I know lots of people hate time change. You may be one of them. If so, take everything here with a grin.

I like time change.

If my Facebook feed is any indication, Satan himself devised time change as a torture for the poor American who just wants the freedom to live without strange clock machinations. Actually, for some this IS an issue of freedom-- the ultimate encroachment of government upon the very fabric of the universe. "Government don't got the right to move the clock!" Well, no. But yes.

I like the fact that we all run on sensible times--I really don't want to go back to the 19th century when every local train ran on the time that was right in its own eyes. I do think the government has a vested interest in promoting order for the sake of commerce.

But really-- I just like having more daylight at the times I need it. In the evening. Who wants daylight at 6am? All I do in the morning is get up and go to work. I don't care if THAT's in the dark.

Standard time in winter gives us a little more murky daylight until 6pm. When I lived in PA, that extra time kept me from getting off the bus in the dark at 4pm in the dead of winter. Here in the South the change isn't so extreme--but for some reason I find it comforting to leave work in the daylight. It's an illusion that I haven't sacrificed all of my productivity "working for the man."

In the balmy summer, when I want the evening hours to stretch out infinitely, soaking up the hum of grasshoppers and waves of warmth (as opposed to miserable scortching of the full sun hours), I appreciate DST. I can get that hour of happiness at 8pm instead of 6am. 

Clearly, DST was invented by Italians. 

Honestly, the main outcry I hear comes from Christians. Why? Because we run our churches like factories. Heaven forbid that the weekly schedule vary! It would cause confusion!

No. It would let families REST. 

Truth is, there's no reason why your church can't have special Time Change Sunday breakfasts to fellowship around this weird modern ritual. In the spring, I'd brunch at 11 am and do a shorter service at 11:30. In fall, brunch at 9:30 and enjoy the longer morning. 

Furthermore -- if this Sunday wears you out, why aren't you at home? There's no medal in heaven for church attendance. God doesn't love you more because you go or less because you didn't. This isn't a time clock to punch for the sake of your holiness reputation. 

Live free, folks. If the government insists on playing with Time, in this rare case, I'm ok with that. Because I slept in this morning. 

I'll be honest, I went to see Snitch only because a friend asked, "Hey, you wanna go see this?" and Coart was going to be gone all night doing his UGA thing, so I went.

Snitch is the fictionalization of a real story highlighted on Frontline in a program about the mandatory sentencing drug laws. The movie stars The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and some other famous people yadda yadda.  The film itself isn't really that great; it's not terrible, but the acting is awkward at times, the story pacing is a little off, and the ending seems to ignore some obvious questions. 

I do think critics might be on to something when they point out that Johnson's character is clearly supposed to be sympathetic, but his actions endanger so many people throughout the story that I found myself a bit horrified at his cavalier attitude toward others. 

I guess if the film manages to raise awareness of the incredible injustices within the drug laws, that would be good. Maybe folks will think differently next time a politician starts ranting about the Drug War, the Inner City, the need to Get Tough On Crime, and other trademarked phrases that whip voters into a frenzy.

In fact, the film is linked to a take action website that's full of great info-graphic bits about drug laws and their negative effects.  The overwhelming majority of drug arrests fail to nab the big kingpins with the plans, the money, and the power. Our cells are full of many people who simply possessed an illegal drug -- even tiny amounts can land you 5-10 years in prison. 

These mandatory laws overwhelmingly harm minorities.

When you combine mandatory sentencing for simple possession with the state laws that strip felons of many rights once they're out of jail, you end up with a permanent class of people who will never escape the poverty and distress of an ex-felon's life. 

Do you really think 1 gram of cocaine or LSD is worth that? 

I don't. 

The Great War on Drugs is costing us far more than it helps. THAT's a conversation I'd like to see enter the political sphere.

If you're interested, I highly recommend reading The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander. You'll hate it because it'll make you angry -- but it's a good book. 

Currently The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander see related

It's always nice to be reminded of where you've come from.... and recognize that every few years, there will be one of these "oh, man" moments. lol

Am going through the Xanga here to pull select posts onto a new blog. I've enjoyed the memory lane moments, but sometimes it's good to realize that at least some of my skills have improved in the past 5-7 years. haha

*grimaces*

(In case you want a comparison....here's a recent project)

Zero Dark Thirty has garnered nearly everyone's attention this winter. Kathryn Bigelow directed the film, her second outstanding film that takes a look at war (or situations related to war). Her first, The Hurt Locker, ranks on my list of best films ever. The Oscar committee stunned everyone by giving her Best Director, snubbing Avatar (directed by her ex-husband James Cameron).

