I'd Buy That for a Dollar

This one's for you, Adam ...

"Subtle Musings" is now largely about the domestic/farming scene of the Kendall family. But, in ages past, there was some space given over to music/culture ... most notably, a once-a-year "Best of ..." list. Unfortunately, 2008's "Best of" faded into oblivion. It became my spruce goose - except mine never made that final voyage.

Still ... even though I ran out of steam, the music never stops. The beat just keeps on going - especially when that beat is created by Dangerous Mouse (aka Brian Burton) who helped create the Gnarls Barkley hit single "Crazy."

On my way home from work this week, I heard another of Brian's fusion projects: "The High Road" - an eclectic mix of lounge, 80's video game and the voice of James Mercer, who can sound eerie, like David Gray, but also goes falsetto. In fact, it's Mercer's falsetto that carries the song into a funk-train chorus that includes the power of a youth choir - right in step with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" driving chorus only for the Garden State generation.

The song below reinvests much of the same from "High Road": falsetto, claps, beat.

So, if you're looking for some new tunes, check out Broken Bells - a great album for writing, riding or getting in touch with your urban, hipster self.

Wes

The Cove

Every two weeks or so, a movie shows up in our mailbox (the wonder of Netflix!) and the excitement of the red envelope quickly turns into bewilderment when I realize that this is yet another movie that I have never heard of. Sometimes, it's the other way around, and it is Anna who says, "Why did you put this in our queue? This happens because Anna and I like to add movies that we hear referenced on This American Life, from friends who are even deeper into the world of arts and culture, and from an insatiable desire to watch movies that are amazingly depressing, but also - so we believe - very important.

Last night, I watched one that falls in that last category, what may be called "Depressing Documentary" (the Oscar winner in this category may just be "Deliver Us From Evil" about sexual abuse within the Catholic Church). The one I watched last night is right up there with "Deliver Us ...": The Cove - the story about the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan.

I am not typically upset by much, but - boy - this was disturbing, especially the ending. I am planning to never visit a "family-friendly" dolphin park again, and - yes - that includes SeaWorld, kids. Shoot: I even found myself at 11:15 pm last night thinking, "I'm not sure I can eat another piece of sushi."

For me, that's huge.

But, even with that warning, I want you to watch it.

I want you to watch it, specifically, because I think this movie is an incredible lesson on what "social justice" honestly looks like. I believe it heart-wrenching-ly shows you the struggle that any conscientious, concerned individual has to go through in addressing a wrong in the world (and, yes, there are still plenty of those). It makes you realize how truly sadistic and fallen can be the ways of industry, and how inconspicuously communities, nations and even you and me can get caught in the death-dealing gears of productivity and progress.

Plus, you cannot watch this movie without realizing how this is indeed one of the enduring legacies of human civilization: the slaughter of innocents for the sake of human comfort and gain. I know: not something you want to watch with a bucket of popcorn!

But, this is how wrongs are righted. And maybe that would be reason enough to watch it: maybe it would spark some desire within you to make a change. As one of the heroes in the movie said, "Either your an activist or an inactivist."

Wes

David Simon, Angst and New Life

David Simon, the journalist, author and writer/producer of the acclaimed show The Wire was in Greencastle last night. He was the invited guest for a conference on the future of journalism (for future journalists), and I went. The two episodes of The Wire I had seen were great works. But really hooked me was David's title for the lecture ... The Audacity of Despair: The Decline of the American Empire and What's In it For You.

I should have known by the title alone that David was going to be rather audacious in his persona, but I half expected an outlandish title with a blaisse conversation. As a pastor, I know it's easier to write bold words than it is to speak or embody them.

Turns out the title was rather innocent compared to David Simon.

The man was refreshingly honest (and openly crass ... so, let me add a warning ... if you do read his books or watch his shows or hear him speak, please do not think I'm endorsing his language or harshness. But I do appreciate his honesty). In fact his honesty was so strong that the whole audience began to skirm in their chairs no more than five minutes after he opened his mouth. He got to us. He got to me.

Now, granted: what he was saying was not something I wanted to hear (I'll share his thoughts here in a second). But, who he was and how he was embodying his belief was inspiring. Here he was ... someone who had been a journalist, someone who cared deeply about his home city of Baltimore, someone who is serious with life enough to live in the face of real injustice and crime ... willing to speak passionately about justice and injustice. He said plainly ... over and over again ... we do not want to face the facts. As Americans, we have grown accustomed to comfort over truth.

What he is is a prophet, at least in the biblical sense of the word. The biblical prophets - like Jeremiah and Ezekiel - made the people of God face reality, even when the reality wasn't easy. That's what David Simon was trying to say last night. He was saying, "we can do better; we have not done our best." I could not believe how open he was about it.

And that gets me to what you want to hear ... which is what he said.

David Simon's main point is that we've been making crap in this country for thirty years and expecting gold (except he didn't say crap). He said we've been living out of other people's pockets instead of developing our own communities (the key line in The Wire by David's own admission is when one guy says, "we haven't made anything in this country for thirty years ... we use to make stuff."). He said we've become a culture of individual promotion to the exlusion of community benefit. He said we've become so obsessed with "statistics" that we can stare glaring truths right in our face and claim they are not true ("There are 60 ways to make statistics lie so it looks like crime is going down," he said. "I know. Having worked in crime journalism for thirteen years, I've seen 58 ways."). He said we've lost any sense of professional integrity that will hold us to a task for a sustained period - longing instead for quick promotion and 36% margins of profit.

(If you would like to get a sampling of his thoughts, click here ... it's an article about the show The Wire, but at the end is the full transcript of the interview).

