Sally Day

So today we’re celebrating my wife’s birthday. Her actual birthday was earlier this week, but this was the best weekend for us to celebrate it. Since I’ve been rather lax about her birthday the last couple of years, I thought about what I could do to make this birthday special. I came up with a theme for the party. We’re declaring a Sally Day.

I love theme parties. Every Christmas we have a theme Christmas party (because EVERYONE dresses up for Halloween, but not too many folks get to come in costume in December). Granted, I sometimes get complaints about my parties forcing people to think, but, hey, that’s life when you’re friends with a creative person. My idea for Sally Day was for everyone, in lieu of gifts, to bring a memory of their time with my wife. Pictures. Poems. Stories. And then we would decorate the room in “the story of Sally.” This idea has even more relevance in light of us losing a friend last week. [The part about me saying that I wanted to be stuffed and put in the back yard is true. It’s either that or me being cremated and my ashes put into jewelry and sold to my friends, family, and fans.] We should celebrate the lives of those we love while they are still here to appreciate it.

Anyway, at the party, in addition to some pictures of her blown up (nothing except pics I’m positive she is proud of), I will be displaying one of the poems that I wrote for her as well as possibly reading one of the eulogies I wrote for her. (Yes, I write eulogies for my wife. Like my sister getting advance approval on what I was to say at her wedding, my wife wants veto power on stuff I might say once she’s not there to stop me.)


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Youth Groups

Reading this account of this teenager giving up on youth group got me to remembering when I wanted to give up on my youth group. I know that I’m in the minority in thinking this, but while all groups have cliques, there are good cliques and there are bad cliques. Good cliques are a close group of friends, people who naturally gel together. Closer friendships/relationships will just happen among folks; this is how community is formed. Bad cliques are an exclusionary group, folks who run around for all intents and purposes saying "you" can't be our friend. My youth was a place of exclusive cliques. In fact, at one point we even had new youth leaders in who decided to actually structure the youth group like a student body (even changing the name to "student body"). which meant a youth group president, vice-president and two other "offices". In other words, a popularity contest.

(One, by the way, which I wasn't allowed to enter into. We'll ignore the fact that I was the only black in the youth group. I was having my spinal surgery the week of the election and they thought that my "one week in the hospital" would keep me from assuming the "mantle of leadership." Um, okay.)

Anyway, of course the more popular kids one and they did what popular, vacuous kids do: lead right into the toilet. Eventually, there was a regime change in the youth group. First, the leaders earned what they wrought - popular kids also mean well-connected, pastors kids - and learned just how hard it could be to maintain any sense of order. Second there was a regime change: a group of us got sick of the way the youth group was run. A few new leaders (people who would never have considered themselves leaders, but were the right people at the right time) and a few teen leaders (okay, yes, I was starting to realize that I was a "leader-type" despite my continuing protestations, but let me tell you, if it wasn't for the return of a friend of mine who was a true leader in every way for me to serve beside, it wouldn't have happened) and suddenly you have a refocused youth group.

Still, I have to ask, what is the point of a youth group? To organize ski trips and the occasional mission trip?

When people are choosing a place to call their church home, one of the things they look for is a place to put their kids. Someplace stable, structured, and safe ... read: away from them. I’m wondering if we need to re-think how we do this. After all, there has to be some reason why so many people graduate high school and then leave the faith entirely.

Maybe there is a value to worshiping together, not always segregating out by interest, age, or stage of life. Those relationships will happen on their own. Maybe we need to better exploit the power of intergenerational community and learn how to teach teens how to think critically.

I don’t know.

I kept going to my youth group because my pastor liked me and saw some potential in me. So much so that he picked me up at my house each week so that I wouldn’t have any excuses to not go. Were those years formative? I certainly learned a lot. Then promptly left the faith during college.

But I did come back.


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It Was an Honor to be Nominated

Whatever.

I should have won. You people let me down.

Granted, winning the Black Weblog Awards (this blog was nominated for Best Topical Blog) might have meant absolutely nothing. Let’s face it, most awards don’t mean much. They are something you get to slap on your site or your book (I would have been an award winning blogger!), but rarely does that translate into actual sales. Or readership. Or hits.

(Dear statcounter, I really ought to back away from you and quit being so obsessive about seeing who reads me and from where. I really should. But you are like my magic mirror on the wall: “who’s the fairest blogger of them all?”)

My latest column is out over on INtake, “Memories of a Black Irish Man” (well, that was the original title - not a lot of room for pretentious titles in a column).


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It’s Over

About this time last year, I wrote a series of blogs tangentially dealing with a dark cloud of events that hit us pretty hard. Astute observers probably pieced together why I meditated on how we can’t protect the ones we love, or why Wrath James White guest blogged on the topic he did, or why I wrestled with praying for our enemies and with my rock/fortress.

Well, yes, my sister was raped a year ago. She recently went public with it. We were worried that she was going to spend August going from the happiest time in her life (her wedding) to re-living the worst (the trial was set to begin two weeks later). On the day of, the perpetrator realized the mountain of forensic evidence against him and took a plea agreement. The plea was for 60 years. I was asked to write a letter to the judge. Here’s what I wrote:

Your Honor,

I will keep this brief. I am Rohini’s older brother and I am a co-leader at the church she attends. It’s been my job to set an example and look out for her. We are taught to be a community of forgiveness. We, both within our family as well as a community as believers, have taught Ro to be a person who forgives.

But I’m not there yet.

I wasn’t there to keep the bad things from happening to my sister, to protect her like a big brother should. I want to forgive this man before you for the hurt he has done to my baby sister. Many of her scars have healed. Some will stay with her forever:

-affecting her marriage, to know and trust her husband
-affecting her relationship with her kids, knowing that she won’t always be able to protect them
-not being able to truly feel safe

That’s what he took from my sister.

So one day, I hope he comes to see himself for who he is. That he has come to the limit of going through life under his own strength, feeding his own selfish needs. That he asks for God’s forgiveness and allow Him to draw him near and change his life.

But I’m not there yet.

I ask Your Honor to do what you can to help make my sister feel safe again. Because I can’t.


Maurice Broaddus

She posted what she said here. The perpetrator also spoke. The judge ended up sentencing him to 100 years. One reason why my sister is going public with all of this is because she’s going to become a survivor’s counselor. Yet another reason why my sister is my hero.


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A New Kind of Black Christian?

The reason I'm fishin' 4 a new religion
is my church makes me fall asleep
They're praising a God that watches you weep
and doesn't want you to do a damn thing about it
When they want change the preacher says "shout it"
Does shouting bring about change ? I doubt it
All shouting does is make you lose your voice
–Arrested Development “Fishing for Religion”

Calling all black postmoderns. I know you’re out there. I know that we are out here asking certain questions, but we aren’t organized into a collective voice to effectively add to the conversation. It can’t just be the few individual voices, the few bloggers that I’ve run across: Anthony Smith (postmodern negro), Karen Ward (submergence), Rod Garvin, Marc Davidson, Jazz Theologian, and Andre Daley (Emergent Mosaic).

The question in question: how would postmodernity play out in the black church? Maybe it’s a question too early (or, worse, too late) to be asking. There is a looming crisis for the historic black church and it might be the case that no one is ready to talk about it until either there is a noticeable drop off in youth attendance or leaders rise up and are prepared to talk about it.

The church presented in the movie The Gospel, New Revelations, is indicative of far too many churches, black or otherwise. Aspects of our modern culture have insinuated themelves into the fabric of the church, deterring or outright corrupting its ministry. Values such as corporate policy and philosophy have been bought into by the church. Some people see the main job of the pastor as that of businessman, and the church as a business. The pastor becomes the CEO and the elders the board of directors. Offerings or tithes become income, or worse, profit; and this reduces the Gospel to little more than a product they’re trying to push.

There are a few things creeping into the Gospel message, subtle things that affect what it is we are supposed to be offering people. If the Gospel is a message of formation, what are these things forming us into:

- Consumerism - we live in a market culture, not the first century economic system of the first century. That being said, economic forces shapes much of black Christian life, beyond a simple lack of economics. We are being trained, raised up to be consumers. From the cars we drive, to where we live, to the clothes we wear, we have bought into a lust of life.

- Prosperity Gospel - some churches do a tither’s confession, having people confess not tithing what they should to the church. This “God will bless you if you give Him what is His first” smacks of a type of spiritual investment scheme reminiscent of the ancient Catholic scam of indulgence.

- Authoritarian - our pastors have risen to the level of personal popes. Our spiritual communities have always has been pastor-centered, with our leaders being a combination of tribal king, griot (story teller), and (spiritual) healer. However, this has often created a mentality of those same leaders brooking no threats to their (personal) power. The same mentality that has us putting up thrones behind pulpits awaiting the word of pastor.

The need to worship predates the church. It’s a response to the longings of our souls. It is an intuitive urge, a need. written onto our hearts. Yet our faith seems to be shriveling on the vine, packaged and marketed to the point of uselessness. Too much “pie in the sky when you die” not enough “the kingdom is now”/we need to participate in the revolution of reconciliation.

Faith becomes tied to social praxis. How we have understood our history and culture. How that is related to our faith in Christ. Faith becomes a matter of asking a different set of questions from a different social and historical context. Most importantly, faith revolves around moving from the sacred performance toward action. To take the generous orthodoxy of transforming faith (that wellspring that allows Christianity to find its way into any culture, bringing differences in faith) and let it guide generous orthopraxis.

We need a return of the Amen corners, those seats on either side of the pulpit filled with the older and prominent members of the congregation who responded enthusiastically to the service. Learning in multi-generational communities. To listen to a narrative approach to scripture, to learn the story that we choose to shape our lives by. And we need to challenge the metanarrative of the culture, challenging privilege and self-hate, with an emphasis on social justice.

We’ve lost our memory and are out of touch with our ancient practices. What we see are historic black churches indebted to western values and notions. So I guess I’ll just keep singing along with Speech:

The government is happy with most baptist churches
coz they don't do a damn thing to try to nurture
brothers and sisters on a revolution
Baptist teaches dying is the only solution
Passiveness causes others to pass us by
I throw my line till I've made my decision
until then, I'm still fishin' 4 religion


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Rush to Judgments

The Indiana medical community has been reeling this past week over the fallout from a tragic accident stemming from perfectly preventable circumstances. Two premature infant girls died and four other babies were put at risk after all received accidental overdoses of an anti-clotting drug in Methodist Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, officials said Sunday.

Unfortunately, these two deaths were stark reminders of what we already knew: About 98,000 Americans die each year, according to researchers, in part because of miscommunication of drug orders and the lack of accurate labeling as a drug is prepared.

