under the sun.
I remember reading one time in Augustine's Confessions a description of the theater in his day that sounded like it could be describing Hollywood today and our cult of celebrity worship. But I should point out, lest you think too highly of me, that I didn't make it very far in the Confessions! :p
Speaking of the cult of celebrity, ran across this article about a new painting where Angelina Jolie is pictured as a god-like figure with her three children around her, being adored above the aisles of a Wal-Mart. It made me laugh, but it's pretty much true.
Book Tour Update.
Well, I'm still hoping to leave next Monday...getting things done in preparation for that day...but I still need to sell my car and have had only one serious looker. Sometimes I wonder if the entire point of life is to learn to wait on God's perfect timing and rest in His direction and protection. I wish it got easier!
January 06, 2007
Thoughts on Thr3e.
If I'd taken any time to think about it, I probably wouldn't have talked my parents into coming to see Thr3e with me last night. Unfortunately, awhile back I gave them a big lecture about putting their money where their mouth is regarding Christian film -- the outcome being that we saw End of the Spear with 20 of their friends when it was opening against Brokeback Mountain. Thus, when I mentioned going to Thr3e last night on opening night, they were game enough to go along without knowing anything about it.
If you haven't read the book or seen the movie already, don't read on unless you want a wonderfully compelling story ruined for you. Seriously!
Ok, I assume those who are still with me know what the story is about or else you won't ever get around to reading it. As I mentioned in my blog the day after I finished reading Thr3e, I was completely shocked at the twist toward the end. I was conflicted as to whether Slater would end up being a split of Kevin's personality, but when Sam saw two pairs of feet under the door, I felt that that was the ending revelation. However, when she called Jennifer and was told that she also was a split, my mouth literally dropped open and I had to read the passage a couple more times.
It pains me to have to reveal the central plot twist to anyone who might not have read the book, but I can't talk about why it was so compelling to me without speaking to the 3-way split of Kevin's personality into good, evil and the man in between. I don't want to be overly voyeuristic in this blog, but I will say I've struggled with certain sins in my life to the point that, years ago, I found it easier to view my own sin nature as a separate personality splintered from the good Jodi. I saw it as an extension of Paul's cry in Romans "I do not do what I want to do."
In truth, it was simple pride. I didn't want to admit and couldn't reconcile within myself the fact that I could be redeemed and utterly grateful for Christ's entrance into my life...and at the same time not be able to exert a measure of control over a sin nature that reared its ugly head at every turn. It was too much for my self-pride to swallow, that I existed as a weak vessel every second of every day, with a desperation for both the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit and a continual need for new forgiveness from the blood of Christ. I will freely admit that, if I could, I would splinter my personality today so that I could live with a measure of relief.
And pride -- can't forget that. Because it's my pride that is hurt when I can't control my sin nature. My pride that takes a beating when I have to admit that I can't get through a single day, and sometimes hour, without sinning...even these many years into my faith journey. It is simply a matter of pride that it took me so long to realize there is no good Jodi, apart from the minute-by-minute influence of the Holy Spirit breathing into me.
Perhaps this personal struggle is why Thr3e spoke to me so eloquently. It visualized in meaningful metaphor my continual, daily slog to live as a follower of Christ in a fallen world where my sin nature pulls me back to earth as lead in my shoes.
That was my reaction to the book. As to the movie I have a few different thoughts. First, as I said, I probably should have thought a little more before bringing my mom. The movie portrayed the chaos, violence and sadness of the book very well and, quite frankly, wasn't something mom would enjoy generally -- but taking her on her day off between the long stretch of 12-hour days when she's generally looking for fluff made it even worse…sorry Mom!
This was not an easy movie to watch, even aside from the content. It was somewhat choppy, jumping from scene to scene, and I’m not sure I could have followed it as well if I hadn’t read the book. There were also a lot of disturbing images. True, there was no swearing or sex and you didn’t see actual bloodshed in spite of all the explosions, but I still felt something about it was a little gritty to qualify it as a “Christian” movie. Actually, there was only one line in the film that blared “Christian” to me, otherwise I could have thought it was just any old psychological thriller.
And I mean that as a compliment to both Mr. Dekker and the filmmakers. I think we need films that reach to a broader audience and raise questions of spirituality. Not every quote-unquote Christian book, song or movie, in my opinion, needs to end with an altar call. If it entertains and makes a little money from a broad (not specifically Christian) audience, while at the same time bringing to the non-Christian mind a moment of pause as to what the man behind the curtain was trying to say -- more power to them!
