127 Hours and Our Real Problem

127 Hours is a film based on the true story of Aron Ralston and his New York Times bestselling book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Atria Books, 2004).

Disclaimer: I’ll try to explain the film without giving too much away, but consider this your “Spoiler Alert.”

While exploring a remote area near Canyonlands National Park in Utah, Aron Ralston (played by Academy Nominated James Franco) gets stuck in a crevasse with his right arm pinned against the wall by a boulder. The film explores the thoughts, emotions and challenges facing Ralston while he is stuck in the cave for 127 hours.  The film – and Franco in particular – do a good job of exploring both the realization of the problem and the process of solving that problem.
The original lure of the film is watching how this man will survive. I had assumed that the climax of the film would be when Ralston finally gets free from the boulder that trapped him. However, the filmmakers surprised me with where they placed the climax. The story takes an unexpected turn when it identifies the actual “problem” facing our hero.

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I have a confession to make…

I have a confession to make…I love auctions!  There is nothing like finding something that you really must have and then having someone else want it too.  In my mind I set a limit that is usually reached very quickly but I can’t let the other guy have it so I bid higher and higher and then sometimes win!  I was at a local auction a few years ago and stayed until the very end when most people have gone and only junk is left.  Anyway, they started to auction off an office chair that I hadn’t even seen.  It turned out that I actually needed an office chair so when no one bid and the auctioneer said that the first dollar gets it, I pounced on it.  An office chair for a buck.  What a deal!  Of course, I hadn’t yet actually seen the chair up close and when I did, I realized that there was no way my wife would let me bring the chair into our house (and no way I even wanted to sit in it), so I took it right to the dump where it cost me $3 to drop it off!  Not the brightest move, but lesson learned.  

Because I tend to buy stuff that I don’t really need at auctions, I rarely go anymore. BUT, I found some tv shows that show auctions and now I can see other people’s purchases!  Ever watch “Auction Kings”?  It’s very exciting to watch people bring stuff in and put a value on it and then see if the auction brings anything close to that!  Recently, I discovered the “Barrett-Jackson Auction” which is high end cars that are auctioned off.  Cars regularly get auctioned off for $100,000 to $200,000!!!  Can you imagine the “whoosh” (remember Jeff’s sermon), that those buyers must get?  Can you imagine spending that kind of money on a car that they are probably not going to drive?  Most of the cars are added to existing collections of cars that these people have! 

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Advent - Watch Out for Aslan

This December the movie-going public will once again be given a taste of the Land of Narnia as The Voyage of the Dawntreader comes to the Big Screen. Actually the 5th book of the Narnia series, it is the 3rd to be made into a movie in the last few years.

Now, I’m a Narnia fan from way back, reading the series for the first time when I was 19 (I know, a little old, but had never encountered them until I heard about C.S. Lewis at the Intervarstity Christian book table at S.F.U.).  I guess what I’ve loved most of all about the books (having read them as a Christian) is their beautifully crafted allegory of the Bible. In The Magician’s Nephew, we saw Creation. In the Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, we saw Calvary and the Resurrection so eloquently symbolized. The imagery doesn’t end, and in fact, is quite powerful in ‘Dawntreader’. The recent M.B. Herald issue has a series of articles by Randy Klassen pointing some of these out, and I recommend reading them, either in hand or on line – from August through November so far.

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Outside the Walls

It has been about two weeks since the documentary Outside the Walls was released. If you haven’t yet seen it, you can view the film, by going to http://www.outsidethewallsfilm.com, click the “Watch the Film” tab, and enter the password “OTW.”
The film has been shown two different ways – the first preview screening event and the weekend services at Northview Community Church.  One of the commonalities between both of these showings was without a doubt the great questions that were raised.  Unfortunately, we had a relatively short period of time available and as a result some very important questions were raised that we were not able to address at all.  I wanted to briefly respond to some of those questions here.  The following reflections are not necessarily definitive, in that they are absolutely true, nevertheless I will give my best effort to answer them.

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A Couple of Thoughts about “The Shack”

1. I don’t know if you have noticed this or not, but we are living in a time when what is true is judged largely by its therapeutic value. If a thing makes us feel good, it must have merit, while if it makes us feel bad, we aren’t interested. People’s responses to The Shack are an apt illustration of this cultural trend. Whenever I am asked about the book, I usually respond by saying something like this: “Before I give you my opinion, I need to ask you an important question. Do you think that the picture of God painted by William Young is the same as the picture of God you get when you read the Bible? If not, what are the differences?” What has surprised me is how few people I spoke with had even considered that question. They usually point to how wonderful the book made them feel and leave it at that. But, isn’t the question I ask more important than the question of how the book made you feel? I am convinced that facing up to the real character and nature of God is far more valuable than just pretending he is something that I want him to be for the sake of my good feelings.

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