A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

So of course she won the Pulitzer for this book, but that in and of itself doesn’t prejudge a book for me. I have sat thinking about this book for a couple of days now.  This was an easy read. It is the story of a third generation farmer who gives his farm to two of his three daughters and their spouses and the aftermath of how that affected the family. What I like most was the book gave me a sense of what it was like to live and work on a family farm. Being a city kid now living in Iowa, I found this helpful and interesting. I felt like I was peering into a foreign culture. The story depicts the dysfunction and dynamics within families. It talks about our inner lives compared to our outer lives. It is a reminder that we often don’t really know the suffering that most people live with. It points to the strength, the pain and destruction of keeping secrets. Ultimately it talks about how our history, all of it is a large part of defining who we are.  My only slight complaint about the book is that for the first 2/3 of the book it was evenly paced developing the characters. Then in the last third of the book it felt very rushed to tell us all the secrets. Time lapsed without going into depth how these revelations affected the characters in other then a cursory way. Even so, I think I was just seeking more of a good thing. I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it 

Rogue One – an 8 out of 10 on the JayWo movie rating scale.

Next to the “Empire Strikes Back” this is my second favorite Star Wars movie. Empire will always be number 1 because it introduced me to Yoda. Rogue One was a bit of a slower moving, and dark movie compared to the action oriented and feel good movies in the series. It was a well written movie. It gave us a chance to meet various characters of the rebellion not just see them fight.  It answered a long time stirring question (at least for me) about the original star wars movie and why the death star had a fatal flaw. (this doesn’t answer that same question for the Force Awakens)  The movie showed that anything worth doing requires risk and sacrifice.  That is a message that I think is important for our current world.  I also saw a similarity within the racial diversity of the rebellion leaders and fighters, and our own country. Possibly, it idealized how we could unify our fractured competing oppressions and join together to achieve a common goal of defeating the empires in our lives.  Lastly who doesn’t like a wisecracking droid.  “I am one with the force, and the force is with me” May the force be with you.

Enemies by Maxim Gorky

I just finished re-reading this play for the first time after seeing in some off-off Broadway production over 30 years ago. It tells the story of Russia on the brink of revolution in 1906 as capsulated in the tension of a strike by workers at a textile factory(?) owned by the wealthier class.  Although it spoke specifically about class warfare vs. race issues, I think the play still makes some fundamental points that are relative to the tensions in our society  today. 

            What struck me about the play was that its reference to enemies was not so much between the classes (although that is implied) but among the wealthy class.  One of the wealthy class laments how the workers are united and trust each other. She goes on to say “We live like enemies, believing in nothing, bound together by nothing, each for ourselves” This  speaks to me of our ongoing culture of competitiveness and our constant worry and need to maintain our advantage in the world.  This to me is one reason why we come together in religious community. To be bound together (the actual meaning of the word  religion) to determine what we believe about the big questions of life. And so it raises the question for me, what do we really believe in regarding justice? Are we committed to it? My religious journey has led me here. But if we are not bound together in this, and bound together with the communities in need, then in the end it is just a self serving  position to make us feel better about ourselves and more comfortable in our place in power. If we really believe in justice we must be willing to commit and to sacrifice.

 In the play there is a young wealthy liberal Nadya who is revolutionary.  The older wealthy people find her insufferable and naïve, but the workers themselves do not bring themselves to trust her either. As she is questioning her place in society, the stoic actress Tattiana says  “If your going to ask yourself questions, you’ll end up a revolutionary.. and founder in that hurricane “ Nadya replies “One must be something, one simply must. One cant live ones life gaping at everything and not understanding anything” Its true, if we question the status quo, we must become revolutionaries. In small and large ways.  Just by becoming Unitarian Universalists, we are questioning the status quo of our religious society.  Why do we stop there?  It also shows the need to support our youth and young adults in their journeys so they will have the courage to find their own way and not left vacillating between boomer morals and the reality they experience in the world that differs with those.

 The play clearly shows the privileged class’ lack of self awareness in addition to their lack of awareness of the workers experiences.  There is the bias that workers are different and have a lack of sophistication. It shows the juxtaposition of the co-managers of the plant, one a hard conservative who believes the workers need to be kept in their place and the liberal who would like to accommodate the workers,  but can never see the workers as partners or equals (even to sit and have tea with). In the end those in power utilized government power to quell the strikers.

            I think the differentiation between conservative and liberal wealthy is intriguing and speaks to human nature. The conservative wife says “I like everybody to be well defined, I like to know what a person’s after. I think people who don’t know exactly what they want are dangerous, not to be trusted” This speaks to the most basic question of how we deal with uncertainty. Are we so willing to maintain  certainty that we are willing to limit ourselves and harm others?  Or are we willing to risk the certain for the possibility of living a meaningful life where our actions match our values.   