One would think that the cries of “we must DO SOMETHING!1!” would have gone on loud and clear when the report was issued. However, that was six years ago. Six years of Cassandra-like pronouncements, going unheeded until something horrific happens to capture our attention.

My mother is a nurse. The best man from my wedding is a nurse. The man who was like a father to me is a nurse. My sister is studying to become a nurse. So, of course I am going to take up for nurses, the most unappreciated cog in the medical industry machinery. I talked to a nurse and it took them all of three minutes to come up with a list of reforms, ones that look remarkably like those being implemented now. Six years later. And once our attention has been garnered, there are only limited recourse.

The aunt of a baby who died after getting the wrong dose of a drug at Methodist Hospital said her family wants more than an apology. "I feel like all (these) nurses need to be fired," said Brittany Alexander. "I don't understand how an accident like this could happen and happened to more than one baby."

Of course she does. Of course there is talk of legal action. If anything even remotely close to this had happened to either of my children, that’s the least I would want. And while no amount of money could bring my child back, I’d want the hospital to write a big enough check to force them to re-evaluate their policies. Deaths are tragic and are a part of being a hospital, however, there’s nothing like the threat of a lawsuit to take immediate steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

The sad reality is that it is our nature to not do something until we’re forced to do it. Sometimes it’s just because we’re lazy. Sometimes it’s a function of greed. More times than not, it is merely the inertia of doing things the way they’ve always been done. What I don’t want to see is bad policies put into action in the heat of the moment for the sake of appearing to “DO SOMETHING!1!” Yes, two deaths is two too many.

When all is said and done, this won’t change our minds one iota about whether or not to go to a hospital, even this one. We can only hope they will have learned their lesson and taken steps to prevent similar tragedies. Sometimes that requires more faith than I have.


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The Unit

“We answer only to the President of the United States. Our missions and our existence are closely guarded secrets. Not even our wives know the truth about our missions.”

It’s good to see that Dennis Haysbert has recovered from his role as the President of the United States on 24 (as well as of being a shill man for insurance). The Unit is a part of CBS’ Action Tuesdays, Haybert’s Jonas Blane leads an elite group of soldiers in missions varying from stopping terrorists on a plane to rescuing Christian missionaries to defusing potentially nuclear bombs. In The Unit there are guns, swagger, action, and not-all-together surprisingly, depth.

From executive producers Pulitzer prize winning dramatist David Mamet (The Spanish Prisoner, Glengarry Glen Ross) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield) - the show captures our attention by its pedigree alone. Two of my favorite creators team up to create a series? I’m there - which translates to “expectations are high.” Both creators are at their best when they are examining the human condition.

Rather than simply follow around the lives of the men, the show has added an extra dimension by exploring the world of military wives. They aren’t wilting flowers either, having to hold together marriages/families largely in the absence of their men. Sometimes spouting Mamet-ian dialogue throws off the rhythm of the actors, but when that’s the worst criticism I have, well, alright then.

“You used to go, didn’t you?” --Molly Blane (Regina Taylor)

In a lot of ways, the show is a comment on our culture’s worship of self-reliance. These days we are producing “an Army of one,” and the members of The Unit are trained to trust in themselves and each other. There is no room for doubt. They receive orders, they follow orders. The reality is that there are a lot of problems in the world. We have but to turn on the evening news to hear the latest litany of troubles. We can keep questioning the “why?”s of existence, or we can be about being the problem solvers, the solution.

Which is why we have the “ekklesia,” literally, “the called out ones.” A special unit called out for a purpose. This unit has their first loyalty to a higher idea, before friends, before family, and are called upon to sacrifice even their lives for the sake of their mission. What is their mission? Shamar and abad: to take care of and to serve. In other words, their purpose is to protect and serve the greater good

“Was that God’s will? I have no idea. But I’ve been a part of this man’s army many years and what I know is it is our will that keeps the home fires burning, our will that lets our men leave and walk into harms way, our will that allows us to survive if something happens to them and for me that’s a kind of faith? What is it that you’re looking for? It doesn’t have to be my church or any church at all but it’s gotta be something.” –Molly

The church is the unit and it’s not always easy. Like one of Jonas’ soldiers, Bob Brown (Scott Foley) who implores his wife Kim (Audrey Marie Anderson) to “have faith,” Kim responds that “I have faith. I still have fear.” The church isn’t perfect. It can’t be because it is made up of imperfect people. However, it is a place to find connection, to find community, to be there and support one another. To find ways to pray and struggle through life together, so that hopefully, like Kim, we can conclude that “if that’s prayer, it’s got to be a kind of faith?”

The Unit has upped the testosterone ante in my television line up, but it’s not all empty bravado and strutting around. It’s not a meditative work, which isn’t what we want from “Action Tuesday,”but between the flourishes, we have heart and intelligence, exploring these characters and what it means to live and sacrifice for duty.


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All the King’s Men

“The King’s Men’s Road”

Well, it’s officially Fall. The new television season has started. Football is being played. In the movies, we’ve put away the random explosions, the buddy comedies, and the glut of spandex laden heroes. It’s grown folks movie season, the time for actors and studios to begin their Academy Award stumping (or dumping with movies they couldn’t place any other time of the year). All the King’s Men is a bit of both.

All the King’s Men, a remake of the 1949 Oscar winner, tells the story of the rise of a charismatic everyman politician and his eventual fall due to the lure of corruption. Sean Penn plays Willie Stark, a self-described “hick” (modeled after Louisiana’s governor, Huey Long), a seemingly honest man cast about in a sea of backroom, backwater politics and the Good Ol’ Boy network, swimming against the tide of corruption. Used by controlling interests to split the “cracker” vote until he becomes his own man; unfortunately, being his own man also means being fully capable of falling into his own self-made pit of corruption.

Jude Law portrays jaded reporter, Jack Burden, whose guiding philosophy of “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” keeps him as more observer of life than participant. He goes so far as to admit that “I don’t care. If I did, I’d do something about it.” Between the two characters, we have a fascinating character study, a time of when politicians were allowed to be characters not overly packaged commodities. As such, Sean Penn and Jude Law give noteworthy turns (though I still have no idea what accent James Gandolfini’s Tiny Duffy was affecting).

The temptation of power becomes that Stark effectively gets in bed with the devil in order to do the right thing. Believing that we’re all sinful creatures, but that good can come from bad, Stark doesn’t quite realize his fundamental problem: that he can no longer tell good from wrong, worthy ends from evil means.

Duffy: “God works in mysterious ways.”
Stark: “Sometimes He has other’s do His work.”

Ultimately, this movie is about the pursuit of truth, and conversely, how the truth pursues you. Even after professing that “I”m gonna keep my faith in the people. You know why? Time brings all things to light,” Willie Stark doesn’t quite understand the nature of faith and truth. His first problem with the truth revolved around how best to convey it. He sounded every bit like the same old politician the people had heard before. Only after he finds his voice does he decide to incarnate the truth, be what it is the people need and tell them what they need to know. S sometimes the full truth is too complicated, especially for sheep-like “hicks.” He became one of them, a “superficial sap.”

Despite his vowing not to be used by the powers - the Empire, the imperial order - reality says that the reach of rampant consumerism, fueled by global capitalism and an individualistic sensibility, and ruled by strict economic and militaristic control, or in this case, centralized power in the hands of a few huge corporations is rarely denied. Stark’s “The power is in the hands of the powerless,” meek shall inherit the governor’s office rhetoric reminds us of a what if someone took Christ’s message of being about the poor and ran on his message as a political platform. Like Christ, Stark’s promises to the poor was all but a declaration of war to the rich/the Empire.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned–“ Romans 5:12

Anne Stanton (Kate Winslet as the star crossed love interest of Jack Burden) tells Jack something that her brother, Adam (Mark Ruffalo) said: “Everything else could be filthy and corrupt, but a man didn’t have to be.” We see in Willie Stark how corruption starts small. Sometimes we feel the pressure to tow the company line, the Ol’ Boy, status quo; serve the Powers That Be. Sometimes we rationalize our behavior as pursuing good, if by poor means. Sometimes we’re “shaded by ... the sins of your own entitlement.” And sadly, sometimes we see/know the truth but we “push it outside of our head.”

Stark says it best when he says that “Sometimes a man can be so full of want he forgets what it is he truly wants.” Because eventually, Stark finds himself slowly adopting the methods of the empire, feeling the corrupting power of political machinations - be it bribery, threats, coercion, or using people’s or their weakness against them. His sentiment is echoed in the book of James (1:13-15): “When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

“The Truth is always sufficient. Just find the Truth.” –Stark

The truth is scary. It always has a way of finding its way to the surface, no matter how well hidden or buried. Stark tells us that “The only way to not know is to not want to know.” The truth goes to the original sin nature that Stark so often rails against throughout the movie. We start with us being broken. When all is said and done, our very nature is broken. As their sins keep finding them out, it kept leading to death; the schemes of the empire turning to ashes in their mouths.

“You only get a couple of moments that determine your life. Sometimes only one.” –Jack Burden

The last step in their journey follows what Jack tells Adam about himself, that he “can’t look at someone broke without wanting to fix them.” Ultimately, the sins must be paid for, by the blood of a (second) Adam, the sacrificial lamb (which gives special resonance to Stark’s early campaign slogan of “nail ‘em up”).

It’s been a long summer. I had almost forgotten what good, complex storytelling, with rich, complicated characters was like. The “problem,” such as it is, is that the movie is very self-conscious of how its message may resonate with us today. (Beware of films bearing narrator voice overs.) In trying to make a statement about - and playing to - our cynicism with our elected officials, the struggle of our idealism against “the way things work,” All the King’s Men drags a bit under its own weight. As political cautionary tales go, it hits all the marks. As a film, it doesn’t transcend them.

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Idlewild

“All the world is a stage. We have our roles to play. All the men and women merely players. They all have their specific entrances and exits.” –Percival Jenkins (Andre Benjamin)

Andre Benjamin/Andre 3000 and Antwan Patton/Big Boi, the duo known as Outkast to hip hop fans (and creators of the seminal The Love Below/Speakerboxxx CD) star in the movie, Idlewild. I probably went into Idlewild with expectations that the movie couldn’t live up to. The commercials and previews seemed to promise a throwback musical filled with energetic dance sequences, sort of like a hip hop Moulin Rouge. Heck, even a movie that played like an extended Outkast video would have made me happy.

Part of my expectations began with the title itself. Idlewild was a historic landmark city ... in Michigan. It was a haven of black entertainment during the era of segregation, where legendary black performers played before black audiences. It wasn’t the stepping stone to a greater market, it was a destination unto itself. The location was probably switched to Georgia because of Outkast’s ties to the state.

