The Golden Compass

I first heard about the movie The Golden Compass from a booklet sent to me by The Catholic League. You can access it here. I'm not Catholic, and not sure how I got a space on their mailing list. My family wasn't familiar with the books, so the release of this movie would probably have gone unnoticed in our home.

As the release date approached, I've been bombarded with emails urging our family not to see the movie, and even to boycott theaters that show it. I've had it outlined in detail how a "good Christian" family will not view this movie. I prefer to be given information with which I will make my own decision, rather than being told what a "good Christian" will, or won't, do.

I've read the review at Plugged In Online. I consulted Snopes, and Christianity Today's movie reviews. Everyone has an opinion, it seems: MSNBC, CNN, and Albert Mohler.

Then today, I received a weekly email from our Bishop. You can access it here:
http://www.northalabamaumc.org/bishop_column_recent.asp and read it below. [The emphasis is mine.]

From Bishop William Willimon, North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church:

As part of our Conference-wide celebration of United Methodist believing, I've asked some of our pastors to contribute their thoughts on the joy of the Wesleyan way of Christianity. Today Wade Griffith, Sr. Pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, evaluates the recent movie, The Golden Compass based on Phillip Pullman's book, as he reflects on the hallmarks of Methodism.

Hallmarks of Methodism

We are Free to Think and Engage the Culture as Ambassadors of
Christ

Two weeks ago I preached a sermon that focused on the response we as Methodist Christians should have to elements of popular culture that appear to be attacking our faith. Having recently gotten an email insisting that all faithful Christians must boycott a film entitled, The Golden Compass, I was led to reconsider my position on how we relate and respond to the culture at large. To be honest, the email I received only succeeded in raising my curiosity about the movie. Shortly after getting it, I went and purchased the books so that I could find out what all the fuss was about. Turns out, the movie, The Golden Compass (TGC), was based on a book by the same name & that book is part of a trilogy of books by Phillip Pullman. The trilogy is ominously titled, His Dark Materials.

Over the Christmas holidays, I read the trilogy and found it to
be an imaginative, page-turner of a tale, full of magic, adventure, love, loyalty, and of course, good versus evil. There are even talking animals in this story, which begins, oddly enough, with a girl in a wardrobe. Sound familiar? It is almost as if Pullman’s tale was designed to be a foil to Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. Like Lewis’ Chronicles, Pullman’s story is a fantasy tale about the struggle between good and evil. However, unlike Lewis’ work, in Pullman’s world the church is the villain. The church in HDM is a caricature of the medieval church. It is more political than spiritual, and in it, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been replaced by the Machiavellian ethics of institutional survival & the accumulation of power. Finally, the church in the trilogy exists only to control the lives of all people.

After reading the books, I was eager to share my thoughts with
the congregation. In HDM, I saw what the church would be like without the Holy Spirit. I saw what the church would be like without Christ as its head, exemplar and Lord. I was also prodded by my reading to look at our church anew to see if we have strayed from the path of Christ. Where are we working to accumulate our own power and influence? Where have we forgotten to wash feet, to live as servants and to carry our own cross? Finally, I was given an insight into the head of a non-believer…not something we get very often! Be honest, how many conversations per year do you have with strident, well-educated and articulate atheists. Clearly, Christianity doesn’t always look from the outside like it does to us from the inside!

In the final analysis, the church I know is absent from the
book! There is nothing in the book about compassion or helping the poor. There is nothing about grace, forgiveness or reconciliation. There is nothing about protecting human dignity and freedom. There is nothing about a life-changing relationship with a Lord who gave His only Son for us. There is certainly nothing about treating all people as children of God! Rather, the church in the book is a reactionary and power-hungry institution that ruthlessly attacks anything that challenges its power and influence. Hmmm, and my response to this portrait of the church (and our faith) is that I should angrily boycott it? (I wonder…did Pullman or the movie studio send out that email.) Seems like it encourages the kind of response that would only confirm Pullman’s picture of the church.

Surprisingly, the books left me feeling thankful. I am thankful to serve in a church where I can read what I like and have the freedom to make up my own mind! I am thankful that I worship in a church where I can disagree with the pastor and not get kicked out of the church. I am thankful to be in a denomination whose founder valued learning, dialogue and critical engagement with the culture. Most of all, I am thankful to love, serve and follow the God who the multiverse. That being the case, why would some work of fiction or any work of fiction scare me or rattle my cage? Do we forget that we serve the CREATOR. Yahweh! The Lord of Lords! When we engage the culture from a posture of suspicion and hostility, the culture reads it as anxiety and fear. Maybe they are right. On some subconscious level, are we afraid that the right book, question, idea or discovery will pop the balloon that is God? If not, why are we so scared. Do we really think God needs our defense and protection?

