Are you a bit awkward when talking with new people? Do you find yourself the person at the party checking out the bookshelf? Maybe you’re great in certain contexts but not in others. I have a few ideas on opening up conversations that will flow fairly well, and will make you come off as a great person to talk with at a party.
My number one trick for talking with people I don’t know is that I steer the conversation as fast as I can away from weather, sports, local TV news, and other topics. I ask people questions like, “So, when you’re not attending graduation ceremonies, what do you do that sparks your passion?”
Most people balk at the direct frontal assault of that question. For some reason, it’s just not done that way. People never think to ask someone straight out what really brings them joy in their lives. But you know what? When you take a risk on this early steering attempt and it pays off, the conversations are far richer.
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A few interesting things I’ve read about the DaVinci Code movie release (both about the movie itself and the broader idea of how movie studios and churches are both using marketing strategies surrounding the movie to make $$$ and/or converts):
Hollywood says “Amen” to the faithful (Seattle Times, May 15) - I had no idea that we are the “hot” demographic in Hollywood - Fox studios has actually launched a subsidiary, Fox Faith, to make and market movies to church audiences (the only movie-going demographic with a positive traffic growth at theatres).
Evangelicals hope to break The Code (Toronto Star, May 16) - Ooo, look, we can do marketing of highly dubious value too! My personal favorite for the “bad marketing idea of the year”: ‘Christian-themed video games where the hero blurts Praise the Lord, after blowing away bad guys’.
The DaVinci Dialogue - a website put together by a site called “Hollywood Jesus”, there are a number of really interesting essays by leading evangelical Christian scholars and preachers regarding how to approach talking about the movie as well as analyzing the validity of some of Dan Brown’s “facts” and what it would mean to our faith if some of the book’s claims were actually true. Of particular interest, the real history of Rome during the time of the early church, what would it actually mean to our faith if Jesus did marry, and what really happened at the Council of Nicaea. Lots of ammunition for you if you are in conversation about the movie over the next several days.
Saturday is Earth Day - not exactly an event that hits the top of our calendars admittedly, but still something that I think deserves our attention. Stewardship of the environment is a topic at which, historically at least, Christians have done a pretty crummy job. Here’s what God commanded of us regarding how we should interact with our environment (Genesis 1:27-30):
“27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.”
This command is actually given before the fall - so this is the “ideal” that God has in mind for us and how we interact with the world. I guess the key word in that passage which has caused so much difference of opinion is the word “subdue” - that is, what does it actually mean to have dominion over creation? If you keep reading in Genesis (2:15, also pre-fall), I think this point is clarified somewhat:
“15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it”
Based on this passage, the bottom line seems to be that we don’t own the earth - we are merely rent-free tenants living here at the pleasure of The Owner and are expected to work to take care of the place to earn our keep. Looking at it another way, what better model do we have of what it means to have dominion over something than Jesus Himself? Jesus proclaims His authority over all of creation in Matthew 28:18 (“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” ). So, naturally, Jesus would rule with an iron fist, exploiting the earth and its people for His pleasure right? Um, not exactly:
Phillipians 2:6-8: “ 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
Colossians 1:16-20: “16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
So, from this perspective, being given dominion over something doesn’t just let us do as we please with it; instead, it actually enhances our responsibility to take care of it to the best of our ability.
So, Earth Day seems to be as good a time as any to do something about this (or at least consider how we can be good stewards of the gift that God has given us). Little things can make a big difference - I have driven a bag of empty pop cans 2500km across the country because I couldn’t find a recycling bin (Caring or psychotic? Discuss.) There are also the options driving less, turning up our thermostats a bit as the weather gets warmer, or (big gulp from the polymer chemist!) changing the types of materials we use. There are also these options in terms of community events in Hamilton. Anyway, this is just something that has been on my mind recently, so I thought I’d put it out there.
… that is, according to the general populace of Canada, at least when it comes to picking a prime minister. Check it out here. The saddest part of the poll results (and their interpretation):
“(the poll) suggests a growing divide in Canadian culture where religion can become that wedge that pushes people apart”
What a mess we have made of the actual story of faith, no? But it’s still kind of sad that, in the name of political correctness, the option of choice seems to be to discriminate against the “scary” Christians.
