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April 19, 2009

“I think people are too busy to rest,” one colleague declared to me on the phone.  Another friend wrote the same week to say that her employer did not value retreat.  As I considered both comments I recalled that Lee Iacocca once said a company president who cannot take two weeks off out of the year has no business running a business.  

There is a “conspiracy of busyness”[1] in our culture that allows little time for people to plan, organize, or practice collaboration.[2]   The phrases “I don’t have the time” versus “I don’t take the time” differ in one word, spanning an ocean of meaning.  What a culture values, shapes the values of people in the culture.  American culture has an inbred Seabee mentality that “we can do it” which has morphed to the Nike slogan “just do it.”  Western values are premised in achievement, in doing. 

“The Unbusy Pastor”[3] by Eugene Peterson is a chapter I encourage my students to read once a month.  Peterson confesses that his busyness is linked directly to his vanity and his laziness.  In the first place, Peterson says we find our worth, our significance in how much people need us.  Our hyper-schedules are proof that we are important.  His second point is confirmed through paradox: we are lazy because we allow others to set our work day for us.  We sacrifice what is most valuable to us-our time-by spending it on pursuits which may be outside our personal, God-given mission. 

We believe that what we do tells who we are.  Some of our works righteousness mentality began with clocks.  Daniel Boorstin gives a brief but powerful history of clocks in Cleopatra’s Nose: Essays on the Unexpected. 

Inventions redefine experience . . . . The inventing and manufacturing of clocks created the need and demand for clocks.  Until lots of people owned or had access to timepieces there was obviously little need for anyone to have one.  Why be there “on time” if nobody else was? . . . The young United States of America attracted the wonder of the world with its cheap dollar watch . . . and it was no accident then that this also became the land of the quick lunch and of young men in a hurry.[4] 

There are two methods of knowing what is important to people: where they spend their money and how they spend their time.  We have allowed our creations to control us.  Born of our dedication to clocks, “getting things done” became our cultural imperative.  

At Mahseh, we want to reclaim time.  “Biblical, reflective learning within relationship” is our motto.  Reflection is a term that originates with Hebrew words for meditate.  The sound of one word gives the impression of a “murmur,” “sigh,” “whisper,” or “moan.”[5]  On the one hand, there is a sense of the darkened, smoke-filled room used of hatching wicked schemes;[6] on the other hand, the righteous are to deliberate over proper answers.[7]  The two-sided coin of reflection is no where better shown than in a comparison between Psalm 1:2 and 2:1: “the righteous meditate” and “the wicked plot” being the same word in Hebrew.  Reflection begins as an internal process. 

So Psalm 19:14 captures the most famous reflective statement “let the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord.”[8]  Silent rehearsal, turning something over in one’s mind, ends in an enthusiastic, emotion-filled confession.  The believer then rehearses God’s works to all those around![9]  Once the silent reflection is told to others, the teaching continues to “talk” to the reflective heart.[10]  The process is to continue “day and night”[11] focused on all God’s works and words.[12] 

What we reflect upon shows what is valuable to us.  Selah, the repetitious word found throughout the Psalms, communicates value by its definition: to hang, weigh, or measure.  The term was used in the Old Testament when people used scales to identify the cost or weight of an object.[13]  How do we measure or reflect upon what is said in the Psalms?  Selah is an interlude.[14]  We are to stop, ponder, consider, and think.[15]  We should pause for thought.[16]  Take a break.  Take a minute.  Take a breath.  Busyness should not be our business.  If we do not practice biblical reflection, we value the temporal over the eternal. 

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[1] Separated by a vowel, the difference between “business” and “busyness” is no fluke.  The original meaning of the old English word “busy,” communicated anxiety and unease.  “The chief business of the American people is business,” famously stated by Calvin Coolidge in 1925, has usurped our psyche.  Now it seems the chief business of the American people is busyness. [John Ayto. 1990. Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins. (Little and Brown): 88; Word Mysteries & Histories. (Houghton-Mifflin): 28.]