So, here's what I agree with David about ...
1. We have seen capitalism run afoul and personal promotion triumph over community welfare.
2. We've seen the triumph of "statistics" and "information" over pure reason and moral sense ... interestingly this is the exact point Edward Friedman made about American culture, and like David Simon, Friedman suggests that despite our "technological" advances our culture is in regression.
3. The only way to really stem this problem is to cease reliance or belief that someone "outside" of the situation is going to fix it and to begin working where we are (i.e. locally) to figure out what is not working and what will work.
4. The birth of the global news network has limited the ability for individuals to speak truth to power (much of David's talk reminded me of that great movie Network and the dangers of making our news sources "profitable" for or because of entertainment).
5. We are eating our young (as Parker Palmer says) by demanding unrealistic growth out of our investments, our businesses, and in our life.
6. We cannot expect a "hero" to save us from our ills - whether that hero is a politician, a product, a technology or a movement. Only a return to honest work over a sustained period of time will save us.
7. Life is essentially tragic, and - as David said - we can learn alot about how to live by re-engaging the tragedies of Shakespeare and Greek drama. We too need to learn how to be human even in the face of tragedy.

On the other hand, here is where I would differ from David Simon:
1. While life is indeed tragedy, it is also - as Frederick Buechner says - comedy and fairy tale and we haven't told the whole truth until we acknowledge the personal, intimate way God deals with the suffering of the world through Jesus Christ.
2. While I agree that David's anger is largely justifiable, I do not agree that anger is what will solve our community and national problems. I believe righteous indignation can be a spark for progress, but I also believe that radical movements throughout history that are sustained by anger instead of love and self-sacrifice end up becoming corrupted by the very power they seek to be rid of.
3. A return to sound reporting is not the answer ... the answer is in the work of the Holy Spirit guiding persons of faith to immerse themselves in the tragedy and problems of their community, trusting that God will bring new life into the misery through love, hope and faith. And, more often than not (if not all the time), such virtuous living in the face of ongoing danger, exploitation and power does not win. It is killed, only to be resurrected by God in a triumph of humility. Such is the way of Christ and the followers of Jesus Christ. What gives life to community is the willingness of individuals courageously seeking the good of others ... even when it limits or hurts their own life.

But, still, it takes someone with courage and hootzpa to at least say, like David Simon and Peter Beale ... "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." In fact, as Eugene Peterson says, rejection of the world is and always has been the place where we begin our journey back to God and goodness begins:

"A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way. As long as we think the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquillity, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace." (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society)

So, thank you, David, for increasing my appetite for the world of grace. And, Jesus: may you strengthen me to engage this tragic world so that I too - like you - might experience the divine comedy of God's love and grace.

Wes

The Overriding Wave

I've been reading through Jeremiah at night, entering again into covenantal drama, of basic things:  God, people, relationship, promise, behavior.  Ideally, they should all align like the planets in a solar system and produce the same:  harmony, order, beauty, life.  In truth, they often work as well as third grade science projects.   The variable is invariably the people.  Us.  We.  

While God remains faithful and steady, we teeter and lean, jump into speculation, run away from covenant, and seek the gods of security and power.  The lesser gods.  The lifeless gods.  And they fail us.

Papers and websites are teeming with reminders:  devastated beach front property, eight figure CEO's cutting bail-out deals, the Dow in decline, political pleadings.

And in the midst of this, I am drawn to two lines of lyrics:

"Was a long and dark December when banks became cathedrals." - Coldplay, Violet Hill

"I’m so bored of little gods

While standing on the edge of
Something large
While standing here, so close to You
We could be consumed" - David Crowder Band, How Great

Wes

Duets

For the last couple of weeks, I've been listening to Raising Sand, the album that brought Robert Plant and Alison Krauss together.  And, a few weeks before that I purchased one of the new singles on Neil Diamond's latest album, Home Before Dark (this album was produced by Rick Rubin who helped orchestrate the American recordings for Johnny Cash).  Like Cash's American albums, Home Before Dark features a scaled back approach, allowing Neil Diamond to exercise his essential giftedness.  It just so happens the song I purchased was another duet:  Neil Diamond paired up with Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks.  

There's something else going on in the Kendall house, too.  It's the number two.  As of yesterday, we have taken definite steps to end our ability to (re)produce any more Wes' or Anna's - leaving the prospective number of descendants at ... two.  So, in honor of Wyatt and Elise, here are my ten top duets (I'll even include videos of #10 & #1):

10.   Johnny Cash & Joni Mitchell - Long Black Veil:  Two of my favorite singer-songwriters of all time, on opposite sides of the range.  Even their personalities in this video seem light years apart (the angelic Mitchell and the hardened Cash).  This song was a Cash original I believe.  But, on the Johnny Cash show, it was not uncommon for Cash to pair up with another big name star to sing a song.  Interestingly, this song has since become a favorite for other duet-ers, including a rendition by Dave Matthews and Emmylou Harris (see it here).  

9.  Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel - Bookends:  It's hard to qualify Paul and Art as a duet.  They seemed so much one up until their break.  But, of all their songs, Bookends most clearly demonstrates the grace exuded by their harmonies.

8.  Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush - Don't Give Up:  If you check Youtube, you can find the original video from the 80's.  The song really is great, but when you watch the video it just seems agonizingly awkward.  Gabriel and Bush grasp each other in forced embrace with a sun in the background, which becomes eclipsed.  Although, given Gabriel's other videos ... well, it's fairly normal.

7.  Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan - Girl from the North Country:  Another strange pairing for Mr. Cash.  Bob Dylan supposedly had quit smoking when this song was originally recorded, which only added to the uniqueness in his voice.  This is a great country song, something I imagine sung out on those wild, lonesome prairies.

6.  Ray Charles & Willie Nelson - It Was a Very Good Year:  Every time I hear this song, I still think of the Simpson's when Homer has the flashback to his late high school years ("When I was seventeen I drank some very good beer ...").  But, that aside, Charles and Nelson add their strong, soulful voices to the reminiscent instruments.  Originally a Sinatra hit, Ray remade it along with several other songs on the duet album Genius Loves Company. 

5.  Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Your Long Journey:  What strikes me about this duo is that both Plant and Krauss seem confined on the album, particularly Plant.  That's especially true on the hit song, Stick With Me Baby.  It's as if they recorded the song with the mic in the next room over.  And on Journey, Krauss clearly takes the lead throughout the song.  Still, the combination of these two stars with the bluegrass picking is perfect. 

