mbjones

Enjoying the snow…snow…snow..snow…

I just wrote my first article for the Jesus Manifesto.  It comes from spending time in Hosea this weekend…

Yesterday some friends called asking if I wanted to join them for Atonement, one of the movies currently out. I quickly agreed since this movie has been on my radar since late last summer when reviews started popping up on various sites I respect. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. I’ll try to be broad in the rest of the review so as not to spoil it but be forewarned, I might not completely succeed in this.

The Story

Atonement is a story told in two acts (with a prologue bringing everything together). It starts by featuring the story of two well-to-do sisters, one 13 and the other several years older, living in England just before the outbreak of WWII. The younger of the two, Briony, witnesses events she’s not quite able to wrap her mind around and does the unthinkable: tells a lie that lands Robbie (the love of the older sister Cecilia) in jail.

The story then fast forwards four years. Robbie is out of jail, having been forced to fight in the war. Cecilia is a nurse in London, having disowned her family for their refusal to support Robbie. And Briony is beginning to feel the gravity of what she did. Having found each other again, Robbie is anxious to get back to his love (as is Cecilia!) and Briony struggles to make amends for her past actions.

As I said it ends with a prologue that ties everything together. Instead of a fast forward of just a few years, the story jumps about 40. And an elderly Briony is finally able to find some, however small, means of atoning for her actions.

The Themes

I couldn’t help but like this film, primarily because of the themes it deals with (and the way in which it deals with them). It is a vivd exploration of the darker side of humanity — the side we all try to hide — and the quest for some semblance of reconciliation. Broadly, the power of words (written words, specifically) and their ability to create and destroy is toyed with. It’s in her words that Briony sins most notably and then its in her words that she’s able to find some since of atonement as well. The personal struggle and weight of sins also carried much of the second act and the accent on our darker emotions (jealousy, anger, lust, fear, etc) were able to bring forth in sense of urgency in the characters struggle for atonement.

Conclusion

One of the things I really enjoyed about this movie was the audio/visual clues that seem to hone in and reinforce the themes present. The percussive beat of a typewriter drives many (probably most) of the tense moments. And the movie starts with a play and it ends with a novel (both written struggles to understand complex emotions) and contains many written pieces throughout that seem to just highlight the struggle with and power of our word. And another visual clue that you could guarantee to highlight an important scene: the color red. Red is an interesting color — it highlights our sin, it highlights love and passion, and (for the spiritual) it also highlights the atoning work of blood. It’s used in all of these ways throughout the entirety of the film: the red wall in the library, blood flowing into the fountain, hospital curtain that surrounds Briony and the frenchman, the cape she wears throughout much of the second act, and the tulips in the closing scene. Truth be told, much color is washed out in the majority of the movie, but the color red almost never is. And there are other colors giving visual clues as well (Cecilia’s deep green dress vs the love/life she’s about to embrace, etc) the continued presence of red just jumps out though.

As to dislikes, I don’t think the story was developed quite well enough. This could just be my general ambivalence towards love stories in general but I didn’t feel that I was connecting strongly enough with Cecilia and Robbie. While I think a certain degree of disconnect between them and the audience was necessary to drive in the final moments, I still thought that their story could have been better developed. And the same goes for other pieces as well. Even though this film was quite long, several of the scenes felt a bit too rushed (entrance of Briony in the second act and the wedding seen immediately come to mind) and could have been further developed. All things said and done, thankfully none of this detracted greatly from the film overall.

And that brings me to the conclusion in which I say again that I really enjoyed Atonement and find it well worth seeing. As previously mentioned though, know that it is quite heavy and not exactly happy (or in some ways hopeful). Incidentally, the author of the novel (Ian McEwan) I regularly see lumped in with the so-called “new atheists.” As such don’t expect any particular Christian message. Outside of loose circumstances and symbolism you certainly won’t find any. But go with an interest in atonement and reconciliation and the power of our words and be open to the weight at which our sins weigh us down. And as the characters struggle to find some means of atonement within themselves and in their own actions, be thankful for the work that was done for us.

One of the highlights of Christmas vacation not mentioned in my last long post was getting through six different books. I imagine everyone reading this already knows, but if you didn’t — I love to read. And because I was so successful over the past couple of weeks, I’ll offer some mini-reviews, as most of the books I’d recommend. Without further ado, here they are (in no particular order):

• Jim and Casper Go To Church — Jim and Casper chronicles the story of a Christian and an atheist visiting various prominent churches across the nation (nine total). Most of the churches you’ve likely heard of (Saddleback, Willow, Lakewood, etc) but a few are more obscure. What makes this an interesting read is that it details the thoughts of an atheist (Casper) as he witnesses examples of how Christians “do church”. The question he kept going back to, church after church, was “Would Jesus really do this?” I think it’s a good one to ask as we craft and fine tune our ecclesiologies. Another point I found interesting: Casper felt most mega-churches were devoid of any sense of community (even of a simple yet authentic greeting). This is certainly something to be mindful of (and has been one of the driving forces behind what I see as legitimate ecclesiology). This is something I might explore later though and not in this ever-so-brief review. All in all a quick and good read. Recommended particularly if you don’t mind an honest look at how we (evangelicals) tend to do things.

