Sola Christus

This is when grammar really is fun!

Sometime soon I am going to post some of my favorite links. Cake Wrecks is one of THE funniest sites in the mess called the web. The writer gathers and posts photos of "professional cakes gone wrong." But, the best part of the site is her commentary. I am not a grammar nut, the way some may be, but Cake Wrecks latest post is brilliant! Make "sure" you "read" the commentary. It will be worth it.

It's not about numbers is it?

I am in the midst of writing a chapter that is due on Monday (1200 words written today, 11,000 to go), which is why I haven't posted in a while. But, this quote from a New York Times article gave me obscene pleasure.

"Patricia Bostelman, vice president of marketing at Barnes & Noble, said that “The Lost Symbol” had sold more books in its first week on sale than any other adult title, ever. Books in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling and the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer still outsold Mr. Brown, Ms. Bostelman said, but “The Lost Symbol” broke the adult record previously held by President Bill Clinton for his memoir, 'My Life.'"

Take that Dan Brown!

Back to writing....

Harry Potter Simulacra?

The inevitable is on its way to creation: the Harry Potter theme park. Of course, it will be in Florida, and will take millions of dollars to create. They didn't ask me, but I don't know that I like the idea. The article talks about designs that come mostly from the films, which seems like a great example of simulacrum to me. Simulacra is something that is a reproduction of the real. To quote Jean Baudrillard “It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real.” As humans we are more and more looking at the sign of the real instead of the real. Instead of watching the movies, some will visit the theme park; instead of reading the books, some will watch the movies. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it can be helpful to look at the simulacra instead of the real, but sometimes it can be limiting.

Sometimes, I introduce myself to someone here in the UK, and he or she will say "Oh, I have been to America." After I inquire, where this person has been in the States, this person will say, "We spent two weeks at Disney Resort." Really? You've been to America huh? (To be fair, plenty of Americans go to London and think they have been to the UK). Those visitors, to either side of the pond, have limited themselves. They haven't see the beautiful Appalachian mountains, the lovely lakes of Georgia, the delicious cheeses in Pennsylvania; they just see what the creators of Disney want them to see.

Living in a town that gets lots of tourists, I see this here as well. Just this summer in fact, a tourist commented that "This looks just like Braveheart." Really? Perhaps I should be thankful that they ventured out of Stirling, but it is a bit frustrating to think that there are people who see movies about Scotland and think that everything here is all that can be portrayed by a blue faced Australian playing a Scot. Here, I freely I admit that I have only been living in Scotland for a year; I fully admit that there are still things that I haven't seen and don't fully understand.

Here's the problem for Christians: in one way, we are always looking at the simulacra. "This world is not our home." This isn't all there is, we are looking through a dark glass, trying to see what really is. And yet, we care about our images of the real, and I think we should. But not too much. As Christians, we need to balance the fact that there is a bigger reality with the fact that God has given us a responsibility to take care of this world filled with images of the real.

Remembrance

Yesterday was the eighth anniversary of the World Trade Towers. I always feel conflicted when this anniversary comes around. Feelings of sorrow, anger, frustration, and even anxiety can come. But, I always come back to the fragility of humanity and our inability to control events, and eternity

Jerri Massi, an author I have read, and now consider a friend, took the time to put together a wonderful remembrance in honor of the people that died that day.

It is 15 minutes, listen to it if you can. 

A story

Sarah tells a story on her blog of adultery, love, and forgiveness. You need to read this, even if you aren't married. It is a good reminder of what mercy is all about.

[Thanks to Jan for posting this one]

For the joy of books

I can't remember a time when I couldn't read. My mother tells me that I started reading just after I turned three. Yes, I am one of those people. The type of person that stops and reads all the text panels in museums. The type of person who will pick up the "How to avoid prostate cancer" brochure in the doctor's office, just because it has words. It must be read, says my word obsessed brain. 

The smell of old books is one of my absolute favorite smells (right up there with the smell of new tires).  Even though getting a PhD sometimes means I read for six, seven, even eight hours straight, I still love it. I will still come home and read some more. I am a true bibliophile.

I have always thought that reading must seem like a type of magic to those who can't perform it. This week, I ran across two articles about reading, children, and books, and how to get all of those things interacting.

I am sure many of you remember Reading Rainbow , the PBS children's show that introduced so many kids to good books, and the excitement of reading in general. Who can forget the episode in the hat store, with the book "Caps for Sale"? Or the diner episode with the book "Mama Don't Allow"?

