Oblivion – a 6 out of 10 on the JWO scale.

The message of this movie is you can never have enough Tom Cruises and drones are bad.  It was a slow moving but interesting sci-fy movie about a post alien invasion. It shows us  how the stories we are told are not necessarily true,  how the memories in our subconscious can lead the way to transformation, and how true love always wins out in the end.  Not bad messages, but I could have gotten there sooner. 

Movie Review – Inside Llewellyn Davis – an 8.5 out of 10 on the JWO Scale

In the movie there is a scene with a back and forth with the lead male character and the lead female character where he says “There are two kinds of people in this world, those who divide the world into two kinds of people and (and then she interrupts him and says) and losers.  I feel that way about the Coen Brothers movies. Either you love them as deeply meaningful insights into life, or you think they are boring droll.  I admit I am in the former category, but I am open to there being nuance and I think that is the message the movie is trying to send. The balance of pure integrity and selling out and  how difficult it is to find a balance between the two. It is the story of  a folk musician in the Greenwich Village Scene in the 1960s who is struggling to make it and his downward spiral into bitterness.  There are so many layers to the movie, some subtle (John Goodman Character and his driver), some not so subtle, (like when his father defecates after Llewellyn plays him a song. ).  Davis is aghast that his friend wrote a song that Davis considered beneath him, but it becomes popular and Llewellyn misses out on the royalties. Its more complex than that but the irony is obvious and dripping.

For me, there were two scenes that were unbelievably powerful. One involves when he is leaving a car, and he has to decide whether to take his cat along with him.  Technically not his cat, but one he had adopted and taken on this road trip he was on.  In that instance, there was an eternity. Making the harder choice is, (it would be hard to audition at a club with a cat in tow), or making a necesarry choice to abandon one’s responsibility and leave others (the cat in this instance) to the hands of fate and the one’s fellow companions.  We often know when we are faced with that choice, when we have to leave someone or something behind, knowing it will be hurtful to them, but knowing we can not move forward with them. We try to rationalize, and it may be necessary, but it doesn’t make the choice easier or the ramifications less painful. And the choice we make determines the fate of both for better or worse.  

The second scene was on the return trip to New York, from the road trip, and he sees the exit for his ex-girlfriend and son’s town in Ohio.  Again in that moment he has to make a decision as to whether to get off, to possibly reconnect and become part of a family and trade in his dream to be a performer.  The choices we make, sometimes to continue on, to not settle, leads to our destruction. Sometimes complete abdication of our integrity leads to our destruction as well. Its scenes like this that make me still thinking about the movie and its depth.  The choices are stark in the movie, but in real life, it is not always that obvious. 

Side note - The Coen brothers are so good at creating caricatures. Their portrayal of the New York City upper west side intelligentsia who want their friends to meet their “folk singer friend” and are overly forgiving no matter how boorish and ungrateful Davis is,  was spot on.   The folk music was nice as well. 

A good movie to see, A good movie to dwell on. 

March 2017 - "Its that Time of Year"

March 2017 – “It’s That Time Of Year”

I am so excited that there is such a depth of programming at our Congregation that adds meaning to so many lives.  Our new daycare center that we opened two years ago with its sliding scale fees, now helps 25 low income families find safe and enriching child care for their families.  I am also extremely proud to announce that our Director of Religious Education, Sarah Moulton, helped organize an Interfaith Youth Group within the Quad Cities that is working to create a peaceful and environmentally sustainable future for our community. This summer, we are looking at starting our weekly UU Day Camp.  Our long term plan calls for us to start a charter school with an emphasis on ethics education.  Our Emerson Series of lectures on Religion and Science has received national attention as we explore new ways to share our religious views with others in the community. We have experienced continued expansion of our offerings from our “Spirituality Center of the Quad Cities,” which offers many paths to enlightenment and awareness, to a diverse group of people.  Our new Ministerial Intern has developed more fully our Campus Ministry program expanding from Augustana College to include St. Ambrose as well.  Our Community Garden has grown significantly from our first few raised beds in 2014. We have so much food that we are considering purchasing some land to start a Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurant to spread our belief in healthy and ethical eating.  I am continuing my work with Quad Cities Interfaith as we try to create a more just Quad Cities. It is heartening to see so many of our members in their “Standing on the Side of Love” tee shirts at local social justice events in the community. Unitarian Universalism is alive, well, and vibrant in the Quad Cities. 

This article started with a typo. I meant to write March 2014, and accidently wrote 2016. When I did that, I wondered what I might be writing in March of 2016. After having some fun imaging all the things we could possibly do, I realized it would take more than two years, so I changed it to 2017!!  Unitarian Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Shallow people believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong people believe in cause and effect.” (The Conduct of Life, 1860.)  None of us know what the future will bring. However we know if we hope to fulfill our vision and mission, we will need to plan for it. It will not happen by chance. For almost a year, leaders of the Congregation have been working to create a Strategic Plan.  We believe through the implementation of this plan we can change people’s lives for the better. To do this, we need to maintain and to add to the quality programs we offer in the Congregation.  To make this so, now is the time to start implementing the Strategic Plan, not some time in the distant future.  NOW.  So I am asking you to discern what this Congregation means to you and how it has impacted your life.  Just as important, discern what it could mean to you and others in the future. We can make a difference.  We need you to help us make that difference.   I ask you to consider this when you consider your pledge for this year.  We will be kicking off our annual budget drive this year with a Celebration Brunch as part of our service on Sunday March 16^th.  I hope to see you there. If you have any questions about your pledge or the strategic plan, please do not hesitate to set up an appointment to talk with me.

with a grateful heart

Rev. Jay