Julia Child and Celebration of Discipline
February 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment
A couple of weeks ago, when Rachel and I were hunkered down in a foot of snow in Charlottesville, reveling in our weekend of solitude, one of the movies we watched was Julie and Julia. It’s adapted from two books–Julia Child’s autobiographical My Life in France and Julie Powell’s memoir of her daily attempt to cook a different recipe from Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Child is played by Meryl Streep. It’s probably cliché to love Meryl Streep, but I do anyway. She’s just as amazing in this as she is in everything else. I love what AO Scott says about her in his review of the film: “By now this actress has exhausted every superlative that exists and to suggest that she has outdone herself is only to say that she’s done it again.”
Streep captures Child’s lust for life so well. In one scene, she springs out of bed early in the morning [I can’t recall, but I don’t think an alarm even goes off] so she can set about doing what she loves—cooking great food.
I have since wondered, “When is the last time I sprang out of bed in the morning?” And why don’t I? In the interest of keeping it short, I’ve decided that it has a lot to do with how I feel about what I have to do. Did you get that? What I have to do. When Julia Child jumps out of bed, it’s because she’s found something that she gets to do. Isn’t it easier to get more excited about a privilege than an obligation? And so I’ve noticed lately that it helps to remember what a privilege it is to care for my kids and get them to school and come to work at our church. I’m still not popping out of bed, but my attitude is a little better.
I think the same thing happens with meditation. That’s the spiritual discipline we’ll be talking about on Wednesday night as we begin talking about Foster’s Celebration of Discipline. The most common reaction I get from people who try meditating on scripture or on their relationship with God is, “This is hard work.” Yup. It’s not easy for a lot of reasons. We’re going to talk about that on Wednesday night. But one reason is because it’s often more of an obligation than a privilege. It’s hard to meditate on God’s presence when it’s something I do out of obligation and there’s something else I would like to be doing. Or, more importantly, there’s something else I feel like I should be doing.
It’s the difference between presenting a report to God and resting in the presence of God. It’s the difference between making myself get out of bed in the morning and falling into bed at the end of the day. Which sounds more appealing to you?
Anyway. There’s a lot more to be said about meditation, and we’ll be talking about it tomorrow night. But more than just talking about it, I’ll be encouraging you to practice it–maybe not during class, but sometime during the week. If you come to class and listen to me talk about the spiritual disciplines, you’ll get something out of it. But not nearly as much as if you actually practice them yourself. And I know I’ll learn a lot more than I would just hearing the sound of my own voice.
In the meantime, I hope you’ll stop running around and take a moment to practice being in the presence of God.
“The Light of God surrounds me. The Love of God enfolds me. The Power of God protects me. The Wisdom of God guides and directs me. Wherever I go, God is.”
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
–Psalm 139
Silent Monks Sing the Hallelujah Chorus
December 9, 2009 | 2 Comments
Rachel’s sister-in-law, Brittany (Is she my sister-in-law, too? I never get those rules.), posted this on my Facebook wall. Enjoy:
The “Talk”
December 8, 2009 | 5 Comments
I know, I know. It’s been a long time. It usually takes something particularly interesting to draw me back in.
This time it was because I wanted to direct you to this recent article on Time’s website about having “the talk” with our kids. One of the things I appreciate about the article is that it actually encourages having multiple “talks” rather than just one, each one being age/situation appropriate.
I also wonder about having “the talk” in Christian households. How is it different? How can we speak about sex with our children in a way that is open and honest and reflective of our faith?
Anybody out there who has more experience than I do, feel free to jump in. Both of our boys have shown some curiosity about “where babies come from,” but were satisfied with the most cursory of answers. This article makes me think we will be dealing with this sooner rather than later. What about you?
I am Second
October 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I believe this weekend marks the 104th installment of the Red River Shootout. (I refuse to call it the Red River Rivalry, just because AT&T is sponsoring it.) For many of you that means nothing. That’s because: A) You don’t watch college football. B) You’re not from Texas or Oklahoma.
The Red River Shootout is the annual football game between the University of Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma University Sooners. It’s almost always a huge game, because one or both teams are usually in the National Championship picture. The game takes place every year at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas during the Texas State Fair. If you’re a college football fan, this game is one that should make your bucket list.
This year the starting quarterbacks are Colt McCoy for the Longhorns and Sam Bradford for the Sooners. Both have been talked about as HeismanTrophy contenders (though Bradford’s chances have been diminished some by an early season shoulder injury.) Both really want to win this game. Both must be incredibly competitive to play a sport on this level.
But there is one thing they can agree on. Check out the video below. It was posted on Facebook by the Christian Chronicle. When you’re done watching the video, you can go read an interview with Colt McCoy at the Chronicle website. He attends a Church of Christ in Austin.
The Biggest Loser
October 1, 2009 | 1 Comment
Rachel finally had a chance to watch this week’s episode of The Biggest Loser last night. I acted like I wasn’t watching it, but I was. If you are inclined to watch it and you haven’t yet, go do so and then come back, because there are some big-time spoilers ahead.
This week was Sean Algaier’s swan song. He and his partner, Antoine, fell prey to some truly “Survivor”-style game play by one of the other contestants. It would be easy to vilify her, but I think she’s got real issues. (At least that’s the way the show’s editing makes it look.) Some of you will remember that Sean and the rest of the worship group, “Watershed,” performed at NCOC some time ago, so I was rooting for him, and I was sorry to see him leave.
But if anyone had to go out like that, I’m glad it was him. He and Antoine basically sacrificed themselves and asked to be sent home rather than another contestant. The way it works is the show sends them home, but provides a personal trainer so that they can keep working and then come back for the live finale sometime around the holidays. S & A argued that they would stand a better chance than this other contestant, because they both had a good support network at home. It appears that they were right, because they both look great. If I remember right, Sean’s already lost over 100 lbs.
Sean acted like we would hope a Christian would act. After being thrown under the bus by this other contestant, he and his partner took care of someone else rather than look after their own interests. And THEN, Sean was able to treat this person who had essentially caused his elimination with decency and compassion.
You know me, and you know I’m not one to rail against the biases of “our liberal media.” But I can’t help but wonder if anyone will comment on the fact that a self-confessed Christian managed to go on a “reality” show and actually behave like a follower of Jesus. We sure hear about it when they’re jerks. And, unfortunately, they sometimes are.
But no matter. It was nice to see someone go on the Biggest Loser and act like “The Biggest Loser.”
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