4.  Neil Diamond & Natalie Maines - Another Day (That Time Forgot):  Right away, Neil Diamond commands the stage with that rasping remembering.  Then comes Natalie Maines:  perfect and haunting in her own way.  Together the strike out as opposite in equal - strong man, strong woman.  And the song ends with them both releasing the day with painful, healing cries of lament, "Oh no!"  

3.  Bono & Daniel Lanois - Falling At Your Feet:  Lanois - whose fame rose after the movie Friday Night Lights - paired up with U2's lead man to create a subtle, encompassing song that is largely a prayer.  The song's point:  every one of us falls down, which is both the epitome of frailty and praise.  As David Crowder would say:  it's a beautiful collision.

2.  Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing:  Motown's miracle makers, Gaye and Terrell produced hit after hit in the mid to late 60's, including other well known duets like Ain't No Mountain High Enough and You're All I Need to Get By.  Terrell died tragically young in 1970, putting an end to some great music.  It also sent Marvin Gaye in a completely new direction.  In 1971, he would release What's Going On. 

1.  Loretta Lynn & Jack White - Portland, Oregon:  This is just brilliant.  With White producing the album, Loretta Lynn found her career resurrected, bringing the Coal Miner's Daughter into a whole new generation.  The entire album won a Grammy for best country album, and Portland, Oregon won for best country collaboration with vocals.  In some ways, this is not a duet.  The third voice is Jack White's guitar, which sings the first 1:35.  And then comes Lynn:  "Well, Portland, Oregon and sloe gin fizz, if that ain't love, then tell me what is ... uh huh ..."

~Wes

Exports and Imports

With the Olympics only hours away now every major media is full of stories about the rising influence of China upon the global stage.  Tonight, ABC's Primetime is looking at the role China's growing urban economy is playing on the entire world in a special hosted by Bob Woodruff titled China:  Inside Out (read more about the special here).  The show is taking snap shots of four specific countries throughout the globe influenced by China's growing demand for energy.  

Fifteen minutes of the special were spent in Brazil, which now exports vast amounts of its soy production to China.  The obvious question is, "why?" especially considering that just a few years ago China was able to raise and supply all of its soy needs.  But, as China's economic possibilities have exploded - lifting 600 million out of poverty in just 30 years (the greatest such surge in recorded history) - China's culture has moved from an agricultural, rather energy independent culture to an industrialized, energy sapping culture.  Thus, the extra soy is going to feed steers and other livestock, which are being slaughtered to feed urbanized workers.  

And with the growing industrialized economy come other costs.  For one, although China is home to 20% of the world's population, China only holds 10% of the world's arable land (China:  Inside Out).  As more land is dedicated to industrialization that 10% continues to decline.  On top of that, there's this:  all the construction and development is dependent upon the one thing we are all learning is not dependable, oil.  

Which then leads to the question, "Why China change so quickly and place itself in long-term risk?"  The answer to that question is built off of two ironies.  

First of all, China, the minor 20th Century political adversary to American democracy, is changing so quickly because America is making it grow.  When Nixon went to China he did so during a vanguard period, throwing open the door to Chinese industry at the very moment China was actually letting their own doors open to the world.  That small change in two country's foreign policies have since created a codependent relationship of supply and demand.  

We - as we continued to drown Soviet Russia in our spending and full-bore economy - expanded our notion of sufficiency ... and coincidentally expanded China's notion of productivity.  Even after the Soviet economy collapsed, ours continued to charge ahead, and our insatiable demand for more and more goods at cheaper and cheaper costs birthed China's own capitalistic economy.  For instance, China's current one day exports now equal what China exported in an entire year in the late 1970's - exports that end up in countless malls and - perhaps most notoriously - in low cost Walmart's throughout America (China:  Inside Out).  

It gets worse.  Our addiction to consumption leads us into habits of borrowing both personally and nationally.  This is the second irony, one too poignant and potentially disastrous to laugh at.  The money Chinese men and women are making off American consumptive habits is - in part - going back into the US economy to finance further American spending.  Chinese individuals and Chinese businesses are buying bonds to finance federal spending, and they are buying interests in US corporations to influence long-term plans.   

The overall effect is a symbiosis of exporting.  The Chinese economy and people export material goods to satiate American demand.  We all hear about that.  But, let's not forget the first export that we've happily sent around the entire world:  the American economic system and lifestyle which suggests happiness through materialism, which has in part motivated Chinese men and women to migrate from farms into cities, to buy cars and televisions.

This, unfortunately, reveals some of the truths we prefer to hide from ourselves.  Eugene Peterson who has lived as pastor, teacher and prophet has been attentive to America's destructive materialism for a number of years now - gathering wisdom and corroboration from other modern prophets like Bishop Desmond Tutu, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Wendell Berry.  In an interview from the late 1980's regarding the impoverished state of American Christianity , Peterson said:

"It is useful to listen to people who come into our culture from other cultures, to pay attention to what they hear and what they see.  In my experience, they don't see a Christian land ...

"They see a lot of greed and arrogance.  And they see a Christian community that has almost none of the virtues of the biblical Christian community, which have to do with a sacrificial life and conspicuous love.  Rather, they see indulgence in feelings and emotions, and an avaricious quest for gratification.

"Importantly, they see past the facade of our language, the Christian language we throw up in front of all this stuff.  The attractive thing about America to outsiders is the materialism, not the spirituality.  It's interesting to listen to refugees who have just gotten into the country:  what they want are cars and televisions [and from the Romanian visitors I've known:  blue jeans].  They're not coming after our gospel, unless they're translating the gospel into a promise of riches and comfort." (Eugene Peterson's interview with Rodney Clapp in Christianity Today, published The Contemplative Pastor:  Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction).

As the 2008 Olympics prepare to begin, the world is about to see a China unveiled that will be radically different at first glimpse - a culture from the other side of the world.  But, upon closer inspection the China that people will see in the years to come will be the last thing the world needs:  an American economy of industrialized consumers.  For, as Bob Woodruff's special said explicitly tonight, the very reason why Chinese families are leaving their farms and working torturous jobs and saving their meager pay is - in the end - to live like Americans, to have the ability to eat more meat, to buy the latest technology and to have the world at its finger-tips at low, affordable prices.

