[Beliefnet, August 15, 2002]
Pride
Here's why we hate those family newsletters we get during the holidays: ”It's been a great year for the Lamplighters! Greg had been hoping for a promotion, but what a surprise when the CEO came to his desk and begged him to take over the company. The whole office chipped in and gave the family a week in Paris to celebrate. Wasn't that nice?
[Our Sunday Visitor, August 25, 2002]
Signs
The Baltimore theatre was packed the day “Signs” opened. At one point, lead character Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) explains that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who believe that someone is looking out for us, and those who don't. He states his own conclusion: “There is no one watching out for us. We are all on our own.” All over the theater viewers pulled in their breath, and a few blurted “aw!” in sad surprise. It seemed like the loneliest thing a person could say.
[Beliefnet, July29, 2002]
“God Gave Us a Miracle” reads the sign outside a diner in Somerset, Penna. But did He? Did God personally deliver the nine miners trapped 250 feet below ground? Would he have done it even if we hadn't prayed?
“I don't think we got his attention,” a friend tells me. “I don't think he said, 'I'm busy over here creating a solar system, but I'll take a minute and help you out.'”
[Our Sunday Visitor, July 21, 2001]
Men in Black II
One thing the makers of “Men in Black II” want you to know: this movie does not take place in the future. It's happening right now, today; a title at the beginning of the film announces “July 2002” and any viewers who checked their watches right then would feel pleasantly punctual. Of course that title will soon make the film feel dated, but that didn't dissuade the filmmakers. In a sea of movies set in the nebulous near future, they wanted to stress the presence of unseen realities, right here, right now.
[Our Sunday Visitor, June 30, 2002]
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
A French proverb goes, “To understand all is to forgive all.” If we only understood how miserable his childhood was, we’d forgive the ax murderer. If we only knew how strong his lust was, we’d look kindly on the adulterer. There’s a bit of self-protection in this saying: if people only understood me, they’d never blame me for anything; instead, they’d sympathize.
[Our Sunday Visitor, June 6, 2002]
Hollywood Ending
There’s a scene early in “Hollywood Ending” when Woody Allen, playing a neurotic and narcissistic movie director, fumbles through an important meeting saying all the wrong things. The people he desperately needs to impress looked pained, look away, and try to pretend he’s not the disaster that he is.
For the audience, the whole movie is like that.
[Christianity Today, May 21, 2001] It's not a ten-gallon hat; the soft, tall cap of black cloth could have been tailored over a one-gallon milk jug. Fronted by a gold metal cross, the hat tops a Dallas clergy leader who looks more like mountain man than a televangelist. At age 78, Archbishop Dmitri Royster' s face is deeply lined
[NPR, Morning Edition, May 3, 2002]
Every couple of years this happens. It's like living in the Twilight Zone. For weeks, everywhere I went, there were fluffy chicks and bunny-baskets, and the grocery store was stacked with bags of pastel M & Ms. It was all about Easter--and now it's done. But not for me.
[From “The Illumined Heart”, Paraclete Press, 2001]* Selected for Best Christian Writing, 2004*
The first time Jesus appears, in the first Gospel, the first instruction he gives is “Repent.”
From then on, it’s his most consistent message. In all times and every situation, his advice is to repent. Not just the scribes and Pharisees, not just the powerful—he tells even the poor and oppressed that repentance is the key to eternal life. In an incident that would make modern-day spin doctors frantic, Jesus even advises repentance in response to a horrifying atrocity. Some in his audience tell him that Pilate has murdered some Galilean worshipers, spattering their blood on the animal sacrifices. Shockingly, Jesus says, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Apparently he is not concerned about how this will play on Mt. Peor.
[Beliefnet, March 1, 2002]
Months after their deaths, the five drowned Yates children still linger at the edges of our minds, like silent, patient ghosts. The whole tragedy is a mystery. We can't imagine how any mother could do such a thing. We can't understand why the shock of the first limp body didn't stop her from killing any more. We can't even picture how she was physically able to do it. Those maternal arms look so thin; how could she hold a squirming 7-year-old under water for all those endless passing minutes?