“God don’t make no mistakes.” —Percival

Like The Love Below/Speakerboxxx, Andre and Antwan spend most of the movie doing their own thing and pursuing their own stories and rarely come together on screen. The two come from different sides of the tracks, yet are united by music.

Percival Jenkins follows in his father’s footsteps, putting aside his dreams to be a musician in favor of a career as a mortician. Rather than study dead bodies all day, he can’t help but lived inside himself, having a sort of “Secret Life of Negro Mitty”-type of imagination. Andre seems more interested in singing than rapping these days anyway, every bit as eccentric as the character he portrays. Rooster (Antwan Patton) grew up among high rollers with fast money and faster women, admiring gangsters since they represent freedom outside the law, the so-called high life. The fact that their life typically happens to end in violence or imprisonment more times than not doesn’t seem to factor into things.

“You need the Spirit in your life.” –Zora (Malinda Williams)

Like us, both men were looking for their role to play - following the life you were born into vs. following the life you were meant to lead: funeral home director or musician; gangster linked musician or family man. Both need something outside and larger than themselves to touch and reach their souls.

The unforgiven or the unwilling, live a life of sinning
And expect to be as pure as an infant in the beginning but ...
What about repenting/what about detention?
What about you eating dinner in the devil’s kitchen?
What about repenting/what about committing the same sin over again and again?

Sometimes life can keep you down
With your face all in the dirt
now if you feel that left behind
You need to get up and go to church
–“Church” (Big Boi)

Rooster inherits the Prohibition era night club, the Syncopated Church, and has to overcome his own worst nature, from drunken dalliances with showgirls to his love of money that entangles him with gangsta “businessmen”. Church, however, also allows Percival the opportunity to hone his craft and pursue his true calling - as well as provide the excuse for musical numbers meant to dazzle us with their style. The performances and vision of the director, again, promise much, and when allowed to shine, deliver. The movie, however, gets bogged down with the gravitas of the often cumbersome “plot”. Between pursuing their dreams/life callings, dodging the machinations of the sleazy underworld, and squeezing in room for romance, the movie barely has room for the music.

My friend Rod Garvin breaks it down this way: Christ spent a lot of time in the company of the blues artists of His day and some added a few gospel tracks to their album as result. The question is can we party in "Idlewild" without losing our souls? There are some places that are just too idle and too wild and we may have to avoid them all together. Oftentimes the problem is the weakness of our own flesh (I can bear witness to that). Whether we're singing the blues, gospel or both, we all need a greater serving of salvation. Idlewild shows us that the path of redemption begins wherever we are, but in order to fully experience it, at some point we have to leave Egypt behind.

“You’re the angel that God told me to wait for.” –Mother Hopkins (Cicely Tyson)

A mix of past and present, Idlewild and Outkast, Idlewild is directed with a certain whimsy, stopping shy of attaining a sense of magic (more quirky than magic). The dreamy quality of the movie blends nicely with joy and energy that the music and dance injects - with not enough of either.

Idlewild is not the movie we were promised, though a star-studded affair to be sure: Ving Rhames, Macy Gray, Tisha Campbell, Patti LaBelle, Cicely Tyson, Bill Nunn, Terrance Howard. Though, for childhood friends, Andre and Antwan sure don’t share much screen time, which disappoints. The movie was an enjoyable period piece, in fact, just not quite something like The Cotton Club and more like an Outkast video that runs a little too long. It’s a slice of African American pop culture ... maybe I just hate overcoming expectations when I’m trying to enjoy a movie.


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Boredom

I must be suffering from it. Or somehow not busy enough.

Intake has offered me my own regular column. You can read this week’s intro column here. So if you notice a dropoff in my blog output, well, let’s face it, you’ll probably rejoice. For the record, at this moment, I am working on two new short stories - having just wrapped up two others. And I am in the process of polishing four more. I’ve declared September and October short story months with November - April given to me writing a new novel.

Plus, I just received a stack of DVDs of many of this Fall’s tv season. And free movie passes.

For those who ask “how can you find the time to write so many blogs?” (and ‘why are they so long?’ - yes, I’ve heard your whispers.) I say the same way I find the time to write my stories. I’m always writing. I have a note book with me at all times. My conversations are punctuated with the phrase “that would make a good blog.” I’m not really listening to you, I’m editing a story in my head and just nodding along to the rhythm of your words.

And believe me, I write way many more blogs than I actually post. I could stop today and would still have enough to keep blogging for a couple of months. Daily. I have a lot to say. Or I think I do anyway. Now that I think about it, I probably only like the sound of my own voice. Uh, keyboard. Whatever.

Mark your calendars now, folks. Cause next year my youngest starts kindergarten and then I can focus even more attention to my writing career. In the meantime, in order to slake my boredom, I’m off to audition for a role in an independent movie.

Seriously.

















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Jericho Interview Excerpts

I was part of a online press conference with a couple of the principals of Jericho, Jon Turteltaub (executive producer) and Skeet Ulrich (star). Here are some of the excerpted questions and comments.

As a fan of your last regular tv work, Miracles, I was wondering what draws you to material like Miracles and Jericho?
Skeet: I was intrigued by the idea of these people put into extraordinary circumstances. The idea of how society get structured: who decides what’s important; what do we need and in what order do we need it. Also, things we dread. This fear. How do we approach it? How do we overcome it?

What are some of the spiritual implications of the show? What are the themes it meditates on?
Jon: Who are we really? If you take away the things that we are used to ... if we don’t have cell phones to deal with, if we don’t have money to deal with, if we don’t going to the grocery store to deal with. Also the show gets into the notion of structure. If you take away the institutions on which we hang our morality, when you don’t have someone telling you what is wright or wrong ... do people become open and more trusting or do they become distrusting ... There are many moral and spiritual questions. Spirituality has some of the answers, but some of the people find their answers in very practical ways.

Jon: If you are taking the social gloves off ... would you go crazy or would you try to maintain order? ... There is a certain amount of freedom that comes with the end of the world. Would you really be happy with that freedom, what are the dangers of that freedom, and what would you do with that freedom.

Where would you like to see your character go?
Skeet: I’m interested in playing someone who grows, someone who is continually learning and helping.

Jon: The mystery of Jake is not where he’s going, but where he’s been.

What sells better, appeals more, to an audience? Character driven work or action?
Jon: Start with character. Audiences start with characters. They want the story of the people. Action is about putting the character in jeopardy in an active way. The show is not sustained with action, it’s not going to be like 24.

As a follow up, there is rotating attention to each character. Is that deliberate?
Jon: I will give you and insider and a dramatic answer to this question. The dramatic answer is that we’re creating a community. Jericho is a character also. To get a sense of a town you have to get a sense of the people. The insider answer: you make contracts with acters and not every actor is contracted for every episode.


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Jericho

“In times like these, heroes are born and hope survives” -Jericho tagline

Waiting for the Fall 2006 television season to start, I’m fully braced for all of the Lost and 24 clones that I’m sure are to come. Last season, we saw the alien mystery, Invasion come and go, but that hasn’t stopped the networks from trying to test audiences with serialized genre shows. Thus this season we have Jericho.

Jake Green (Skeet Ulrich last seen regularly on television in the show Miracles) has been gone from his hometown. Remembered as a perpetual screw up, no one is sure where he has spent the previous five years (and he doesn’t give the same answer twice). He wants to make a clean start and for that he has to get his inheritance from his grandfather’s estate, which means going through his father, and town mayor, Johnston Green (Gerald McRaney - Deadwood, Major Dad - come on, admit it, you watched Major Dad back in the day).

Life as the town knows it is forever changed after a nuclear event.

“What’s happening?” –Emily (Ashley Scott)

The fabled walled city captured by the Israelites as they moved into their Promised Land. The first city they captured. A city that sealed itself within its fortified walls, waiting out any siege, such that God had to intervene for the walls to come tumbling down (though this does bring to mind Stephen King’s "hand of God" from The Stand).

Part of the mystery of the show is what exactly has happened and to what extent it has happened. Reports come in that more than one city may have been attacked. Being cut off from the world, for all they know, they may be among the last remaining cities.

Apocalyptic horror is almost its own sub-genre, it has a long and respected history. It plays on our nightmares about the end of the world. We lived in the shadow of the threat of nuclear war for decades, so much so that we’d become used to it. From a slate of 1950s era movies to Mad Max to The Day After to the book of Revelation, the idea of what “the end” holds for us is rarely far from our thoughts. Which is why Jericho ends up playing kind of like The Stand - The Series as the audience wrestles with the question of what would we do if the end was near. Or here.

“We’ve got work to do guys.” –Johnston Green

Tapping the same angst that fueled the Left Behind phenomena, I am reminded of the panic leading up to Y2K. I read all sorts of reports of what how people began hoarding, looking out for themselves (inside and outside of the church alike) - from stockpiling weapons and food stores to tales of children whose parents bought them waterbeds so that they would have a ready supply of water. And we don’t have to go back too far in history to find tragedies which mirror end of the world scenarios.

It is during these times that we find out who we truly are and what we’re made of (and about). We have to confront the idea of “loving our neighbors as ourselves” and without fail we start asking “who exactly is my neighbor?” Because our cities–our Jerichos and the people within them–apart from God, are broken.

“Seriously, where have you been?” Emily

We could let our baser instincts take over, take on an every person for themselves mentality, stealing/hoarding from our neighbors or pull together and act as a community. We could be a part of a ministry of reconciliation. This reconciliation, this “the Kingdom begins now” kind of living starts where we are today as we work toward a future, a future city that we await. One illumined by God’s presence.

Where you’ve been, what you’ve done, doesn’t matter. Jake thinks he needs money to make a clean start, however, life provides plenty of opportunities to start anew. To be who you are and live as you were meant to be can start today - loving your neighbors and being a part of a community.

The episodes I’ve seen of Jericho show great promise. My main concern lies in my hope that it manages to sustain its sense of mystery and underlying terror throughout its run. That sense of “what comes next?” that actually moves toward a point. I’m not necessarily pointing my fingers at Lost. Jericho looks to be a character driven serial that’s darkly exciting. I can’t ask much more than that (other than to trust that the writers have a long term story they are working towards).


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Nathan and David

While we looked at the story of David and Bathsheba from Bathsheba’s perspective, the other thing I’m reminded of is Nathan and David. When Nathan confronted David on his sin with Bathsheba, what we don’t read about is how bad Nathan felt. He was David’s prophet, the man who opened up and taught the truth of the Scriptures for him - the voice of truth in David’s life. Here’s what we do read about: how a sin just between two people had a wide range of consequences. It impacted their friendships. Their familial relationships. The nation as a whole.