Despite the atheistic views it subtly and not so subtly espouses, I am thankful for TGC. It has reminded me to be a spiritual leader, not a CEO. It has reminded me to appreciate my denomination and faith. It has reminded me to show the world what we as a church are really about. We are “about” sharing the love that God has so richly given us in Jesus Christ. We are about helping people meet God through a relationship with Christ. We are about working for a world that conforms to God’s loving will--a world where the last truly are first and where no one lives in despair. We are about responding with love to friend and foe alike. We are about loving care. We are about hope.

Thanks be to God not only for this faith, but for a faith tradition that allows me to, “reunite [ing] the two so long disjoined: knowledge and vital piety.” Thanks be to God for a founder who believed, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” As Methodists, we have the freedom to read what we will and to think as we will. Mr. Pullman, if you are listening, I guess the church isn’t all about control after all.

My family will still probably pass on this movie, but I found this viewpoint refreshing and encouraging. I hope you will read all the evidence and reviews, and decide for yourself, too.

What Store Are You? Blog Challenge #7

Suzanne's Blog challenge # 7 is "What store best represents what type of person you are right now? Are you a Macy's or Wal-Mart type of person? Do you wish you were a different store? Take any direction you'd like; either where you shop in real life or comparing your personality to a particular store. Have fun with it!"

Hmm . . . .

They say you are what you eat. So am I the store where I shop the most?? If so, then I'm Walmart. I like that I can get groceries or gardening items, hardware stuff for remodeling or a tape runner for scrapbooking, shoes and a flash drive all on the same stop. One stop shopping. Though I hate to admit it, the convenience is more important to me than their low prices.

I've been contemplating what this may say about my personality. Do I opt for convenience over quality? Do words like 'cheap' and 'superficial' characterize my life? Does this reveal an inner conceit -- I want EVERYTHING I want at my fingertips all the time? Am I lazy? I'm not sure I can answer these questions, but they're worth contemplating.

I wish I was Bed-Bath-and-Beyond. Classy. Sophisticated. Refined. But not High Maintenance/Expensive, per se. Oh, well, everyone has to aspire to something, I guess. If Suzanne were to repeat this challenge in 5 years, maybe I could say that.

Meanwhile, I'll continue my search for answers . . . as soon as I get back from Walmart. ;-)

Positive Customer Service Blog Challenge #5

Suzanne's Blog challenge # 5 is about positive customer service. "Post an entry about a positive customer service experience you've had. Who was it with? Did you praise them on the spot? Did you go home and write a letter to the company management?"

I'm not as good at giving companies feedback as I think I should be. I'm working on it.

While we were at the Biltmore Estate, we took a total of four tours. One of the tour guides did an EXCELLENT job. She not only knew the tour script, but was able to answer questions. She made us feel like we got more than our money's worth. In fact, she's the reason we purchased a couple other tours. We let her know how much we appreciated the job she did, particularly after a later less-pleasing experience. We made a point to tell her boss, and then followed up with a note after we got home.

On the same trip, we asked a clerk at the hotel for restaurant recommendations. She sent us to a little place in a strip mall shopping center, a place we would not have tried on our own. It was a GREAT choice! Little Venice was the best Italian food I've ever eaten. We were so impressed that we ate there two out of the three nights we were there. So we let the hotel know we appreciated knowledgeable staff, and let the owner of Little Venice know as well. He said she would be getting a gift certificate. Hope he kept his word.

Photo Blog Challenge #4

Suzanne's Blog challenge # 4 is to post a photo you've taken this month and tell us about it in detail. [I'm only 5 challenges behind. Since I'm completing the challenge in February, I'm using a February photo.]

Joseph and I made a commitment to go away for a weekend, as a couple, each year. This year, we went to Asheville, North Carolina to visit the Biltmore Estate. The Biltmore is the county's largest private residence, and opened Christmas Eve 1895.

While there, I took this photo. It's a good example of the intricate carvings found everywhere on the house. The 'G' and 'V' stand for George Vanderbilt. Can you imagine?! I've heard people name their houses -- like "Knots Landing" [remember that show?] or "Southfork." But to put your initials permanently, right into the house's structure. Now THAT'S sure that you're not moving.

An interesting thing about the carvings is that they were done IN PLACE. This insures that they will never fall off the house. But it means that men climbed and used scaffolding to do all the carving.