It may appear that the dragon is rising, but - in truth - it is the bull and the bear that are moving China into the 21st Century.  So help us God.  

The Dark Night ... and Days

My brother-in-law came into town this past weekend to celebrate my birthday.  Very kind of him, I will say.  Even more kind:  he helped get everything ready for my birthday party on Saturday, staying around to grill and clean-up.  Nice dude that Drew.

Drew and I had talked a few weeks ago about seeing the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, which has created quite a stir after months of anticipation - largely stemming from Heath Ledger's untimely death.  From what I gather, the movie has benefitted nicely from the tragedy.  

Anyhow, I had given up on the idea of seeing the movie about a week ago.  Anna and I had refigured our budget, which invariably makes me feel like it's time to pinch some pennies.  Plus, I had read a review in The New Yorker that was fairly scathing of The Dark Knight.  And, on top of that, the other review in that same magazine was for Wall-E, the newest Pixar film that has been released, and that review was glowingly positive.  

So, I had determined to see Wall-E if I saw any movie.  But, here's the thing, Drew shows up and asks me, "What are you thinking?"  He's like this, one of the many reasons I love him.  He'll just show up on your doorstep one day, as if you and he had never parted ways.  And, he'll pick up a conversation that you started two weeks ago.  And, this time, which is not usual, I knew what he was talking about.

"You want to go see Batman?" I asked back.  

"Well, I figured we could go," he began.  In the next few moments we did the dance of commitment.  I realized that he had actually waited this long simply to see it with me.  He realized that my promise might not have been complete.  

But, Drew, he's a nice guy, and I hate to be the one to bear bad news to a nice guy.  And, in fact, I did want to see the movie.  So, two hours later we're standing in line at the local cinema that is overwhelmed with families and teens and college students on a busy Friday night.  

And not long after that, we're sitting in the theatre, jam packed full of human beings, about to be belligerently assaulted by over two and half hours of what The New Yorker called a celebration of perversity.  And, it was.  

Yes, the movie was good - riveting and dramatic.  No doubt about that.  And Heath Ledger's performance?  Well, it wasn't really a performance.  It seemed real, which was both the draw and the repulsion.  He seemed to overwhelm the film and the movie theatre with his unwieldy madness.  As one commentator said, Ledger is proof of how staring into the abyss of madness is dangerous.

But that raises the question.  How can staring into the abyss can be good for anyone?

What I am really driving at is this:  movies in particular, but also our news and television, have become much darker, much more sadistic in recent years.  I'm sure some sociologist is taking note of this somewhere and beginning to evaluate when it began, but it seems to me that the turn came almost precisely after September 11, 2001.  At least that's how I remember it.  In the years that followed that horrific morning, images and stories of torture, of nihilistic destruction, of horror that leads to post-traumatic stress-disorder began to appear:  Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, movies like Hostel and Saw, television shows like 24.  And the age old debate about culture influencing media or media impacting culture begins anew.  

The Dark Knight then is but one in a series of movements that makes this decade one of the harshest, darkest in my personal memory.  And it seems like a shame that Drew and I spent $8 a piece to be immersed into that world.  Like I said, Drew's a nice guy.  And I'm more of a Pixar guy anyway.

~Wes

Rosebud

The Simpsons: Season 5 ... wherever you are, I miss you. I hope someone is watching the "Rosebud" episode tonight.

I've just finished Citizen Kane (still AFI's #1 movie of all time) for the first time in my life (my previous attempt secured a great nap after only making it through the first few minutes in my dad's lazyboy recliner).

Perhaps just as good as the movie was the accompanying second disc, which details the momentous battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst - Godzilla and King Kong egos at war.

The lesson learned: beware the appetite of ambition. It ultimately consumes the consumer.

Welles prodigious will catapulted him into fame, fame he created in radio and theatre. But, he was always living on the tight-wire of genius, running from place to place and project to project as a way to keep his attention off of the shadow and faults that lay at his feet. With youth, he could do so. His enormous energy kept his identity glamorous, but it was an identity like a stage set - thin behind the show. He devoured life, plowing through meals (two steaks, two baked potatoes, a pineapple and a bottle of whiskey for dinner every night), dominating rooms, overwhelming nay-sayers, bewildering critics.

Two generations before him, though, Hearst had fashioned himself in similar manner - using his inherited wealth, which his father secured from mining in California, to launch a whole new way of seeing the world: print journalism that captured the fantastic, the strange, the nitty-gritty, and thus the common man's attention.

In Citizen Kane, Welles launched himself at Hearst, seizing hold of a man that would give Welles what had always brought fortune to him earlier: adversity. Only this time that is exactly what he got.

Welles' refusal to back down from Hearst, and his own drive to make himself a great man eventually brought his own life into the arc of tragedy that was the fictional Citizen Kane. It is harrowing to watch an aged Welles before the camera confessing that 2% of his life after Citizen Kane was about making movies. The other 98%: "hustling," trying to live a lie which was his life, trying to let his image outpace his reality.

So, let the words of the Beastie Boys stand as the last voice of reason: "Be true to yourself and you will never fall."

Wes

God and Mammon

I referenced this article by D'Vera Cohn of the Pew Research Agency for a sermon and thought it might be interesting to other folk:

Baby Boomers:  The Gloomiest Generation

America's baby boomers are in a collective funk. Members of the large generation born from 1946 to 1964 are more downbeat about their lives than are adults who are younger or older, according to a new Pew Research Center Social and Demographic Trends survey.

Not only do boomers give their overall quality of life a lower rating than adults in other generations, they also are more likely to worry that their incomes won't keep up with inflation -- this despite the fact that boomers enjoy the highest incomes of any age group. (read the entire article by clicking here).

Yokes

I'd like to begin writing more this summer about the significance of place and identity, a matter heavy on my heart currently. I'll begin, though, by talking about yokes, specifically Jesus' invitation to discipleship in Matthew 11:28-30 - the well known passage with the words, "come to me all you who are weary ..."