            The play also showed that the workers were just as morally ambiguous in utilizing power by sacrificing an innocent worker for the great good and murdering the conservative manager of the plant.. It is a reminder to me that it is not our intentions, but our actions that need to be held up to our values. In the end, we know that Stalin came to power and pitted workers against each other creating fear and distrust amongst each other. Our country as well has also used race as a way to divide the common interests of all poor and working class people.  We must be  wary of those in power separating people via competing oppressions.  We don’t all have to be friends, but we most certainly must not be enemies.  And if we have the courage we will use our power  to shape a more just future.               
            I just received an email from someone thanking me for advice I gave them many years ago when he was thinking of starting his own business. The advice I gave (which I once received from someone) was to cut off all the lifeboats.  For if you run in to trouble,  (and you most certainly will run into trouble at some point.)  you will jump in the lifeboat. But if you have no lifeboats, you will be forced to figure out a way to make it through the trouble. In other words, we must go all in, in whatever endeavor we are pursuing and pursue it with everything we have.   I am glad I picked up this play to read.  It obviously got me thinking!!

Letting Go – Bungee Jumping and Life.

        I remember many years ago, my son “encouraged” me to bungie jump.  They put me in a vest, and a crane pulled us high in the air.  As I got higher and higher in the air all I could think of was “why in the world did I agree to this and how do I get down”  The most insidious part of the event was that once we reached the very top I had to pull the cord that would release us.  I wondered if I never pulled the cord, how long they would keep us up at the top dangling in midair.  As I dallied around high above the ground, I heard in the speaker above me someone with a German accent telling me to pull the cord, everything would be all right.  For some reason with my bias of feeling secure in Germany’s engineering prowess, I pulled the cord.  Everything after that happened very quickly.  I didn’t have time to wonder if I was going to die, I only experienced the joy of what it felt like to fly.  It was an exhilarating, wonderful feeling.  And then I came back to earth slowly.

Now I am not suggesting that you become a thrill seeker.  However I do ask you to think about what are the things that are preventing you from reaching your full potential in life?  What are the things in life that we can let go of that are holding us back?  Do we have grudges that we have held onto for too long? Have we had beliefs, biases or habits that we have held on to for too long?  Is there something we fear that prevents us from trying new things?  Sometimes it just takes one split second decision to change our world.  To pull the cord, or change our mind, or take an action. And if we do let go, we can feel an exhilarating wonderful feeling of freedom, possibility and hope. Just finding the courage to take that step forward can help us feel grounded in who we are. So I ask you to consider letting go of what holds you back, and find your true, whole self.  

Meannderings on Retreat - What day is it?

After 4 days of meditating, reading, reflecting and writing it is easy to lose track of time. And yet although I lose track of time, or maybe because of it, I find myself. In the opening session of the program “Great Courage and Great Compassion, Living Dying and Freedom” we were asked the question “When have you turned away from life? How did it help you, how did it hurt you?  I thought it a profound question.  I usually talk about the choices we make. So the choice to turn towards something. Yet inherent in that, is a choice we did not make, the road not taken. I thought it was a good question to ask, and I encourage all to explore that question. Even it is painful. Just not while you are driving. I am so happy to be at this Zen Monastery letting it all in, in a supportive, loving and contemplative environment.

Meanderings on Retreat - Day 3 - going deeper

As I walk the labyrinth a second day, the grass and the flowers are my friends not my impediments. They are wonders of beauty to look at and it is their home much more than it is mine. I become aware of each flower and fauna  I watch as the resident butterfly checks me out. It flys away just as I reach it. It transforms itself to look like a stick. I see where it hides and when I reach it, it circles me once and flys away. It is waiting for me as I come out of the labyrinth. Letting me get closer than it ever did before, before unfolding in its dance of flight.  Usually when I walk the labyrinth, the deep questions and answers come. This time, just the peace of experiencing the world around me engulfed me.  No worries about the future, or reconciling the past, just peace in that moment, peace in every moment. That is my vision. Interesting to think about having a vision of the present moment.  

Frank Ostaseski from the Metta Institute gave a Dharma Talk last night and his topic was the spiritual byway.  How we sometimes use spiritual practice to avoid dealing with underlying issues that challenge us.  That we need to explore all the aspects of our feelings even the negative ones.  To become friends with our negative emotions to better understand them and to just be with them.   We should shift our focus away from the object of our negative feeling (I am angry at someone) and focus on the feeling (why does this create anger in me). Sit with the feeling, don’t repress it.   Let it all in. Although not necessarily to let it all out. It is important to understand our boundaries and that they are permeable. There is a time and place for what and how we express our feelings to others. I also loved Joan Halifax’s comment  “Just continue to show up dammit” That is how change happens by continuing to show up even when it is hard, even when it feels hopeless, even when you want to give up. Continue to show up with all of you and full of compassion. That is the only way to affect lasting chan

Meanderings on Retreat Day 2 - Settling In.

January 28th
So I think it shows that sometimes you just have to ask for what you need. There is wi-fi, I just didn’t look in the right place. So now that I have it, I am not sure that I want to use it!!  Not.  Meditation this morning was deep, as deep as I have experienced in a while.  Part of it is the setting.  A very reverential zendo just for the purpose of meditating. It is why I like to meditate in the sanctuary. It is a place of reverence.  Meditating with people who have a deep commitment to it also I think lends an gravity to the moment.  I will need to ask for a chair as my knees just cannot hold up for the whole week.

