At the Movies (and Blogoversary)

It has been thirteen years that I've been posting at Out of My Hat!
Wow! I never imagined that it would be something that I stayed with for so long.

I definitely miss a few of the many blogs that have fallen out of the blogosphere over the years. It's probably not a bad thing. I spend enough time reading the blogs that are still posting and the few others that I've added to my regular reading. Scrolling through blogs and checking social media while enjoying my coffee has become the normal way I begin each day. Occasionally, I find something worth writing about. Many days I just sigh and pass on writing.

A recent rant that has come to mind is -- What has happened to creativity in Hollywood?
There are so many remakes of old movies, sequels to movies, and movies based on old stories or comics.
Are there so few new ideas?
I have to admit that I'm not a big movie fan so I could have it all wrong. It may be that it has always been like this, or it maybe that I'm seeing trailers for a very small segment of the overall industry.
It's just an observation from a non-interested person.

I've been to two movies in the past week -- Yesterday (cute, entertaining, funny story, movies on 60s and 70s performers/music seems to be a new thing) and Lion King (pretty much the same as the animated movie, cute but a waste of money).

If I go to another movie soon, what are your recommendations?
Any recent movies that are no longer "Now Playing" that I should rent or find on a streaming feed?
Tell me why you like it and why I will like it.

John <><

Heavy-hearted, Helpless and Hopeless

There have been many days in the past few months when I've sat before my keyboard wanting to write but felt too helpless and to hopeless to actually manage to begin tapping something out. It is not possible to put into words just how much despair I feel as I consider the state of hatred and division in this country (US).

The fear mongering tactics of our current leadership has divided families, churches, and communities. We see and hear hatred from our president and it gives encouragement for others to express hatred. Non-violent pacifists try to overcome the hate with love, but hate is always so much louder and attention grabbing. Hate dominates the news. Hate breeds haters. Hate spreads even where love quietly works.

So --
How can we love loudly?

I once thought that if we expose lies and shine a light on hatred that we could put an end to it. I was wrong. Liars just lie more and haters love the attention. In an age where we have access to so much information, people choose to remain ignorant and consistently seek out sources that reinforce their beliefs rather than searching for the truth. Outlets that expose lies are mocked, called biased, and ignored by those that would rather believe the lie than change their minds. I have never known a time when people are so afraid of other people.

I am sad for what we have become and uncertain that it will change anytime soon.
I know loving people.
I see loving actions.
I read loving stories.

But the fear
the hate
is everywhere.
And it is loud.

I always think that love must become louder than hate, but that's not the way of love. In the Christmas song O Little Town of Bethlehem, there is a line that says, "How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given..."
That is the way of love -- silent and purposeful.
If we can't love louder, maybe we need to love more.
Maybe we are not as helpless and life is not as hopeless as it seems.

Honestly, my heart is still heavy
but perhaps, there is hope.
Perhaps, there is love.

John <><

Final Words

I watched a TED Talk where the speaker posed the question, "With how many people that you know have you already had your final conversation?"

Of course, there are people that have died and it could be that your final conversation with them was very emotional and intense. There are those people that enter into our lives for a short season (or maybe for a long season), but that season has passed and they will no longer be a part of our journey. And there are people that we choose to no longer contact or to engage in any way.

But what about all of the others?
What about the people that are still living and we know/see/like/love/etc, but we have somehow just grown apart and moved on without them? What about the people with which we would like to sit down and have one more conversation -- to catch up on their lives, to make amends, to tell them they are loved, to hear their voice, or to sense their presence?

Are we satisfied to have left all of those people without one more conversation?
Will they even remember us or the last conversation we had?
Is that important? ...to us? to them? to anyone?

Hmmm...?

John <><

I'm well. Thank-you.

I'm well.
That is my standard response to the common greeting "How are you?"
Well is an adverb and describes my state of being.
Good is an adjective and describes a thing -- I'm a good person, or That's a good cookie.

I get that "I'm good" is a more common and accepted response and I accept it without thinking anything about it, but there are other common errors that kind of bug me and cause me to figuratively cringe on the inside.

Literally vs figuratively
The misuse of literally has become so common that virtually and figuratively now appear as definitions for literally in most dictionaries.

Less vs fewer
Less is for a measured amount. Fewer describes a counted amount.
There are fewer days in a week than there are in a month.
I care less about well vs good than about less vs fewer.

What are your linguistic pet peeves?
Just wondering...

John <><

How can I not be noticed?

The struggle is real.
If I could somehow manage to only be noticed in the social media world, but remain anonymous in real life, that would be cool. But it seems that being noticed in the social media world gets you noticed in real life, as well.

I went through my Instagram account today and dropped a bunch of follows and muted a few more stories. Facebook becomes more of a problem because it isn't like someone can follow me, but I don't have to be their friend. I feel like a bit of a jerk if I don't "follow" someone that is supposedly my friend. The truth is that there are a quite a few Facebook people that I know (or more correctly, know of) that aren't really my friends.