We read of David realizing his sin and whom he truly sinned against. (We know this because we can still read Psalm 51 where he blogged about it).

What we don’t read is David holding his court responsible for allowing him to fall into sin. What we don’t read is David getting on Nathan for being judgmental and self-righteous. Or telling Nathan how he should feel. Or not to be mad at Nathan because he could have fallen into the same thing. Or accusing Nathan of poor leadership or not keeping David from falling into this sin in the first place. Or David casting blame on anyone but himself.

Back to what we saw, Nathan got out of David’s way to let him wrestle with what he’d done. David backed off, retreating to be by himself to work through those things. David taking the time to confess before the Lord. David taking the time to try and heal relationships, knowing that these things weren’t going to be healed overnight and that people would be both disappointed, hurt, and mad at him for a while. That is all part of the process. The key word being process. The process can’t be rushed. Steps can’t be skipped. Time is needed for folks to process and heal. Time and space.

David was responsible for his sin. Nathan was fully aware that we are all broken vessels and that he is fully capable of falling into sin. He was probably aware of the color of the sky, too, but none of that was germaine to what David was going through. It was part of a greater, later discussion.

It’s probably a good thing David didn’t have Internet access.

I’m just saying.



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Miracles

“The Miracles are Out There”

“What is a miracle? To some people, it is a sign from the heavens, reaffirming their faith in God. To others, it could be evidence of the supernatural, a chance to document an unseen world that exists all around us. But what if you really did see something so physically impossible that it could only be explained as a message from above? Would it be life-affirming, or would it terrify you?”

Show creators Richard Hatem (The Mothman Prophecies) and David Greenwalt (Angel) are no strangers to genre work infused with spirituality. Miracles feels like the X-Files with God and His mysterious ways as the working mythology instead of aliens. Since the X-Files comparisons are inevitable, then like the X-Files, Miracles would’ve needed time for an audience to find it. Luckily, it is available in its entirety on DVD.

“What’s the point of faith if it’s never tested?”Father 'Poppi' Calero (Hector Elizondo)

Father Paul Callas (Callas/callous - neat, eh?), played by Skeet Ulrich, is an investigator for the Catholic church. His job is to debunk the miracles that people report. “I feel like a doctor who never cures anyone; I just show up, deliver the bad news, and move on.” Paul quickly becomes tired of being the one doing all the testing and goes on a sabbatical, like some desert father. He hasn’t seen the miraculous, he hasn’t seen the movement of God in any sort of miraculous way, and his faith is in tatters because of it.

“Maybe we’re on our own down here.” –Paul

Faith is a tricky thing, or as Paul puts it, “The harder I work at having faith, the further away it feels.” We all have faith, good faith, bad faith, or misplaced faith. Likewise, we all go through periods of doubt. When you know something, you can’t have faith in it because there is no need for faith. God is big enough for us to question, doubt, and wrestle with. In fact, He expects us to. The thing is, once we have all of the answers, we don’t need God anymore.

Faith “is like falling in love: you never believe it can happen until it happens to you” as Paul’s blind friend puts it. The bottom line is that you have to make faith your own. Confess your unbelief while you struggle through it. I don’t know what it says that he felt that he couldn’t explore his doubts within the church, but too often that is the case. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with doubt and questions. They see it as a failing of faith. Doubt is a natural part of faith, not its opposite (certainty is the opposite of faith).

“People like to believe in magic.” –Doctor

All Paul wants is to see some true miracle, a sign of God’s presence in our reality and once more we get to observe the lesson of being careful what you wish for. During his first investigation after being called back into service, he is asked by a boy capable of miraculous healings, that are debilitating to him, “Why is this happening to us?” We underestimate “I don’t know” as a theological answer, though the scarier prospect might be that we aren’t alone at all. Which is why we continue to look for miracles. They are God’s calling cards. We believe that if only we could have some proof positive of God at work in our lives, in our world, then it would heal our faith and sooth our doubts. What we fail to take into account is that people can see the exact same things, the exact same set of circumstances and evidence, and come to very different conclusions: “God is no where” vs. “God is now here.”

We can’t go through life solely seeking signs of the miraculous out in order to build our faith upon, nor should we deny them when we come across them.

As creepy and engaging as the X-Files, with religion as backdrop instead of science, has its flaws. It lacks MiraclesX-Files light touch, with Ulrich’s dour lead having little to off set it. And it’s conspiracy mythology had too many shades of Millenium’s joylessness and also shared its end of the world paranoia (Left Behind angst). However, the show is every bit as much about faith and the search for truth.


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Election Season

Ah, it’s that time of year again.

I woke up Saturday morning, trying to get some writing done before heading into work, when my doorbell rings. It’s folks campaigning for some candidate (I can tell from their red, white, and blue outfits with names on buttons all over them). So I treated the campaigners like I do salesmen and Jehovah’s witnesses: I pretended to not be home.

A temporary tactic to be sure. It’s not like I can turn off my television (as if - luckily, God invented TiVo) or my radio. I’m doomed to be inundated with ads for a bunch of people trying to convince of something I’m just this side of too cynical to believe: this election matters.

For a little more than 10 minutes of the three-hour event, Brizzi and Kennedy debated who has the right experience and credentials to be prosecutor. Brizzi said he's gone "toe-to-toe with the worst of the worst," while Kennedy's experience is in administration, as a former deputy mayor.

"If you or a loved one was victimized by a violent criminal, who would you want handling the case?" he asked. Kennedy said the real question is: "Do you feel you're safer now than you have been?"

The sniping has already begun among candidates. Carl Brizzi is taking some heat over the recent homicide high. However, I don’t know how much of it has registered with us, Joe Citizen. Those hoping for a concerned and active citizenry have another strike against them. It’s an off year election - it usually takes the chance to vote for a president (you know, the only election that counts, apparently) to begin to draw us out or at least have an interesting debate in the country.

Of course I don’t care about these races, not even the local ones that will affect me most directly? Why? Because no one has given me a reason to. You probably aren’t going to catch me with a TV ad because I believe in limiting how much advertising gets into our house in the first place (which is why we used to only watch television shows we had on videotape and now only watch via TiVo). I don’t want to be marketed to, I want to be convinced. Despite my ability to stay as uninformed as possible. You see the dilemma, right?

That’s me, Joe Citizen.

Both parties have public relations issues. As far as I can tell, the Republicans’ rhetoric centers too much talking in terms of money and running the country like a business. That’s good and all, but there aren’t too many things I want run like a business, except maybe a business. It’s like folks who tell me they want to run church like a business. I hate to break it to you but serving the needs of people is very seldom bottom-line, cost effective. Love (in the case of church) or compassion (a dream I hold out for with government) isn’t efficient. And like I said before, the last time I was seriously involved in local politics, the Republicans had some issues with minorities and women.

Right now the Democrats don’t look much better. They seem to be running under the campaign position of “we’re not them”. If they were smart, they would find a way to exploit the national dissatisfaction with President Bush, the same way the Republicans managed to ride a wave of dissatisfaction with President Clinton. Nationalize the campaigns, make a ten point presentation of the things you stand for and/or will accomplish if given control of Congress.

But, it’s too late for that to happen. It’s too late to raise the level of debate in the country, to woo us with ideas, however controversial. Better to throw out some platitudes, count on electoral disinterest, and rally your most faithful.

While at the Indy’s Irish Fest, I stopped by the Marion County Republican Party booth. I wanted to pose one question: “if you have only five minutes, can you convince me why I should care about this election?” Her answer: “because I’m running for election” (I’ve really got to start paying attention, at least to the pamphlets on the table).

So I’m going to do a little experiment. Once again, my vote is up for grabs. Either party. [You want to know the truth about why I’m registered as a Republican? When I decided to register to vote, I called up both parties. I care, but I’m lazy. I called the Democrats first - they’re first in the phone book. They told me where I could go to get registered. Then I called the Republicans. They came to my door. That’s why they get the right of first refusal of my vote.] I’m going to see how many candidates for local offices I can get to talk to me to convince me why I should care about this election. We’ll see how it goes.


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Friday Night Date Place - Getting to Know You Part II

Our take home lesson from last week is that there are times when it’s not appropriate to share things immediately. Something my pastor once stressed to me is that “there is no such thing as instant intimacy”. You aren’t going to be best friends after the first date. I don’t, necessarily, want to hear about your tortured childhood over our first plate of linguini.

Where this becomes a problem: if your “first date airs,” that fine polished veneer that you and your momma know isn’t the real you, never fades. Some people have trouble letting someone get to know the real them because the first dates went so well, what if he gets to know the real me and dumps me? So what do you do? Go through your dating life walking on eggshells, trying not to disturb the status quo, until when? You get married and you breathe that sigh of relief as “now I can be myself”. Unfortunately, he didn’t get that memo that he hadn’t been dating “myself”, he’d been dating “first date airs”. After you say “I do” is a lousy time to first start being real with someone.

Entering more of a gray area is the exaggeration. A woman once asked me out with the question “do you like jazz?” My response: “I love jazz!” The problem was that I couldn’t tell you the difference between Miles Davis and tuna. Not that I let that stop me from running to the library and checking out a stack of CDs so that I was conversant on jazz. Now, I will tell you right now, there are a plethora of responses I could have given which would have conveyed the same message “yes, I would like to go out with you” without the whole “I will tell you whatever lie I have to in order to go out with you” stink attached to it. In retrospect, a simple “I know nothing about jazz, but would love to hear some” would’ve been sufficient. The slight exaggeration, “I like football” when you mean “I know what a football is”, can aid in conversation and be used as a starting point to get to know someone.

Some people consider deception, to a degree, an accepted and tacitly accepted part of the game. Spinning deceit around such scenarios as: a woman likes you who you have no interest in, but she asks you out on a night that you know full well you aren’t busy; breaking up with someone and they as you “why?” There do seem to be times when deception is accepted, and appreciated, when it’s done to spare someone’s feelings. Call it the “mercy lie”.

In the downright wrong area of things is the outright, Joe Millionaire-style lie. Lies that are so big and stupid because they can’t possibly be kept up for any length of time. Which means that they are designed strictly for short term gratification.

As you date, you should be revealing more of your real self and learning more about their real self. I have been collecting suggestions on dates, or situations, to get to know the real person.

1) Go on a grungy date. For example, go camping or hiking with them. Adversity has a way of either drawing people together or prying them apart. See what each other looks like when you don’t have three hours to perfect your look in front of a mirror.