The connection between this passage and "place" is not direct, so forgive me. But, I've constructed some thoughts about what led Jesus to make this invitation (namely: the pharisaical nature of the religious system that opposed his teachings). My analysis and conclusion is that selfish desires ruin "place," which is certainly not novel. But, I do think it important to point out the similarity between two prevailing pharisaisms in our own day and age.

Anyhow, enjoy:

Jesus invitation to discipleship in Matthew 11:28-30 is given as a counter-invitation, arising from his ongoing struggle he had with the religious institutions of his own day, namely the strict, consuming, legalistic moral code of the Pharisees which presented no less than 613 commandments to guide a person. Such propositions were promoted by officials as a way to secure peace of mind, and it also played upon the subconscious desire to maintain social acceptance.

Knowing that the Pharisee’s teachings, which in Hebrew tradition were known as “yokes” or “laws”, bound people to an addictive, consumptive fear built off the need to continuously be monitoring and improving oneself, Jesus sought to relieve them of their burdens. He said – in short – come to me; rest in me; follow my example; nothing else is needed. The image is one of having a number of chains and burdens lifted off of person, only to be replaced by a gentle hand supporting and a calm voice instructing someone on how to live. Jesus’ aim is to lead us into deep waters of peace, where we can be at rest within our own skin and with the world that surrounds us. It seems incredible that anyone could refuse this invitation. Yet, human experience, relational experience, tells us that this is one of the chief struggles we all face … letting go of our known burdens to step into the unknown, unknowable region of trusting and letting ourselves be defined by daily, practiced “existence” rather than our past achievements or future ambitions.

Today, I can perceive two sources of yokes in our culture that stand in opposition to Christ’s teaching. The first is the continual presence of pharisaism in religion, the ongoing suggestion that peace is obtained through morality and social custom. Such is the system that still supports much of American piety in the Bible belt and in other pockets of our culture. According to this system, peace comes through checking indulgences and chasing away excess. Wills are to be molded; minds and hearts are to be cleansed; sin is to be swept away.

However, for Presbyterians (or other mainline denominations) in larger, cultural centers, the temptation to fall into this type of pharisaical mindset is fairly rare. More often, people run to Presbyterianism or Lutheranism as a way to escape these rigid systems of their childhood. But, that does not mean that peace is easy to come by simply changing denominations. For, the threat facing many mainliners comes not from the religious sphere, but from the social, political, economic, and cultural sphere (to use pharisaical language, the “secular” sphere).

The yoke placed upon persons from the socio-economic-political realm is the suggestion and promotion that peace of mind comes through the acquisition of knowledge, experience, investments, possessions, the list goes on. At its base, this system is built upon the idea that our peace comes by self-fulfillment and building security through riches. (Jesus also had much to say about this matter). And rather than maintaining social custom, this system puts individuals in constant competition to climb social ladders. Furthermore, whereas religious pharisaism strengthens the walls of community into restrictive, toxic closeness, the secular pharisaism destroys any sense of community and creates boundless opportunities for pleasure, power and a great deal of ill.

What links the two systems is the constant focus it places upon “I” and “me.” Everything according to the pharisaical mind is dependent upon how “I” am doing, what “I” am doing, where “I” am. They are both selfish and thus – as a way of life – empty and shallow. Life’s mystery includes the wonder of “you” and “us”. Consequently, existential peace (shalom) can only come through right relationship, not through right identity alone.

It may help you to ponder: which system did I come from? And … which system am I more likely to succumb to now? And, finally, how is your ability to relate to your place (your community) restricted by your temptation to be pharisaical about your own identity?

Wes

Closing Time

This won't mean much to many, but the Executive Inn Rivermont in Owensboro shut its doors this past Monday. The "Big E" offered lodging, convention space, dining and entertainment down by the river. As you can tell from the picture above, it's heyday clearly was in a bygone era. Opened in 1977, it was big news for Owensboro - making the town into a city and allowing the wider world into a "know-your-neighbor" town. Johnny Cash played here back when Hee-Haw was still prime viewing for America.

The "Big E" was an investment into what Owensboro might be. "Should be" some said. And, yet, there was never the complete conviction from the whole community. Indeed, for the vast majority of its life, the hotel existed because of the vision of outsiders - entrepreneurs come to town to transform a place. Which is probably why it finds itself out of business. It is also precisely why its closing is now all the talk of the town. A community's identity is on the line again. Questions about purpose and future are subconsciously at play. People at Barney's eating a plate lunch are talking. Coworkers are stopping in hallways to reminisce and bemoan.

A few days ago, the headline in the Messenger-Inquirer (local newspaper) read "Hotel Still Waiting for White-Knight." The hope was for Savior, Messiah. The assumption was that having a hotel, convention center and entertainment location was a good thing - yes - but that in order for the good to survive something outside of the people would have to make it so. But, even if a white knight rode into town, cleared the debts off the books and reopened the hotel, would that really be beneficial to this community? Probably not.

The larger issue at play here, and the very reason that people across Daviess County are talking about the hotel’s closing as if it were a death in the family, is identity. The Executive Inn's closing has the smell of finality, even death to a degree. It’s not that the Executive Inn has been everything for the city recently. There are more promising places and ventures in town, but for pure symbolism the "Big E" held the collective breath of the community. When it was built, the community's chest swelled with pride. Now, deflation is working its way through the people.

This is also precisely why this single event has gripped me. I am captured by the symbolism of the Executive Inn and by the meaning of its demise. I - being called to enter into this community to embrace these people, to find where God is active in this place and to invite people to lift up their eyes to see God at work and to join that work - have to ask the question: what does this say about this community?

I think - for one - it says that a community can only nourish and sustain something it believes. Not what John Bays - recent entrepreneur and owner of the "Big E" - believes. Not in what corporate demographic studies believe. In Owensboro – for better and for worse – success depends not on the value of the initiative but on the support of the community.

The Executive Inn’s closing also says – to me – that this community doesn’t quite know where it is headed, which isn’t either good or bad. It simply is. A crossroad is present. Built upon eras and generations of remaining true to its provincial heritage, Owensboro is once again wondering if it will have a place in the future. Will it be forgotten? Will it be relevant? And is relevancy the single most important quality for a community?

