Crash

This afternoon I watched the movie Crash for the second time. It's an extremely powerful movie, and usually produces strong emotions in those who watch it. The first time I watched it I was quite torn on how I felt about it. It's a very real, honest, and powerful demonstration of how we are affected by prejudice, fear, anger, power struggles, injustice and a whole lot of other stuff we like to pretend doesn't exist. One of the things that hit me the most when I first saw it was that it completely blurred or destroyed the images of "good characters" and "bad characters" in the story. I like to see people as mostly good or mostly bad, but that's mostly delusional thinking. Instead you see both sides of the characters and are left without a "hero" to pull you through the movie. It offers no warm fuzzies, no peaceful comfortable atmosphere. Instead it left me a little disturbed but very moved by the honest look at the corrupt world we live in and the messed up people in it, of which I am a part. It is amazing to see how different people's prejudices played on one other, fueling anger and fear which often got displaced, and brought out more prejudice. It is a violent spiral. This is definitely a movie that everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime. It has forced me to think about what my prejudices are and what brings them out. There were so many things said that rang so true to me and also seem so wrong. But it's healthy to confront the reality of the world and ourselves.

Desire

I am reading the book The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge. It is a follow-up on the book The Sacred Romance which I talked about previously. It's really speaking to something I feel Christianity, at least in my experience, has missed.

"This may come as a surprise to you: Christianity is not an invitation to become a moral person. It is not a program for getting us in line or for reforming society. It has a powerful effect upon our lives, but when transformation comes, it is always the aftereffect of something else, something at the level of our hearts. At its core, Christianity begins with an invitation to desire." (pg 35) He talks about the many miracles of Jesus and that each time he was arousing and speaking to their desires. How else could this be called good news? "Being offered tips and techniques for living a more dutiful life isn't even in the field of good news." (pg 43) If the message we are hearing doesn't sound like incredibly good news, then perhaps we're not getting the right message. The bottom line is not how to cure and manage sin. Jesus' purpose in coming was to give us abundant life (John 10:10), which doesn't sound like a life devoid of desire.

Has anyone else experienced this emphasis on the duty of Christianity? I have felt that if I could only get the doctrine and belief all correct, and do the right things, then I would be fine. I resonate with Eldredge when he says "we are told to kill desire and call it sanctification". And in doing all this, I have completely missed the real purpose. I have missed the One who created me, not for correct obedience (otherwise why give us free will?), but for a relationship. The One who gave me these desires of my heart wants to see them fulfilled (Ps 37:4). And I really am enjoying this book that talks about what the heart of Christianity really is.

Conflict

My friend Erika posted a blog about conflict in marriage. It was a really awesome blog, so I had to link to it. It's a subject that is rarely talked about with such openness and honesty, especially in a public forum. Conflict is something I've struggled with, and honesty and openness have become very important things to me, so I was very excited about this blog.

http://www.newaesthetic.com/2007/01/conflict-is-so-cool.html