2) Ride with them. If you want to see what sort of raging psychotic looms just beneath their surface--the looming psychotic that you will see when you get into your first argument--then ride with them. In rush hour traffic. I don’t know what it is about a steering wheel and traffic that combine to reveal all sorts of hidden aspects about a person. At a church I went to, they had a parking lot problem such that they had to have attendants in the lot to direct traffic. Did I mention that this was at a church? These attendants were cussed at, hit with cars, flipped off, yelled at and otherwise abused.

3) Go through a period with her. Ladies, I know that some of you don’t want to hear this, but one week a month, you aren’t the person that you were on the first date. It’s important that you let the guy see this side of you (now don’t get me wrong, I ain’t mad at you if you put this off for a year or whenever you are sure that he won’t run screaming away). As I shared with a guy friend of mind, there are sometimes when you won’t know whether to give them a hug, or cast out the demons.

4) Intentional dates. Do something that you suck at and they don’t. Do something that you’re great at and they are not. You can learn a lot about them by how they handle defeat or victory. Do things that you are both unfamiliar with. Do stuff where you are forced to interact. Lord knows that I love the big silver screen, but I am the first to admit, that it is not always conducive to one-on-one interaction.

There is not such thing as instant intimacy. It takes time to develop trust and you should allow for the time it takes to learn about each other. Some people are easier to get to know or easier to trust than others - these things vary from person to person. Be aware of what is going on with your date, the person you are with. Heck, just be aware. The bottom line is that more often than not, we date and fall in love with an idealized lie. Unfortunately, far too many marriages end because we end up divorcing the reality.


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Message Board Apology

First, I’d like to apologize for the “pink” incident. Yes, it did look like someone blew up Strawberry Shortcake all over my board. Our latest MOD, a faithful regular who got “promoted”, decided to experiment with all of the shiny new buttons. Including the censor button, which explains why suddenly everyone was bleeped out by “smurfing” and “fraggled”. And why my news flasher has declared her "Master of the Universe."

So any editor or agent, heck, to any of the numerous visitors I get, who happened to be perusing my board, I apologize. It’s not usually so ... pink. So very, very pink. (Somehow the new MOD thought that a black message board was too cliche for a horror writer and that I should go against type and decorate in pink.) Be strong, Internet. It will be over soon. The reign of terror will be ending in a few hours, when the other MOD returns.

Yeah, I’m fairly powerless on my own message board.

However, I was going to write anyway about the message board today anyway. I was wondering why writers have message boards to begin with. A better way to interact with fans? A way to create more of a community among their fans? Suffering under the delusion that we have fans? Well, the regulars on my board are in the process of choosing a motto (because we’ve obviously got too much time on our hands). Something that unites us in purpose. Here are some of the finalists in no particular order - “The Maurice Broaddus Message Board: -Stumbling block and testing ground: proceed with caution!” -How the hell did I get sucked into this?” -"One of us, one of us"” -Where diversity meets depravity.... and they have a nice coffee.” -Relieving boredom at work” -You're part of the community... whether you like it or not.” -If it's not about Maurice Broaddus, its DEFINETLY not about you!” -Making Baby Jesus Cry Since 2004!” -Where family sucks, but we love each other anyway” -We collect heretics.” -Where all the women have curves and all the men have smiles.” (Thank you, Wrath)

-My cult sucks.” (For the record, my personal favorite)

A couple of suggestions almost got combined, as in “The Sinister Minister: Resistance IS futile” and “Because we love you, dammit!!” For matters of full disclosure, BurnDark almost got banned for referring to the board as the “The Mo Town of the Internet”. To the sibling who submitted “he's less intimidating than Byron Allen” - don't make me go all Wayne Brady on you. However, it looks like the winner is this one, suggested by She Who Has Gone Crazy with MOD Power:

-Where each voice in our head has its own thread”

The motto will be on the back of the official Maurice Broaddus Message Board T-Shirt (available this Christmas). It may even have this logo on the front pocket:



So, to quote another regular ... “Yay, we have a motto!”

And, uh, I apologize again.


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Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis

Written by Kurt Busiek
Art by Butch Guice
Published by: DC Comics

“I pretty much knew him just from that cartoon. You know, the one with the stupid walrus? ... I liked the guys who could fly. Superman, Green Lantern, soaring around up there in the clouds ... Aquaman breathed water and talked to fish.”

Aquaman’s always been the butt of jokes (most recently on HBO’s Entourage). Seen as the weak link of the Justice League (Super Friends to those of you of a certain age), he was a hero fairly useless in our mostly-out-of-water world. The character has gone through several title launches, none ever quite knowing what to do with him. A few years ago, Peter David infused the character with depth and edge, an excitement that had long been missing. First he fleshed out the epic history behind the character (The Atlantis Chronicles) and then, like Christopher J. Priest on Black Panther, he had the title character behaving like a true monarch. After all, Aquaman is the monarch of 3/4 of the world’s surface.

An Aquaman book should have certain qualities to it. There should be a mythic quality, after all, with a birth name like Arthur, plus him being a king, one cannot escape the Camelot comparisons. Being the monarch of the lost city of Atlantis, there should also be elements of sword and sorcery. These kind of qualities should make for an endless grand romp of action heroics on a grand scale. Yet once again, the series found itself on the cusp of cancellation. However, maybe there is simply not enough interest in the character to sustain his own book. Many have tried and now Kurt Busiek gives it a whirl.

I’m a long time fan of Kurt Busiek (JLA, Avengers). His recent remarkable run on Conan kindled an interest in the original works of Robert E. Howard. As of issue #40, he takes over the book, which has been re-titled Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis. It’s not like I had been following the book until then, having given up after Peter David was forced from the book, so having a fan favorite creative team take the book in a new direction makes as good a point as any to jump on board. As its title implies, there is a return to the sword and sorcery style epic sensibilities of Aquaman that remains faithful to the mythology established in The Atlantis Chronicles.

In the wake of Infinite Crisis, Atlantis has been hit hard and the entire undersea landscape (or is that oceanscape) is in a state of upheaval. Enter Arthur Curry, but not that Arthur Curry. It’s Aquaman, but not Orin, King of Atlantis Aquaman. It’s his son. This character embodies the mixed history of the Aquaman character: true to the original idea of Aquaman, product of science, engineered to breathe underwater; dropped into the history and supernatural world of the mythic incarnation of Aquaman.

This character is as lost as the reader and has to figure out all of the players as well as find himself. The big concern for the book though is that we don’t care enough about him to stick around. We need more than “hi, I’m Arthur, wait, not that Arthur” before punches start flying by way of story. He spends issue after issue not doing much of anything and worse, is boring while he’s at it. With sentiments of “I hate it here,” “I never asked for this,” and “you can’t make me,” he knows what he sounds like and there’s nothing ironic about him pointing out his character failings. He goes about his travels accompanied by King Shark (and old Superboy villain used to great effect) and the mysterious sorcerer, the Dweller in the Depths.

In addition to that, I get that Guice hasn’t been seen as a regular artist in quite a while, but I am not a fan of what is in these pages. I am laying the blame for the poor art, however, squarely at the feet of inker, Tony DeZuniga, rather than Butch Guice because I’ve liked Guice’s work in the past (and when in doubt, blame the inker).

“Still, the currents would bring what the currents would bring. There is no rushing them.” –Dweller in the Depths

Being true to the mythic interpretation of the character means that everyone is beholden to various prophecies about the king and his son. Prophecies, as one might imagine, are notoriously difficult to interpret and are more easier understood in hindsight rather than in painstakingly living to map out our daily existence in order to divine them.

With all the talk of the father (Arthur), the son (Arthur - not too confusing though it does put a new spin on the idea that “the father and I are one”), and the spirit (Vulko), the book wants to resonate with spiritual connections. Yet, weeding through the web of prophecies and people trying to both fulfill and thwart the prophecies, one might be better served to simply embrace his father’s will and just serve others. Let that simple edict chart the course for his life.

I see what Busiek is trying to do. Infuse this upstart Aquaman with the sort of vibe fresh from his Conan run, making him a fantasy adventurer against the backdrop of the mysterious depths. I’m just not feeling it.


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The Damned

written by: Cullen Bunn
art by: Brian Hurtt
published by: Oni Press

Imagine the idea of a Road to Perdition, except literally. A world of Prohibition era mobsters squabbling over territory, playing chess game over merchandise, and vying for power - a criminal underworld run, apropos enough, by demons. That is the world created by horror writer, Cullen Bunn, with The Damned. Brian Hurtt (Queen and Country, another fave book) delivers art reminiscent of Matt Wagner - a perfect blend of clean lines and moodiness - infusing each character with personality.

“Three days ... a long time to be dead.” –Eddie

Eddie is cursed: he can die, but can be brought back. Repeatedly. Along with the scars from his previous demise. A wise-cracking bastard among bastards, Eddie is kind of like a Raymond Chandler version of John Constantine; except, you know, for that whole “walking dead” thing.

The idea of supernatural forces behind the various powers that make and break nations is an old one (see the Book of Daniel chapter 10). Depending on your eschatology, Hell is already empty - with no demons having any interest in being there before their appointed time - which does bring up the issue of what the demons might be up to. Eddie works for Alphonse “Big Al” Aligheri, one of many demons operating the mob families. In this world, the crime cartels control soul-trafficking in the city, fueled by indulging our various sins: greed, lust, self-indulgence, hate. Eddie has been hired to solve a mystery for his boss, the disappearance of a key player in the ever tenuous alliance he is trying to forge in order to consolidate his power.

“All I really want are some answers.”

Let’s face it, many of us often feel as if this life, our current existence, is Hell on earth. As if we are The Damned. Our chain-smoking hero has a long list of people who want to see just how far his curse stretches; not to mention him paying for his own self destructive behavior. There is no shortage of folks will to prey and profit on our weaknesses. Granted, like Eddie, it might be time for one of those end of self conversations - where we eventually run out of people to blame for why our life is the way it is and stare into the mirror at the cause, and possible solution, to our problems.

The Damned is a moody romp and let me tell you, for the $3.50 cover price you get 48 dense pages of work - quite the bargain these days. Bunn has an ear for tough guy dialogue, and a feel for action pacing, while Hurtt’s art alone is worth the price of admission. A blend of two of my favorite genres, gangland epic and horror, I hope this title gets extended well beyond its initial six issue run.


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Dear Nobody Writer

Look, I’ve tried to see things from your perspective, I really have. I even gone through cycles of feeling bad for you, wishing you had a solid mentor, and believing you bring much of your grief upon yourself. You seem to have confused a large Internet presence with popularity, confusing notoriety of your behavior with you taking the industry by story, confusing being infamous for your stories with your lack of skill as a writer.