Reading Rainbow started in 1983 and PBS stopped airing it last week. The reason given besides no funding, was that children need to learn how to read not what to read (the NPR article).

But, oddly enough, last week, I also read this article in the New York Times. It is about a new teaching technique where a teacher won't assign books to read, but allows the students to pick the books they want to read. Even with kids as young as 6th or 7th grade. It is an interesting article, and the author seems to talk about the problems with the technique quite honestly. But, here are the biggest problems I see with this system:

When a child chooses what to read in his or her free time, that is a good idea. That is where he or she should have freedom to explore new ideas. School, however, is another story. The child should not be allowed to pick what pleases, because he or she won't have the knowledge or even the inclination too. That is the problem with ACE and Montessori systems. Very few children have the self discipline to guide themselves to learn all subjects, not just the ones that they like. Yet there has been a trend in the American education system to allow the child to choose. No, I am not saying the teacher should always be dictatorial, but I think everyone can say that we encountered subjects or ideas in school, that we didn't like at first, but then grew to love. What if the choice had been left up to us?

Second, I think this impulse to say that "as long as a child is reading, it doesn't matter what he or she is reading" is ridiculous! I think that it comes from a post-modern impulse to avoid judging worth or moral good. But, this is ludicrous! There is such a thing as age-appropriateness. I heard a children's author speaking on the BBC the other day, and he actually said "Children can't be protected, so we should let them read what they want to." I beg to differ! I have several friends who are actively protecting their children (and doing a darn good job of it) until they are ready to encounter the "real world." Violence can be done to a child when ideas are introduced to that child if they are not ready. I think much of the violence our society is encountering from teenagers comes from this same permissive attitude when they are younger. If you think this, go to your nearest Barnes and Nobles or Waterstone's and pick up some of the things in the "young adult" section. You will find things in the books there that I won't put on this blog because I would then get blocked by filters.

So, what do you think?

Why I love my dissertation topic

One of the chapters in my dissertation is on Anne Lock's sonnets. She wrote the first published sonnet sequence in the English language (as far as we can tell). These poems were published with her translation of four of John Calvin's sermons on Isaiah 38. I was reading one of the sermons this morning, and found this encouraging passage:

"For when the sun riseth in the morning, see we not what a fatherly care God has for us? After, when it goes down at evening, see we not that God hath an eye on our weakness, that we may have rest, and be somewhat relieved? Doth not God then in so hiding the sun in the night time, show himself our father? Further, when we see the earth bring forth her fruits for our nourishment: when we see the rains and all the changes, and alterations that are in nature: in all this perceive we not that God has his hand stretched out to draw us always unto him, and how he already shows himself a liberal father unto us, and that we enjoy the temporal benefits which he does for us, to the end that by this means we may be drawn up higher, that is to say, to know that he hath adopted and made us his children, that we may come to the fullness of joy and of all felicity when we call be fully joined with him?" (The Collected Works of Anne Vaughan Lock, 18)

Sadly, Calvin often gets a bad rap for being dour, critical, and condemning. Granted, this is one example, but this is a tender and beautiful picture of the Father.

Wearing the black band

She cut her hair to a short bob. Even though it was streaked with gray, the smart sassy look still fit her 60ish face. That is how I will remember Linda. With her great smile, her gravely laugh, and her sassy little gray bob.

As I write this, I am in Scotland, and my life-long friend (literally) is being laid in the ground.

And I wish that our Western, secularized society still participated in some form of grieving. I can't wear a black arm band or say Kaddish or pick up ashes. Instead our society says that you just walk around, the same. Wearing the same clothes. Doing the same things. And try to push thoughts of cats and a green backyard and plush backseats in a huge Lincoln Continental out of your mind.

Or maybe, that is the way it should be.

At least for Christians. I know that Linda is in heaven. I know that she is no longer suffering from the cancer that ravaged her, chewing her from the inside out.

And, I know that Death doesn't win. Not in the end.

If you have seen Conspiracy Theory, you may remember that moment when Alice Sutton expresses the sorrow of grief so well by saying simply, "I miss your face."

Linda, I will miss your face.

A brave new world of film

Brave New World has always been one of my favorite dystopias. (Who can forget that chilling last line?) Paste magazine just posted about a movie version that is in the works with Ridley Scott as the possible director. Looks interesting. 

"Twillight" will help you get dates

or so declares this man. This article is a part of NPR's "Secret Pleasures" series on author's favorite books. If you can, listen to it, his inflections make the article even more humorous.