memorandum from captain random

unfortunately i do not have time to post anything meaningful today, so i’m going to regularly assault you with meaningless drivel instead. enjoy.

if you love me, you’ll buy me greg boyd’s a myth of a christian nation. i know that a number of you hate boyd’s theological conceptions, but i’ve had the opportunity to connect with this man personally and can confirm that he has an incredible passion for the gospel and pastoral heart. i’ve also heard that he lost upwards of 1,000 members of his congregation after preaching on the sermons that inspired this new book. that takes balls. so even if this book is a rehash of yoder and hauwerwas i want to read it.

last night, while brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed, i realized that the two Christ-followers that i relate with most are godric from buechner’s spectacular novel by the same name and the whisky priest from graham greene’s the power and the glory. the first figure slept with his sister and founds his most intimate communion with snakes and the second lived a rather luxurious life that was built on the backs of his peasant parishioners. although there is much to loathe about these two figures, both of them were carried along by the sustenance of the sacraments and a certain, inescapable sense of holiness (for the priest this holiness rested in the exaltation and administration of eucharist. godric found that this holiness was etched upon and administered through his hands) that attracted people to them and served as their primary means of blessing the world. i feel much the same way insofar as there is much to loathe about my pessimistic, misanthropic and mostly hidden self, yet i have been capture by the inescapable and inestimable beauty, truth and goodness of Jesus Christ’s life and, for some reason, feel compelled to share the stumbling journey of discipleship with others. i suppose that my purpose would be clearer and my ministry would be more metrically satisfying if i related with rick warren or bill hybels. but there you go.

i crossed a line in the sand last night when i chose not to watch my name is earl, which, along with the office, cade lovingly recorded for me, so that i would have the eighth episode of the wire. if you haven’t caught the wire yet and you’re into law and order type television, you’re really missing out. although he makes some poor decisions, such as having his elementary school children perform ad hoc surveillance on a dangerous drug dealer and drinking more than mel gibson on the sabbath, i’m beginning to suspect that detective mcnulty is my new hero.

one of the strange things about spending 40-45 hours a week in an office environment is realizing how often people talk about the same damn thing over and over and over. i have a co-worker who has been talking about her impending move to georgia for at least one hour a day for eight months. her husband’s contract work here in the commonwealth has been extended yet again, meaning i am going to hear about “how nice people are” in georgia and details about every amenity in her house for yet another month. she’s a nice person and i don’t mind working with her, but i wish she would stop turning back to the same damn subject like a broken record. on the bright side, now that i’ve endured her repetitious stories for eight months, i can empathize with dr. james, holli-brooke and the pixie who have hear my shopworn jokes and my ragged edged tirades time and again. in the end, i’m utterly amazed that any of us put up with each other.

as reported elsewhere cade and i went to see high fidelity: the musical on tuesday night. although the first fifteen minutes completely sucked – which means death for sermons, operatic voice pieces and, i fear, musicals – the rest of the first half sucked less so and the second half was rollicking if not balls-to-the-wall fun. i thought cade’s critique of the guy who played rob was spot-on and his trumpeting of christian anderson, who played dick to incredibly poignant and comedic effect, as the scene stealer of the show was spot-on. i would also add that the girl who played liz has a sass that is electric, but unfortunately cannot sing, and the way the second half of the score ironically references and subsequently apes musical genre (there is an excellent lyle lovett inspired tune called, fittingly, “i slept with someone who slept with lyle lovett”) is brilliant. all in all, once i endured the painful first fifteen minutes (which included lines that were almost straight out of the book, but not quite. i.e., “my records are not organized alphabetically or chronologically but, wait for it, autobiographically;” “some people will never get over the night their band opened for radiohead.” i almost wanted to scream, if you are going to use the source material, don’t alter it in such stupid ways!) i had a really great time. in sum, high fidelity is a half-great and altogether good musical.

the pixie and i are going to see scorcese’s new flick the departed this evening. know that kellie has wanted to see this film for some time, so i’m thinking it should be considered a worthy substitute for the chick flicks that she often wants me to see with her. should it count or not? help us out here.

hey cade, sorry i’m stepping out on you concerning the departed. the globe finally reviewed high fidelity and you can find the article here.

the best movie almost no one is watching:

the pixie and i had the opportunity to see half nelson a couple of weeks ago and i really enjoyed it. the movie follows the story of mr. dunne, an idealistic inner city school teacher, and drey, his favorite student and confidante. throughout the movie mr. dunne is trying to teach his eighth grade history students the theory of dialectics in hopes that they will understand the changes that have taken place in history and hopefully participate in social movements to come. the primary irony of the film is that although mr. dunne is obsessed with change on a social and political level, he cannot see any significant changes in his life. his personal stasis is particularly problematic because he is not only a dedicated inner city school teacher, but also an unrepentant crack head. as the friendship between mr. dunne and drey slowly unfolds one keeps hoping that their friendship will bring change to the rather precarious states of both of their lives. yet, as the movie so eloquently shows, we can rarely predict the people and events that will entice, entreat or even force us to change. moreover, sometimes we have to wonder whether change will ever occur at all. half nelson is not an inspiring movie, but it is, in my opinion at least, an incredibly true movie insofar as it both reminds us of both the potential for and our relative inability to engineer change. i think a lot of preachers, counselors, parents and anyone else who is infinitely invested in the lives of others would really benefit from seeing this film that reminds us that, ultimately, change is out of our hands and, hopefully, is in God’s.

hug it out bitch!

this weekend j & b celebrate 6 years of marriage. kudos to them! i would love to commend their union as one of the best examples of the beauty, truth and goodness that i have ever seen and at the same time remind people that often things don't work out quite that well.