Top of the B-List
“When we get our spiritual house in order, we’ll be dead. This goes on. You arrive at enough certainty to be able to make your way, but it is making it in darkness. Don’t expect faith to clear things up for you. It is trust, not certainty.”
— Flannery O’Connor
Or even American, really…
I’ve signed this petition from the excellent Sojourners magazine folks. Even though I can’t vote, my life (and the lives of millions of people around the world, especially in Iraq) are affected by this November’s election.
If you’re a person of faith, have a look. Ah, go on, even if you’re not…
From Martin Scorsese’s My Voyage To Italy, an excellent DVD documentary on Italian film:
Roberto Rossellini, 1963, in reference to his film Europa ’51
From a song called Foregone Conclusions, by Pedro the Lion:
“You were too busy steering the conversation toward the Lord,
to hear the voice of the Spirit saying shut the fuck up.”
I’ve spent the last few weeks/months/years trying to listen instead of speak about these things. It’s very hard not to become completely discouraged. Silly but telling example: Last night, I watched the first episode of the new series of reality show The Amazing Race. One couple, noted by their onscreen graphic as “Models/Dating”, also made a big deal of declaring they were “committed Christians” and the guy is making an ass of himself already, talking about “trusting the Lord” with their decisions. Buddy, you’re on a GAME SHOW! His whole attitude reminds me of a quote that’s on my “Faith” page:
“I’ve often wondered if being a Christian was something we could, or should, claim for ourselves; that if being a Christian meant incarnating the love of Christ in my own life, then maybe it would be best to let others tell me how well, or how badly, I’m doing”
—Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk
I’m almost afraid to watch the rest of the series…
And, oh yeah, this, too.
You know how I love these film lists! Here’s an interesting one. Well, interesting to me anyway. Arts and Faith has assembled a list of the Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films. I’ve seen 41.2. The fraction is due to their decision to count multiple film sets as one choice (ie. Kieslowski’s Three Colours trilogy, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Kieslowski’s Decalogue). I’ve only seen 2 of the 10 segments of Kieslowski’s Decalogue.
(via dashhouse)