I'll say it simply: I thoroughly enjoyed Juno. It was easily one of the better movies I've seen in the past few years. This film is like a Ferrero Rocher...it's got a hard, nutty shell, but beneath lies a genuinely soft core, and the whole thing is absolutely delicious. Juno is very subtle in its delivery, and by the end I got choked up without really understanding why. I think that's a mark of a great film.
Juno MacGuff: I think I'm, like, in love with you.
Paulie Bleeker: You mean as friends?
Juno MacGuff: No, I mean, like, for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know...
Paulie Bleeker: I try really hard, actually.
Paulie Bleeker: You mean as friends?
Juno MacGuff: No, I mean, like, for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know...
Paulie Bleeker: I try really hard, actually.
It's not often that a major death covered by the news makes me feel sad, but when I read about Benazir Bhutto's untimely assassination my heart felt very heavy. This is most likely due to the fact that Pakistan's recent turmoil has been a story that I've kept up with for the past few months. Part of it is also stems from the op-ed pieces that Ms. Bhutto wrote for various publications, including The Wall Street Journal, a few of which I've read. In a strange way, I think I felt a slight personal connection with her and the agendas she pushed for, and this was forged and strengthened through reading her very own words printed on paper.
If this can happen with Ms. Bhutto, a lady that I have never met, how much more can this be true of someone that I actually have met? I'm ashamed that I have forgotten how important and wonderful it is to read the Bible, daily, with precise focus and intent. It's obvious and trite to say, but my connection with God is contingent upon my reading of his very own words.
One thing that was certain for Ms. Bhutto from the very first day she returned to Pakistan was that she was putting her very own life at risk in order to bring about change to her country. Death was in hot pursuit of her since October 18th, and it finally got her on December 27th, 2007.
We feel this kind of deadly pursuit, too. Something dark is hounding us with a relentless lust, and we try our best to avoid it. Seat belts, helmets, and vaccinations all go to drive this reality home. Since the great Fall, we have been forced to spend great amounts of energy and time avoiding death and any kind of punishment that must follow sin.
But I think too many times, God's pursuit of his people is overshadowed by this. Even more than the ominous end that seems to await us at every turn, God is inexorably pursuing us, not out of wrath but out of love. The whole Bible is an account of God seeking his people out in order to love and save them. This has been true since he called to Adam in the garden: "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9)
Even beneath the hardships that he may send our way is his love and fierce desire for our best, which we never seem to know but always think we do.
I think that this is also why "waiting" and being "still" is mentioned so often in the Bible. We may pause and give God his due every now and again, but after that it's back to doing our best to avoid anything and anyone that might appear to disrupt the specious peace that seems to be reflected in our small ponds. Little do we know that underneath lie terrible things that must be drawn out, and what little peace we may have on the surface must many times be disturbed if we are to be rid of them.
You can't stop what's comin'. It ain't all waitin' on you.
At first, I read this line from No Country for Old Men with a negative, fearful perspective. But now, in light of my salvation in Christ, I can read this with a smile, because I know that what's comin' is good, and that (thank God) it ain't all waitin' on me.In 2008, I will be praying for God to hammer this deeper into my head and my heart. I will do my best to sit still and embrace this truth, that he is ever pursuing me, to love me, regardless of me.
"Yet I know that good is coming to me - that it is always coming; though few have at all times the simplicity and the courage to believe it." - Anodos, from Phantastes, by George MacDonald
"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." - C.S. Lewis
"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." - C.S. Lewis
Cat Power - Sea of Love
Come with me
My love
To the sea
The sea of love
I wanna tell you
How much
I love you
Do you remember
When we met
That's the day
I knew you were my pet
I wanna tell you
How much
I love you
Come with me
My love
To the sea
The sea of love
I wanna tell you
How much
I love you
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