Defending Harry Potter from Christian naysayers (rated 3 stars)
Looking for God in Harry Potter
by John Granger
My dad recommended this book to me. My folks and I have all read all of the Potter books to date. I’ve pre-ordered the newest one to be released this summer.
I didn’t really need a book that set out to defend Harry Potter from well-intentioned Christians. I don’t mind if people don’t want to read the book. I even don’t mind if folks cast stones at those who do.
However, Dad kept harping about it, so I read it… or tried to. This guy is either a LOT smarter than me, or this book was a real snoozer. He deftly takes the Potter series and claims classic status for it, showing how it uses classical Greek and Latin symbolism as do many of the greats of literature. I was a little surprised by that. Perhaps Mark could speak to some of that. I was bewildered by it.
The author also proceeds to demonstrate how the consistent use of imagery, symbolism, names, and plot actually serve to illuminate and consistently reveal Christian themes. Ideas such as atonement, resurrection, good vs. evil, hope, incarnation, sacrfice, and love are consistent in the Potter books. The author claims these themes and their treatment should draw Christian readers to use them as analogies and allegories, much as pastors and churches have found similar themes in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy and C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series.
I can’t necessarily recommend the book to you if you already like Harry. It’s a snoozer, and not nearly as entertaining as reading about muggles. However, if you have previously sworn off of Potter for fear of being indiscriminate, I would urge you to give this book a good reading. It might be illuminating for you though I doubt you’ll enroll at Hogwarts anytime soon.
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Popularized idolatry gives back
Whoa. Did you see the total raised by last week’s American Idol “Gives Back“? It’s over $60 million so far… and counting. What do you think about that? What are is the historical and cultural perspective for this “instant” fund-raising and mobilization of such a large scale charitable push?
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Yahooey! Apple up in spite of Vista
A story today over at AppleInsider relates that Apple’s market share continues to rise, in spite of the debut of Vista, Microsoft’s first major system revision in 5 years. Hoo hoo hoo ha ha ha.
Blogged with Flock
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Ode to the Drew Theater
It sits forlornly in the middle of Monticello, just south of Main Street. Alone and unused, it was once one of Monticello’s busiest and most entertaining sites for teenagers, families, friends, and out-of-towners. It’s the Drew Theater. Every small town had one at one time, probably.
The small box office juts out on the left side of the front of the building, inviting movie-goers. Its small lobby was just enough to intoxicate visitors with aromas of thick, buttered popcorn. Replete with a balcony and steeply sloped main floor, it could probably seat more than 400 at a time.
We looked at the building a couple of years ago as a possible site for Journey. It was last used by a church – a fly-by-night church that had enough time to paint the walls of the main auditorium purple, as well as the redo the carpet and build a stage that would make Joel Osteen envious. It and Monticello’s old drive-in theater are listed here.
At the time we looked at it, someone, possibly the pastor of this church had been using the box office as a bedroom, and suits still hung from a pole that had been stretched across the room. The place was filthy, and dead rats (we’re talking puppy-sized!) were found in several places. The rats, more than the building itself, were the biggest turnoff for the group that looked at it. I wonder why?
We eventually went a different direction, and the building still sits unoccupied today. It’s available for lease or sale, from what I understand. I have always thought it would make a fantastic small $1-theater. I hope that there’s life to yet to be wrung from this historic building.
In thinking of the Drew Theater, I also think of abandoned dreams generally. The theater was a hotspot in its heyday, but no longer. Someone’s pride and joy became an albatross, passed by and passed over by our “larger-is-better” culture. What do you find in your life has been passed by and passed over? Care to share?
What are your hopes and dreams yet to be realized? Do you have a vision sitting dormant? Has it been abandoned, or is it waiting for the right person or circumstance to revitalize it?
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Is it fair?
Scott Adams, Dilbert creator, has a great post about “what is fair?” To him, fairness is in the eye of the beholder, apparently. Check it out here.
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Dancing with the Stars in Monticello
I can feel my eyes crossing already. This weekend is Kim’s Dance Factory’s annual dance recital(s). The recital is actually composed of two three-hour recitals, one for the younger students and one for the older students. There are a few parents who, upon realizing that their two daughters have reached ages that force them to sit through both ordeals, call doctors for temporary prescriptions of muscle relaxers.
The massive weekend showcases some of the best (and worst) dance talent around. Moms cry, dads snooze, and grandparents fawn over their little ones much like Tom Cruise did initially over Katie Holmes. Me, I film it all. (By the way, if you’ve never seen Dane Cook’s impersonation of Tom Cruise’s Oprah appearance, take the time watch it here, then go watch the Oprah interview.)
