in the open space: God & culture

Last night on the Sci- Fi Channel, I caught a showing of Pitch Black , a 2000 sci- fi flick about a group of passengers on a transport who crash land on a desert planet infested with flesh-eating pterodactyl-like creatures that come out in the darkness. I must have seen this movie at least half a dozen times (admittedly, mostly the edited version they show on television, heh ). I’m with those who think it’s a pretty descent film as far as science fiction films go (and I have hard time thinking of another planet-rise as amazing as the one in this film), but I think what draws me back has more to do with Riddick (Vin Diesel) and his story. Riddick cuts a ruthless figure. When we first see him, he’s a convict bound in chains, like a buffed out Hannibal Lector . For Riddick , it is all about survival—his own. He kills without remorse* and walks through the film with a confidence that borders arrogance (except that his self- assuredness in his superiority is unquestionably justified i...

The 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season has begun four days early, with the formation of Tropical Depression 1 off the coast of Virginia (hey, that's where I live!). It's expected to reach tropical storm status (and, if so, will be named "Ana") within the next 24 hours, but she will twirl harmlessly out to sea. A fortuitous way to begin the season, I think, heh. (Image: Weather.com)

Televisionary has an advance review of the ABC pilot for V , a remake of the 1983-85 miniseries and television show about an alien race who call themselves "The Visitors" seeking to conquer of Earth. The review has a significant amount of spoilers, but the reviewer insists that they aren't giving away any key twists or the ending. Of interest to this blogger? More details on the character of Father Jack Landry (warning some spoilers ahead): . . . Father Jack Landry ( The 4400's Joel Gretsch ) finds himself in a difficult position, having to explain the co-existence of a divine presence and an alien race among us. His job is complicated by the fact that the congregation of his small Manhattan church has suddenly ballooned with people turning to religion in the face of fear and uncertainty and his superiors are pressuring Father Jack to toe the party line and accept The Visitors as a miracle in itself. But Jack worries that gratefulness can quickly turn to worship...

USA Today (hat tip ComingSoon ) has posted some photos from the upcoming post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, Book of Eli , starring Denzel Washington as the lone man "who fights his way across a desolate America to protect a book that may hold the key to mankind’s survival" (or, as Wikipedia puts it, "a lone hero" who "guards the Book of Eli, which provides knowledge that could redeem society"). Besides the photos (and a bit of explanation about their context), the bit also includes some interesting tidbits that hint at the film's spiritual themes/content: At first, Albert [Hughes, who codirects with brother Allen] says, the script “seemed a little too spiritual or something…. But then I slept on it, and the next morning I couldn’t get the story out of my head. That’s when you know you should do a movie.” And: Eli follows on the heels of movies such as Terminator Salvation , Knowing and The Happening in depicting the end of the world. “This is the ...

In The Comancheros , Captain Jake Cutter (John Wayne) is talking to Pilar Graile (Ina Balin) about her relationship with Paul Regret (Stuart Whitman), who has just realized how much Pilar cares about him. Pilar: Now he’ll be so sure of me he’ll be impossible to manage—or so he thinks. But I shall find the opportunity to teach him otherwise. Jake laughs. Jake: Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just glad that I’m not your age—or Regret’s. I went through all that. Me and my wife used to fight like a couple of wildcats with only one tree between us. But sooner or later, missy, you’ll find out that it doesn’t make a tinker’s damn who’s got the upper hand. A few years roll by and you kinda settle down to bein’ at ease with each other. Then life gets worth living. Pilar looks at Jake with a sly smile. Pilar: In every relationship between two human beings, one is dominant and one is subservient. Jake: Well, you make it sound like it’d be one long war. Pilar: Isn’t it? Jake looks at her with a small and ...

1. It looks like Kings —a modern day spin on the biblical King David saga—has been cancelled (HT Peter Chattaway ), though it also looks like the remaining episodes will still be seen on NBC starting June 13. At SF Gospel, Gabriel Mckee wonders if network squeamishness about religion killed the series. I wonder if it had something to do with why good series get cancelled . 2. Speaking of cancelled series, the official word came down that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was cancelled as well. Mckee says that while he thinks the series might be “the best thing the Terminator franchise ever offered up,” he’s not that upset to see it go . For those going through withdrawal, there is the latest film in the franchise and, in more general terms, Peter Chattaway looks at how Sarah Connor may actually have made the war worse . 3. For more miscellaneous God-talk in film, Ken Brown feels somewhat conflicted about Star Trek , and so does Gabriel Mckee . Jason has some interesting th...

Saturday night, my husband and I saw Terminator: Salvation , the fourth installment in the film franchise that jumps us to 2018 and follows the stories of one Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) and the now legendary John Connor (Christian Bale). While the film has its weaknesses, I’m discovering it is also one of those stories that lingers in my mind for days afterwards—in no small part because of the God-talk it invites into open spaces. (Caution: Spoilers ahead.) The story opens in 2003 on death row, where Marcus Wright (whose transgression we know little of other than it resulted in the death of his brother and two police officers) signs away his body for research to Cyberdyne just before he’s executed by lethal injection (bound to a table that rises him into a standing position of a cross as we hear a voice recite verses from Psalm 23). We then jump to 2018, after Judgment Day and Skynet’s apocalypse, where we find John Connor is an upper level leader in the Resistance (but not yet t...

