Brothers Christopher & Peter
This is the stuff of movies. Two brothers who differ on the question of God. I recently watched the Grand Valley State University Debate between these two men. They discussed the Iraq War, the existence of God, and other controversial topics. Contrary to what you might think, Christopher Hitchens is pro-Iraq war and his Christian brother thinks the war unjustified and wrong.
Also, Peter Hitchens’ new book, The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith looks to be very interesting. See the clip promoting the book:
Peter Hitchens Author Interview–The Rage Against God from Gorilla Poet Productions on Vimeo.
Here is a YouTube video clip from the debate between the two brothers back in 2008 at Grand Valley State University:
It brings a smile to my face to think that Peter Hitchens answers and opposes his own brother. Just thought I’d share these links with you in case you hadn’t seen or heard of them.
Wright on Easter
This is a a two-page excerpt from Bishop Tom Wright’s book Surprised by Hope. I typed it out from the the chapter, Reshaping the Church for Mission (2): Living the Future. No comment needed from me. I just hope that this helps us renew our focus and perspective on celebrating Easter.
Introduction: Celebrating Easter
So how can we learn to live as wide-awake people, as Easter people? Here I have some bracing suggestions to make. I have come to believe that many churches simply throw Easter away year by year; and I want to plead that we rethink how we do it so as to help each other, as a church and as individuals, to live what we profess. I am speaking here particularly from, and to, the church I know best. Those who celebrate in other ways will, I think, be able to make appropriate adjustments and take whatever they need to apply to their own situations.
For a start, consider Easter Day itself. It’s a great step forward that many churches now hold Easter vigils, as the Orthodox church has always done, but in many cases they are still too tame by half. Easter is about the wild delight of God’s creative power—not very Anglican, perhaps, but at least we ought to shout Alleluias instead of murmuring them; we should light every candle in the building instead of some; we should give every man, woman, child, cat, dog, and mouse in the place a candle to hold; we should have a real bonfire; and we should splash water about as we renew our baptismal vows. Every step back from that is a step toward and ethereal or esoteric Easter experience, and the thing about Easter is that it is neither ethereal nor esoteric. It’s about the real Jesus coming out of the real tomb and getting God’s real new creation under way.
But my biggest problem starts on Easter Monday. I regard it as absurd and unjustifiable that we should spend forty days keeping Lent, pondering what it means, preaching about self-denial, being at least a little gloomy, and then bringing it all to a peak with Holy Week, which in turn climaxes in Maundy Thursday and Good Friday . . . and then, after a rather odd Holy Saturday, we have a single day of celebration.
All right, the Sundays after Easter still lie within the Easter season. We still have Easter readings and hymns during them. But Easter week itself ought not to be the time when all the clergy sigh with relief and go on holiday. It ought to be an eight-day festival, with champagne served after morning prayer or even before., with lots of alleluias and extra hymns and spectacular anthems. Is it any wonder people find it hard to believe in the resurrection of Jesus if we don’t throw our hats in the air? Is it any wonder we find it hard to live the resurrection if we don’t do it exuberantly in our liturgies? Is it any wonder the world doesn’t take much notice if Easter is celebrated as simply the one-day happy ending tacked on to forty days of fasting and gloom? It’s long overdue that we took a hard look at how we keep Easter in church, at home, in our personal lives, right through the system. And if it means rethinking some cherished habits, well, maybe it’s time to wake up. That always comes as a surprise.
And while we’re about it, we might write some more good Easter hymns and take care to choose the many good ones already written that celebrate what Easer really is rather than treating it as simply our ticket to a blissful life hereafter. Interestingly, most of the good Easter hymns turn out to be from the early church and most of the bad ones form the nineteenth century. But we should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways: in art, literature, children’s games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind. This is our greatest festival. Take Christmas away, and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity; as Paul says, you are still in your sins. We shouldn’t allow the secular world, with its schedules and habits and parareligious events, its cute Easter bunnies, to blow us off course. This is our greatest day. We should put the flags out.