It’s not just a six hour ordeal, but it turns into a two week, computer-staring, video-editing blur for me as I strive to produce two feature-length films, shot from two different cameras and have the DVDs into parents’ hands in three weeks.
So if some of my posts seem sporadic or inane (more so than usual) over the next two weeks, you’ll know that I’m up to my eyeballs in tap shoes.
One of the things that I enjoy the most (besides ooo-ing and aah-ing over how much better my daughter is than every other poor girl out there) is the backstage commentary. All of the head muckity-mucks, yours truly included, wear headsets to make sure that we’re on top of the production. It’s a well-oiled machine, I tell you.
However, we tend to use the headsets more like Howard Cosell might have for the play by play of a football game. Kim and her army of helpers backstage don’t really keep the headsets on all the time during the performance, so that leaves Mike Hales, myself, and Steve Pigott to offer up helpful thoughts and affirming commentary about each dance number.
Each year, we feel a little like Regis Philbin must have felt yesterday in his comeback to the show after six weeks of recovery from bypass surgery. As we don those headsets, we (or mabe it’s just me) imagine that we’re talking to millions and entertaining them all with our witty banter. We promise to refrain from any Imus-isms this year. We would not want to dishearten future ballerinas with our words. There’s been many a time that a comment or one-liner has crackled over the headset and reduced the sound booth to the silent laughter shakes. You know – the kind that you can’t stop laughing/shaking cause you know the teacher will call you down, but then you can’t quit thinking of what made you laugh in the first place.
Anyway, if you happen to be at the productions and see any of us with headphones on and marvel at our professionalism, then please… keep marvelling. We sure wouldn’t want to disappoint you with reality.
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Speak up
Ron Luce says that “those who speak up shape the culture.” I totally agree. So why are you silent… inactive… apathetic? Make the world a better place. Make someone else’s life more enjoyable. Invest. Engage. Matter.
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New design
I’m pleased to present to you the new design for Notes from the Trail. Let me know what you think, and what you’d like to see in the future. For a designer who’s also a cheapo, it was hard to settle on a design after sifting through more than 50. But here we are for the time being.
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Can the world move without you?
Andy hits another homerun as he talks about how disconnecting from high tech can actually reconnect you with high touch. Oooo.
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What do you want from Jesus?
Matthew 20 is just a cool passage of Scripture. I could camp out there for days. It demonstrates Jesus’ wisdom and generosity in the parable of the workers; it reveals His foreknowledge and understanding of His mission as He predicted His death, its means, its perpetrators and His resurrection; it reminds us, His disciples of the primacy of servant leadership; and it magnifies His power to interrupt our disabilities with His ability.
The selection that captivates me today is His encounter with the two blind men. While the disciples and those following Jesus are uncomfortable with their loudness and how they are interrupting their little moment with Jesus, Jesus stops everything to respond to them.
“What do you want me to do for you?” He asks.
“Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
Can you place yourself in that scene and feel the heaviness of the moment? Jesus stops everything. The question He asks these two blind men is one that we only imagine in our wildest dreams Him asking us. Truth is, we all long for Jesus to ask us that question.
What do you want me to do for you?
Some folks today continue to reject or neglect surrendering their life to God because of disappointment with Him or unmet expectations. Life has been hard. Death has claimed a loved one, or perhaps a dream. Whether it was when they were younger or last month, they have given up hope and no longer imagine that Jesus would ever ask them such a question. In some strange way, they think that Jesus can’t handle what they might say.
Others aren’t turned off by Jesus, but rather are so consumed by their own selfishness and littleness that they can’t imagine needing Jesus. They don’t know that they are blind. They cannot see, and therefore do not fear, the chasm ahead.
Still others, perhaps, have had prayers gone “unanswered” for so long, that although they have not given up their faith in Him, it’s such a shrunken, pygmy faith that it’s not faith at all. Rather, the Jesus they claim to “believe in” now is only a shadow of the real Jesus. It’s an emasculated, weak, unable (or uncaring) Christ. All because what they’ve asked from Jesus before was not given them.
Yet that question hangs on the hook of our minds…
What do you want me to do for you?
In your wildest dreams, how would you answer that?
Think carefully. You may need your sight back.
“Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed Him.” (Matthew 20.34)
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I kissed a man today…
Aaah.. Mac’s Photobooth is a time waster. But it’s still April, so silliness reigns.
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Review of Disciples Are Made, Not Born (rated 3 stars)
by Walter A. Henrichsen
I really had high hopes for this book when i saw its title on Amazon. In fact, a friend graciously bought this for me from my wishlist.
It’s not that the book isn’t good, it’s just that for my own personal discipling strategy, I’ve internalized so much of the book from practice and discipline that I felt like I was reading something I’d written several years ago.