I honestly think that it is time for one of those end of self moments. Quit blaming everyone else for your own poor behavior and decisions. If insulting and threatening your peers in e-mail and on every message board you can, writing marginalized crap in the name of art (or giving away that crap online only to regret when it screws up print deals), or starting a message board or blog to spew your brand of venom from is how you want to go about carving out a career, good luck to you. Don’t blame anyone but yourself for why you have a laundry list of enemies. Your complaints about how people won’t let you succeed in your publishing career belies your poser-ish rage.

Sadly, a lot of people know your name, all for the wrong reasons.

It’s a simple lesson, really. Ignore professional standards, ignore professional behavior, and you will be ignored as a professional.

Here’s the rub: far too many insist on giving you what you want - attention. Sure you’re a fun diversion, if you’re into kicking around the pathetic or into watching train wrecks (which I’ll admit, I’ve enjoyed my share of online train wrecks). After all, you rarely fail to entertain - rising to every bit of bait, using up time better spent honing your craft rather than venting your inexhaustible bile. The things is, you’re a steel-toed boot one-note act; making people regret they ever took pity on a young up and comer and blurbed you (or in any other way was associated with being published alongside you).

No, I’m not on your hit list radar, not is this an invitation to be put on it. If we are truly measured by the quality of our enemies, you aren’t the ruler I want. I’m just tired of seeing your name. I’d be tired of seeing my name if it was alongside words like “misogynist,” “racist,” or “homophobe.” I’ve got stuff to do and stories to write. I can’t devote a whole blog to you; you are barely worth one entry much less a whole site. I don’t have that kind of energy, obsession, or passion towards you.

You aren’t worth my time to respond to. For that matter, of course a response to you validates you: it means you were worth responding to. Sadly, this will fall on deaf ears. So I’m not bothering to mention your name. That’s one less place for you to Google and find yourself pop up. Of course you think this blog is about you.

Sincerely,

Another No Name Writer Trying to Procrastinate on Message Boards and Blogs Without Having to See Your Name Bandied About



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Lights, Porches, and Broken Windows

Mayor Bart Peterson on Tuesday announced a plan to spend an extra $10.5 million to fight crime and end the early release of inmates from the county jail but raised the possibility of new taxes as Indianapolis searches for a long-term fix to pay for crime-fighting.

Apparently there is a new hero in the war against crime: Tax-Man. As of this blog, we’ve just suffered our 103rd homicide of the year. Our government’s solution? Finding new ways to spend money we don’t have and throw away the key on folks.

On the surface, more police sounds like an easy answer; that’s because better trained, better funded, and more police officers are always good. However, police respond once crimes have been committed. Unless you have a cop on every corner, 24/7, they aren’t going to be much by way of deterrence. We can’t just shrug our shoulders and leave the solution strictly in the hands of the police - people we already ask a lot from in one breath and casually disrespect in the other.

Warehousing criminals, again, sounds good but isn’t a real solution. That’s society saying that we’ve given up so when you go bad, we’ll just lock you up. Yep, statistically crime will drop. Yep, we will “feel” safer knowing that we’ve thrown away the key. However, this country already has too long a sad history of putting people in chains and we can’t afford any more of those long-term scars on our collective soul.

There is something ... broken in our culture. A love of violence. A seething anger that bubbles just beneath the surface. You know what? We’re not going to solve the violence/crime problem with a blog or by throwing money at it in ill-conceived/reactionary ways. It’s too big a problem. That’s the reality that panics our politicians: it’s too big a problem with no easy solution so let’s at least look like we’re doing something.

Maybe we–the people, the community–need to do more to stem the tide of violence where we can. Bear our share of the burden. I’m reminded of the two most important laws, echoing the law experts of Jesus’ day, are to love God and to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” Yet we continue to fail to be good neighbors - we keep looking for loopholes of “who is my neighbor?” So how can we be better neighbors?

I learned a lot in my old neighborhood that I took for granted. We could call it the Big Momma lesson. We’ve lost the community spirit of sitting out on our porches. It seems like we seemed determined to keep moving away from each other (in the name of “escaping the crime” and “those people”); and if we can’t move, we build fences from one another. Cordoning off our corner of Creation, the repository of our stuff. Maybe we ought to answer our own question of “who is my neighbor” by sitting out and getting to know them. Learn the comings and goings of our neighborhood and maybe keep an eye out for each other.

If we are serious about being good neighbors, if the government is determined to throw around money, it could help by adding more and fixing existing broken street lights. Experience has taught us that darkness hides many sins. Less crimes are committed in the light because criminals don’t want to be seen. [The government could also add more sidewalks. They might not help stem crime, but my neighborhood could sure use some.]

We need to take ownership of our neighborhoods, even in the tiniest of ways. About a decade ago, there was a book entitled Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities by George L. Kelling and Catherine Coles. The premise basically says "consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside ... or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars." Caring about our neighborhoods means caring holistically. Not just keeping a vigilant eye, but having a proactive mindset - one that fixes problems as we see them.

I suppose that there are some economic problems for Tax-Man to solve. Moving people into jobs and out of the streets and the lifestyle of survival. Disincentivizing the drug lifestyle. Get the illegal guns off the streets. However, but a lot of our crime problem may boil down to simply becoming concerned citizens. Concerned neighbors. We have to have an attitude of fixing problems while they are small, cause by the time problems are at the homicide level, you can throw all the money you want at the problem, it’s too late. Now you’re just there to clean up the mess. If we are truly to be lights in a world of darkness, the least we can do is start by fixing a broken window and be a good neighbor. We can’t make people care, unless you want to give tax breaks for caring citizens.


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Friday Night Date Place - Getting to Know You Part I

(Or “The lost art of creative obfuscation.”)

Dear Feeling Deceived,

I guess that depends on what the definition of “deceived” is.

Getting to the heart of the matter, we are talking about not presenting ourselves as we really are. Are things black and white (to lie or not to lie) or are we in one of those nefarious shades of gray areas? Let’s see.

Hopefully Joe Millionaire is nothing but a distant, bad memory - a hemorrhoid on the perfect butt of the television landscape. You know that I hate to fight with television (and I have come to terms with the idea of reality television), however, this aberration does allow me the opportunity to point to deception in dating taken to the extreme. If you don’t remember the premise, a guy is presented as having inherited $50 million dollars--which he doesn’t have--and 50 would-be gold digging women--who don’t know that he doesn’t really have it--compete for his affection. Again, exploitive, tawdry reality television that, like many a bad train wreck, too many people felt compelled to watch, thus dooming us to a Joe Millionaire II. He, mind you, not the brightest bulb in the world, does in a moment of something approximating contrition, lament the fact that he finds it difficult to date (read: bed) a woman under such false pretenses. Even as he’s sticking his tongue down as many of their throats as possible. This situation exemplifies three things: 1) the idea of dating under false pretenses; 2) presenting an image that we can’t live up to; and 3) women, in this case, getting to know a false presentation rather than the real guy. He can say what he wants, but should he find himself in a relationship later, he would be hard pressed to say that he’s an honest or honorable guy.

There are self-created cases of deception. Many times we find ourselves dating idealized people, but who did the actual idealizing? We did. Let me give you an example: you go out with person A, an amiable enough person with a lot of the qualities that you look for in a person. In between dates, the times when you are actually getting to know the person, you do what any normal person does: think about them. You have the two of you in various situations, having conversations, laughing, loving, and what have you ... but all in your imagination. At some point during the course of your dating relationship you feel a sense of dissatisfaction. Maybe you realize it is because the person you are actually dating is not the person you think you are dating; maybe you aren’t that deep and you just say “this ain’t working out” and dump them.

But that’s not what we’re talking about.

Let’s define what we are talking about. First date “airs” is not deception. First date “airs” are the equivalent of salesmanship, after all, you have a product that you are interested in pitching or selling or at least renting out for a few occasions: you. There is nothing wrong with putting the best spin possible on your lousy personality. First dates are, have always been and will always be, about putting your best foot forward, after all, as the cliche goes, you only get one time to make a good first impression. A lousy first impression pretty much guarantees no second impression. You aren’t deceiving by omission by not revealing your every quirk on the first date. A quirk or two revealed might not be bad, in literature this is referred to as foreshadowing. Let me tell you, how a person tends to react behind the wheel in traffic is probably what you will be seeing during your first argument.

People have many facets to their personality. One or two dates aren’t meant to be examinations or revelations of all of them. Dating is about the gradual process of getting to know them.


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Bathsheba’s Story Part III

All of this talk about Bathsheba and seeing things from her point of view bring to mind what it must be like to go through real pain. To have life rear up and smack you around, randomly or even not so randomly. And I guess I wonder how do we respond to the tragedies and pain of life. How does the reality of pain impact our faith, our view of God? How do we treat and comfort each other when faced with real pain. This brings us back to my favorite Psalm, Psalm 88. Renee Alston, in her book Stumbling Toward Faith, puts her frustration this way:

“In desperation I raced toward things that pretended to ease the loneliness, the aching yearning broken emptiness I could never explain. I swallowed offered solutions without argument, though they tasted bitter, though I wondered if they were poison even as they went down. ... But when the pain, struggle, and doubt returned, it swept me under its power, and I found myself overwhelmed, feeling helpless, unloved, unvalued, and unsaved. All the “truths” that came to me in those powerful moments of “inner healing” had vanished from my consciousness. All my worth in God’s eyes dissipated, and I was left struggling for conviction that I mattered, convicted only of my brokenness, my terror, and my shame.

“The people praying over me didn’t know what to do with me. I frustrated them ... once real life crashed into me, and the despair presented itself to them as raw, vulnerable woundedness, they feared for my salvation and their own expectations of Christianity were threatened. My pain didn’t fit into their carefully prescribed solutions, their falsely created illusions of ‘what God does” and “who God is.” My questions, my despair, my broken stilted half-destroyed faith wasn’t good enough for their pat answers and had no place among them.

“Then I learned to pretend ... I welcomed my non-thinking, my ability to escape from my pain. I embraced their answers and buried my doubt and insecurity so deeply that I could deny it was ever there. ... and when the time came to open my hands and show my Christianity, I discovered I was clutching nothing.”

Your assignment is to think about what advice you’d give to someone in real pain. (For advance homework, read the book of Job. I know, it’s more homework than you’d have to do for an episode of Oprah. You don’t have to read the whole thing, but pay particular attention to the response of his friends.) Because cliches are not enough. And eventually we all have to deal with a dark night of the soul.


