The Powerful Pull of Prayer

Sandra Bullock stars in this film, “Gravity,” about an astronaut who has to keep the space shuttle going at 55 mph or it will blow up; it’s subtitled “Speed 3”…. I kid, I kid.

Really, this is a film about prayer in space. You may think I’m kidding about that, but I’m not. You can enjoy this new film from writer/director Alfonso Cuarón as a straight adventure film, but there is more going on than the story of astronauts trying to get home.

George Clooney, along with Bullock, plays an astronaut doing repair work on a space telescope when a barrage of debris from an exploded satellite sets the two adrift in space. The rest of the spare 90 minute film is about their attempt to make it back to earth.

Now, if you don’t like tension in your film viewing experience, you may wish to pass this movie by, because as events go badly for our space travelers early in the film, they quickly get worse and the tension keeps ratcheting up.

But does any of this have to do with prayer? Early in the film, radio contact with Houston control is lost, but Clooney keeps talking as if they’re listening, updating his status. Bullock asks him why he keeps talking. He responds that Houston may well hear him, even if he can’t hear their response. Many of us become frustrated in our prayer lives because we feel like we’re talking to a brick wall; no one’s listening. But silence doesn’t mean God isn’t listening. It might just mean He’s listening but giving us space to talk. Psalm 4:3 assures us that “the Lord hears when I call to Him.”

It’s interesting that objects related to prayer (not strictly Christian) are seen throughout the film. In a Russian spacecraft, there is an icon of a saint. In a Chinese craft, a small Buddha statue sits on top of a control panel.

Later, the film is more explicitly about prayer. In fact, one character says, “No one taught me to pray.” Many of us are under the mistaken impression that we need some kind of magical formulation of words in order to get God’s attention.

There are things to learn about prayer (the Lord’s Prayer is Jesus’ response to the disciples’ request to be taught how to pray), but it’s interesting what sound is heard immediately after this character says, “No one taught me to pray.” Because I don’t want to spoil plot points and because it would take too many words to explain, you’ll just have to take my word for it that the sound is a baby’s cry.

Psalm 18:6 says, “In my distress I called to the LORD: I cried to my God for help. From his
temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.” We don’t need a secret formula to pray to God. He hears us when we cry.

“Gravity” does have some harsh language earning it a PG-13, which understandably might lead some to choose not to see this film. Fortunately our harsh language won’t keep God from hearing us. There are also some gruesome images in the film, which might make some in the audience turn away. Fortunately, God doesn’t turn away from our pain.

The famous tag line for the movie “Alien” was “In space no one can hear you scream.” The tag line for “Gravity” could be “In space God will hear your cry.” He hears it on earth as well.

Short (Like the Book) Review of Michael Card's "The Walk"

A book about two men whose work has brought me great encouragement through the years, musician Michael Card (whose album "In the Beginning" was playing in the room when Jill was born) and William Lane (who wrote what has proved for me the most useful commentary I've encountered, his work on Mark.)
Card writes about Lane as his mentor, as a college instructor and then for a couple of decades after that as a close friend.

The book is a moving story of discipleship, and a reminder of what is worth accomplishing in life. Card writes about Lane never completing what he thought would be his magnum opus, a study of the Apostle Paul. But he writes that he came to see something as more important. "While the call may be to write books or sermons or poems, the deeper call will always be to give ourselves away to others whom God places within our reach."
A short book, well written, is a very good thing.

A Review of "Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong" by Joyce Carol Oates (2013, The Mysterious Press)

In the first of four stories, in this little thriller anthology, one of the characters references an episode of "The Twilight Zone". The story has hints of the supernatural and the reader may begin to suspect the book will a collection of stories that could have been presented on the classic Rod Sterling series. But soon one sees we're not in the twilight zone, but in the world of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".
In that other classic anthology series, the supernatural was occasionally implied but never really came through. The dangers were be found in the all too human hearts and minds.

As the subtitle of the book indicates, all the stories deal with a twisted love, but that love isn't always romantic. Parental love takes a dark turn as does the love of a child for a parent and even love between siblings.