In particular, if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up. Champagne for breakfast again—well, of course. Christian holiness was never meant to be merely negative. Of course you have to weed the garden from time to time; sometimes the ground ivy may need serious digging before you can get it out. That’s Lent for you. But you don’t want simply to turn the garden back into a neat bed of blank earth. Easter is the time to sow new seeds and to plant out a few cuttings. If Calvary means putting to death things in your life that need killing off if you are to flourish as a Christian and as a truly human being, then Easter should mean planting, watering, and training up things in your life (personal and corporate) that ought to be blossoming , filling the garden with color and perfume, and in due course bearing fruit. The forty days of the Easter season, until the ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up , some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving. You may be able to do it only for six weeks, just as you may be able to go without beer or tobacco only for the six weeks of Lent. But if you really make a start on it, it might give you a sniff of new possibilities, new hopes, new ventures you never dreamed of. It might bring something of Easter into your innermost life. It might help you wake up in a whole new way. And that’s what Easter is all about.
Excerpt from Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright from pages 255-257
Getting Into “Over the Rhine”
Karin has one of the most moving voices that I’ve heard in my 25 years upon this earth. She throws so much into her music. I don’t know if that is the total of my attraction to this group or if it is a combination of things. I can tell you that I like the mix of folk, jazz, & light rock. Linford Detweiler is quite the pianist and composer/arranger. There is enough piano and at all the right times.
The first song I heard by Over the Rhine (hereafter OTR) was their cover of Gillian Welch’s “Orphan Girl.” I played it for Sarah because she likes that song and the Gillian Welch version that is so popular. We both remarked that this live version was very moving. It was more upbeat and full than the isolating renditions by Welch and others. It was neat to see it in a more upbeat style and then be sung by such a soulful voice.
I write this post to commend them to you if you haven’t heard them. I really enjoy their original stuff as well as their covers of ballads. I’m a sucker for “live” and acoustic sets, so I went for their “Live from Nowhere” series of albums. But you might want to start with studio albums. I just like the Live feel and impromptu sound. Go, and listen and tell me what you think of that voice and song variety!
Happy Lombardi Gras!
It has been a week since the Saints won the Superbowl and I am still excited about it. It is fun to see a team you have rooted for, for a long time win big! It feels like I can relax and continue to enjoy Saints games because the pressure is off them to finally win. Things will be different next year. For one, less games will be on at 12 noon right after Sunday Church. They’ll be more “primetime” and probably have late games if not Sunday or Monday Night Games. There is talk of a Thanksgiving Day game versus the Cowboys. That’d be weird and fun. I’m liking seeing all this Saints gear around town. I’ve never really felt like there was a lot of options to buy Saints stuff. Now, we should see an influx of quality merchandise.
I ordered my Superbowl Championship shirt and I’m waiting for it to come in. I’m very excited about wearing it. It’s the only real chance for a team that I root for to win. My Alma mater doesn’t qualify for a BCS championship nor did any of my high school teams qualify for a state or national championship. I like to watch LSU play, but I don’t really have a vested interest in them winning. I’m happy for the State when they win, but I root for LA Tech most of the time. So, I don’t own any LSU apparel nor do I really care to. I’m happy watching their games and rooting for them most of the time. It’s just all the more enjoyable to see the Saints take home a Superbowl trophy after so many years of mediocrity and worse. It’s neat to see your team and your state be recognized as #1 and not the other guys. So, even a week after all the festivities have died down, I’m still just as excited. I’ve rewatched the game twice this week to really take it in. I hope that they make a run for it next year, but this is a relief and a lot of fun. Who Dat?!
Impressive Whitehouse.gov
On inauguration day, I watched the outgoing president’s website and then watched the 44th President’s website rollover even before he was even sworn in as President. I was stunned immediately at the noticeable upgrade of design and functionality. I am not a democrat and didn’t vote for Barack Obama. That withstanding, I think that he only helps his presidency by keeping the official website of the President looking modern and user-friendly. It continues to impress and improve.
I am very impressed with the new White House App for the iPhone. It publishes the weekly addresses and the daily press briefings. You can watch the photos that the official photographers take of the First Family. It does so in a clean and professional way. On the whole, I wish I could train and pick the brains of some of the men/women who are responsible for the graphic design and back end building of the this site.
It is not easy to do and to do it where any goof or mistake is noticed and reported is really all the more impressive. If you haven’t looked at the website or the iPhone App, check it out when you get some free time.
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