Approximately six years ago, First Presbyterian Church of Owensboro lost its head pastor after a tenuous season, conflicted season. It was a shock to the system – reverberating uncomfortably close to the sound of a death knell. After roughly 150 years of existence as a community, the church was faced with the dramatic reality that life is not a guarantee. The future seemed more like something that would have to be secured through prayer, hard work and commitment.

Since the departure of the pastor in 2002, the church has done much. But I am left to wonder if all that the church has done is change management. The church has called a new head pastor, myself as an associate, a new youth director and a new musician. But, for the most part, these additions have been additions from outside the traditional community (i.e. – not locally grown developments). A few new initiatives have grown from within the community, including a thriving fellowship group for the 50 plus crowd.

But, overall, the church seems at risk of hoping and letting other people create a new life for them. That may get them down the road a bit further, but it won’t save them. Efforts have been made to get conversations going amongst the people about its future, about its hopes. But, largely those deeper questions have been parlayed into talk of building or remodeling the church facility, which may or may not be necessary. Still, the main question is this: where do these people want to go? How are they discerning where God is and where God is leading them? What do they hope?

Just over two years ago, the first building in Owensboro I set foot in was the Executive Inn Rivermont. I was met inside its cavernous, antiquated confines by a sweet woman who would shortly lead me over to First Presbyterian Church – a few miles away from the "Big E." Time will tell how close the two buildings are. Time will tell what the community decides to do with these two establishments. For me, it is my hope that the community will rise up even as the buildings they once honored face uncertain times.

There is a season for everything. I season to pluck up and a season to plant. God knows which is which.

Wes

Food in America

David Beckmann from Bread for the World was on PBS last night - being interviewed by Bill Moyers.  You can see the interview at the following link:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04112008/watch3.html

Congress and the Bush Administration are currently working a new farm bill.  The old farm bill is set to expire on April 18, 2008.  Hopefully, the new farm bill will cut some of the farming subsidies that go towards large farmers and begin to help smaller, locally focused farmers.  

Watching the video will help you understand more of the current American food/farming realities.

Wes

Momofuku Noodle Bar

Many of you may recall that I have sworn off Ramen for a few years now (although, I must confess that I fell off the rickshaw a few weeks ago, since there was some extra ramen laying around after we made an Asian cabbage salad).  Well, hallelujah, my life may yet end with a heaping bowl of noodles to close out my winter days.  

I read an article recently in The New Yorker about chef David Chang, who has successfully opened a number of eateries in New York, including the one showcased below, "Momofuku Noodle Bar."  Be careful when you say that (by the way, "Momofuku" means lucky peach in I'm-not-sure-what language; it also happens to be the last name of the man who invented packaged ramen noodles, which again is like crack).  You can discover more about Chang's restaurants by clicking here.

For a quick tour of the way ramen should be prepared and served, just click play.

Gritty

We've been watching a lot of gritty films recently, mostly because those are films that garnered attention for male actors this past year.  Tonight we watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - a poetic Western where the audience must suffer with the misery of betrayal.  The brutality in the movie is not abundant, but what is there is accentuated by the blunted, pure force of guns and bullets that had not yet been refined to weapons of stealth and sexy-precision.  Guns sling slugs that pound more than they stab.  Gaping wounds result and blood pools instead of trickles.

On Monday, we watched Daniel Day-Lewis' powerful role in There Will Be Blood, which - as you could well predict - has its own fair share of pooling crimson and buried bodies.

Now that you think we're very morose around this house, let me just say that we saw Eastern Promises a few weeks ago.  And I was definitely in favor of the Coen's taking best picture for No Country for Old Men.  

All of these are great gritty movies, but where would they rank along with some of the other classics?  What do you think?  What movies come to mind when you think of gritty, white-knuckle drama?  Here's my top ten (in no particular order):

1.  The French Connection:  Gene Hackman's pretty much pissed off at the world in this one, and I would be too if I had to be a tough street cop with the nickname "Popeye".  This movie - along with Steve McQueen's Bullit and Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry films - defines gritty, especially given the matter-of-fact cinematography Hollywood was in love with throughout the late 60's and 70's.  Guns echo over whole cities.  It seems that Hollywood was determined to cast the chaotic cultural clashes of the 1960's by reframing the Western genre within urban jungles.

2.  Collateral:  I just love this movie.  Set within Los Angeles, this Michael Mann film made a star of Jamie Foxx and allowed people to see another side of Tom Cruise.  The grittiness of this movie is set early on when a hired-assassin (Cruise) drops a man two stories on top of a cab.  Throw in a great car wreck, close-quarters shootouts and Vincent (Cruise) as a walking wound by the end of the film, and you've got true grit.  Mann mixes all gritty motifs:  Samurai culture, Westerns and Cop Drama.    Interesting note:  Javier Bardem appears briefly in this film as the shadowy, super-cool, Mexican drug king, Felix. 

3.  No Country for Old Men:  Yes, that is the same Javier Bardem who walks around Texas as some form of menacing death known as Anton Chigurh (be it person or power we know not).  This movie highlights two other key pieces of gritty movies:  terse and tense speech and the agonizing "bandage your own wounds" scene.  Ouch.

4.  Dirty Harry:  Come on, this scene pretty much defines gritty ... once again, notice how much elements of Cowboy/Western movies come out in the cinematography.  

5.  Unforgiven:  This relatively modern Western starring Eastwood and Morgan Freeman also includes Gene Hackman.  "Any man who doesn't want to get killed better step on out the back."  Here's a key scene. 

6.  The Departed:  I don't know anyone who saw how this one was going to end, but you knew from the beginning this Boston mafia movie would end with plenty of shooting and some double-crossing.  Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio show off some of their own grittiness against some seasoned tough guys.  And, in the end, someone ends up taking a bullet between the eyes - no mercy, no hesitation, just the cold reality of death and life, losers and winners.