I found out they had a labyrinth and walked it this morning. Always a powerful experience for me.  This one they have let the grass grow up throughout it, so in some places it is not so easy to see which direction to turn.  It is interesting to think about having to look down right in front of you and look carefully with each step that you take.  Sometimes on other more cleared labyrinths you can look ahead and see which way the trail turns.  It is interesting to think about that in relationship with our vision for the future.  Sometimes it is easy to look ahead and see which way to go.  Sometimes though you have to put one foot in front of the other and trust that the path is laid out correctly. And when there is a sudden turn you must have your head down looking for it and see it and turn or you will trip. Always a good lesson.

In the afternoon Zazen sitting, we faced the wall. This is one difference in Soto Zen vs. Vipassana or Thich Naht Han Mindfulness Meditation.  On the one hand I feel more of a connection with others if we are all facing each other.  On the other hand, well I am not so sure about the other hand. (Tevya where are you) I think on the other hand, I am less self conscious facing the wall, for I know if someone else looks, they will not see my imperfect form (Soto Zen is much more into form than Vispassana and I want to respectful to the setting I am in).   So being less self conscious (not that I REALLY am, just hypothesizing) it allows me to go deeper. That’s all I got?

 I am doing more meditation in a condensed time than I normally do.  The sitting is about 40 minutes.  I normally sit 30 minutes in the morning myself, and in our Sangha, we have two 20 minute sits. I liked sitting for the longer time period. It gave me some time to settle in.  Plus it was also good not being the leader of the group.  I enjoyed being able to just let that go. Yes, letting go into emptiness,a key message of Zen.


July 29th

Now on my second full day here, I am feeling quite relaxed and peaceful. It took 2 days to shed the weight of my  world off my mind.  I am not worried about what happened yesterday, or what might happen tomorrow or even next week when I return, but I am here very present in the moment, just writing and reading and contemplating life. It is a simple existence here.  Life here is built to be simple. I like it. I don’t even miss tv. (Although I admit, I checked the score of the Mets game on my phone). When things are simple it is easier to see what is real, what is important and what is imagination run amok. The real question is how long can I maintain this feeling when I am back from retreat. It will require the discipline of practice every day.  It is a way of life I strive to live (of course we shouldn’t strive in Buddhist thought). So day by day, one foot in front of the other.

Meanderings on Retreat - "Train Train Running All Night Long"

Riding on the train. It is like watching a nature film from the train window. Different animals, different landscapes. Illinois , Iowa  and Missouri with its flat  lands and rolling hills  of vegetation. Colorado, with it wondrous  mountains,New Mexico with lower mountains but weaving riverbeds sometimes flowing sometimes dried out.  A lot of land throughout the country just unused, and maybe unusable. What I liked best about being on the train was meeting other people.  A family whose son has obsessions with trains (I learned a lot about trains and schedules and how late each train was);  A young girl from a small town in Missouri traveling to Los Angeles, California for the first time  to spend the summer with her father and thinking about what she wants to do with her future; a young adult from Missouri who spent his first week in the big city of Chicago and now on his way home; a Native American family traveling to their ancestral home for their annual gathering and dance; and lots and lots of boy scouts!!  The diversity and openness of people on the train reminds me of how people can be in community.  When we come together all of us different, we find a way to be together in harmony.  It is when we separate ourselves into our enclaves and limit our interactions that we learn to distant ourselves from the humanity of every person. Roll on Train.

At Upaya – as with most Zen Centers, there is no wifi, or even any cell service. There is no air conditioning. There is never enough draw space for all one’s clothing. Sharing a room is never really comfortable either. But I guess that is the point.  To not be comfortable. To find out what we need vs. what we want. To get to the core of what it is underneath that ails us. To find the peace within, that doesn’t need amenities to satisfy us.

I used Uber for the first time tonight. I walked into town – about 3 miles. I took the scenic route – a path along the river. It was nice to walk in the woods again, to be with nature. Even the couple of wrong turns I took, brought me to the rushing river, and I could revel in it flowing nature.  I had to walk over a couple of wooden/log bridges on the trek. Nothing really to worry about, but it was the concept of being suspended over the river. Not really knowing where I was going, (someone said, just follow the path by the river) but trusting that I would find my way.  And I did. But I did use Uber to come back. It was pretty cool. Quick service and there were not any other cabs to be seen. (just in case I was feeling guilty about busting the cabbie union).

I am not sure what it is that I hope to achieve this week. Just to explore, to center myself, to recapture and release the compassion and passion within me.  To remember who I am and why I am doing what I am doing.  I can and do this consistently throughout the year wherever I am, but coming here is an intentional recharging of my  soul.

Movie Reviews - "Inside Out" (8 of 10) and "Terminator Genisys" (6 of 10)

Movie Review – Inside Out – an 8 out of 10 on the JWO scale.

One the challenges of not having young children in my household anymore is that I feel awkward going to animated movies without children.  I usually have to wait until the movie comes out on Cable or Pay per View. So when I was spending some time with my 6 year old granddaughter this week, I asked if she wanted to see “inside out” and I was thrilled when she said yes.  I think much of the beauty in this movie is that it works for both adults and children. In fact I would say it is geared more for older children (over 10?) but really it is geared for adults who struggle with sharing their emotions.  Even through the eyes of my 6 year old granddaughter the movie has a strong message about the importance of sharing your feelings. I think most of the complexities of the movie were over her head and I don’t think she understood towards the end, why her grandpa started  choking up and crying.  I think the movie was extremely clever in showing how our mind and memories work.  Its characters were 5 key emotions of one young girl. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust are the five emotions that are highlighted.  It shows how all of them play a part in our development. It shows the danger when we are led by fear, Anger and/or disgust.  What was so important was the acknowledgment that sadness is an important part of what makes us whole.  If we ignore it, or subjugate it, we do so at our peril.  The movie shows how humans just try to soldier on with joy in the face of sadness and ultimately how fruitless that can be internally. It also shows the ying/yang of sadness and joy.  How we need to acknowledge the sadness in our lives to fully appreciate the joy in our lives.  At the end it shows the mingling of sadness and joy as part of our core memories that shape our lives. I think it raised an interesting question as to whether we need to let go of old memories/ideas in order to create new memories and ideas.  How old memories (Bing Bong) in this example sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the mind. I want to think about that one. If we had the power to eliminate traumatic events from our memory (in the movie the clown) should we?  With neuroscience advancing as far and as quick as it is, it is an ethical question we will have to address (A question the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” I thought addressed interestingly). But for now this is a complex, fun movie with a powerful message of acknowledging the sadness in our lives and sharing our emotions with those we are closest to.  A good message and a good cry.   

Terminator Genisys – a 6 out of 10 on the JWO Scale

Arnold Schwarzenegger in his catch phrase promised he would be back, and he is. I have forgotten how many terminator movies this has been. The movie pays homage to the original Terminator series. This one puts a clever twist on the old story, and I thought for its genre it was cleverly written.  I have stated before (I think in regard to XMen) I think movies that use time travel as part of their plot shows a weakness in the writing. In this movie, time travel was a major plot line of the whole original storyline.  However, I never understood the logic that machines and humans could only send one traveler each through the portal. That to me was a fatal flaw in the original logic.  Clearly they agreed with me as now there are people and machines travelling all through time multiple times. What I thought was clever was how other characters who did not travel in time lived their life either affected by it, or waiting for future events to happen. Because of changes to the world due to time travel we have alternate realties that are created.  This always makes things confusing and requires a lot of explaining.  Potential Armageddon,  Great Special Effects, Time Travel, Lots of things blowing up.  If you like that, this is a good date movie. If you are looking for something with depth, well maybe something else then. 

Ode to My Children - a poem I wrote for Sunday's service "Black Lives Matter"

I always told my children

Who are now grown men

Not To Cower down to might

And to stand up for the right

I am blessed they are alive

And have a chance to thrive

I was ignorant their plight was hard

And how authorities played their cards

I didn’t tell them

They should obey

Always Do What they say

The Boys in Blue

It’s just the job they do.

Facing it every day

A Job driven by fear

Cant imagine what they see

Cant imagine what they hear

But the videos I see

Make me question, are we free

I see the after and not before

Its true I may not know the score

But shooting a man in the back

Its cowardly and unnecessary

And that is a fact

Pushing a child in bikini to the ground

Sitting on her  pulling her hair

Have we forgotten love

Have we forgotten care

Is it wrong,

Who am I to say

But due to my privilege

That’s the burden I must pay

I was born to write

I was born to speak

I cant be muted and

I cant be meek

Maybe if I stand up

To help end this racism

Maybe In the long run

It’ll  be a better place that we all live in

Maybe I stand up to the gun in my face

I stand with my brothers and sisters of a different race

Maybe I stand up with my face to the gun

Because maybe Next time

Maybe next time

They will target my sons

My sons,

They are all my sons

Wrote Arthur miller

He was condemning the capitalist

He was condemning war killers

The dead are all my brothers and sistas

We have to say more than just hey we’ll all  miss ya

We have to stop the notion

That people of color always cause  the commotion

We have to stop the

3^rd grade to prison pipeline

We have to stand up and say

It is way beyond time.

We have to stand up

And walk as allies

Or otherwise we allow

Others to perpetuate these white lies

I know I worry about my sons its true

And I do worry about the men in blue

To have such fear with the need to kill

Creates a heart with hate all filled.

So lets find love in our heart

Lets all do our part

Together if we walk

Together if we talk

The world will change

That may be unsettling

That may feel strange

The Buddha says we must awake

And it is true, There is much at stake

So now I ask you to stand with me

So together we can make the world see

That love has a power

Love can make hatred cower

That love dispels fear

And brings restorative justice near

Now I ask you to stand with me

To rise in body or spirit to sing

Our closing hymn

Building a new way number 1017

Two Movies - Two Visions of the Future

Mad Max Fury Road – a 4 out of 10 on the JWO scale
Mad Max is truly a dark vision of our dystopian future. It picks up after the Thunderdome, where it is clear Max failed to keep the children in his care safe which has sent him into madness and savagery. Maybe at this point I am just becoming jaded about movies like this, after seeing one too many. (which I think ties into the Tomorrowland theme). This movie just had an idiotic or no plot and script.  This movie seemed to be written with punk rockers and x games aficionados in mind.  I really just didn’t get the guitar player with fire coming out of guitar as something that would happen in a dystopian nightmare.  Would they really waste their energy on that.  I know, I know, its not real, only a movie, but if there is complete disregard for reality, then, this is not a real future possibility and whole premise of the movie falls apart. In fact there were times in the movie I actually laughed ouut  loud  due to seeming absurdity  in tthe movie  The movie’s violence and noise just didn’t appeal to me. I did  appreciate the feminist and ableist angle that the movie interjected.  It was novel for this type of  movie.  But it wasn’t enough to offset ongoing death and destruction with little or no plot line.  I like Tom Hardy and love  Charlize Theron as actors but they didn’t have much to work with here.