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Bathsheba’s Story Part II

We pick up with Bathsheba’s story by starting in chapter 11 of Second Samuel finding King David (of David vs. Goliath fame) at the peak of his power. He’d relaxed a little, gotten a little soft or lazy, and wasn’t leading his campaigns the way kings were supposed to. This is when Bathsheba first enters the story, so let’s look at a few things from her perspective:

- Her husband kept from her (v. 1). Uriah was one of David’s trusted warriors, one of his royal guards. A doggedly faithful soldier. He had presumably been gone for some time on this military campaign. For Bathsheba, think of a wife who has her husband stationed overseas. She doesn’t know when, or if, he’s coming back, but she’s expected to go on as if life is normal.

- The rape (v. 4). If you know me at all, you know that I’m not going to lightly toss that word around. Here’s the thing though, we have this image of David being out and about minding his own business when this seductress tempts him. I want to make a case for another point of view.

Bathsheba was out taking a bath. A normal small house didn’t have room for bathing facilities. The wealthy had own room with a tub. More common was a shallow earthenware bowl with a ridge in the middle for the feet. In ancient Israel, a great deal of the business of living was done on roofs. Kings took their meetings there (I Samuel 9:25). In a city, water would have been collected in cisterns on the rooftop. It is a logical place to bathe. Otherwise, a full bath had to be taken in a spring or at a river.

Let me give you an example from my family, though keep in mind that examples of what my family does are seldom especially helpful. My mother was raised in rural Jamaica. They didn’t always feel like going down to the cave or a river to carry back water, so sometimes, when it rained, people would rush outside to take showers. (Yeah, she regaled us with this story at dinnertime, so we’d have this mental picture of our mother and her neighbors prancing about their homes, naked with soap, while we’re trying to eat.) Getting back to Bathsheba, people typically washed at the end of the day. Keep in mind, this wasn’t high noon, this was evening. She wasn’t parading about for everyone, especially the king. David had to get out of bed.

v. 4 she came to him and he slept with her. All the commentaries I read emphasized that she was an unprotesting partner in this thing - and she may have been. However, a woman, in that time and culture, disobeying a king? Let’s start with why Israel had a king in the first place. Israel looked around at other nations, saw how they were ruled, grew jealous, and thought that was what they wanted. They had an idea of what kings were and how they ruled and what kind of power they held. It wasn’t too long before this that the Israelites escaped the bondage of the Pharaoh. Kings ruled by divine appointment at the very least and were gods incarnate at the other extreme. Their whims were commands, their power absolute, and disobedience punishable by death. Think about that king/prince from Braveheart, when he rode around claiming the right of the first night, sleeping with the brides on their wedding night. It’s not like those women were exactly willing partners either.

-The pregnancy (v. 4-5). v. 4 She had purified herself from her uncleanness. This is the Biblical equivalent of one of those Jerry Springer “Are you my baby daddy?” episodes. She had just become ceremonially clean. Leviticus 15:28-30 details what the ceremonial cleansing was about, after the seven days of her menstruation. In other words, she wasn’t already pregnant. [She had the doves to prove it].

Now in verses 6-25, David schemes to get Uriah drunk then later conspires to kill him. Bathsheba knew none of this. She’s at home dealing with the guilt and other mixed emotions that come from her encounter with the king, whether she was willing or not. The next thing she enters the story is in the next verse.

-Her husband’s death (v. 26). Now her husband was dead. Whether or not she was out to seduce a king or was taken by him, he died without knowing her guilt. She bore the guilt alone. Then she gives birth to David’s son. Think about how even more devastating this must have been if she was an unwilling partner.

-She gets remarried. At first glance, this might seem like the beginning of a healing process, you know, the king makes right. However, think of this: she was forced out of a one man-one woman relationship that she had with her husband. How she’s forced (again, is she going to turn down the king?) to enter into a one man-many women situation. The “royal household”, the harem, was a status symbol. Saul had a small one, David increased it, and Solomon’s was the greatest. I’m sure they weren’t over-compensating for anything. Harems were not only culturally acceptable, but were even expected of kings. And they were politically useful for the king to make alliances.

As chapter 12 opens, verses 1-14, Nathan rebukes David, David repents, and the Lord renders judgment. Bathsheba’s story picks up again here.

-Her son gets sick and dies (v. 15). When my oldest son, Reese, got sick during his first year, my wife and I were both up all night worrying. We kept giving him these room temperature baths to break his fever. We hovered over him, praying and worrying together. What does Bathsheba see?

-Her husband’s all over the place, everywhere except with her. Don’t get me wrong, I never want to judge how another person grieves, but I do want to think about what Bathsheba sees when she looks at her husband’s reaction. David was a man after God’s heart and we don’t know where she is spiritually. We do know this, she’s the mother of a sick child and the wife of a husband who isn’t around. He may be off doing “godly” things, but all she knows is that he isn’t with her. And you know that if his servants have to ask him questions, Bathsheba’s hurt and pissed. Only after this is it then recorded that he comforted her.

-Bathsheba gets pregnant again.

All this happened in the span of a year. Sometimes life can take so many sudden or unexpected turns that it can take on a surreal quality. Almost like you are standing there watching it happen to someone else, except that it’s you. Now, David was also a psalm-writer, which means that he had a creative outlet for what he was dealing with. This struck close to home for me because I’m also a writer. Life with a writer is often no joy for the spouse. For example, I don’t journal. I used to beat myself up because writers are supposed to journal. However, my wife pointed out that my stories (and this blog) are my journal. Whatever I’m struggling with or working through comes out in my project at the time. She hated it when I was working on my first novel. It dealt with racial tension and all these demons I was working through regarding race. And she hated the moods it put me in, with me storming around the house hating white people.

I mention this because David went on to write Psalm 51. He was broken and contrite, the right place to be when coming before God after you’ve sinned. But I keep coming back to verse 4. How do you think Bathsheba reads that after the year that she had?

[to be continued ...]


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Bathsheba’s Story Part I

Psalm 88 is my favorite psalm. I’m thankful for this Psalm, this and the imprecatory psalms, because they give us permission to feel and say things that we don’t often consider very “Christian”. Have you ever felt like the author of Psalm 88? Like your life is collapsing around you? What do you do with people who are struggling with depression or dark times or who are in the midst of a major life upheaval like the death of a loved one, divorce, financial ruin, or a life altering sickness? What kind of advice would you give to someone going through real pain? What kind of role should you play? What do you do one month later? What kind of advice or words of wisdom would you want to hear? What should you be/not be doing? Because the longer we live, the more likely it is that we’ll face some sort of life changing event.

One of the hardest things to do in studying the Bible is taking passages and immediately applying it to our modern situation. First, you have to see it from their culture, see what the passage was saying to the original hearer. Try to get a feel for how they were living and how they did things. Only then can you build bridges to our culture and time.

When I thought about the story of David and Bathsheba, one text got me thinking: Psalms 51:4. You see, Psalm 51 was the Psalm that David wrote when he was repenting of his sin with Bathsheba. David wrote to the Lord that “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” II Samuel 11:1 - 12:25 is the familiar text, the story of David and Bathsheba, but the way we’ve usually been taught is from David’s perspective (he was a man after God’s own heart who either slipped into sin or was led into it by a temptress), but I wonder how Bathsheba saw things.

We’re familiar with David’s behavior, but the seeds of it were planted earlier. First let’s look at another piece of scripture that this story plays against. In I Samuel 25, we see the story of how David got his wife Abigail in a lesson learned about using his royal power for his own ends. David and his men were starved from being chased around by Saul when they came across a wealthy land owner, Nabal. David’s men were hungry but he ordered them to protect Nabal’s servants while they tended their sheep. As the anointed king, David could’ve taken some sheep, but instead, he came as a beggar. Nabal spit on his gesture and David could’ve, and in fact was in route to, avenged himself on Nabal, but Abigail interceded. The Lord “removed” Nabal, upholding David’s side of things and David took Abigail as his wife. Two things we learn here: 1) David has already learned a lesson on using royal power for personal ends; 2) David takes, at least, his third wife (Michal, Saul’s daughter, and Ahinoam). In fact, II Samuel 5:13 points to David’s growing harem.

Which brings us to Bathsheba.

[to be continued ...]


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Poverty of Something

In all, more than 260,000 Hoosier children -- enough to fill the RCA Dome nearly five times -- live below the poverty level. Indiana's poverty rate for 2005 was 12.2 percent, an increase of more than 88,000 people and the third consecutive annual increase, according to census data released Tuesday.

It’s hard to believe that in the wealthiest country in the world we have a poverty problem at all. Many of us may be broke, but have little to no idea what true poverty is. The problem is that we as a society like to sweep the poor under the rug. Poverty is a reality, often leading to, and breeding, a cauldron of pain, anger, poverty, and injustice, where people live in conditions with limited opportunity, limited education and limited means.

It’s easy to blame the poor. They are under-represented. There aren’t many political action committees, few professional lobbying, publicists in the media on their behalf. Sadly, we hear more about Tom Cruise’s latest plights than we do about the poor, here or abroad. Let’s face it, because this is the land of opportunity, often times poverty is a choice, the natural consequence of a lifetime of poor decisions. However, that doesn’t address the systemic poverty, the children born into circumstances beyond their control.

There is a poverty of responsibility. The surest routes out of poverty are education and forming two parent family units. We have a culture that undervalues education, taking for granted not only the opportunities it affords, but also the struggles it took to ensure equal education for all.

The rise in poverty underscores yet again the necessity of improving schools, finding ways to retain more students and persuading Hoosiers of the priceless value of education. A good education remains the best escape route out of poverty. But, year after year, about three out of 10 Indiana students who entered high school as freshmen fail to graduate as seniors. The consequences, for individuals and society, are dire.

Our responsibility is to value education. We have a history as scientists, artists, business people, and explorers. More than being athletes, entertainers or drug dealers, education is the best sure route out of poverty.

There is a poverty of values. Though there had always been poverty, we had managed to keep our families relatively intact and thrive. The inability to keep it in our pants and close our legs points to individual failings. Again, as a society, we’ve given up on teenagers. Yes, they are at an “age of accountability,” where they are responsible for their own decisions, but out message to them is “you’re going to do it anyway” and we throw up our hands in the face of it.

However, because we have no clear message on what to teach them (we say abstain, but give few good reasons why; we say practice safe sex, against disease and pregnancy, essentially letting chimpanzees play with nuclear weapons), we are stunned by the societal consequences.

There’s only so much that throwing money at this problem can do

There is a poverty of caring. Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” This is an American dogma, not a biblical one. We need better, more comprehensive strategies for dealing with poverty, but just telling people to "bootstrap"is BS and elitist: pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps is great, if you have boots. Especially in a system of oppression with people who have nothing and may possibly have never in their lives. The government does have a role to play. In spending on education. In supporting the working poor.