For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. --Annie, Bull Durham This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. --Terence Mann, Field of Dreams I believe in two things. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Creator of heaven and earth, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, the one and only Source from which all life flows—and baseball. Everything else is just sports and religion. --Michael O’Connor, Sermon on the Mound: Finding God at the Heart of the Game Much to the chagrin of many of my friends, I am not a sports fan. I usually have no clue as to what sport is in season and ESPN is just a channel I skip over to get to another one. I did grow up going to hockey games with my mom and dad (who actually played the sport when he was growing up in Canada), though I haven’t been to a game in 20 years or so. I remember watching Gordie Howe and Robbie...

"Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand." --Wes Westrum, as quoted in Michael O'Connor's Sermon on the Mound: Finding God at the Heart of the Game (Image: mine)

From Scot McKnight's Kingdom Gospel series at Jesus Creed: If the kingdom is the solution, what was the problem? The community of God gone awry. What is the solution? A community standing on its feet, heart transformed, eyes and ears open, and a willingness to live as one. Let's return to the gospel that deconstructs the church and offer its alternative: God loves you and everyone else and has a plan for us: the kingdom community. But you and everyone else have a sin problem that separates you and everyone else from God, from yourselves, from one another, and from the good world God made for you. The good news is that Jesus lived for you, died for you, was raised for you, and sent the Spirit for you - so you all can live as the beloved community. If you enter into Jesus' story, by repentance and faith, you can be reconnected to God, to yourself, to others, and to this world. Those who are reconnected like this will live now as God's community and will find themselves ...

Click here or on the above screen capture for one of two clips from ABC's upcoming sci-fi drama V , a remake of the 1983-85 miniseries and television show about an alien race who call themselves "The Visitors" seeking to conquer of Earth. (Hat tip @TrekMovie ) Not bad, I must admit. And not nearly as campy as the original. Heh, I vaguely remember walking through the halls of my dorm in college hearing this series coming from multiple rooms as students huddled around their televisions--and the genuine disappointment when it was cancelled after just one year. Looks like this one just might hang on longer than that. According to ABC , this rendition is thus: Today, the world woke up to find spaceships over every major city. The Visitors claim to have come in peace, bringing gifts of medical miracles and technological breakthroughs. They promise to do no harm. They're lying. Most people believe the aliens have arrived just when we needed them most. We're eager to...

Recently, my husband and I finally got around to watching the remake of the 1951 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still . While I didn’t see the original in its entirety until a little over a year ago, I really enjoyed it —for both its story and the God-talk it generates. But, while I really wanted to like the remake, I couldn’t help being a bit disappointed—though the film does still generate its share of God-talk. The film keeps the same basic plot—an alien named Klaatu (this time, Keanu Reeves) comes to warn Earth's inhabitants of their impending destruction. Well, not really. Actually he seems to come to Earth to set off that extermination with only a half-hearted attempt at warning its leaders. And instead of wanting to protect us and the other space-faring races in the universe from our bent towards destruction through war, this time Klaatu has come to protect the earth itself from our bent towards the destruction of our environment. It’s only after he spends a ( very ) li...

(Warning: Big spoilers ahead) Locke (whom we’ve just discovered is still actually very dead and this person who looks like Locke is actually something else—and likely pretty evil—masquerading as him) tells a deeply unsettled Ben, to do what he was asked to do: kill Jacob. Jacob calmly looks at Ben and walks towards him. Jacob: Benjamin, whatever he’s told you, I want you to understand one thing: You have a choice. Ben: What choice? Jacob: You can do what he asks, or you can go— Jacob looks over at AntiLocke and then back at Ben. Jacob: —leave us to discuss our . . . issues. Ben is incredulous. Ben: Oh, so now after all this time you’ve decided to stop ignoring me. Thirty-five years I lived on this island and all I ever heard was your name over and over. Richard would bring me your instructions, all those slips of paper, all those lists. And I never questioned anything. I did as I was told. But when I dared to ask to see you myself, I was told, “You have to wait. You have to be pa...

Want to explore the God-talk in last night's season five finale of Lost ? Well, sheesh, I couldn't hold a candle to Doc Jensen--go over to EW and take a look . From Jacob and Esau, to Jesus and Satan, to Cain and Abel, to the Greek word apokatastasis which signifies "the idea that in the end, Satan will be defeated and that all of creation will be redeemed and unified under Christ." Holy smoke. Wow . (Image: ABC)

From " Speaking truth to power " (an article reflecting on the example and death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn) in the August 9th, 2008 issue of The Economist : Who today speaks truth to power--not only in authoritarian or semi-free countries such as Russia and China but in the West as well? (Image: mine)

.... among your books among your clothes among the noise and fuss I've let it go I can stop and catch my breath and look no further for happiness and I will not turn again cause my heart has found its home --from Dido's "Look No Further," Safe Trip Home (Image: mine)

Since I joined Twitter —a micro-blogging and networking service that allows you “tweet” in up to 140 characters what you are thinking about or doing—I’ve read numerous articles and blog posts about the detriments and benefits of the phenomenon. It’s been heralded as everything from another reflection of our narcissistic tendencies to a revolution in connecting folks. Indeed, there are some legitimate concerns out there—recently, blogger and tweeter Ken Brown touched on some of these and added another insightful caution. But, as with most new technologies, while it does have it problems, it also presents some unique opportunities. Personally, I’ve found that Twitter has allowed me to connect more frequently with old friends as well as new . It helps me keep in touch with what new features are coming up or being explored in magazines I read . I can follow the activities and thoughts of authors, thinkers and explorers in the faith like Scot McKnight , Andrew Jones , Doug Pagitt , Jim...