Bears, Bicycles, and Jesus

I went to see Blue Like Jazz at a screening in LA and was amazing by the acting, the filming, and the direction. I think was more excited to see this than The Hunger Games movie.

Let me begin by saying that I don't traditionally like Christian movies. I find they are often too cheesy (and not the good kind that would come on a pizza) for my taste. They either try too hard to be "Christian" and put unnecessary Christian dialogue or action in the movie or too hard to appeal to a secular audience and have lost all Christian themes/morals in the movie. I'm not saying that Christian movies are awful and I know many people who like them. But they are the equivalent of Hallmark or Nora Roberts movies - good for a quick cry and then easily forgettable.

What is different about Blue Like Jazz is the hoensty. Donald Miller knows how to tell good stories. I think that is why I like him as an author is he tells amazing stories. His books don't feel like regular Christian books but rather like you are in a coffee shop with him and he is telling you his life story. The movie has the same feel, like you are sitting down with 20 year old Don Miller and he is telling you about his first year at Reed College in Portland and how Jesus met him through his pot smoking, beer drinking, and lesbian classmates.

The characters in this movie are real, partly because they are all based on real people, but also the actors portray them exceptionally well. The movie allows you to question why you "do" religion but also brings you back to the essential point of the power and necessity of Jesus. I like that the movie itself never questions who Jesus is but rather you are watching Don question him. It allowed me to go there with Don (if I needed to) or to watch along, emphasizing with him. It allowed me to evaluate my own life - where had Jesus met in the past and where did I need him to meet me again.

It was a beautiful story and I cannot wait to see it again.

The Hunger Games

Unless you've been living underneath a rock, you've heard of Suzanne Collins's book, The Hunger Games. Currently my Jr. High small group girls are obsessed with it. I have to say, to start out with, that I really love these books since I first read The Hunger Games almost a year ago. I am excited to see it come to a movie but more than that, I look forward to the discussions that can come from this book. Questions about oppression, injustice, and survival in our own world.

While I am excited to see my small group girls so engaged in a book rather than some reality TV show MTV has put out (not that I haven't watched a few of those myself) I am not sure they totally understand the depth of the book. Many of them are much more invested in the romance, making camps of Team Gale or Team Peeta. But honestly, those books are not about the romance. According to Collins's herself the books themes are much deeper than romance. The book "tackles issues such as severe poverty, starvation, oppression, and the affects of war among others." The books itself are not about a girl choosing between two guys (as you may see in Twilight) and isn't the battle of good vs. evil (for example as in, say, Harry Potter) but about how do we wrestle with injustice in our own world? Do we sit back and pretend it doesn't happen like they do in the capital? Do we just try to survive on our wits and knowledge like Katniss and Gale in the first book or do we step out and fight against oppression?

Collins hopes that readers walk away from the books asking how "elements of the book might be relevant in their own lives. And, if they're disturbing, what they might do about them." I appreciate The Hunger Games books, not because they are full of action, violence, or romance but because they allow us to see injustice and oppression in an imaginary world and that should lead us to reflect where do we see those things in society. I think as Christians we should take advantage of this extremely popular book as a transition into asking our churches and fellowships where do we see injustice and what can be done about it? 

Up All Night

Volunteering with Jr. High Ministries has provided many a crazy opportunitiy. But none compare to staying up all night, with a ton of kids, bouncing on trampolines, falling at roller skating rinks, nerf wars, hip-hop rappers, 80's outfits, and delusions.

I think I am going to die. Not literally, but close to it. My body aches from all the jumping and falling. My head hurts from no sleep. I'm too old for this stuff.

I kind of feel like the tv show, Up All Night, staring Christina Applegate and Will Arnet. Except minus the baby part.

And that is also why I do not want babies any time soon. I need my sleep! 

A Second Chance

Fresno has turned into my home away from home. I never would have thought that after going to FUI (you know, that internship thingy I discuss a lot. Apparently it was important in my life. I will you look back at old blog posts for references and cool links). And one of the coolest things about being back in Fresno this time around was that I got to see a second chance for the Iron Bird Cafe.

The Coconut Mocha from Iron Bird Cafe

The place closed down shortly after I left Fresno for my second summer at FUI. It was heartbreaking to many of the people who frequented the establishment and loved their coffee. And they were thus overjoyed by it's return. The current owner is Amy Liao who owns Teazer World Market tea shops in Fresno (which I also LOVE). When I was in their last, I got to meet Amy and in her words "We've got to focus on making the good coffee and good food." Then she'll worry about the publicity.

I love this place because I feel like it is a metaphor for the city of Fresno. The city is virtually split into 2 parts - North Fresno is the rich area with the large shopping centers and tourist attractions. Downtown Fresno is full of poverty, homelessness, brokenness, and it easily forgotten about. People drive on the 99, past Fulton mall, past downtown, to get straight into Riverpark and Clovis and beyond. The downtown was left in the wake of their dust.

Years ago, the city learned that they were in the city with the highest concentrated poverty rate (people in a designated area living below the poverty line - they have the most designated areas). Since then people have worked to give their resources, time, and even Christian men and women have moved into the neighborhood to invest their own lives, money, and time into the city. Like IronBird, the city was given a second chance, was given hope to be renewed.

"Shout for joy, you heavens' rejoice, you earth; burst into song you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.' Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; you walls are ever before me." - Isaiah 49:13-16

Like Zion, Fresno will not be forsaken or forgotten by the Lord. During times of trouble, I feel like Zion and Fresno, I feel like God has left me and forgotten about me. But this verse reminds me, reminds the cities, that the Lord can no more forget, can no more walk away than a mother could possibly walk away from their nursing baby. Even in times of trouble, the Lord has not forsaken us but calls us to rejoice. Gives us hope and a second chance.

Epic Frog

Need I say more?

Leap Day

I had to have a post on leap day. It would be a shame not to blog on the one day every four years where the date will say February 29th. I don't actually see what is so special about Leap Day (other than it occurs every four years). But the summer olympics occur every four years and they have gymnastics and I think that is that is far superior. So in honor of Leap Day and the future olympics to occur this summer I have included a clip from Stick It and a limerick about a frog.

There once was a froggy named Ted

Who desperately wanted to a girl, wed

So it was on Leap Day

He got on his knee to say,

But a large croak was all to be said. 

And the Stick It trailer. Watch this movie. It is highly amusing.

Blue Like Jazz: The Movie

I am really excited for the Blue Like Jazz movie to come out. I think it is going to be a fantastic work from the creative mind of Don Miller (on a side note - Don Miller is on my list of famous people I want to become best friends with).

Anyway, here is the trailer for the movie. Take a look and be impressed: