Now that’s how to earn a vote!

Velvet Elvis – Timing is everything…

I don’t know if you’re like this, but I seem to need to a message delivered at just the right time in order to really respond to it. For example, I have owned the book Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell for almost a year. I’ve been meaning to read it, but just never got around to it somehow…until now. And now is exactly the right time. The message of the book (so far…I’m just about a third of the way through it) is just what I’ve been needing to hear.

I’ve talked a bit on the blog about how I’ve been kind of struggling in my relationship with/to God over the past…well, really, it’s been like a year and a half, at least. I have felt like no one understood how I was feeling or the questions I’ve had or the spiritual predicament I found myself in. Reading Velvet Elvis, I’ve discovered that I’m not the only one with questions about God and what a relationship with him should look like. I guess I knew that in my head before, but somehow the words of this book have provided a breakthrough (…I know, I hate that word too, but it’s the right one to describe what’s happened).

At some point we have to have faith. Faith that God is capable of guiding people. Faith that God has not left us alone. Faith that the same Spirit who guided Paul and Peter and those people [who put what we call the Bible together] is still with us today. Guiding us, showing us, enlightening us.

[Truth can only be discovered] if communities are willing to wrestle. The ultimate display of our respect for the sacred words of God is that we are willing to wade in and struggle with the text – the good parts, the hard-to-understand parts, the parts we wish weren’t there.

The rabbis even say a specific blessing when they don’t understand a portion of the text. When it eludes them, when it makes no sense, they say a word of thanks to God because of the blessing that will be theirs someday. [They] have a metaphor for this wrestling with the text: the story of Jacob…He struggles, and it is exhausting and tiring, and in the end his hip is injured. It hurts. And he walks away limping.

Because when you wrestle with the text, you walk away limping…[The] ones limping have had an experience with the living God.

I have no words to describe the walls around my heart that started to crumble when I read this passage. The wrestling, the limping…it’s me exactly. What an inspiration to know and remember others have been exactly where I am. And what a comfort to understand that the questions and the wondering and the struggling are okay. I haven’t given up. I haven’t walked away from the fight. And now, though I may walk with a “limp” for the rest of my life because of this time in the ring, I can at least limp with pride, knowing I stuck it out and that my faith is stronger for it.

Peace. Out.

Cloverfield…

Paul and I saw Cloverfield last night. It’s fantastic! Super intense, well written, innovative. It was a great way to spend an evening.

I’d been hearing about all the viral marketing stuff in the weeks leading up to the film’s release. I hadn’t gotten into it, but after reading this article, I wish I had. For fans of the movie who weren’t in on all the behind-the-scenes info, it’s a great summary and provides a bit more back story. And for anyone who’s in the marketing or advertising field, it should be a great resource. I had no idea the marketing campaign for the movie had spread so far. It’s pretty impressive, actually.

Go see the movie and let’s talk!

Peace. Out.

Best American Idol exit quote ever…

I’ll make it one day. One day, somehow, some way. And I hope that someone sees that I have some talent some where. Whether it be in acting or singing or whether it be the fact that I have the chutzpah and the balls to be able to get up and talk. To be able to say what I’m thinking, to be able to say what I mean, to be able to speak the heart, to be able to talk. To be able to lead. I will be victorious. Always be victorious. All rising. I hope to hear from you, I really do. I’ll be waiting.

~ Alexis Cohen

Golden Globes Winners…

Normally, at this point, I’m all atwitter with Golden Globes and Oscar buzz. With the non-Globes this year, though, I’m just kind of “…..meh” about the whole thing. But, here are the winners just in case you haven’t already seen them…

Best Picture Drama – Atonement
Best Actress Drama – Julie Christie
Best Actor Drama – Daniel Day-Lewis
Best Picture Musical or Comedy – Sweeney Todd
Best Actress Musical or Comedy – Marion Cotillard
Best Actor Musical or Comedy – Johnny Depp
Best Supporting Actress – Cate Blanchett
Best Supporting Actor – Javier Bardem
Best Animated Movie – Ratatouille
Best Director – Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Screenplay – No Country For Old Men

I was about 60% correct in my predictions.

Here’s to hoping this whole strike mess gets worked out before it starts affecting the Oscars!
Peace. Out.