It was an amazing house -- more interesting than Joseph expected. We had a great trip. I'll share more about it in another post.

Lent

A friend pointed out that I never shared my Lenten commitments this year. I thought I had -- but it was obviously an intention rather than a occurrence. So here they are.

Lent is about discipline -- specifically spiritual discipline. We're supposed to use this period of time between Ash Wednesday and Resurrection Sunday (Easter) to cultivate a closer relationship with the Lord. Think about it -- DISCIPLE = discipline. See the relationship?

Some people give up things for Lent. This I've done. For instance, last year, I gave up carbonated beverages. That's easy, you may be saying. Well, a pox on you! It was NOT.EASY. I start my day with Diet Dr. Pepper the way most people do with coffee. Once the caffeine-withdrawal headache dissipated, I still had the constant absence of the taste. In fact, the taste was a bigger issue than the caffeine-addiction. I preferred the sweet (artificial though it was) carbonation with my meals. Sundays are not included in the 40 days of Lent, because each Sunday is a Resurrection Celebration. Technically, I could have indulged my craving on Sunday, but this still felt like cheating, so I did not. I learned a strong lesson about dependence and need, and got a reality check on my own personal "disciplined life."

On the other hand, some people add things for Lent. This is what I chose this year. I added

• an extra 30 minutes of prayer each day,


• blessing every meal, whether alone or with others, in public or in private, and


• sharing God's love with someone each and every day.

That thirty minutes may sound daunting. It did to me at first. I spend an hour in prayer, meditation and Bible study each morning. I added 10 minutes in the morning, 10 middle of the day, and 10 in the evening. If life events get me behind, I make it up in the evening. But I committed to not carrying over to the next day. Each day's commitment is to be met each day. This way, just like His mercies are new every morning, so is my commitment.

Blessing every meal may sound easy, too. Many of you may already do this, but I have not. Growing up, we blessed each dinner meal, but not breakfast or lunch. Shamefully, I must admit that my family is not as consistent with this as I feel we should be. I've used a statement from a professor at Samford as an excuse. He said that we are either living a lifestyle of gratitude towards God or not, a few words before a meal neither makes us more grateful to God, nor does its absence make us less. And yet, stopping to acknowledge that even the very food I eat I have because of God feels like the right thing to do. So far, almost alf way through Lent, this is the commitment which has challenged me the most. I forget, which is, in fact, causing me great guilt. . . and yet, the guilt is not helping my memory. I can only hope God is less disappointed in me than I am in myself.

Sharing God's love every day doesn't mean setting up a tent on the corner of Higway 431 to preach at the passersby. This commitment can be something as simple as a "God bless you" to someone, or even a smile. I've been making an effort to call people by name. I've been learning to do "Flash Prayers" [a Frank Laubach idea]. Having made this commitment, I've been surprised by how often, when you are open to it, God will accomodate you. I've had some wonderful moments, including opportunities to talk with "new friends" and several opportunities to pray with people -- right in public! In the restaurant, in the store, and even in the bank!

Whichever, or neither, that you chose, I hope your Lent is a wonderful experience in spiritual growth and discipline. [Oh! And you know I'm just kidding about that pox thing, right??]

Would you ever think Lent could be commercialized?? I didn't. How do you turn a period of discipline and denial into a marketing tool? And yet, it has happened. Here's a picture and link to the blog www.markroberts.com, where I found it. Read his whole post. It's worth it! He also has a great new set of posts concerning praying "in Jesus name."

Exegesis vs Eisegesis

This semester in seminary, I'm taking Exegesis: The Gospel of Luke. Someone asked me what that meant. So here's the difference between exegesis, eisegesis and inductive Bible study.

Exegesis (from the Greek ἐξηγεῖσθαι 'to lead out') involves an extensive and critical interpretation of a biblical text. Sometimes, the terms exegesis and hermeneutics are used interchangeably. However, exegesis is the interpretation and understanding of a text, while a hermeneutic is a practical application of a certain method or theory of interpretation, often revolving around the contemporary relevance of the text in question. A common published form of a biblical exegesis is known as a 'bible commentary.' Robert A. Traina's book Methodical Bible Study has become influential in the field of Protestant Christian exegesis. Many regarded it as the standard text describing the inductive approach to interpreting the English-language Bible.

Inductive bible study involves a close and careful examination of the text itself, with little to no reliance of the interpretation of others. In other words, a passage is examined closely, paying attention to the words, the sentence structure, the paragraphs as written by the author. Then the passage's location within the chapter, book, and entire Bible are examined.