Interesting article in the Ideas section of the Toronto Star on Sunday (a fantastic section - the Sunday paper is about half the size of the rest of the week but takes me twice as long to read).
The basic argument: in our headlong rush to try to explain scientifically how Jesus did miracles (i.e. the recent explanation at how Jesus walked across water on ice floes instead of “because He was God and could do it if He wanted” ) and essentially extract every trace of mysticism and “glamour” (as the author puts it) from the story of Jesus, society has basically just become zealots of a different religion — agenda-driven science and political correctness. Highlight excerpts:
“The world is divided between two kinds of people: Those who think “seeing is believing” and those who think “believing is seeing.” The “truth,” in our time, is held captive by the former, in the notion that if you can’t prove it, it doesn’t exist. What does this do with the “unseeables” — hope, love, goodwill, etc? These remain insubstantial ideals until we track them in the DNA. Such is our faithlessness in what makes us tick.”
“We fail to see that science is a lens that will yield the results you look for or don’t look for….. As for good reasoning, as current physics tells us, each scientific paradigm is a metaphor for the world. There are many metaphors. Wisdom is about knowing which metaphor you can live with. That is the bottom line on faith and science. A metaphor is not a falsehood or a fiction; it is a privileged look at the nature of reality. The metaphor of Jesus walking on the water is the venue of belief of those who want to believe we are more than earthbound; the resurrection is the belief that we are not finite. We die, or are reborn. Choose your metaphor.”
That is the bottom line - it’s impossible to live life by putting your faith in nothing. The difference between the most committed Christian and the most agnostic, empirical person on earth isn’t faith versus reason - it’s just a matter of which unprovable things you choose to believe in.
Warning: the article is written by a philosopher/poet and it shows (more than a little pretentious - I had to read it twice before I really got a good handle on the arguments)
You may have seen references to the recent release of “The Gospel of Judas”, a 3rd century manuscript which seems to suggest that Jesus and Judas were essentially in cahoots — that is, Jesus commands Judas to betray Him and Judas, although committing the acts he is described to have committed in the Gospels, was simply being obedient to God’s will. Naturally, this has sparked a huge kerfuffle with people suggesting that this “new development” undermines the entire Passion story. I find this all very strange because (a) it seems a bit rich for people who proclaim the inaccuracy of the mostly independent, widely copied, four original Gospels (written within a few decades of Jesus’ time) are the same people seizing on this 3rd century, single copy manuscript as being “truth” (b) whether or not Judas was operating as a traitor (the Gospel version) or a conspirator (the Gospel of Judas version), the point of the Passion story really remains exactly the same. The Judas story, although undoubtedly interesting, isn’t the point of the story - Christ’s sacrifice for us is. I think one of the better responses to all of this fuss is found in this article — here’s the excerpt I liked the best which looks at this story from the undeniable viewpoint that Judas is a theologically tricky guy to handle (i.e. how could God basically condemn Judas by “appointing” him the traitor?):
“All too often Christians want to see themselves as Jesus on the cross, when in fact the inescapable condition of human weakness — and the high ideals of Christian doctrine — will lead us to betray his teachings. O Felix culpa! as the glorious Exultet of the Easter vigil proclaims, “O happy fault that gained for us so great a Redeemer!” It is the pilgrimage back to grace that is at the heart of Christianity, and the source of hope embodied in the passion of Judas.So perhaps, instead of reading the Gospel of Judas as a literal narrative, it is best to consider it as an early marker in a long literary tradition. Maybe the authors of this text were simply trying, in those tumultuous early centuries after Christ, to grapple with the mysteries of the faith rather than claiming, as some today may be tempted to do, to have discovered an alternative account of the deeds and words of Judas. Instead of clinging to a few sheets of tattered papyrus in hopes of absolving the problematic Judas, believers may be more faithful to Christian history if they read themselves into his story, and from there find a path out of despair and toward the redemption that Judas himself may have finally discovered.”
I think Lane is talking about this and the Da Vinci code (don’t even get me started on that… over the next couple of weeks on Sunday morning… should be interesting…
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over the next couple of weeks on Sunday morning… should be interesting…