Tomorrowland a 6 out of 10 on the JWO scale
Tomorrowland has one strike against it immediately, because going in, I saw this cynically as a way for a  movie to promote the Disney Parks.  From a business perspective I like it, but from a movie perspective it takes a bit of the purity away from the movie.  Having said that, I enjoyed the movie. George Clooney puts in a typical George Clooney low key professional performance. Britt Roberston did a great job playing  the innocent energetic youthful imaginative budding engineer protagonist who wakens Clooney from his slumber.  The movie showed us two visions of the future, one idyllic, and another dystopic. I think you have to be physicist to understand the plot line regarding alternate universes and time shifting.   I gave up trying to figure that out after awhile. The movie’s message for me is what we spend our time on, what we focus on, will determine our future. If we dwell on the negative, the negative future will occur. If we dwell on the positive and act with wonder about what is possible we are more likely to create a world filled with wonder.  And by the way you can find wonder in Tomorrowland at Disney World. But I am sci-fi nerd and I appreciated the shots of the 64 worlds fair, and jet packs, and a multicultural, multiracial future and the questions about whether Artificial Intelligence can have emotion.  It was a fun movie with a good message.  Well worth watching.

Movie Review August: Osage County – a 7.5 on the JWO Movie Rating Scale

Perhaps because I just led a service on compassionate communications today that this movie struck a chord with me due to its lack of the same.  It is the story of a dysfunctional family after its patriarch has committed suicide (it happens in the first few minutes of the film, so I am not giving much away here). It is heavy on words and light on cinematography and action.  The acting is just spectacular, although occasionally over the top. There are just so many good performers in this, I almost didn’t recognize Abagail Breslin (from a great movie Little Miss Sunshine, which I now realize is 9 years old and it makes sense why I might not recognize her)  And although the matriarch of the family says she is truth telling, the movie is all about how the secrets we keep and the truth we hold within ourselves, ultimately poison us.  It is about how we really don’t understand others’ lives often, as one character states:

“Maybe its hard for you to believe, looking at me, knowing me the way you do, all these years. I mean, I know to you, Im just your old fat Aunt Mattie Fae. I’m more than that, sweetheart, there’s more to me than that.”

People don’t just fit into the nice little boxes we imagine them to be.  Life is more complex than that. The movie also shows how we are affected generationally by the suffering of our parents. It is clear how each one of the children is a reflection of and a reaction to their parents. And although the end of the movie didn’t tie everything up in a nice little bow, I think that is the point.  Our lives are never complete, and they are always unfolding.  The best we can do is to try to understand ourselves and bring the truth to light as difficult as it may be. 

Called

As I sit on the bluff
Overlooking the oceans waves
Crashing into the beach
I find myself called 
I hear the oceans roar
Calling me to jump in
And ride the wave
Even if I end up
Tumbling at the end
And taking in salt water
It calls to me and I answer
At least for today
Even at its heavy cost
That will require
Recuperation and rest
Until I venture out again
But is enough
For today
For it makes me feel alive
And as I meander
Around the bluffs
Regaining my strength
Amidst the grandeur
I see a beautiful flower
Surrounded by metal wires
As if in a cage
And I wonder
If it feels trapped
By its circumstances
And environment
But then I realize
The cage is protecting
The flower and I wonder
Would the flower
Rather be free
And live a shorter life
Or would it rather
Be protected
From the ravages of
The harsh world
And it's creatures
To just sit and
enjoy the grandeur
Day in and day out
I would like to sit
And ponder some more
But I am called
To other places
And by other circumstances
And environments
And I wonder
If those have protected me
Day in and day out
So that I might one day
Share beauty with
Someone passing by
And pondering
Life's mysteries
Rev. Jay - 02/04/15 Asilomar

Video Review of "Wolf of Wall Street" a 6 out of 10 on the JWO scale:

 I am not sure I get it.  Nominations for best actor and best movie?  I know everybody loves Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill (for different reasons I imagine).  And who doesn’t love Martin Scorsese.  This movie for over three hours tells about the real life exploits and excesses of Wall Street.  (I guess I didn’t see the cut version, which comes in slightly shorter). First DiCaprio.  I think he did a fine job acting.  Except I thought he playing Jack Nicholson.  Really, I kept imagining he was Jack Nicholson.  Maybe the character was like that. But as much as I love Jack, Leonardo should be acting, not imagining himself as Jack Nicholson. Ok, so that’s a little judgmental of me.  I admit it. (I like DiCapria, and appreciate his taking on a diversity of roles in other movies but this became a caricature).   Just too much over the top, no nuance.  Really I would say that is the problem with the whole movie…everything way over the top and no nuance.  I would have liked to have seen more about the FBI guy schlubbing his way through the case and what he was feeling about it.

