in the open space: God & culture

I recently ran across an article in The Dartmouth that underscores the effects of political polarization in the U.S. " A survey of Dartmouth's political landscape " explores the results of a campus-wide survey last month in which a little over 430 students answered questions about several issues, including tolerance for and relations with opposing political viewpoints--as revealed in the graph above. Surveys like this take a reading of public opinion and where certain populations stand, but they are also a good opportunity for us to take our own temperature. How would we answer questions like how comfortable we'd be having a roommate with opposing political views to our own? A question like that can reveal how much we invest our belief systems in political ideologies--and as I explored in my previous post, we need to be mindful of that. 

A powerful and moving short about the power of giving to transform lives from  Thai communication provider TrueMove H.  Beautiful. (Hat tip Huffington Post and  The French Revolution )

I really like Chipotle's soulful video about the deceptive nature of the modern fast food industry--until they get to the game ad at the end. I feel like I'm being duped, like they're using art to sell something instead of reveal truth. Oh, wait. (via Relevant Magazine )

International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield performing an arrangement of David Bowie's classic Space Oddity . 

mine A week ago, we cut cable. We got tired of paying over $1200 a year just to watch television. Okay, yes, the sequestration may have stepped up the urgency—try cutting 20 percent out of your budget and you’ll start to get the picture. But I must say, I am not missing it. At all . I’ve watched every single thing I’ve wanted to—and, if you read this blog, you know I watch copious amounts of television. How did we do it? Basically, we hooked up a computer, HD antenna, and Roku to our TV. If you are ready to take the red pill , here are some steps you can take.                                                               Determine what you watch where Start by li...

mine

Touted by Business Insider  as "might be the best ad of the year," this non-profit Water is Life ad has Haitians repeating tweets made with the hashtag of #firstworldproblems. While many of the tweets may have been made in good humor to illustrate that first world problems really aren't problems , the ad nevertheless gives us good pause.  

mine It’s a new year—and for some of us, a chance to step back, take a look at life, and resolve to do some things differently as well as build on things we’re doing well. Over at his Storyline Blog, Donald Miller reflected on some reasons why New Year’s resolutions don’t work —and some ways to make them easier to keep. Among other things, he suggests making resolutions that are meaningful to our life’s narrative, making a plan to implement them, and recognizing that you’ll probably experience some conflict in trying to keep them. In addition, he reminds us how easy it can be to forget them—and that sharing them can help. I like the idea of thinking of resolutions in the context of the larger story we are living. In the last couple of years, one of the ongoing themes in my life has been one of simplifying and reducing, and some of my most successful resolutions have been in line with that.              ...

made via quozio.com 

This past June in San Francisco, Annie and Perry Klebahn put their 10-year-old daughter Phoebe in the care of United Airlines’ unaccompanied minor program on a flight to a summer camp in Michigan. When Phoebe landed in Chicago, however, the program “forgot” to send someone to walk her to her connecting flight to Grand Rapids. When the girl asked for help, she was repeatedly told by busy attendants to wait. When she asked to call her parents (three times), they told her to wait. She missed her flight—but her parents had no clue until the camp frantically called to inform them that Phoebe had never arrived in Grand Rapids, and the United employees there had no idea where their daughter was. What happens next only compounds United’s already deplorable conduct—and reveals something about our culture, ourselves and our faith. Bob Sutton, who wrote about the experience on his Work Matters blog , details how the parents spent almost an hour on the phone trying to locate their...

I know I'm late to the game on this one, but after my 14-year-old daughter and her friends showed me this, I can't listen to the original without hearing this version in my head, heh.

mine "Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone,  but in every leaf in springtime." ~Martin Luther

MWR graciously invited me to write a periodic column about popular culture and faith and named it after this blog. My first column? It's all about how the stories we find on television, film, in books and elsewhere in culture bring God-talk into open spaces:  I love good stories. Most of us can name favorites — a novel, short story, film, television show, something we read in a magazine or newspaper or heard somewhere.   There are as many ways to tell good stories as there are forms of art and human creativity. Each form brings unique aspects to the story being told.   One of my favorite things about all good stories is the way they bring God-talk into open spaces.  Among other things, good stories explore what it means to be human and live in this world. They get at who we are and why we do the things we do. They tell us something about ourselves, the world we live in and the people around us.  And the best stories are true — not that they ...

(back view) (front view) ....maybe it would look something like the car my son made for his entry in this year's Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. Yes, his mama is proud.

"Maybe she's born with it. Nah, I'm pretty sure it's Photoshop."

And I just tweeted yesterday how relieved I was that Jim Cantore wasn't anywhere near DC, heh.

Last week I ran across a couple of things that, well, made me grin. Since I've tweeted , Facebooked and GooglePlus'ed them, I figured I might as well post them here, too. Heh. Julian Sunmi Park and Benjamin Jinsuk Lee First, click on the photo above to see the best, most creative and, um, unique wedding photos  ever . I'm not kidding. Trust me, if you enjoy speculative fiction (with a somewhat darker twist), you won't be disappointed. So go see them . Now . Please . Henrique Alvim Corrêa/ The War of the Worlds Next, some scientists at NASA and Penn State University released a joint report entitled " Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis"--which, among other things (not so far-fetched), suggests global warming may invite an alien attack in order to save the rest of the universe from we humans. No kidding. Read a synopsis here . Or the whole thing here . Okay, I'm done.  Heh.

I realize I am late to the game in just discovering Kirby Ferguson , but I came across his Everything is Remix series this evening after I became somewhat discouraged after reading a tweet that Blade Runner is up for the prequel/sequel treatment. As I was Googling comfort, camaraderie and explanation of my angst, I ran across the second installment of Kirby's series. You know, I feel better now, not because I have come to terms with attempts to recapture classics like The Thing, Total Recall, The Birds --okay, you get the picture--but because I was reminded of the things that separate a mere copy (or a blatant attempt to make money) from a transformation. While there may be nothing new under the sun, there can be such beauty in a transformative "remix". (You can see the other installments at Kirby's web site .)

taken at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museums Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center "Many lament the shuttle era's end. But that's misplaced sentiment. Lament instead the absence of an era to replace it." ~ tweeted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on July 8, 2011 , awaiting for the last launch of the Space Shuttle (hat tip  @csalafia )

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a fan of football by any stretch, but I do enjoy baseball and I am a fan of  one particular film , so I can appreciate this spoof by Funny or Die, heh.