• Jesus and Empire — Jesus and Empire reads as a history textbook — mostly pretty dry. It looks specifically at the historical Jesus, placing Him in the context of the Roman empire and examining specifically how Jesus critiqued empire. Honestly, two of the remaining books (you’ll be able to figure out which two) do a much better job at this. At least they kept my attention much better. Whereas this book seemed to hone in more on the history, the others seemed to do a much better job of honing in on Jesus. That being said, this book does make good points — I just wouldn’t jump it to the top of your reading list.

• Poverty and Wealth in James — This tiny book is actually a very specific commentary on the book of James examining the passages that deal with (surprise, surprise) poverty and wealth. It is actually quite good and worthwhile if you are doing a study of James. Make sure you have a copy of the text of James in front of you though. And it doesn’t hurt to understand Greek.

• The Myth of a Christian Nation — I think Myth might rate as the best book I read over break. It’s an honest assessment of the kingdom of the sword (any world government — take your pick) versus the kingdom of the cross. This is a book I’ll likely blog more about (both this one and the next one) so I’ll try to keep this review short. The point that jumped out most to me is that which sets up the rest of the book: the kingdom of the sword is always (and will always) be based on “power over” ideology. Regardless of whether we are talking about dictatorships, socialist states, democracies or democratic republics — they are all systems based on some holding power over others. In contrast, the kingdom of the cross is based on the ethic Jesus ushered in: sacrificial, servant leadership (to complete the contrast: “power under”). Of interest — Greg Boyd pulls heavily from the next book, The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder. Read this first though as its much easier to understand.

• The Politics of Jesus — As I previously said, Myth pulls heavily from Politics. This book is much more academic though and takes quite a bit more time to digest. Whereas the previous book looks specifically at the contrasting kingdoms, Politics seeks to lift a complete social ethic from the teachings of Jesus. Yoder succeeds in this respect, to be sure. This is one I look forward to exploring further soon.

• The New Friars — The New Friars examines emerging monastic movements across the globe and how we can get involved in them. I’ll be honest — I like reading this type of book; I find it very encouraging to see how God is moving (it tends to inspire to want to be involved in things that make my mom sweat though). If you are looking for an easy read that’ll give you real life examples of how God is moving in the world today, pick this one up. It’s worth it. (PS. It’s no Sub-Merged. Read that first. Incidentally it’s my top book of 2007.)

And there you have it — the books I read over break. As I said above, there are several that I hope to explore more in this space. And hopefully I’ll do that soon while they are still fresh. Until then…

Last week (Tuesday) I returned home from an extended vacation at my parent’s house. I left on Dec 20 and Tuesday was Jan 8 so 18 days, to be exact. While gone I took the time to not do much work (only little things for OU as well as some SEO stuff) and instead focused on relaxing, spending time with family and recharging the old batteries. While 18 days is long to be gone from home, there was lots of fun to be had there. I’ll try to detail some of that (since I was purposefully scarce here whilst gone).

Eating

It’s said that some of the best times happen around the dinner table. Well, I say that at least. And that seems to be one thing my family enjoys — fine food. Be it a small whole in the wall type joint or a much fancier feast, we enjoyed lots of good food together.

• Z Tejas — This is where my sister-in-law waits (used to, now). We sat in her section my first lunch in Arizona. I think they describe themselves as “southwestern fusion” or something like that. There jalepeno cornbread is quite good (as was the bbq burrito I had).
• Niko’s — Niko’s is a small mexican stand in the k-mart parking lot (I think). It’s really good though. My dad says that half of the time he goes their the help doesn’t speak English (so you know you are getting authentic food). I especially liked their carne asada.
• My Mom’s Penne a la Vodka — My mom made this pasta dish twice because it was so well loved: Christmas Day and last Sunday. Both times we had more than just my family around the table and both times it was really go (I don’t remember there being much in the way of leftovers). It wasn’t quite as good as her symphony beef though. If you are reading mom — you should return to the symphony beef tradition next Christmas
• Oregano’s — This is one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve eaten at. Their specialty is pizza (which my dad and brother split) and was really, really good. I had penne pasta in a tomato/cream sauce with a couple of sausages on top. It was enough for two meals. Their speciality dessert was also really good — a fresh oven baked cookie with ice cream on top.
• Firebirds — Firebirds is a “rocky mountain grill”. We went their the Sunday before New Years Eve for a celebration dinner (my brother and his wife are movie to Haiti in a few weeks so that was a big part of it). I had a fantastic chile-rubbed steak (as did my brother). It was really good (as was their dessert — key lime pie).
• Pita Jungle — If their was one restaurant we ate at that I wish was in Norman, this would be it. The Pita Jungle specializes in really, really tasty (and healthy!) Mediterranean cuisine. We started the lunch off with jalepeno/cilantro hummus (with dipping pita). My sister-in-law got a spiced chicken wrap of some sorts. My mom got tabouli. My brother and I split a combo plate that had beef and chicken kababs, hummus, tabouli and garlic sauce. And then we all shared. It was really really good stuff.
• Gordon Biersch — Gordon Biersch really isn’t any different than BJ’s — a Brewery/Sports Bar. This one was on ASU’s version of campus corner (which by the way, theirs is way cooler). Just myself, brother and sister-in-law went so that we could have dinner, enjoy a nice brew and watch the Rose Bowl. Well, the Rose Bowl wasn’t much of a game but the beer and food made up for it.
• El Charro’s — This joint, located in Tucson, is hands down the best Mexican place I’ve eaten at. USA Today calls their Chimichanga plate one of the top 50 dishes in America and I’d believe them. It was amazingly good. Definitely worth checking out if you are ever in Tucson.
• Lucille’s — Lucille’s is a really good BBQ joint. The food comes in huge portions (I couldn’t come close to finishing mine) and is very good. I had the BBQ Tri-Tip with fries and slaw. This place gets major bonus points also for providing a warm, moist towel for everyone at the end of our meal.