But having a woman director isn't the controversial point of the film. ZDT tells the story of the hunt and eventual killing of Osama bin Ladin. Everything about this film hit the stride: pacing, scene-writing, overall story arc, sound design, visual storytelling, emotional hooks, rising action and climax and resolution. I highly recommend seeing the film, and not just because "it's a famous story" or "you should really go see it to know what happened."  It's a great film, and a strong contender for Best Picture.

The debate has raged over whether the film portrays the facts accurately, or whether millions of people will see the film and walk away thinking torture is a great tactic because it gets results. 

The Economist magazine presented my favorite counterpoint to that pragmatic line of thinking: There are two problems (at least with torture) in the name of good: 1) there's no way to know if the suspect is giving accurate information; and 2) as the leader of world democracy, we lose too much credibility when we bloody our hands. It's a great article and I recommend taking a few minutes to read it.

Anyway --

As I sat in the theater and watched a fictional woman (the combined force of all the actual CIA agents who did the footwork to find bin Ladin) devote every inch of her being to having bin Ladin killed, as I saw through the green-tinged night vision goggles of Seal Team Six the moment when the men put a bullet in one of the wives and then tried to shush the screaming children ... I found my meta-brain churning away about the idea of revenge.

The Seal officer was trying to soothe the screaming kid. "It's ok! It's ok!" He pulls a lightstick out of his pocket, snaps it to bring up an orange glow, and waves it in front of her. "See? Cool, huh? It's ok. We aren't going to hurt you. ....Who's this man over here? what's his name?" (They were trying to get a positive ID on the body of the man shot on the 3rd floor, which turned out to be bin Ladin.)

But it wasn't ok.  Flip the tables, walk in their shoes, and those kids had just watched armed intruders shoot down their father (or uncle or whatever) in cold blood.  Were the men in the house guilty? Absolutely.

Then why does revenge feel so empty?

My mind traveled over to Hamlet. (Any discussion that ends up in Hamlet is an extra-good discussion to me.)  Among the many themes woven into that incredible work is an intense study of the fine shades of difference between lawful passion and consuming revenge; between justice and vengeance.  At the end of Hamlet for the audience, despite knowing that Claudius has finally got what was coming to him, the pile of dead bodies on the floor robs the audience of a true satisfaction.

I fount Zero Dark Thirty stirred the same emotions for me.  I thought back to the day bin Ladin was killed, and a roomful of curious but troubled seventh graders asking me whether we should be happy that the arch-terrorist had been killed.  Yes, I believe that justice is a godly virtue. The psalmist prays for God to shatter the teeth of the wicked and break the arms of people who abuse the poor. 

Over 3,000 coalition military personnel have died in Operation Enduring Freedom, the optimistic moniker given by the US/UN to the mission to break the Taliban, kill bin Ladin, decapitate al-Qaida, and restore America's security in the world. That's a lot of dead bodies piled around on the stage as we get ready to let the curtain drop. And we're still coming to grips with our own civil rights abuses that can't be swept easily under a cry of "Tu quoque!"

Perhaps if humans could be truly righteous, someone would figure out how to engage in military combat without the mess. I don't know. 

But ten years after we invaded Afghanistan, the victory seems hollow. "We'll show them!" served as enough of a rallying cry in the wake of 2011 (by the way, Bigelow does an amazing job of evoking all those 9/11 emotions for her film with just audio recordings of that harrowing day). Tobe Keith reminded us all that if you mess with America, "we'll put a boot in your ass -- it's the American way."  

Is the only biblical avenue given to fallen humans in a wrecked world the hollow tang of revenge-justice?

Sir Ian McKellen explains "acting" on Extras

Brad | Myspace Video

Brief review on this one -- 

Either as a newbie or an old friend, you'll find the film adaptation a good one.  Les Miserables has one of the strongest stories of any musical out there.  Let it touch your heart this week. 

If you know the story of Les Mis and already love the music, you'll like the film. The actors aren't tied to a grand orchestra driving the tempo and tone, so they can truly act while performing the songs. I like the cast's voices during the film, though I don't plan to buy the soundtrack to listen on my iPod or anything. (To me, the Broadway or original London recordings just soar musically, especially on showpiece songs like "Bring Him Home." The film cast communicates the story better.) Anyway, the film gives such a sense of time & place & plot structure to what can feel befuddled on the stage.

If you don't really know Les Mis, the film offers a perfect opportunity to fall in love with a story that's drenched in both Grace and themes of social justice which are just as relevant today as they were in Victor Hugo's poverty-ridden France. "Look down, look down" at the poverty and suffering of the  masses, and be moved by the incredible mercy of God to do something about it.  Love the people in front of you -- "to love another person is to touch the face of God." 

