Carrier, Politics, and Screwtape

May 2, 2008

I was on a roll and then I quit posting. Why don’t we get this thing going again with some miscellaneous items?

Did anyone else watch Carrier? I gave you a heads up about it last month. If you missed it you can watch a lot of clips at the website. A film crew embedded on the USS Nimitz for a full deployment. I have been enthralled. I’d love to hear from those of you who can speak with experience. How fair of a representation is it? I find it convincing, but what do I know? I love that you get a glimpse of all the different types of people who live on this floating city. It really shows how different people experience Navy life differently. Seems like so much depends on where you’re coming from and what your attitude is.

So did you watch it? Maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “Why would I want to watch what I do at work?” Rachel feels that way about watching medical shows. I’ve never seen a reality show based on a minister’s life. Because, well, how fun could it be to watch a minister write a sermon? Not exactly a ratings bonanza. Anyhow, let me hear from you if you’ve been watching.

Also, for all of you current issues/politics folks, I just listened to an episode of Speaking of Faith that features a discussion between three very different evangelical leaders about faith and politics. How should we as Christians engage in the political arena? Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne have their disagreements (one is a pacifist, another worked in the Nixon administration), but they manage to have a very considerate and thoughtful discussion. Give it a listen. You can download the podcast, listen to, or watch their discussion at the Speaking of Faith website. I’ll probably talk more about it at a later date. And I’m probably going to share one of Shane Claiborne’s anecdotes from the discussion on Sunday morning.

Finally, I just rediscovered this quote from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. You’ll recall it’s a fictional (of course) correspondence between an older managing demon and his apprentice/nephew demon about how to best tempt a man to stray. Here he is talking about how useful it is to tempt humans to spend a lot of time worrying about the future or the past and very little time living in the present:

He (God) does not want men to give the Future their hearts, to place their treasure in it. We do. His ideal is a man who, having worked all day for the good of posterity…washes his mind of the whole subject, commits the issue to Heaven and returns at once to the patience or gratitude determined by the moment that is passing over him. But we want a man hagridden by the Future—haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth—ready to break the Enemy’s (God’s) commands in the Present if by so doing we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other.

May God give us this day our daily bread. And may we see what a blessing it is.

Posted by Robert | Filed Under Blog 
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Comments

One Response to “Carrier, Politics, and Screwtape”

  1. Ray on May 5th, 2008 10:06 pm

    I have to admit, the show intrigued me given my time spent on one years ago, so watched the first episode. Rather than discuss the show’s reality, I think I answer your question in this way. The Navy and for that matter the military as a whole is a cross section of our great nation. As with any locale, whether big city or small town, there are folks that are across the spectrum. We never now what is going on in someone’s life when we first meet. Are they struggling with something? Have an addiction? Rough childhood? Or on a positive note, have a strong relationship with God. Go to church. Pray. That is why I think it is important for us as Christian’s to remain humble, slow to judge and show kindness as Christ has for us. Yeah, there are folks onboard ships that have issues, but don’t we all?

    Love the recap of The Screwtape Letters. Will have to dust off the copy…

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