Stranger Than Fiction? Possibly.

Circumstances led us to see Stranger Than Fiction last night at the Landmark Keystone Art theater. About 3 or 4 minutes into the film, which was enjoyable but managed by the end to just miss the mark, I found myself listening more than watching. Towards the middle of the film I thought: "I need to buy this soundtrack ". Sure enough, as the credits began to roll, I saw Brain Reitzell listed as the musical producer for the film. Reitzell, who was the drummer for the band Red Kross, worked with artists Roger Manning Jr., Kevin Shields, and the French band Air and began his career as a film music producer for Sophia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides. Coppola's smash hit, Lost in Translation, happens to be my favorite film soundtrack so it was with great haste I went to iTunes to download the soundtrack for Stranger Than Fiction. Strangely enough, I can't bring myself to buy it.

Christmas Time Is Here

Each and every year Christmas arrives, passes, and then, after a day or two, I feel incredibly nostalgic for the season that's just passed me by. I can't, for the life of me, understand why I can't feel this way prior to the actual day itself. I thought this holiday would somehow deliver me that certain feeling as we were home but it just didn't deliver even though my wonderful wife did her very, very best to try and make it happen and my son was just as ecstatic as a five-year old could be waiting for the day to arrive. Perhaps next year will be different. I've got to figure out why Christmas has become so anticlimactic.

Keeping in line with the traditions of our house guests this Christmas, one of the members of our household became ill -- yours truly. Let's just say there was much more time available to me for reading than I'd initially planned. (Uncomfortable reading, at that.) The most unfortunate aspect of this was the fact I missed most of the available time we had for family games and outings. (No movies, geocaching, or board games as planned.) Nonetheless, it was a treat to watch Hayes and his cousins, Eleanor and Magnolia, enjoy each other's company. Thanks to Josh and Jody for coming this year; we loved having you (as always) and hope to see everyone again real soon. And, I think I'd like to learn to play Dragonology next time, intestines permitting.

I received a fabulous gift courtesy of my wife (at a much more reasonable price) which has occupied most of my listening time for the past few days. I can't tell you how enjoyable this is; it's probably the best gift I've received at Christmas in a long, long time. (With the exception of the paper shredder.)

Christmas time is here;
the strains of Vince Guaraldi
etched into my mind.

Anselm or Friedrich Schleiermacher? Maybe Huldrych Zwingli?

While looking at my brother-in-law's blog site today I somehow or another came across a rather silly test on quizfarm.com regarding theology. (Please note the emphasis on the word silly.) Being a glutton for punishment I took the exam and found out my 'theology' most closely resembles Anselm's and Friedrich Schleiermacher's.

Not recalling much about Anselm (college was quite a long time ago and medieval theology didn't exactly excite me then) I did some quick googling/wikiing and discovered Anselm is considered by many to be the first scholarly philosopher of Christian theology. Hmm; interesting. Anselm was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093-1109 A.D. (duh) and had quite an ongoing spat with Kings William II and Henry I regarding the practice of investiture. (Nobles granting privilege by way of awarding church offices.) More notably, Anselm was responsible for ushering in reason as a critical element of Christian faith and established the ontological proof -- that God's existence can be proven by intuition and reason alone. (Anselm's my man.) Perhaps the most important aspect of his proof isn't the proof itself but the arguments it spawned via Hume and Descartes.

Friedrich Schleiermacher, who arrived 650 or so years later, was a philosopher and theologian (and all around academic who taught more than a dozen disciplines). Schleiermacher is noted for many things, including his works Reden (places religion at the pinnacle of divine mysteries within human nature) and Christliche Glaube (argues religious feeling, the sense of absolute dependence on God as communicated by Jesus through the church, and not the creeds or the letter of Scripture or the rationalistic understanding, is the source and law of dogmatic theology). Hmm; interesting. This religious feeling has been characterized as both the consciousness of the universe and the consciousness of being in relation with God. (Astounding.)

Not to be outdone, another quiz on the site told me I was most like Huldrych Zwingli (somewhat sandwiched between the others in a timeline sense), the leader of the Swiss Reformation. (Zwingli and Luther were contemporaries.) Zwingli, the lesser known of the two reformers, believed faith and works were necessary for salvation and also held fast that the physical body of Christ was not present in the Eucharist but, instead, the ceremony existed for purely symbolic means. (Zwingli is also known for his non-instrumental approach so worship band members can stop reading now.)

Now, for those of you who know me, you know how silly these tests must be. . .

Feed Me, Seymour; or, You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'

So, how do Rick Moranis and the Righteous Brothers fit in? Well, for Members2B, it pretty much describes our current church dynamic. We're either in need of feeding, like Seymour, to keep ourselves from dying on the vine or, like the Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill song, feeling a bit jilted right now by the ones we love most.

At lunch today with Bitt, the topic of structure sort of weaved itself in and around our conversation (this, after the story of my life -- my most sincere apologies to Chris). I can say, with confidence, the both us feel structure can be a tool to help us remember what our time together should be like. I expressed to Chris my appreciation of the Catholic Church for identifying and incorporating sacraments into corporate worship and how communion isn't something we should treat lightly. (Can't you just see your mother or grandmother kicking you in the shin for talking during communion? Don't you think she might do the same to us now?) Another item I'd like to see is a dedicated corporate prayer time where the various needs we express to one another during the week can be made available to a larger group (if you want them to). The reading of scripture, whether established by the liturgical calendar or by other circumstances, is another weekly item we need as well as the overwhelming need to sing. Do we do these things now? Mostly, yes; we do these things but do we think about them in a purposeful manner every time we do them? I don't think so. It occurs to me our fragrant offering might smell a bit like milk just past its expiration date or lettuce that's been in the keeper just a little bit to long: you could probably eat it, but it's not what it should be. (Food analogies brought to you directly from my house and my own pet peeves.)

Alright. If structure may help (and who's to say that it will?) I'm going to embark on a structure project. I'll let you know when it's ready to share. Lastly, my apologies for the German subtitles. They are amusing, however, don't you think?