Many are familiar with IBS from Kay Arthur and Precept Ministries. I LOVE Kay Arthur, so I expected my IBS course to be easy. This was not a correct assumption. The course was extremely challenging, but I learned much from it. Having now done an IBS and Exegesis in New Testament studies, I will be required to do the same with the Old Testament.

Eisegesis (from the Greek εἰσηγεῖσθαι; 'to lead in') is the process of interpretation of an existing text in such a way as to introduce one's own ideas. This is best understood when contrasted with exegesis. While exegesis draws out the meaning from the text, eisegesis occurs when a reader reads his/her interpretation into the text. As a result, exegesis tends to be objective when employed effectively while eisegesis is regarded as highly subjective.

Eisegesis differs from hermeneutics. Hermeneutics seeks first to discover what the author originally intended, in the original context, and then to faithfully extrapolate that to a modern application. Eisegesis does not seek to first ascertain the original intent. Eisegesis is only concerned with what "the text is saying to me."

In the field of biblical scholarship, eisegesis is considered "poor exegesis." Exegesis scholars take great care to avoid eisegesis. While some [most?] denounce biblical eisegesis, many [most?] Christians employ it - to some degree, perhaps inadvertently - as part of their own experiential theology. Modern evangelical scholars accuse liberal protestants of practicing biblical eisegesis, while mainline scholars accuse fundamentalists of doing the same. Catholics say that all Protestants engage in eisegesis, because the Bible cannot be correctly understood except through the lens of Holy Tradition, and Jews counter that all Christians practice eisegesis when they read the Hebrew Bible as a book about Jesus.

It is interesting to me that an inductive Bible study course was a prerequisite to the exegesis course I am now taking. In other words, I was first required to learn to look at the text itself -- without the aids of commentaries. Is that, perhaps, an cautionary indicator of our over-reliance on the interpretation of others, rather than original source material?

Greek was a prerequisite or corequisite for the IBS. Hebrew is a prerequisite or corequisite for the OT IBS. So understanding the original language [not a TOTAL understanding] is an essential part of understanding the original meaning.

Ok. Enough ramblings about seminary. ;-)

Serenity and Senility

A morning chuckle . . . because laughter is good for you!

Do you remember the Serenity Prayer? It's good advice to calm the spirit and ease the soul.

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

This morning, I found the Senility Prayer on Ben Witherington's blog. It's amusing advice to tickler your spirit and put a giggle in your soul.

God grant me the senility

to forget the people I never liked anyway,

the good fortune to run into the ones I do,

and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Life in a Whirlwind

Does it seem like the world turns faster and faster??
It seems like I'm living in the middle of whrilwind!!
Is this a function of AGE? Does this mean I'm officially OLD?

I had BIG plans for the time between finals in December and seminary classes starting again this week.
Did I get all that stuff done?? NO!
Did I get most of it done? NO!
Did I get some of it done? Yeah, some.

I remember being in school, particularly middle school. Time literally crawled along. Summer would NEVER come soon enough. Christmas was only once every three years. Now that I'm all grown up, Christmases whiz by, summer is only half as long as it used to be, and my babies have become young men overnight.

So how do we cope with this increasing speed? We treasure every possible moment. We refuse to let the urgent rob us of the important. My advice today is this: Hug your children; kiss your husband; eat the chocolate you crave; and get a good night's sleep. It may be true that you can sleep when you're dead, but you'll get there sooner than you want if you don't sleep now.


Side Note: I haven't abandoned Suzanne's Blog Challenges. I'm having "picture" problems, and haven't written a letter of praise in a while. I've remedied that now, and I'll post soon.

I found this interesting personality test on another blog, but was shocked to find out my personality is "somewhat rare." Guess that's a relief for all of you who know me, huh? What's your personality?

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISTP)

Your personality type is reserved, methodical, spirited, and intense. Only about 6% of all people have your personality, including 3% of all women and 8% of all men You are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

My Middle Name?

I've been tagged by Jayne.

Here are the rules: 1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers. 2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name). 3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers. 4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

I must whine for a moment. It's NO FAIR that I have such a LONG middle name . . . when folks like Jayne has a short middle name like 'Ann.' [picture me with my hands on my hips, pouting] And I'll NEVER come up with 7 people to tag . . . . .

Loves chocolate
Is not a morning person
Needs to learn to relax more
Enjoys playing the piano, but only for fun
Talks a lot, no, I mean A.LOT, like I-never-shut-up (need to work on it)
Totally hates American Idol
Envisages (fantasizes) about culinary school

The only person I can think to tag, that haven't already been tagged, is Leann.