Also, Les Mis noobs will really appreciate a much clearer plotline thanks to the visual storytelling possible with film. The musical can be absolutely confusing if you don't already know the story. There are multiple gaps in the chronology otherwise -- twice, the story skips forward by at least a decade. And it's hard to understand the barricade business. So if you've never seen Les Mis, this is a great way to start. 

Favorite moments: [Spoiler Alert] Where our hero lets Javert go, telling him "the debt is paid, there are no conditions" on his offer of mercy to the guilt-ridden, Law-enslaved police inspector. It really doesn't have anything to do with the movie....I just love that moment. 

#2 favorite moment: Eponine's solo, "On My Own." Nearly every recording (except the 25th anniversary one) casts Eponine with "the most annoying nasal voice in the cast," as if her character cannot be communicated otherwise. So thankful the film avoided that terrible pit and chose an actress who nailed it. 

I use the weather app Swackett on my phone to keep up with forecasts and all-- I like it because it presents the weather in visual form, as an avatar wearing appropriate clothing.

Sometimes the pictures are really cute. Sometimes they just make me laugh.

This morning, the "college edition" avatar made me say "ouch"-- is this the future of the college-educated? Lets hope not....

I like books.  I like films that are based on books. So perhaps my best review of The Hobbit lies in this comparison: The Hobbit is a trilogy based on a single book. The Lord of The Rings, on the other hand, tantalized us with three books smashed into three movies, a sweeping story of epic proportions.

Therein lies the fundamental difference between these two trilogies. While the new Hobbit movie is excellent and fans of Middle Earth will revel in returning to the world once more in its splendor and detail, the truth is Peter Jackson is willing to sacrifice the truth of a children's tale to get the epic feel of LOTR.

First the good: this Hobbit film is beautiful. The acting, of course, is great. Moments of humor are sprinkled throughout just as one would expect. We even get to see more of the flying helicopter scenes, the shots soaring above heroes running across an open plain.

But there in lies the rub: We've seen this before. We've heard this soundtrack before. We've seen these shots before. We feel like we've heard these jokes before.

In 2002 when LOTR:Fellowship opened, everyone was stunned by its complexity and beauty. Anticipation for the movie had risen to a fevered pitch. Fans were in love with this man who brought Tolkien's story to life in truth and love (except for that stupid insertion about Aragorn falling off the cliff in Two Towers). 

In 2012, the novelty is gone. We enjoy The Hobbit like we enjoy visiting a beloved cousin. It's not like seeing a celebrity, but it's still a great visit.

Again I'm not trying to be too negative. Tolkien fans will love the film. They'll enjoy the songs and the scenery and the battle scenes and the jokes and just sitting in a theater again watching something from this world.

But at three hours, the film just runs....long. (To be fair, Tolkien feels "long" to a modern reader used to the cotton-candy pacing of young-adult literature.) Sometimes good filmmakers fall in love with the story so much that they can't bear to cut anything. But the essence of good art lies in the editing. What isn't present is as important as what is. 

Now, on the upside, the Hobbit film delves into the nooks and crannies of Tolkien lore, expounding on moments which enrich the subsequent LOTR storyline. You'll understand so much more of the Hobbit story from the film than you got from the book (unless you've memorized The Silmarillion or can go toe-to-toe with Stephen Colbert as a Tolkien nerd).

But I must warn you, make sure you've drunk some coffee before you go. (Don't worry about having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the film, there are plenty of moments when you can get out without missing the action.) And you had better choose a theater with very comfortable seats because you will be in them for three hours.

Bottom line The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is lovely and interesting. I like being back in Tolkien's world. But I hope Jackson exercises a little more editing-room self-control for the later films. 

Best scene "Riddles in the Dark"--it's absolutely incredible.

Our water bills here in Anderson CO are totally screwed up. The sewer charge is ridiculous; has to do with county politics. So the sewer charge on the bill is about 3x the charge for water.

On a $20 water bill, paying $55 for the sewer charge is galling but still manageable. We grit our teeth and move on.

Well, one of the few conditions Coart asked of the Kueblers when they moved in was for them to cover the water bill, since it would be the main area where their presence in our house would really affect our finances. Jane agreed. The first couple rounds weren't too bad. (In fact, I wondered if there was a mix-up somewhere....)

When I opened December's bill last week, I nearly died -- it was $520!  Jane and Coart had their own personal heart attacks....

and then we just laid it on the table and said, "OK. This one is bigger than us. So God's gonna have to pay it....because we sure can't."

So on Wednesday Coart was opening mail and found that someone anonymously sent us $100. Cool.

I said to Jane, "Hey, this is awesome! Because yesterday, I got a Christmas bonus from Erskine -- totally wasn't expecting that!"

Bonus was $300. "We're 4/5 of the way through the water bill!"

Jane jumped up, strange look on her face, and rustled through her wallet.