Oates does a wonderful job at times of sowing curiosity and dread about the characters which pulls the reader along to an often gruesome conclusion. Of course, the content would have kept a couple of the stories off television in the black and white days. "The Execution" has a quite detailed and brutal description of murder. And "The Flatbed" is quite graphic (but not licentious) in sexual detail.

But "Evil Eye" and "So Near...Any Time...Always" would have been quite cheerily introduced by Hitch, the cherubic host, with assurances after the last act that the guilty were caught and all came out well (said to please the censor, but the audience knew it really wasn't so.)

Tales of suspense by one of the world's most celebrated writers that can be read quickly with at turns pleasure, heebie-jeebies, and moral unease.

The World's Greatest Car Game (Hat Tip to J. B. Rudell)

DVD players and portable gaming systems have cut down on the “Are we there yet?”s on long car trips. But many choose the car rather than the plane so that children will see the country and not just video screens. But how to keep our kids interested in what is outside the window?

Certainly, use the alphabet license plate game, along with “I spy with my little eye’. But what has become a favorite on country roads is “Hey Cow!” It is a simple game. If there are cows feeding in a field along the road, slow down, roll down the window and someone calls out, “Hey Cow!”

You then count the number of cows that look up. Everyone in the car takes turn and you total up the upturned heads for a total. I’m sure you can play “Hey Horse!” or even “Hey Dog!” in urban areas. But nothing beats “Hey Cow!”

(And yes, in Mexico, play “Hoy Vaca!”, just so they’ll understand.)

A review of John Piper's book, "The Passion of Jesus Christ" (Crossway Books 2004)

“As parents, we know we would never do anything to harm our children. So we know that God the Father didn’t send His Son Jesus to the cross. But we learn from this that God suffers senseless pain just as we do.”

And with that, a row of pastors collectively jaws dropped. It was Good Friday in Felton, California where traditionally a group of protestant churches gathered to remember Christ’s death. On that day, seven pastors were sharing seven to nine minute sermonettes on the last seven words of Jesus. A new pastor to the San Lorenzo Valley was invited and she was giving her take on, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.”

She argued there was no inherent purpose in Christ’s death on the cross and that it seemed to take God the Father and Jesus by surprise. But the good thing we get out of it was that whenever we suffer on boo-boo, we can know that God feels our pain.

The next pastor up dropped his prepared text and used Scripture to take the previous talk apart. But I’ve been amazed at how many clergy people I’ve come across through the years since then who believe Christ’s death on the cross was some terrible cosmic accident.

I recently read a book on theodicy by a Catholic priest who claimed to love the song “How Great Thou Art” except for that nasty verse three that reads, “And when I think, that God, His son not sparing, sent Him to die”. He argued God would never do such a thing.

John Piper’s “The Passion of Jesus Christ” not only cites Scripture that shows that the crucifixion of Jesus was part of God’s plan, but that it was in fact The Plan of History. Piper then goes on to show fifty different purposes God accomplished through the death of Jesus.

Obviously, many of those purposes will come quickly to mind to anyone who has stayed awake through a communion service in church. Jesus died for our redemption, justification, sanctification and salvation. Piper makes it clear that these are different things and uses God’s Word to show why each of these theological concepts are important and great gifts.

But he also points to unexpected benefits of the Cross such as strengthened marriages and battling racism and many other great things were accomplished at Calvary.

A fairly short book with a powerful message; it would be a great devotional during lent.

A Review of "The Way,Way Back"

Nobody seems to have station wagons anymore -- the go-to family vehicle is a mini-van. So when the new film The Way, Way Back opens, with the 14 year-old protagonist, Duncan, is seen sitting in the way back of a Buick paneled station wagon, I wondered if it was a period film. It’s not. The car is the treasured “classic” possession of Duncan’s mother’s boyfriend Trent (played with grating smarminess by Steve Carell.) They’re on the road (along with Duncan’s mother and Trent’s daughter) to a beach house in a resort town, not just for a summer vacation, but to see if the car’s occupants can form a family.