To me, the overall metaphor of Thr3e was very powerful, spiritually speaking. It was fun to see the book played out on film and they did a pretty good job with it. It wasn’t a perfect movie, but it was a good one that I’d recommend if you’re not thrown off in general by thrillers.
One last thing I want to say is that, before the movie started, they showed a preview for House, an adaptation of the Ted Dekker/Frank Peretti book. The preview looked, to me, like another in the long line of freakishly scary horror movies that Hollywood delights in churning out. I’m going to have to do some thinking before I shell out money to see it, Christian-themed or not.
I guess it’s a positive sign though. There’s never really been enough variety in Christian-themed art for my liking. I’ve always thought it would be cool if we could have more than one or two radio stations -- then I could listen to Christian Country or Christian Pop and skip the Christian Heavy Metal and Christian Rap. :p Same with bookstores -- wouldn’t it be fun to have different sections so that you didn’t have to wade through a genre you can’t stand to get to the good stuff? If I decide to skip House because my loathing of horror films outweighs my need to support Christian art, I guess that wouldn’t be all bad…
January 05, 2007
Thr3e.
I was surprised to see that the movie adaptation of Ted Dekker's book Thr3e is out today. I haven't heard any buzz about it from Christian friends, but on the strength of how much I loved the book I'm heading out to plunk down my money on opening night. I'll let you know what I think of it. Check out the trailer here.
Quo Vadis.
This past week I've been reading Quo Vadis. It was published in 1896 in Polish, so with my college Polish and a Polish-English dictionary I'm slowly making my way through it. <jokes> I'm of course reading the English translation and still it's slow going because of all the latin words that don't translate. I've read other books about the early church in Rome, but this is supposedly a classic so I keep on slugging.
I ran across one quote that sorta floored me. It's a high Roman official talking to his nephew about whether or not a family they know are Christians because the nephew saw one of them drawing a fish in the dirt.
"Therefore she is a Christian," repeated Chilo.
"This signifies," said Petronius, "that Pomponia and Lygia poison wells, murder children caught on the street, and give themselves up to dissoluteness! Folly! Thou, Vinicius, wert at their house for a time, I was there a little while; but I know Pomponia and Aulus enough, I know even Lygia enough, to say monstrous and foolish! If a fish is the symbol of the Christians, which it is difficult really to deny, and if those women are Christians, then, by Proserpina! evidently Christians are not what we hold them to be."
Basically, the common belief about Christians in Rome at that time was that Christians murdered children, poisoned wells and were generally enemies of the state. But the family they're referring to were such paragons of virtue and kindness that it caused these two Romans to reconsider what they'd always thought to be true.
I can just imagine that conversation today.
"Therefore she is a Christian," repeated Paul.
"No way! That would mean that Joe and Sally are intolerant, hateful, close-minded bigots who only want to turn our country into a theocracy and beat the fun out of every situation. You spent time in their house, as did I, and I say that if they are Christians, then Christians are different then we've always thought."
What a testimony that would be!
January 04, 2007
Final MPA Review Posted.
And can be viewed here.
Schwarzenegger for President.
The Governator is taking another step toward his goal of running for President. He's already on record for supporting an amendment to revise the Constitutional requirement that naturalized citizens are not eligible to run for President. Mr. Schwarzenegger thinks 20 years as a citizen should be good enough -- coincidentally that number is coming up for him.
But today's announcement that he will be pushing universal healthcare for all children, including those who are here illegally, gives him another shot in the arm of popularity. After all, if President Bush moves forward with his intention to declare another blanket amnesty for illegals, the Governator will already have secured tens of millions of new loyal voters. Read more here.
Gay Sheep Study.
Oregon State and OHSU are conducting experiments to determine whether they can change the sexuality of "gay" sheep. Apparently 1 in 10 rams prefer other rams, rather than ewes. The study gives some sort of hormone stimulant aimed at changing this. You can imagine the uproar from gay rights activists comparing the study to ones performed by the Nazis and saying this could one day be used to cure homosexuals in utero. Which, on a side note, makes me wonder whether there would be any difference of opinion on abortion if you could determine sexuality pre-birth...
The article quoted a wide range of folks, but the one I found most humorous was tennis star Martina Navratilova, whose expertise and qualification for commenting on scientific studies seems to be that she's a well-known lesbian. Read the article here. (thanks rita!)
January 03, 2007
Book Tour.
I've done a lot of soul-searching and praying this past month, analyzing w