I've been getting people from church that have made friend requests. There have been a few that I have no idea of who they are and I have declined them. Many I know who they are or have an idea of how we are connected and I've added them. Some I have unfollowed -- not because of anything offensive or bothersome, but just because I have nothing other than church in common with them. If they want to continue to follow me, that's cool. It's also okay if they don't. I can't think of anyone that I've requested to be friends with in quite sometime.

I've seriously considered abandoning the whole social media thing as a means of keeping up on others. I probably use my Twitter feed for keeping informed more than anything. I still have regular blogs that I read and have often considered that it may be time to shutdown Out of My Hat. In a week it will be the 13th anniversary of my first post. I'll probably keep writing for personal fulfillment and not worrying as much about content or hits. That's pretty much the way I started -- just a place to write. I care much less about self promotion or sharing my own thoughts with others than I have in the past.

Recently, someone asked me if I am a recluse.
I've never thought about that, but it seems like it would be an okay life. Truthfully, I don't mind being around people if I don't have to interact with them too much. I'm comfortable in a stadium packed with baseball fans or sitting on my deck alone and watching the game on my computer. I never really feel like I have to be alone. I just like it that way. I also never feel like I need to be around people. I just accept that sometimes I have to if I'm going to function as a part of society.

I think it's a little weird that most people feel the need to be connected with everyone they meet. When I meet someone, I never think "We should be friends on Facebook!"
I'm still more likely to give them my phone number and tell them to call me if they want to get together for coffee or something. Maybe I'm just old or less willing to adapt than I realize.

See?
That's what writing does for me. It helps me with self reflection and self assessment.
Now I need to decide if I think like an old person and if that's a good thing or not. I have choices to make -- change or be comfortable with how I am.
Hmmm...
Maybe life would be easier if I didn't write.

John <><

What if ...?

Did Jesus live just so that he could die?

I'm beginning to believe that as evangelical followers of Jesus, we have focused so much on the death and resurrection of Jesus that we have forsaken all (or at least most) of his teaching and life examples.

I'm reminded of the saying of being "too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good."
It's a little disturbing that we have such a focus on salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we will do anything, say anything to convince others of it -- except actually demonstrate God's love.

Ultimately the one thing that Jesus asks of us is to become his disciple -- to study his life and his ways, and to follow him. Part of following him is calling others to also become disciples.
Jesus never asked us to condemn others, to judge others, to threaten them with eternal hellfire, to scare them into heaven, nor to abandon them. He simply says to love others -- all others!

It is so unnatural to not have rivals. Nature has set us up as competitors. As individuals we compete for survival. We naturally compete for food, for mates, for territory, and we protect what we have. In community we compete for the same things (except the mate). We use and abuse power to keep what we have and to get more for our side. If someone from "their side" suffers, it's not on us to care for them or to meet their needs. Our responsibility is to our own.
If earthy success and status is our end game, then I guess that makes sense.

But how do you feed your spirit? How do you protect your heart? Do you look to acquire more spiritual territory or is the spiritual realm so different that we have to --
Learn to feed other spirits by giving away spiritual fruit?
Make spiritual acquisitions by sharing our spiritual gains and territories with others?
It is difficult to love like Jesus when we are still focusing on getting ahead in this realm. Paul writes that we should take on the mind of Christ; that we should love like Christ Jesus and be concerned about the needs of others -- both the earthly needs and the spiritual needs.

The ancient Jews had 613 commandments to follow. Jesus was asked which is the most important. He gave them two. He said the most important one is to love God. He said the the second most important is to love others. Then he told them that all of the other commands were based in these two.
I would have a difficult time remembering 613 commands, much less obeying them. Two I can handle!

What if we change how we look at the life of Jesus?
What if we begin to see that he lived to teach us to love?
What if we study his life so that we can know the true nature of God?

I think this is the simple gospel --
He lived so that we can love.
He died so that we can live.

John <><

Can you show too much love?

It's been a good week.
I can't say that it's been an exciting week or that anything exceptional has happened, but it's been good.

One of the best parts of the week has been that I've been able to spend some one on one time with the pastors of The Venues. I had lunch with student pastor Rob on Monday and a midday meeting with senior pastor Phillip yesterday. Visits with our associate pastor Ben were not really scheduled and I'm not sure if he enjoyed them as much as I did since I was dropping in on him in his hospital room!
In any case, I had great conversations with these men. Their passion for sharing God's love is evident in the work they do and in the way they speak about loving our neighbors as Jesus instructs us to do. I really do consider working and serving with The Venues to be a privilege and an honor.

I also ran into an old friend that voiced concern over our attending The Venues.
I get that. Perhaps it's best summed up with the words of The Venues worship leader, Joey --
"The Venues isn't a church for everyone...
...because it's a church for everyone!"

I wonder --
If people found out that God loves everyone just as they are (yep - everyone, even the people we think are deservedly going to hell), would they search for a different god?
Hmmm...?

It's weird that people are concerned that I might be showing too much love to the wrong people.
Is that even possible?

John <><

Wednesday Wisdom

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it"
--Aristotle