Duncan sitting in the way (way) back of the wagon is a nice image of the boy’s adolescent isolation (as is the picture of Duncan in the film’s poster, where Duncan is sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool. That pool image is reminiscent of Ben [Dustin Hoffman] Braddock in The Graduate and doesn’t appear in the film).

His parent’s divorce and his own social awkwardness has not done wonders for Duncan’s self-esteem. Trent, his potential step-father, isn’t helping, either. Early on, he tells Duncan he’d rate Duncan a three on a one to ten scale. Of course, he says this just to help Duncan, you know.

At the beach town, Duncan tries to escape from his family by visiting a local water park. There he meets a park manager who takes an interest in Duncan (who stands out at the park as the one person wearing long pants). Sam Rockwell plays Owen, the park manager, in full Bill Murray circa Meatballs era wisecracking mode.

Owen takes Duncan under his wing, hiring him -- apparently for the job of listening to Owen’s tall tales. Owen just hangs out with Duncan, assuring the boy that he thinks he is a great guy.

Owen is doing what I was always taught is the work of good youth ministry: enter the world of young people in a nonjudgmental way. Just hang out with a good ear. And believe that kids are worth your time. Some call this kind of ministry “incarnational.” It’s following the model of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (John 1:14, NIV). God thought we humans were worth spending time with. Sometimes we adults forget that students are worth our time.

Carell’s Trent and Rockwell’s Owen are competing father figures, but one wants to get something from Duncan and the other is looking to give. Sometimes the thing adults look to get out of young people is a sense of superiority through verbal or even physical abuse. This is what led Jesus to talk about millstones tied around necks (Matthew 18:6).

I saw the film with my son, and heading for dinner afterwards, I caught myself making a sarcastic remark not at all unlike what Trent would have said. We like to think of ourselves as heroes in our own films, but quite often we are, in fact, playing villains in films starring others.

Jesus calls us to be supporting players in other people’s stories, because He was willing to be that for us.

(Rated PG-13 for language, and references to sex and drugs.)

A Review of Rich Lowry's "Lincoln Unbound: How an Ambitious Young Railsplitter Saved the American Dream - and How We Can Do It Again" (Broadside Books, 2013)

The premise of this book should be quite obvious, but I hadn't given it much thought before. Abraham Lincoln did not start his political career wanting to win a bloody war, preserve the union or even free the slaves.

Because none of those things are not exactly in the purview of an Illinois legislator. Rich Lowry (editor of National Review) explores in this book Lincoln's fundamental political values through biography, primarily of his early career.

We also have images of young Lincoln reading by fire light, splitting wood and wrestling. The frontier boy and man in ill fitting buckskin. There is truth in all of that imagery. But what Lowry makes clear in his book is that it was Lincoln's motivating desire in life to leave the wilderness behind and remold himself into a modern, prosperous, even urban individual.

The American Dream of pursuing happiness, and yes, wealth, was not just a pretty picture in Lincoln's mind, but rather one of his deepest ambitions.

Lincoln often spoke of the importance of hard work and how it was key in one's life for advancement. He often quoted from Genesis about man earning bread from the sweat of one's brow. (It is interesting as he always seems to quote this Scripture positively, though it is part of Adam's curse.)

In his late teens, Lincoln was forced to work to pay off his father's debts. This led to his hatred of seeing others prosper due to other men's labor. Apparently, this drew him to a desire for fair laws of property, so no one could be swindled out of land; suspicion of confiscatory taxes; support of the right of unions to strike; and, yes, opposition to slavery.

Lowry points to the tendency of politicians to claim Lincoln as their own. Most recently, President Obama has encouraged the image of himself as a second 16th president, pointing to Lincoln's support of education and public works projects.

But Lowry ably argues that the first great Republican would remain a great Republican, and that the GOP needs to remember and embrace Lincoln's embrace and proclamation of values that go back to the nation's founding.