in the open space: God & culture

reading Tozer with coffee / mine "A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to reckon upon its reality." ~A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God For more about this idea on this blog, see:  Blindsight ,  Ode to a watchmaker ,  Spiderwick Chronicles: There's a beauty in our midst , and  Hellboy 2: Worth the Wait .

The first full-length trailer for the adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s novel, The Host , has been released. The trailer reveals more than the teaser, giving us a look at some of the characters and some key elements in the plot. Interestingly, the trailer is told from Melanie’s perspective whereas the novel is almost entirely told from the perspective of Wanderer (the alien). And the trailer still leaves us mostly guessing as to how the film will handle the heavily internally first-person narrated novel. In spite of the novels weaknesses, I thoroughly enjoyed Meyer’s story (the first published, I believe, after her Twilight series). The novel is told from the perspective of Wanderer, a thousand-plus year-old alien whose species invades Earth and takes over the human population. The aliens, called Souls, are inherently altruistic and abhor violence; their preferred method of invasion is a gradual and quiet take-over of individuals until the entire population of a planet is inh...

I discovered John Scalzi during an episode of Stargate Universe . In a rather inconsequential scene, I noticed a man reading a novel. Curious, I played back the scene, froze the image, and scribbled down the title: Old Man’s War . After the show, I looked it up and found it was the Hugo-nominated first novel of Scalzi, who also served as a creative consultant on the series. It was a good read, and Scalzi stories started showing up in our library. Last summer, we added Scalzi’s eighth novel, Redshirts: A novel with three codas . Both hilarious and affecting, Scalzi’s sci-fi novel follows a group of ensigns on a starship who start to wonder why it is their rank has such a high death count on away missions.* The novel’s title refers to the proverbial fate of the “redshirt” extra on Star Trek . “In the original Star Trek , Kirk, Spoke, Bones and Scotty were very dangerous men to stand next to if you were wearing the ensign’s red shirt,” explains John Schwartz in a NY Times article ...

“That, gentlemen… that is why they thrive. That belief—that we live beyond the reach of darkness—is one that vampires have worked tirelessly to instill through the centuries. I submit to you that it is nothing less than the greatest lie ever sold to mankind.” ~President Abraham Lincoln to his Cabinet in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter What would’ve Abraham Lincoln’s life been like if vampires were real? Add Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter  to your summer reading list and find out. I found Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel to be just as critics said—witty, well-written, and engaging. But be forewarned, Grahame-Smith’s vampires are not of the sparkly variety . They are depraved, evil, and malevolent. But, as Abe is told by one vampire: “Judge us not equally.” Among the evil throngs are a few that work towards a greater good. And Abe’s fight against the darkness is greatly enhanced when he keeps this truth in mind—both when it comes to vampires and humans. Hence, one of t...

Arts & Faith has put out another top 25 list, this time “ Top 25 Road Films .” What do these films have in common? Darren Hughes explains : The “on the road” theme has such staying power, in part, because there is a shared ethic at work in these stories. Some people, including a majority of A&F voters, would argue it’s a God-breathed and essential ethic—that each of these stories reflects a fundamental desire for spiritual improvement or progress toward sanctification or, more simply, a moment of epiphany or grace. (Not by coincidence, American evangelicals have taken to calling their lives “walks with God.”)   As habitual storytellers, we humans have transformed this ethic into countless odysseys, coming-of age tales, and allegorical paths towards enlightenment. Hollywood has celebrated the “freedom of the open road” and the glory of a trial by fire. Ultimately, road movies offer us a brief glimpse of potential alternatives to the soul-sickening “everdayness” of our live...

Lionsgate "Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little   hope   is effective. A lot of   hope   is   dangerous ."   ~President Snow, The  Hunger Games Last weekend, the big screen adaptation of the first novel in The Hunger Games series hit theaters. It pulled in $155 million , making it the third largest debut of a film in North America—and the largest non-sequel debut. It’s no wonder—the story has a built in fan base of the original best-selling novels. And Hunger Games isn’t the only dystopian fiction that’s popular with children, teens and adults. From classics like Fahrenheit 451, 1984 and Brave New World to Children of Men , The Giver, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Divergent , these kinds of novels and films have captured our attention for years. So, why are these dystopian stories so popular? What about them attracts us? Reasons are many fold. Often, they are adventurous and thrilling page-turners that capture our attention....

I read The Host (by Stephanie Meyer of Twilight fame) this past winter and have been following the film development—of which the teaser trailer above is one of our first tastes—with a keen interest.  I enjoyed the sci-fi novel, which is told from the perspective of Wanderer, a thousand-plus year old alien whose species invades Earth and takes over the human population. The aliens, called Souls, are inherently altruistic and abhor violence; their preferred method of invasion is a gradual and quiet take-over of individuals until the entire population of a planet is inhabited by Souls. Earth is the ninth planet for Wanderer, who has been on more worlds (and thus inhabited more species) than most Souls, who tend to settle on one of their first several planets and live out the rest of their lives there. But Wanderer soon discovers that humans are different than any other species she has inhabited—most particularly in that her host (a girl named Melanie) refuses to surrender hersel...

According to Variety , HBO is teaming with Tom Perrotta (author of the acclaimed Little Children ) to develop a series based on Perrotta's upcoming novel The Leftovers (due August 30) that "explores the Rapture and how the sudden disappearance of loved ones in a suburban town affects everyone left behind."  By now, you may be somewhere between rolling your eyes at the possibility of another Left Behind or you are piqued by that very idea. But you should know this novel doesn’t sound much like the LaHaye/Jenkins franchise. According to Publisher’s Weekly , the novel is riddled with grief that “focuses on four members of a family that survives a world-shattering event in which people randomly disappear, dividing the world into Before and After. ” The event is treated as “secular” rather than religious, though the story itself “ charts the spiritual journeys that two members of the family begin after the traumatic event. ” In another PW review , one of those journeys ta...

While I am not entirely comfortable with this confession, I must admit I spend much more time these days watching stories on film than I do reading them. I like to say that much of that has to do with the season of my life—a stay-at-home mom who’s a part-time freelancer and volunteers at school, runs a household and is getting that household prepared to move across town into a new home. However, I know other women in my season who consume novels every week, so perhaps I really have no excuse. Anyway, every once in a while I run across a film that reminds why I spent my academic career immersed in the scent and texture of paper-bound literature—and Masterpiece’s Jane Eyre (2006) is one of those creations. This is one of the best film adaptations I’ve seen of this novel. Granted, it’s been awhile since I’ve read it, but I thought it captured not only the spirit of the novel but also its heroine as I remember. And as I watched this classic story unfold, I was riveted—and reminded that ...