It relies heavily on the Navigators’ discipling techniques, which are great in that they’re intentional and purposeful. Yet, they can become rigid. In many cases, I’ve found that a more fluid, life-on-life approach to discipleship is better than a “I’ll meet you here at 11:00 next week†type of approach.
The most important thing about discipling another person is simply that you’re doing it.
For those of you relatively new to discipleship approaches, I would highly recommend the book. For those of you looking for new helps and ideas for discipling a new generation of people, I would encourage you to look elsewhere.
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Gender genie
Whew. Am I ever relieved!
Was passed on this link that could determine your gender from a blog post, so with trepidation, I tried it. I’m the man, sir.
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Jott Review
I first learned about Jott in a comment over at the Swerve blog in a post about Twitter. You may have seen that post yesterday. I was intrigued by the idea that by calling a free phone number and leaving a 30 second message (or less), that message would be transcribed and then sent to myself or a contact as an email or text message.
Wow. Could that really work?
So I tried it. Sign up was fast and flawless. My first test message arrived as an email within seconds, word for word, perfect.I have no idea how it’s possible. It just works. Kind of like Macs. ;) It may become one of my handiest productivity tools. We’ll see. Gotta go do some Jott-ing.
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Alas, Sanjayah, we will miss thee…
American Idol just became un-fun.
When the results came in last night and Sanjaya was booted from the show, my wifey jumped up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs in ecstatic joy. I was shocked. Embarrassed.
That was only until TJ called the house, breathless and equally excited. According to his wifey, he had literally turned cartwheels in his living room at the news.
Can you believe grownups would behave this way? It’s unsettling. Guess I’m going to have to be voice of reason and sanity among all my friends… ;)
Now, what is votefortheworst.com going to do?
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Free advertising for killers
Tim Sanders has two powerful posts that I first noticed over at MMI. I think he’s right on. What do you think? Here’s an excerpt:
The video [of Cho] proclaims that “I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.” And he gets airtime and webtime to spew this? I can’t believe how irresponsible media sources like NBC and a host of online portals are being. Once let out of the bottle, this newly minted rock star will use the power of sight sound and motion to further his cause after death. If I were NBC I would have squashed it. Give it to the authorities and never show it. They won’t show the footage when Steve Irwin was killed, too distrurbing. But the media and online publishers cannot resist this video.
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Modern parable
Dean has written what may be the best blog post I’ve ever read. It is convicting, inspiring and insightful into the hiddenness of God. He uses an article by Gene Weingarten at the Washington Post to share with us a moving modern parable of the spiritual life. It’s lenghty, but definitely worthy of your stop and reflection.
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Get a Mac… the latest
I hope you’ve made your weekly stop over at the Apple site to watch the new commercials? Here’s one of the latest.
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Ways to use your Twitter
There’s a very practical and innovative use for SMS and RSS combo services like Twitter. Swing by the Swerve blog and see how one church is using it for ministry purposes.
You can also check in the right sidebar for my latest Twitter update. If you use Twitter, let me know!
If you’re wondering what in the world RSS and SMS are… uh, well, perhaps you shouldn’t worry about your Twitter.
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If it ain’t broke…
As we say here in south Arkansas, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. However, that approach has led to more than one massive mistake by a refusal to understand and embrace change.
Researchers at Stanford (among others) are also sounding the alarm. The internet may be broke… or at least at maximum capacity. Bandwidth is the new gold standard, but we may be in store for a market crash. With demand for online video through services like YouTube and Joost increasing in a ballistic fashion, the pipe is going to get clogged sooner or later. (How’s that for technical lingo?)
The Clean Slate Project is one of the many think tanks devoted to examining what may need to become the next internet. Bill Thompson over at BBC News has an interesting take on why we’ve been able to milk the net for this long. (As an aside, Bill’s entire article was captivating until his last sentence. I was dumbstruck with its stupidity, almost to the point of discounting the rest of his article. See if you feel the same way.)
Consider the following from the Clean Slate site:
We believe that the current Internet has significant deficiencies that need to be solved before it can become a unified global communication infrastructure. Further, we believe the Internet’s shortcomings will not be resolved by the conventional incremental and ‘backward-compatible’ style of academic and industrial networking research. The proposed program will focus on unconventional, bold, and long-term research that tries to break the network’s ossification.
We all still know folks on dial-up (don’t we?). Reinventing the internet may allow some of them to leapfrog technologies. It might be compared to, uh, switching from a PC to a Mac. ;) Or even, from driving a moped to using a transporter. Beam me up, Scotty.
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About
Notes from the Trail
The Personal Blog of Jeff Noble
Info: From the misty hills of Virginia, "Notes from the Trail" seeks to encourage you on your journey. Written by a graphic designer-pastor, this blog is a blend of humor, insight, and faith discovery.
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