This past year I’ve been thinking a lot about film as a medium to tell the stories of our faith. At the same time the church calendar has been increasingly guiding my own journey through the year and shaping my faith. In this vein I got together with some friends (like Wil and Thomas) last November to create our first “liturgical film” which we intended to be a narrative short film that told an Advent story. Not “the” Advent story, but an “Adventish” story. What we were setting out to do was to take everyday life and (re)narrate life by connecting it to the different stories we tell at each season. Our Advent film was about waiting, hope vs. cynicism, what it looks like to look forward to the return of Christ. It was a learning process in many ways but sparked something that I hope will continue.

So over the next week or so I’m going to be asking you to think liturgically with me about films we’ve already seen. And appropriately so, we’ll begin with Advent. What films have you seen that strike you as having an “Adventish” feel to them. What films tell an Advent story even though they may not intend to? Why? Let’s (re)examine some movies in light of the Advent story!

I’ll get us started. Among the top “Advent” films on my list would be last year’s Children of Men. This is a story about a deeply troubled dystopian future where women no longer are able to bear children. Those on the margins of society, minorities, immigrants, etc. are trampled upon by the oppressive government. The population is in despair and most give in to either depression or cynicism. Suicide is a given (and widely advertised) part of day to day life. These are a people whose future is in limbo. And then a child is born. The very presence of this child brings hope to a people who were previously hopeless. This child means that a future is possible. He is not born to those in power but rather to a poor immigrant, and early on his life is in danger from those who would take him from his parents. The fate of the world hangs entirely in the tiny hands of a baby born to a poor mother.

So, what about you?

I like these dudes. I suppose there’s a part of me that still likes Bulldogs because they were our high school mascot, but you can’t deny the essential cuteness to an English bulldog. My wife likes small dogs, I tend to like medium to big dogs. But a Bulldog is something that we can agree on. So what about you? Dogs or cats? Big or little? Indoors or backyard?

Kara and I walked over to our favorite local theatre last night to catch the Invasion. Thanks to Rusty for the heads up on this film several weeks ago. The Invasion was an interesting thriller playing in the schoolyard somewhere between zombie movies and twilight zone episodes about space aliens. This alien invasion/zombie/virus outbreak thriller doesn’t wait long to let the cat out of the bag, you know exactly what’s going on within the first part of the film but that only serves to unnerve you all the more for the duration of the film. (spoiler alert) The crux of the problem are these microscopic alien spores that attach themselves to your cells, effectively hijacking your DNA and therefore you, without changing anything about your appearance or memory. This process happens during REM sleep after you have come in contact with one of the spores (through a kiss, a handshake, or you know… getting pinned down and having your face puked on!). What becomes one of the creepiest elements of the film is the nonchalant way in which the ever increasing number of aliens calmly “hunt” down people, infect them and then let them loose, knowing that all it will take to bring the prey to “their side” is a little bit of sleep. The infected show no emotion and act like automatons, it feels at times like a massive case of group-think a la 1984, and as we learn later (spoiler alert) that’s exactly what’s happening. The infected are still human, although mentally in some kind of sleep like state, and the aliens have a very real kind of mental connectedness to one another. As one of them says towards the end describing his own existence,

“I am still Ben, but I am also so much more. I am connected to everyone else. There is no more “other.”

What gave depth to this otherwise great zombie/sci-fi thriller flick was the commentary on human nature and it’s relationship to theodicy (the problem of evil). As we begin to see in the film, rather than the infection causing worldwide chaos and war to break out it actually leads to worldwide peace. At one point we see George W. Bush and Hugo Chávez shaking hands as they sign a treaty together. However, the cost of this kind of peace and eradication of poverty is something like joining the Borg. The cost of being truly human - the presence of evil in the world. A doctor at the end of the film is asked if the infection was eradicated and he replies with the last lines of the film,

“Just take a look at a newspaper. For better or worse, we’re human again.”

This understanding of human nature, that evil is essential to our nature, is common in our culture. We often hear the phrase “I’m only human,” used to justify terrible wrongs we commit against one another. But what does our understanding of Christ’s incarnation tell us about human nature? It seems as though in Christ we can begin to understand that our bent towards evil is less-than human, it is indeed a betrayal of our humanity, and the way in which Jesus lived is what it looks like to be truly human.

So I’ll end with some questions for us to discuss. How might that understanding (re)narrate the underlying assumptions of the Invasion? How does this understanding still resist the automaton alternative of a complete loss of individuality as the way towards living in peace?

Several months ago I incorporated something new into my devotional life… a podcast. That wonderful group of Catholics called the Jesuits have been doing a daily (during the week) scripture meditation called Pray-As-You-Go. It’s really very similar to Lectio Divina. The podcast begins with some contemplative music ranging anywhere from monks chanting to solo guitarists singing in Spanish. Scripture is then read and there is a long time for prayer over the scripture passage, then the scripture is repeated and more time is given for prayer. There are usually some questions to think about during the prayer times. As the Jesuits say, it’s really more of a framework for your own prayer than a sermon, etc. They usually last anywhere from 9 to 12 minutes long and are always keen to observe the Christian calendar. In the spirit of Mike King any many other wise people, I wanted to practice this and actually have incorporated it into my life before I went and started recommending it to others. That being said, it has been a blessing in my own life and has given structure to my own prayer time that I think many of you might find helpful.

Today my graphic design venture, Red Coyote Studio, has officially been launched. Check out the site here.

Madden 08 is only two and a half days away. I for one am giddy with anticipation.