I am starting to think that the Liberals are going to get absolutely hammered in the upcoming election. I believe we might see a minority Conservative government with the NDP holding the balance of power. Quite frankly I was pleased by how the NDP used their position when the Liberals were in the leadership position – gernerally pushing for social and health care spending that would normally slide. I know many people see the Conservatives and the NDP as polar opposites but perhaps the combination of the two in a minority government would create a balance that would work…both parties keeping each other from moving too far to the extreme right or left – the perfect Canadian compromise – right up the middle (and no – the Liberals are not right up the middle as some think).

Saw King Kong today. Very, very good movie. Very sad as well. Peter Jackson is brilliant, there’s no doubt about it. I look forward to the movies he makes in the future.

 

Kong had some great imagery in it. Some deep messages woven through it as well. The largest theme of course seems to have been humanity versus nature, which runs through much art. Some interesting glimpses of imperialism and the themes of love versus might against a threat.

 

That’s it for now – a great film – every kid should see it – it is the stuff of fantastic dreams and yes it is scarey…but sometimes being scared can be a good thing.

 

Saw the preview for Superman as well – that looks good and faithful…already have the words of Jor-el from the trailer in my mind – something about humanity having the capacity for great good "which is the only reason that I have sent you, my only son, to them". Setting up the Christ imagery and sacrifice themes no doubt.

A piece of earth broke free

and fell to the sea below

 

                              …swallowed by the waves

 

a little breath of clay

small beauty

washed to mud

has disappeared

 

and the vast, vast world

is now a little smaller for it

 

==============================

 

We NEED to read and understand the words of John Donne (below). We live like a cliff that laughs when a piece of it slides into the ocean not realizing that it is our own self sliding away…

Meditation XVII: No man is an island…

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated…As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness….No man is an island, entire of itself…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

John Donne

…because I can:

 

 

 

A few entries back I mentioned how I thought fear was the greatest enemy to art. Today I was talking to my friend Pastor D about Johnny Cash (who we both appreciate) and it occured to me that perhaps one of the reasons Cash resonated with me (and many others) was his bare-wire honesty. If his music was art than it was a fearless art. It was music that was written and sung by a man who was not afraid of what people thought about what he had to say and how he said it.

 

I think this is why I like Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen…there appears to be a fierce honesty in their work (time will only tell if Springsteen carries it forward like Cash).

 

In some ways this is also the reason why the prophets were so compelling. There is an honesty in their words that burns people (and the prophets themselves). The prophets rarely said anything people actually wanted to hear. Most often they rarely said the things they themselves wanted to say. They said the things that God wanted them to say and they suffered for it.

 

Maybe great artists are like the prophets in this way. They say things that we don’t want to hear but we need to hear. They say things they don’t want to say but need to say. Like the prophet they live outside of society because society does not want them too close – they scare us. We recognize there is something completely other about them and sense that they may be useful but we’re just not sure how…so we don’t let them get too far away – just far enough to feel safe.

 

I sense the spiral in these posts and there will likely be more.

 

P.S. Happy first day of Winter

Ok – I consider myself a reasonably decent web-digger…in fact more than reasonably decent – I’m pretty good at finding things. But I have been stumped for a while now in my search for the Duck Dodgers theme song. I can find it nowhere! It’s performed by Tom Jones and The Flaming Lips.

 

I have given up! (for now).

 

If you think you can do better good luck. If you do find it let me know and you will win my everlasting respect.

I can’t remember if I wrote this before (I can’t find any mention of it). Writing is an interesting exercise and one which I enjoy more and more. There was a fear once that the art of writing would fall by the way with the advent of new technology. I suspect that for the time being writing will see something of a revival as blogs and chats take off.

 

At any rate it seems to me that writing can be both an exercise and an art (sometime both at once) in the same way painting can be both a functional exercise (like the painting of my walls) or an art (like the work of William Blake). Painting as well can be both functional and artistic (like the ceiling of the Cistine Chapel).

 

In my case writing is more often than not a functional exercise which strives to move into an art.

 

It occured to me the other day that the greatest enemy to writing as art (and perhaps all art) is fear. Nothing seems more limiting to me than fear. Fear prevents us from expressing. Fear instills in art restraint and paralysis – and there is nothing worse than an art you sense was meant to be much more than it is…an art whose greatness is buried beneath a vast and thick flesh until it becomes almost unrecognizable.

 

Don’t get me wrong – I believe fear can be a great creative force which can motivate the creation of amazing things (see Edvard Munch’s The Scream). The kind of fear I am talking about is a fear of the art itself – a fear of what you are creating (or a fear of the response to it).

 

Surely what you create then is more of a safe thing. A pleasent item to look at or read. A tame creation with no claws to grab and hang on with, like Hemingway writing Harlequins or Warhol designing Campbell’s soup labels.

 

…more on this later – I’m running out of steam…

 

 

Just saw Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe with 58 of my closest friends. Great film. Awesome effects (the beavers are cool). The acting was really good – especially Lucy.

 

Very enjoyable if a little constrained. I highly recommend it.

What happens if, in warfare, the battle itself distracts you from the goal? What do you do? What if the enemy knows that simply maintaining skirmishes keeps you from succeeding, focusing on the goal – simply embroiling you in a neverending firefight until you accept it as the norm?

 

It seems the worst wars (and yes, some are worse than others) have fallen into this category. Those wars where the enemy suddenly realizes that the best reality for them is to simply maintain the war. That the only other option is to cease to exist. So – when this realization occurs it is as though the enemy has been backed up against the proverbial river that Sun Tzu speaks of – with no place to go but forward. The battle rages then with such a fierce desparation because the battle itself keeps one alive.

 

It seems to me that Satan must be in this situation. The end is clear. God has declared it to us and therefore Satan must be aware as well. This battle continues to rage with the end clearly known and declared – God has already won. In this situation Satan is backed against a lake of fire and the only thought must be to keep the fighting going – as though that buys time – and the fighting occurs with the ferocity of an army with no hope.

 

We, on the other hand are the troops assured of victory. This can lead to complacency. Not on the part of God, to be sure, but on the part of His troops. God is the good general seeking to motivate His troops and make sure they know that they have a role to play – no matter how certain the victory and that complacency can lead to casualties.

 

Our desire is to be with the general, celebrating success. But every time we focus in that direction we get nailed because the enemy is desparate. The enemy wants to keep us engaged in the battle because when our eyes are on the enemy they are off the royal standard of our Lord that gives us hope. When we have hope, we fight with focus.

 

We must not take our eyes off the Lord’s standard and His standard bearer – Christ, not for a second. When we get complacent we play into the enemy’s hands and fall for the illusion that the battle will never end…that the battle is the norm. If it seems too normal we get so complacent we are taken hostage…this is truly frightening…and avoidable.