For a much better movie on this topic of the penny stocks and abusive sales tactics….see the 2000 movie “Boiler Room” with Ben Affleck, Giovanni Riblisi and Vin Diesel (yes Vin Diesel) Much more depth to the characters and the stories. 

Three mini movie reviews of what I saw this past week - The Hobbit (part 23), Interstellar, The Grand Budapest Hotel.

The Hobbit Part 23 (ok, it just seems that way )  a 5 out of 10 on the JWO scale 

Possibly this should be titled, the many different ways to kill an orc. So the one thing the movie has going for it is its special effects, which were great.  Yes, it is a commentary on war and the need for good to stand in the face of evil.  Although after about an hour of ongoing slaughter, I started having fun thinking about the obnoxious elves and greedy dwarves as the 1% hoarding all the gold (unearned by the way and at the cost of the death of many innocent women and children in the nearby town) and healthcare (elves live long lives), and the orcs as the oppressed proletariat. Hmm..how would that change how we watched the movie.  I know its all a allegory of WWI but still as a movie, the heroes are not all admirable individuals.  Maybe that is the point.  Really, I am not sure there is a point other than to show off the wonderful scenery.

Interstellar a 7 out of 10 on the JWO scale

I enjoyed this movie.  I tend to like movies that deal with spaceflight, some sci-fi,  and dystopian futures,  so there is a bias here. It was a little slow at times, and the acting is not academy aware material, but still the movie was thoughtful, nostalgic and had meaning for me. Plus its always good to see Michael Caine.  I don’t know about the science underpinning the movie, but it gave me a couple of different perspectives of how our actions affect our future and our place in the Universe. I don’t want to say more without giving away the ending.  There was a point in the movie where the characters were faced with a tough decision.  One made a choice with pure utilitarian rationale. The other was guided by love. The character who makes their choice by love says 

“So listen to me when I say love isn't something that we invented. It's observable. Powerful. It has to mean something. Maybe it means something more - something we can't yet understand. Maybe it's some evidence, some artifact of a higher dimension that we can't consciously perceive. Love is the one thing that we're capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space. Maybe we should trust that, even if we can't understand it. “

Trust Love. I’ll take that message any day.

Video Review of the week – “The Grand Budapest Hotel” directed by Wes Anderson a 7.5 on the JWO scale.

Similar to Terrance Mallick, either you love Wes Anderson movies or you hate them.  They are quirky, fun, cleverly written stories with meanings within meanings, some of which I will never get until I watch the movie for the third time (or maybe never).  They make you chuckle, not guffaw. They show the innocence and complexity of life, and they point to what has most meaning in the world for their characters. There are cameos galore by many stars as well which is fun. His 2012 movie Moonrise Kingdom is one of my favorite films.  Grand Budapest is worth seeing. Although not quite as nostalgic as Kingdom, it does broaden the scope of the characters lives to the larger world around them.  This story centers on the concierge of the Hotel Mr. Gustave and his protégé Zero.  Its pointless to give you the plot because well, its just a fun roller coaster ride. Zero grown up, speaking of Gustav said, “To be frank, I think his world had vanished long before he ever entered it - but, I will say: he certainly sustained the illusion with a marvelous grace!”  May we face the world as it is, with grace and humor and integrity. .  It tells how circumstances around us change, but we can maintain our integrity. Or perhaps it shows the choice we make when we don’t change, how it affects us.  So much fun, so much to think about.

Book Review – Gilead

This book had been recommended by a number of Ministers I respect, so I picked up a copy and read it over the Thanksgiving Holiday.  It was one of two fiction books I have read this year.  With reading so much for sermon preparation in mind, I tend to read more theological/religous oriented books.  I can count on both hands the number of fiction books I have read since entering Ministry. (for the record, prior to ministry I was an avid fiction reader, particularly fond of the spy and science fiction genres. I am commited to reading more fiction in my life!!)   So now when I do read fiction, I really want to make sure it is going to be something I will enjoy!! 

Gilead is a pullitzer prize winner by Marilynne Robinson.  Set in a rural Iowa it is a dieing Ministers reflection on his life and his vocation to be shared in later years with his young child.  Although the book flows well it has a few slow patches.  Just like our lives have a few slow patches.  It is a thoughtful book.  I think it would be more appreciated by ministers who might see a bit of themselves, or probably moreso a commonality of feelings about the vocation itself.   I also think it is appealing to people who live in a rural environement.  The protagonist says “And I knew what hope it was. It was just that kind the place was meant to encourage, that a harmless life could be lived here unmolested.”  And yet, we know that no place provides a harmless life. And such a place creates a homogenous environment that is not safe for outsiders.  Still we all seek at least metaphorically or a state of mind that is harmless.  The story told the beauty of doing the small thing just for the sake of doing it and recognizing the beauty in that.  It also touches on the balance of staying in a safe place and going beyond it. How sometimes we have to leave to become who we were meant to be, or to create a new vision for ourselves.  Yet ultimately we have to find a place we can call home.   The book did not sugarcoat ministry by any means.  It showed the challenges, uncertainties and struggles of it.  It also showed the wonder and fulfillment of ministry. After providing care to someone he’d known as a child the protagonist said “Id have gone through seminary and ordination an all the years interveing for that one moment” I think every minister can relate to that. 

If you like action books, this one is not for you.  But if you like to see a slice of life of rural minister it is a balm.  

The Newsroom – Series Review a 7 out of 10 on the JWO Scale.

I like many probably saw the video below some time ago on Facebook.  Last night I watched the final episode of the 3^rd Season and I thought this episode really was well written and really ties up a lot of loose ends. Then I read today it is the series finale and well that makes a lot of sense.  Although the show had some ups and downs, Overall I liked the show.  I liked the witty banty between all the characters. This was a great ensemble cast of performers (Sam Waterson, Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortenson, Dev Patel, Oliva Munn and many more)  I like that it references Don Quixote often. I liked how it showed the transformation of people from the status quo to struggling to become principled people. I liked their  “mission to civilize”  Mostly I liked how it showed how our News has become entertainment.  I notice this more and more everynight when I watch national news.  Yes I do want to be kept up on pop culture in America, but there are other ways to do that than the nightly news.  I want to watch the news for news.  Its why I still read the NY Times every morning.  As Thomas Jefferson said “wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government;”  A good show, with good acting, with good writing, and a good message. Worth catching on re-runs if you haven’t seen it.   

In his speech why America is not the greatest country in the world the lead character states:

"It sure used to be… We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reason. We passed laws, struck down laws, for moral reason. We waged wars on poverty, not on poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chest. We built great, big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases and we cultivated the world’s greatest artists AND the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to intelligence, we didn’t belittle it. It didn’t make us feel inferior. We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed… by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16K6m3Ua2nw

A Lament for Racial Justice

I have been out of the pulpit the past two weeks, and there have been some deep sorrows in the larger world, and I am sorry I was not here to speak about it.  There have been multiple instances where people of color have been killed by white police officers without repercussion.   I feel a deep sorrow for  Michael Brown and his family who was shot dead in the street in Ferguson Mo.  I have a deep sorrow for the loss of 12 year old Tamar Rice in Cleveland who while playing with a toy gun, was shot by a policeman within two seconds upon that officer’s arrival on the scene.  Clearly a preventable death based on fear. 

Lastly the most blatant, this week authorities in New York, did not press charges in the death of Eric Garner, which was filmed, and from the video clear, that he was attacked by police using an illegal chokehold. Again, certainly a preventable death. The truth is there are many many many more, but these are just the most egregious that make the news.I am not here today to argue the facts of each of these cases, some are complex, some seem more simple to me, and I will talk more about theses issues and the issue of systemic racism in January. 

Today though,  I am here to share a lament with you.

I lament for the lives that were cut short needlessly,

I lament for a government that feels the best way to work with the community is to become a

            police state with military weapons.  

I lament a system that lacks transparency and accountability. For this there is a deep sorrow in

            the loss of our freedoms in light of all these tactics.   

I lament a system that starts with the assumption of fear and guilt upon meeting people of color.  
I lament the system where poor people are in an environment that offers few opportunities.

I lament the system that in light of all of this, continues to gut public education which will allow

            even less opportunity.

I lament the system that sometimes leaves no other recourse but violence.  Martin Luther King wrote “When there is a rock hard intransigence or sophisticated manipulation that mocks the empty handed petitioner, rage replaces reasons”  

Now I grew up in a neighborhood in New York City which police officer’s lived and it was a very racially charged environment.  Most of the officers I knew were good people trying to do a difficult dangerous job as best as they could. When my neighbors house was being robbed in the middle of the day, I was right outside when the robber tried to escape, so we put out a call in the neighborhood, Soon doors in the neighborhood opened and officers came running,  chasing and capturing the intruder.  I remember this clear as day from my childhood.  Parents telling us to get inside, as we continued to chase the robber around the neighborhood through back yards and fences. In fact, the police saved the intruders’ life at the hands of my neighbor who was more than a little pissed off when he caught him.  So I am not here to vilify police officers. There are many many good caring police officers.  But that does not excuse bad policing when it happens. And I can tell you that throughout our country many people of color do not feel safe and secure when they encounter police.

I have a deep sorrow, a sorrow for our country that seems to be waking up to the disparity of power and wealth and opportunity, and instead of seeking justice, many in our country continue to live in fear and impose oppression against that which they fear. Now I know the Quad Cities is not New York, Cleveland, or St. Louis. I think that’s why many of us like it here.  But we are not without our own  faults.  I encourage you to read the profiling report compiled by the Davenport Civil Rights Commission.  We must remember what affects the world affects us. Let us not blind ourselves to world around us.  We as a nation have deep wounds that still needs to be healed,

it is the wound of slavery,

the wound of Jim Crow,

the wound of discrimination,

the wound of racial profiling

the wound of consistent harassment of people of color,

the wound  of the school to prison pipeline,

the wound of poverty,

it is an open wound of ongoing racism that has become systemic in our society, and if we do not heal this wound, if we do not heal each other, that wound will fester and grow, and destroy us all.  We can not hide from this. Let us continue to educate ourselves, let us continually listen to what our brothers and sisters of color have to say about the circumstances of their lives, which trust me, most of us cannot even imagine, And let us be allies to people of color in their struggle for peace liberty and justice. 