However, this goes beyond the government and its limited resources. It points to our attitude as a culture. We, as individuals, have the poor all around us. We choose how to handle them and what we mostly choose to do is ignore them. Or move away from them, and let them be someone else’s problem.

I can’t help but be reminded of Jesus’ words “the poor you will always have with you.” Jesus’ story is the story of poverty: God humbling himself, becoming poor and weak. Human. In order to free the oppressed from poverty and powerlessness. Becomes a victim in our place (at the hands of a corrupt justice system no less) and transforms the condition of bondage. That doesn’t mean we get to simply quit caring about the poor.


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More Conversations - Where do we go from here? Part II

Secret Pastor Friend: so what do we DO with our journey?
ME: keep journeying. and hook up with folks who are on the same path. not worry so much about the structure and look of things. even if it doesn't look like "church"
Secret Pastor Friend: good point. something else I've been pondering/worried about is how people inherently divide themselves along political/religious/sociological lines and can never seem to develop meaningful relationships with those of differing belief structures. It may be human nature but there has to be a way out of that trap
ME: that's a tricky one. and i'm glad you said sociological and not racial lines.
Secret Pastor Friend: well remember, I don't "see" race. LOL
ME: because i think we DO have more of a class problem than a race one.
Secret Pastor Friend: me too!
ME: oh, that's right, you heretic. do you know why you always caught such static for that "not seeing race" position? it wasn't because it was "pie in the sky".
Secret Pastor Friend: lol. yea
ME: it was the same reason as the community thing at our church. people aren't there yet. you were having a conversation people weren't ready to have yet.
Secret Pastor Friend: I know. And I wasn't ready to present the position in an intelligent and well-thought out way. you and i need to develop and publish a social etiquette that transcends all lines. So at least people can communicate with others more effectively.
ME: i'm with you. i'm just not with you. here's what i mean: i see "race" in terms of shared story. but i'm trying to get folks there, so i can't "adopt" your position until i get people prepared to have that conversation. that's why the next and "final" blog in that series will be on reconciliation. in other words, adopting a transcendent story to be a part of. the story of Christ.
Secret Pastor Friend: I like that. If we could get people to adopt and adhere to rules of social conduct, at least we would be able to be nice around one another regardless of our positions on life etc.
ME: try. i do know of one church that AS THEIR SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS, simply taught etiquette.
Secret Pastor Friend: wow. interesting. you and I are weird because for our entire lives we've been able to walk across the lines of society and do well in any environment and culture though we probably have our favorites.
ME: yep
Secret Pastor Friend: but we don't ridicule others and push our own agendas where they're not wanted
ME: right. but i also learned that the "i don't see color" thing wasn't going to fly yet. you keep living the dream. :-)
Secret Pastor Friend: LOL. what can I say, I'm an idealist. when I look at an asshole, I don't see color, I see someone who needs to be beaten. I don't blame his/her race
ME: HA! a-holishness knows no color.
Secret Pastor Friend: LOL. I think "culture" is more common interests than geography now anyway i.e. Vanilla Ice, Eminem, etc. LOL
ME: true. but with our ever fragmenting culture, there are future cultural touchstones. i think that's why you see so many people searching for a "story" or place to belong.
Secret Pastor Friend: that is very true... people are confused and crave identity. thank you television and MTV in particular. but of course that's not all bad. It helped us break away from the social mores that were negative, i.e. racism
ME: because both tv/mtv end up crossing racial/cultural lines.
Secret Pastor Friend: yes, and exposed us to other options
ME: um, just to give you a heads up, i will probably turn this entire conversation into a blog.
Secret Pastor Friend: LOL.!!!!


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More Conversations - Journeys Within the Church Part I

ME: well, the church is finally asking "what does it REALLY mean to be a community?"
Secret Pastor Friend: That's great about the church. Of course that's a HUGE question to ask.
ME: right. and we couldn't answer it until they were ready to ask the question.
Secret Pastor Friend: very true! good point. I’m starting to see the whole "church" think in different ways myself. I think that ego has more to do with programs and church "things" than anything else almost. And I'm starting to view "church" as a much, MUCH simpler entity than we make it.
ME: yep. i was talking to this brotha just last week, and he has a completely different view of church. it was eye opening.
Secret Pastor Friend: how so?
ME: he doesn't even DO a sunday morning thing. he said that's not the point for them.
Secret Pastor Friend: cool, I don't either. :-)
ME: they are more into the monastic thing. because they all live in proximity of one another and work together, church becomes more of a 24/7 thing. so they treat the church community closer to an extended family.
Secret Pastor Friend: cool
ME: there are occasions for THE FAMILY to get together other than that, you just live life together and develop discipling relationships.
Secret Pastor Friend: that sounds like what I've been thinking of lately too. I've visited a few churches but left thinking that I didn't want to get involved with all their "stuff". it seems that each church has a different "mission" or "vision" they're all working toward. But when it comes down to it, sadly, it seems to be an extension of the pastor's and vicarious members' ego rather than about loving god and neighbor. Kind of like, "what can I DO for God" that when I'm old, I can look back on and ruminate about all I've accomplished. To me that's pretty sad. It seems like people overlook and walk over the everyday miracles that happen along the way in order to get to the next big "thing".
ME: yep. it becomes about "my legacy" more than God's kingdom.
Secret Pastor Friend: very well put
ME: the church we planted out of (who quickly washed their hands of us) just started a building campaign. they are raising 12-20 million dollars ... to build a bigger building.
Secret Pastor Friend: whoa. that's quantified but is it qualified? i mean is that really what it's all about?
ME: no. they are building, whether they admit it or not, on the strength of the cult of personality around one man. and he's in legacy mode.
Secret Pastor Friend: ahhhhhh.... yes. A term my wife and I have used multiple times in the last few days. Cult of personality. I think that people, more especially christians, since about the second great awakening, and azuza street for blacks, have been about trying to recreate or build something better to feel that God is actually moving among them. I think if we'd just relax and chill out we'd see what he's really doing all around us. But that's not all shiny
ME: in the ordinary
Secret Pastor Friend: YES
ME: yep, we're definitely walking along the same journey.
Secret Pastor Friend: LOL.... true!
ME: i think i was where you are exactly one year ago.
Secret Pastor Friend: About a year ago I began a blog called "everyday worship" as a response to what I saw going on in the "music" industry of the church. I began to teach that we don't need music to worship etc. That eventually lead to my downfall
ME: ha! never put it in writing! [NOTE: the views and opinions expressed by Maurice do not necessarily reflect the views of The Dwelling Place. I’m just saying.]
Secret Pastor Friend: yet, the two people I was raising up to be worship leaders left right after we did, took a job at the local Methodist church as worship leaders and are teaching it there. Woo Hoo. :-) uh oh.... my legacy. Ahhhh

[to be continued ...]

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Friday Night Date Place - A Few First Date Tips

(Or “The Rules Redux!”)

A few years ago, the number one selling book was a dating book called The Rules. In it, a couple of ladies gave their “old-fashioned” advice, things your momma should have told you, and it resonated with folks. Well, I thought I’d give it a stab since a friend of mine set up another friend on a blind date (always a recipe for disaster: you put your reputation on the line for two friends and hope that neither prove you to be an idiot with poor taste or match-making abilities). It didn’t end well. (Obviously they didn’t read Marc Davidson’s advice, in part one or part two). So let’s try it this way: a few first date tips.

Before you even ask:
-Get a job. Don’t ask someone out if you can’t afford to go anywhere. You don’t have to be rich or even have a lot of money. Thought and creativity can do wonders. However, at the very least, do have a sense of direction about your life.
-Be the kind of person that you hope to attract. A bar ho can’t complain that they can’t seem to find a Christian guy at the local bar and club scene.
-Ask in advance. Be considerate of her schedule. (READ: pretend that she has a life and isn’t sitting at home watching re-runs of Friends and eating Cheetos while waiting for the phone to ring in the vain hopes that someone, anyone, will ask her out).
-Don’t, I repeat, don’t have a friend ask her out for you. While most of the rules we learn about dating and liking each other we pick up is in junior high school, no one wants to be reminded of that.


The Arrival:
-Guys, please, for the love of ..., shower.
-Time. Look, fellas, when the lady invites you over for dinner and says 6:30-7:00 pm, it means 7:00-7:30 pm. This doesn’t mean show up at 5:00 pm because you’ve been waiting on her doorstep or around the corner since 4:00 pm. She has to cook and get ready.
-Bring something, especially if she’s invited you over for dinner. Flowers, wine (pop), a card - something. Don’t show up with just your appetite. Wash your hands and pitch in to help. Don’t just hop up on her counter or kick your feet up on her furniture as if she exists to serve you.
-When you pick up a lady for a date, don’t honk. Go to the door like you’re a gentleman ... after you pick up the food wrappers that litter your car.
-Guys ought to pay. Though I tend to think whoever did the asking ought to do the paying, you can't go wrong being a gentleman.

The Date:
-Have a plan. Know what you want to do that evening. It shows that you’ve thought about it and that you’re a leader (alright, it might not give that impression, exactly, but every little bit helps). As a sub-point here, don’t order for your date unless you’ve consulted them. Don’t presume to know their tastes. You only reveal yourself to be a control freak.
-You have to be genuine. A friend once suggested that men should keep pictures of their nieces and nephews in their wallet. It shows an interest in kids and a commitment to family. Good in theory, but it may be going too far when you decide to just keep pictures of kids that vaguely look like you.
-Monologues aren’t conversations. Dates aren’t an interrogation. Don’t just sit there and grill someone, especially about their theological viewpoints. Actually, arguing theology, politics, or anything isn’t conversation.

Top lines to not use on a date/dating faux pas (actual things that have happened on the first dates of some friends of mine):
-stare at “the swing on her back porch” or otherwise reference another woman’s anatomy
-“So, you want to go to Hooters?” It doesn’t matter how good you think the wings are.
-don’t talk about ex-girl/boyfriends
-“Did you used to be a man?” is probably not the best way to kick off conversation with a woman.
-“Do you want to go half-sies on an illegitimate child?” - um, no.
-by the way, a tip from Uncle Maurice for those of you exploring interracial romances, lines completely inappropriate at any point during the dating relationship: “I think my family used to own your family” (I swear, a line used not on a first date, but at the first, and last, time this woman met my mother).

Leave:
-Know when to call it a night. Don’t linger.

Call:
-The next day or that week. Thank her for dinner, even if it was crap or she ordered in, she still had to work to host you. If you had a good time, let her know. It’s just common courtesy.

Remember, desperation is not attractive, but nor should it be an excuse.


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