She emerged with $100 -- "A college friend said his mom was up to visit last weekend, and he had told her about our situation, and she told him to give us this money."  A hundred dollars.

And that is how God paid the water bill.  

If you didn't read yesterday's post, please go back there before reading on, or this won't really make much sense.

I guess the Holy Spirit decided I needed a trail of frikkin bread crumbs to this idea so I wouldn't miss it, so my weekend journey through Love continued....

*****
Weirdest thing happened on Saturday. We attended the wedding of people we totally didn't know.

Rest easy, we haven't taken up wedding crashing.  Greg Skipper, the director of Calvary Home, was officiating at the quickly-planned wedding of a couple he knows .... I still haven't gotten all the story yet, but I gather that a couple who have been together for several years decided to get married. Greg said in his email inviting people to please come attend the wedding and celebrate this couple, that they had recently come back to the Lord. 

Cool. Weddings should be celebrations, and anybody who wants to make a go of it the right way (which is the harder way, but the better way) deserves to be supported. So we put on our nice clothes, found a card, and headed over (despite Coart's cold).   

Part of the wedding included the usual reading of 1 Corinthians 13. It is a passage I love. Normally I tune out the reader somewhat and try to remember the passage as I memorized it in the King James, because the language is so beautiful. But my linguistic archaeology was interrupted this time by these arresting words:

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

I had spent much of this past week being irritated and resentful. 

Oh, hell. 

*****

If you know us in person here in SC, you've probably heard that things are a little crowded at the house these days. A family in our church lost their house (rental) back in August and nothing opened up. It's a big family. We all kept expecting something to open up for them, like it always had.  

But it didn't. So that's why on a Monday in mid-August I found myself trying to haul everything out of two or three rooms of our house to make room for 5 people to move in. *gulp*  Within a month, we had three more, and I have officially declared our house FULL. If I could find one of those lighted No Vacancy signs for the front window, I'd put it up for chuckles. 

Sometimes people want to be impressed. They say things like, "I could never do that. You guys are awesome people. You're living the Gospel." And while I appreciate the attempt to stroke my spiritual ego or tempt me toward self-righteousness and arrogance, the truth is -- the past 4 months have mostly served as a big fat billboard pointing to just how selfish and irritable and resentful I am. 

I think it's easy to grit teeth and "do the right thing" because you feel obligated. 

If loving people, if living like Christ lived, if showing Grace to others because I myself have been forgiven for so much -- if that were easy, we'd all be doing it. Poor people would be taken care of, orphans would be adopted, the foster system would have enough caregivers, hungry folks would eat.  The solutions to social problems like poverty will be through relationship -- not through shifting the burden of the cost of care from the church to the government, or from the state back to individuals. The "cost" in terms of dollars isn't the point at all.

The "cost" is personal. 

Grace costs the giver.  

The truth of myself that I must face when I grumble inwardly that there are small socks on the floor, when one of the visiting cats races across the end table and knocks everything off, when the microwave looks like someone exploded a burrito inside -- the truth is, I love my house more than I love people. And that's wrong.  People are more important than things (another one of my mantras).   

I love my own comfort, my sense of peace, my desire for organization, a quiet house, no fingerprints on the glass doors, an open guest bathroom more than people. 

And it's wrong. 

I can't tell you why God hasn't given the Kueblers a house yet. I don't wish it for our sakes; they're the ones who are trying to cram 7 people into two small bedrooms.  Have you ever been homeless? Probably not.  Have you ever had to hang on God's very provision just to eat? Yeah, me either.  I want the K's to get a house and stock it with tons of food so the teenagers can eat as much as they want without fear of running out of food before the month ends. I want for them to feel the warmth of stability, so the kids grow up without the fear of people walking out on them or abandoning them.  I want Jane to have the space to be as hospitable as she would like to be, all the time, without the physical contraints of our house. 

But *I* need them.  

Rich blessings come from God's hand when we walk in His ways and surrender to the brick-to-the-head moments of sanctification. Having the Kuebler clan join us for these past 4 months has been rewarding, gracious, and enlightening. I find myself praying one of my most-used prayers from the Gospels, "Lord, I believe. Please help my unbelief." 

It is in these moments when we die to self and choose to love others truly and with open hands, as God loved us -- not demanding a reward or a return on the investment -- that we grow to understand more of our Father's heart.  We love only because He first loved us.  God proves that He loves us because, when we were total failures -- when we ARE total failures -- Christ died for us.  

Back to Mass Effect mom from yesterday -- I think she "gets it."

Sometimes Grace shines out from the most unexpected places 

PS. By the way - The Kueblers still need a house. This is bigger than what they could ever attain on their own, so we'd all appreciate it if you'd pray for God to kick someone in the butt who has the means to provide them a real place to live to get on that and do it.