"The Drop" an 8 out of 10 on the JWO Movie Rating Scale

For my choice of movies for my birthday  (no vetoes allowed on birthday weekend movie choices,) , I chose “The Drop” over other blockbuster movies to see.  If for no other reason, I wanted to see the late great James Gandolfini’s  last movie.   It’s a small, slow moving slice of life movie about a group of people in Brooklyn.  Gandolfini plays Marv, the former owner of a bar who still manages the bar for Chechnya Criminals. He is a former loan shark, way past his best days living with his sister with a mother in a nursing home that he cannot afford.  Tom Hardy plays Marv’s cousin Bob who tends bar and  used to be involved in Marv’s crew years before.  Hardy plays Bob completely low key, I think maybe too low key, but I guess that is the point.  At times you are not sure if he has aspersers, or if he is just a simple quiet guy, or a genius with deep but silent thoughts.  He might just be all three.  There are a number of intertwining storylines that work their way through the movie, including Tom’s relationship with a woman, rescuing a dog, and a robbery of the bar.  The one thing I didn’t like about the movie is that I figured out the ending fairly early on.  But those storylines are all contrivances for the movie’s deeper meanings.  The movie raises a number of deep questions for us to ponder. And God knows I live for deep questions to ponder.  Is it better to be alone or to be connected with others?  Is there redemption for the sins of our past?  How do we (can we ever) overcome the suffering in our life?  How do we deal with fear? Examining the danger of trying to live in the past or worse, recreating an illusionary version of our past?  Can we be both righteous and good and evil at the same time.  Why do we crave respect from others?  How people come into our lives for better and for worse when we are not ready and how to be open and deal with it. How do the circumstances of our life shape us and can we transcend that. What are we willing to sacrifice for what we want?  Good ideas to be raised and explore.  It is both a simple and complex movie wrapped into one. Just the kind of movie I like. 

Book Review – "Falling Upward" by Richard Rohr.

Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest, who carries on the Christian Mystic tradition. He was deeply influenced by Thomas Merton.  In this book Rohr weaves the story of Jesus and Christianity, the Greek Myths of the Hero’s journey,  modern psychology, literature and even a connection with Buddhism.   It is a short easy to read book. The major premise of the book is that we have two stages of life, and that we must transcend the first stage to reach the second stage.  That transcending may be leaving behind ideas that we were raised with, as well as the search for our true self beyond the rational thought.  “We do what we are called to do, and then try to let go of the consequences”.  Words spoken by saints and madmen.  I would contend we are responsible for the consequences of our actions.  The key from a Buddhist perspective is not to become attached to the outcome for that causes suffering.  That doesn’t mean we abdicate responsibility, just our abdication of our longing for a hope for outcome. Rohr’s contention is that suffering is the catalyst that moves us to spiritual growth. I think that suffering can and often has moved others to grow and to transcend.  However the struggle I have with Christian versus Buddhist thought is that Buddhism accepts all of life is suffering and offers a path to end suffering. Christianity and even in some ways Rohr, seems to encourage actively engaging in suffering as the path to enlightenment. I think Christians fell in love with the suffering Jesus  I think this is a dangerous perspective.  I am more easily able to relate to the heroes journey, and returning home with new wisdom, or the Siddhartha leaving the palace, experiencing suffering and searching for meaning, than I am to Jesus suffering on the cross. . Rohr, uses this metaphorically, but we all know how many people use this suffering metaphor as a reason to not transcend their environment of suffering.. Rohr actually does say “Failure and suffering are the great equalizers and levelers among humans. …There is a strange and even wonderful communion in real human pain, actually much more than in joy, which is too often manufactured and and passing”  Yes, there is commonality in human pain, but that is different than communion.  We need to face our pain, recognize our pain, and even embrace our pain.(I think Rohr would agree)  But pain in and of itself is not a virtue. Much of the book reads like a eastern religious guide to no-self, non-dualistic way of being.  (which is what we find in the second part of our life). Sadly most of Christianity does not see the Jesus story in that way. In fact, almost all of Christianity sees the Jesus story in a pure dualistic way.  Rohr tries to point us to the farther shore, but I am still looking at his finger pointing to it. I love the mystics, and the mystical tradition. But at some point you have to come down from the mountain (out of the monastery) and be compassionate to others, and engage with the others in the larger world to help others end their own suffering.  It is ok to be for yourself, but as Rabbi Hillel says “if I am only for myself, who am I?”  I think Rohr would agree with this. His is an all inclusive message of God’s love for all people, and all creation and that being in the second stage of our life leads us to eliminate the need to have barriers between us. It’s a good book, not a great book. It didn’t move me tremendously. It did remind me though to look at what are the issues that cause me to react and to see where that is coming from. Always a good reminder.  As in Dante’s Divine Comedy, we are all Virgil, we are all Beatrice,  guides through Hell and Heaven. We are all Odysseus trying to find our way home. As T.S. Eliot wrote

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”