7.  Tombstone:  Any movie that starts out with a reckless, vile group of outlaws gunning down a bride, a groom and a priest has got to be gritty.  But, if you think the bad guys are iron-guts, just wait until the fury of justice is unleashed through Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer).  

8.  Chinatown:  This is why I never visited Chinatown, never mind all the scary Hello Kitty merchandise!  Basically the same substance of those other gritty-city dramas, this film also has a bit of film noir mixed in to add mystery to the mayhem.  Still, the ending (a regular punch to the gut) tilts the scale over to true grit.

9.  Road to Perdition:  You don't think of Tom Hanks as being a man of grit, but this surprising film sets Hanks in mob-infested Chicago at the beginning of a new century.  This movie highlights another common gritty theme:  good guys have to wade through crap - becoming viciousness - in order to release others.

10.  The Untouchables:  Al Capone gives a bat to the head, and a shootout breaks out that sends bullets hurtling past a baby-carriage free-falling down marble steps.  De Niro is Capone; Kevin Costner is Elliot Ness.  Every great American city deserves its own gritty movie, a film that shows what it took to bring order to burgeoning chaos and violence.  Force has to overcome force to subdue a gritty world.  

So, there they are.  My top 10 ... although, don't kill me if I change my mind by morning.  At least give me the honor of a duel.

What are yours?

Wes

Comeuppance

I am so frickin' excited the Patriots lost. Elated. I think I'm more excited that New England lost this Super Bowl than I am that Indianapolis won last year. Time ... and justice cannot be skirted for ever, New England. You got your comeuppance.

Wes

Project Runway

Only 4 hours and 30 some odd minutes until the start of Project Runway: Season 4. Anna and I are completely addicted to this show, but unfortunately we will not be tuning into the season opener tonight. This is one place where we really wish we had cable (the other is when college basketball is on ESPN).

But, we do have season 3 at our home currently, and it's all we can do not to watch all four episodes on each disk in one sitting. It's awesome.

Wes

Chowdown Town

Below you can read an article that appeared today in the local Owensboro newspaper. Apparently, the Big O is a hot spot for restaurants (specifically chain restaurants). Now, keep in mind that living in Pasadena gave Anna and I something like 430 restaurants to choose from - almost all of those being locally owned and operated (many of them ethnically based). Then, there's Owensboro, which has a handful of local places to eat, and a gazillion chain stores.

What can I say? Some notoriety is damnable - including being told you like to eat in a nation of over-eaters.

One last thing: the same magazine also handed out a "clean plate" award to various restaurants who served an outstanding dish or entree. Not surprisingly, most of the winners on this list were from bigger cities such as Chicago, NY, Washington D.C. and New Orleans. And, much to my delight, Pie 'N Burger in Pasadena made it for a burger and a slice of pie (In 'N Out also made the stingy list for their burger, fries and chocolate shake delights).

I guess it's a question of quantity versus quality. If you want more food than you can stomach, come to Owensboro. If you want a fine meal that will keep you coming back for more, ... well ...

We do have Famous Bistro, Old Hickory, House of Canton, and Skeeter's, which are - truly - wonderful places to eat in Owensboro. But, come on ... Pie 'N Burger. What's better than that?

Survey finds city 'chowdown town'

11/12/2007

Owensboro 7th best restaurant market

By Keith Lawrence

Messenger-Inquirer

The self-proclaimed "Barbecue Capital of the World" -- also known as "Chowdown Town" -- is getting some national attention for its appetite.

Restaurant Business magazine's November issue ranks Owensboro as the seventh best market nationally for restaurants -- right behind Las Vegas.

Myrtle Beach, S.C., topped the list, followed by Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Ocean City, N.J.; and Honolulu.

The Owensboro metropolitan area -- Daviess, Hancock and McLean counties -- has 188 restaurants, the magazine said.

That's the fewest of any of Kentucky's five metros.

But local restaurants will take in an estimated $273.9 million this year -- an average of $1.46 million each, the magazine said.

That's nearly double the $751,704 in sales the average restaurant in Louisville sees, the magazine reported.

Even Las Vegas, No. 6 in the survey, reported smaller average sales per restaurant -- $1.2 million -- than Owensboro. But that city has 4,266 restaurants to share its $4.8 billion in restaurant sales.

"We're about to close two restaurant deals in Highland Pointe," Brad Anderson, a partner in Gulfstream Enterprises, said Wednesday. "Neither is in Owensboro now."

That company is developing Highland Pointe, Woodlands Plaza and Gateway Commons in the Kentucky 54 area.

Anderson said he's working with six to eight restaurant chains now, trying to negotiate deals along that corridor.

"Owensboro is getting a lot of attention already," he said. "And this should help."

Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers, a national chain with more than 340 stores, opened a Highland Pointe location six months ago.

Work is nearing completion on Roca Bar, a pizza restaurant next door. And a Louisville group is developing a Japanese restaurant in the strip center next to Kohl's in Woodlands Plaza.

"Business has been great," Tyler Shookman, co-owner of the Culver's franchise, said Wednesday. "Our sales are above average for Culver's locations. And we're looking at an even better future with the new hospital, hotel, arena and convention center coming out here."

Restaurant Business wrote: "Owensboro, on the Ohio River 100 miles west of Louisville, is also gearing up for development. Underway is a $40 million riverfront development with a marina and river walk; a $400 million medical center and the $390 million Gateway Commons, with a hotel, convention center and arena."

"That's great advertising," said Nick Cambron, chairman of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce. "There's a lot going on in Owensboro."

Cambron, a Realtor, said he's working with several restaurant chains that are looking at the Kentucky 54 corridor now.

"This area is a retail mecca," he said.

The magazine's Restaurant Growth Index studied 363 metropolitan areas, looking at total sales, total number of restaurants, per capita income and other factors.

Life in General

Representatives from a local Christian mission spoke to our congregation last night - trying to help our church understand the needs facing persons with serious addictions or other destructive habits that are ruining their lives. Shortly after enjoying a good plate of ham, potato casserole, green beans, and pineapple upside-down cake, the audience was shown a video with testimonies from people who had used or were using the mission's services. One of the men in the video quoted some advice a staff member had given him as he was in the gutter so to speak: "It isn't that you want to die; you just don't know how to live."