We also ate at many well known places along the way (the Crackhouse, Mimi’s Cafe, etc) and other unknown ones (LaFawnda’s, my dad’s favorite calzone place which isn’t actually as good as he thinks it is, some random joint in Tombstone, etc). The highlighted ones above though are the meals that stick out in my mind.

Random Events

With any family trip, at least in my family, you never quite know what all is going to happen and it never quite works out like you expect it to.

• Christmas Day — We our a family that tends to downplay Christmas (and other holidays for that matter). As long as we are together, we tend to enjoy “going with the flow” better than making a big to-do. This year worked out a little differently than in years past: While my mom and sister-in-law stayed home to cook the aforementioned Vodka Pasta, my dad, brother and I volunteered at a local homeless shelter. Our job was to deliver meals to shut-ins that had nobody in their lives. My dad went with on of the other minister’s sons while me and my bro went together. It was interesting to see the reactions of people. At one home, no one ever answered (even after repeated hard knocks on the door and calls to her landline). At another the couple grabbed the meals and shut the door on us. At the third, a really, really old lady who couldn’t hear a thing answered the door the door and invited us in to her abode (occupied by many, many cats from the smell of things). What was interesting was that their was another old man there who wasn’t her husband and she wanted us to take him home because (in her words), “he got here a couple of days ago and hasn’t left since.” Us being the nice guys that we were went back after lunch and picked him up and took him to his house. We talked along the way and found out he was probably in his 80s and a little bit crazy but that’s life isn’t it? Another amusing story from this event — when we reported back in at the homeless shelter my brother told the lady in charge that we had to go back to pick up this man and she got really excited, talking about divine appointments and such. She then proceeded to tell my brother how to share the Gospel (keep in mind my brother just graduated with a masters in theology, has interned in churches for the past year and is getting ready to be a missionary in Haiti). I had to laugh as my bro did his best not to role his eyes at the incredibly individualistic presentation she gave. He’s grown up to be a lot more like me than I would have expected in high school.
• Video Editing — While Christmas Day certainly held the best stories, it was also random that I got a chance to do some video editing again (I haven’t done any since Glorieta promo days at the BSU). The associate pastor spoke the second Sunday I was there on “joy in the midst of suffering” and had a video interview with a lady dieing of cancer. While very basic (as far as editing goes), I did get to pull out some Explosions in the Sky for the soundtrack.
• Mission’s Meeting — Got to talk about my trip to Mozambique last summer with the mission’s committee at my dad’s church (and campaign for support for the coming summer’s trip to South Africa). This was good because we got to talk a lot about how we do church at Norman Community. They were all quite interested in this. Truth be told, I had this same conversation with numerous people out there (which is always interesting).
• Tombstone/Bisbee — My last saturday there, my grandparents took my brother and I to Tombstone (the Tombstone) and Bisbee. Tombstone was underwhelming — essentially just a gimmicky old timey street lined with shops that sell the same souvenirs (mostly). We ate at an alright res

  taurant (my burger was pretty good) and then headed out. Bisbee was much neater. It’s essentially a town in the mountains full of hippies. It’s quite quaint and had some really interesting shops. We all stopped for a coffee at a local shop and then headed to Tucson to meet my parents at the aforementioned El Charro’s. It was a perfect topper to the day.

• Movies — We saw a couple of movies. On Christmas day we went to National Treasure 2 in the early evening. On New Year’s Day we went to Juno (by we I mean my bro and sis-in-law). It was wonderful and one I’d highly recommend seeing (especially if the humor of Little Miss Sunshine appeals to you).

Alright. There you have a basic rundown of my time in Arizona. I’ll post some pictures over the next few days too.