Bullseye. That line lodged itself into my conscience, germinating a number of other thoughts and conversations that lay dormant. How do we live? That is - isn't it - the essence of it all. What path are we intended to follow, what rules are intended to instruct our days?

I also read recently that the Hebrew tradition sought to answer those questions for us. Torah is meant to give instruction for living - all of it. Author A. J. Jacobs - a Jew by birth but not by practice (until recently) - has been making waves by drawing out this conclusion. He literally tried to follow the Bible for an entire year. His sense was that the prescriptions for holy living truly were profitable.

The Christian Scriptures too seek to illuminate a way of life: discipleship or a life-long willingness to follow the pattern of Christ. I have been reconnecting with this reality by tapping into some modern teachers like Dallas Willard and Richard Foster all over again. These two men have put in significant time studying and communicating answers to the question, "How do we live?" Foster in particular has established Renovare - an ecumenical effort to give Christians and churches a deeper appreciation for the long, deep history of others who have sought to answer this question. The resources that Foster and others are producing through Renovare are some of the most helpful and hopeful I've come across in a long time.

Of particular value is the book Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith. The simple aim of this book is to present clearly how various traditions have tried to live faithfully God's call to be disciples of Christ. According to this study, there are six streams of thought and action: contemplative, holiness, charismatic/spirit-empowered, social justice, evangelical, and incarnational.

As I work with and minister to people of varying social and economic situations, the knowledge of how to live is clearly missing ... and I say that for my own soul much of the time. Our culture is good at determining how to be successful, how to progress, how to compete and win. But, there is very little awareness of how to live a good life - well, aside from the materialistic, shallow definitions given to us through television ads and billboards.

Those streams of culture - or more likely flood waters - are quick to suggest that meaning comes through acquisition and possession. But, the more I read rich souls and study Scripture, the more I get the sense that the good life comes through a deep awareness of God in all of life and through practices and habits that train us to be more deeply and fully aware of God. There is no easy way around it: living well means a good deal of training and preparing to live well. This - I am aware - flies in the face of what Dallas Willard calls "vampire Christianity" where we willingly take the blood of Christ for our forgiveness and peace of mind but abandon a life of decency, justice and holiness as the cross that it is (click here for more; Willard cites A. W. Tozer as the source of this modern heresy).

This takes me back to the voices of homeless men and women I heard last night on the DVD. When you get to the point of homelessness - of being down and out - there really isn't anything you can buy or obtain that will get you out of the pit. At the bottom is only a long, arduous path of recovery, which includes learning all over again how to live: how to manage money, how to say no to destructive forces and yes to positive habits. That's about it. Well, there are two other critical things - two things the Christian tradition holds dearly:

1. The role of the Spirit in leading our regeneration in Christ.
2. The value of community and ceremonies to help us remember that we are not in this alone.

Without those two realities, our efforts - so others have said - amounts to strict legalism, frustration, and ultimately a return to despair.

So, there it is: we all have a need to know how to live well. I guess that's why Joel Osteen can sell a ton of books and why self-help is now quintessentially American. People are dying to live well. And, if someone can promise to help you in that endeavor (especially with an ivory smile), why wouldn't you want to listen. It is even more complicated because there is a great deal of truth in these self-help methods and "positive Christianity" efforts.

But (and I swear this will be the last thing), there is a problem with that stream ... and to illustrate, I want to tell you about Cool Whip.

Cool Whip promises to have 50% less calories than real whipped cream. The assumption here is that you'll consume less calories, but it denies the underlying problem: people don't need less calories; they need a different understanding of how to eat.

In the same way, we don't need better products (specifically new and flashy ones) to live better. What we need are ancient, proven rhythms and postures. To hand ourselves over to the current best seller is to let in any number of "additives" that may just be counterproductive, if not destructive. So, that's it. I just finally had some pieces of the puzzle fall into place after a long period of looking long and hard at disorder.

Shalom,

Wes

Falafel

During this year's multicultural festival at our church I had the good pleasure of talking to a few middle eastern gentlemen who were operating a booth in our "food court." They had some great falafel and tabbouleh ... just wonderful. Anyhow, I gave a few of them a card with my email address and phone number - never thinking it would lead anywhere.

Well, tonight I receive a call from one of the gentlemen. Honestly, I cannot remember his name given its complexity to my western ear and mind. He tells me that there will be an international food festival at his mosque in Evansville on Sunday, October 28th from 1 to 4 pm (1332 Lincoln Ave ... next to a large Catholic church and the University of Evansville). This - I believe - is extremely fortuitous given that some good friends are hoping to join us for a brief stay in these parts.

This also reminds me that I need to explain to all of you another great culinary experience in Evansville: Vietnamese food where the ingredients are picked up twice weekly from Asian markets in Chicago. But, that's another story.

Wes

Evansville's "Westside Nut Club Fall Festival"

Last year, I blogged about the "Westside Nut Club Fall Festival" - a week long festival of absurd amounts of food. This year, we went back ... and I headed straight to the Unitarian Universalist Church booth - not because of a spiritual crisis. No, the Unitarians are the only booth that had a decent selection of food, including an African peanut chicken to die for.

Anyhow, here are some other pictures from the trip:

A Cincinnati chili dog ... which while not Skyline quality was pretty good.

Just a random picture ... Nothing says fall festival than pigs in overalls eating corn on the cob. Obviously this pig is tremendously pleased to eat corn ... and you should be happy to eat pigs that eat corn ... and cows that eat corn and chickens that eat corn.

Gall, I wish this sign was a joke. You might think so. But, no, this was real. And so was this fact: the longest line at the fall festival was the line for brains.

Sorry folks, no cow brains this year. Not with the mad cow disease. Gonna have to eat pork brains instead. Which comes out looking like this ...

And, I'm pretty sure the brains came from these plastic tubs ... mmm. Need I even mention the amount of flies swarming around these "left over" grey ... er, make that "pink" matter?
You all should come next year. It's awesome.

Wes