[2] Quoted in The Wounded Leader by Ackerman and Maslin-Ostrowski (Jossey-Bass, 2002): 6.

[3] Eugene Peterson. 1993. The Contemplative Pastor. (Eerdmans): 17-25. 

[4] Daniel J. Boorstin. 1995. Cleopatra’s Nose: Essays on the Unexpected. (Vintage, reprint):162-63.

[5] See for example Psalm 5:1; Isaiah 38:14; 59:11; and Lamentations 3:62.  Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it seems to convey.  In this case, the word for reflection sounds like a “sigh.”

[6] Psalm 2:1; Proverbs 24:2.

[7] Proverbs 15:28.

[8] Herbert Wolf. 1980. “haga” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. (Moody): 1:205.  “Meditation” is amplified by “words”-thoughts and verbal communication . . . the Psalmist compares God’s speech with his own.

[9] Willem A. VanGemeren. 1991. Psalms. In the Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Zondervan): 740.  1 Chronicles 16:9; Psalm 105:2.

[10] Proverbs 6:20-22.  Note the three-fold repetitious element of ingrained character impacting all the hours of the day.  Gary G. Cohen. 1980. “siah” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Moody): 2:875-76.

[11] By this the authors mean “all the time”: Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2; 119:97, 99.  Some passages suggest that this occurs during sleepless hours: Psalm 4:4; 63:6; 77:6.

[12] Psalm 77:12; 119:27; 145:5.  Herein is the problem with Eastern religions: meditation on nothing.

[13] Job 28:15-16.

[14] Keil and Delitzsch suggest musical alteration, as in moving from piano to forte. Psalms (Eerdmans, reprint, 1978), V:103.  See also Walton, et al. 2001. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. (IVP): 517-18.

[15] Saint Benedict developed the fourfold order of Scripture reading in the 6^th century: lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio.  Benedict did not desire a separation between them but to have them function together.  Luther, Calvin, and the Puritans all practiced some form of thoughtful reflection.

[16] Some think that selah may have been an indication that other Scriptures should be read for biographical background or commentary.  Geoffry W. Grogan. 2008. Psalms. (Eerdmans): 30, 38.  While scholars debate the origin and meaning of the term, most would agree, that selah was introduced in strategic spots for a musical rest or break in the song.

Ecklian Reviews: Bella

Mark Eckel, Director, Mahseh Center, Lake Bruce, IN

 Past pain etches itself on the facial canvas where life has met death.  No words can prepare one in advance of seeing this film.  Tenderness for life within the province of agonizing trauma is perhaps a fitting description.  It is important that in a review the ending not be “given away” in a movie such as Bella.  And yet, it is the ending that allows celebration of humanity in a way not generally seen on the big screen. 

If one is in the mood for trite sentimentality, this is not the film to see.  Alejandro Gomez Monteverde’s directorial debut gives the viewer the gut-wrenching performances of Eduardo Verastegui (Jose) and Tammy Blanchard (Nina) who continue to live the results of awful experiences.  It cannot be said enough that soulful sorrow resides in every scene.  Verastegui’s full beard, present throughout most of the picture, is the physical presence that attempts to hide what his eyes cannot. 

Working together in a restaurant operated by Jose’s brother Manny (Manny Perez, chewing up every scene he is in), Nina and Jose end up spending the day together as Manny’s Latin machismo gets the best of him, firing Nina for being late.  Jose is the head chef in the restaurant but leaves in a flight of compassion to follow Nina after she is released.  The viewer wonders what is so compelling that one person would leave his workplace for another to offer solace for a whole day.  There is a symbiotic relationship that exists between the two co-workers-an understanding that both Nina and the audience only understand in the end. 

Flashbacks reinforce the impending conclusion.  Moviegoers are allowed to see slices of Jose’s past that have etched his present remorse in every muscle in his face.  It is perhaps Jose’s past that establishes his kindness in the present with his colleagues in the kitchen where he creates food people come from all over to taste.  In a sense, Jose has thrown himself into his work as penance for what no confessional can offer.  Clearly, Jose’s interest in people as people has blossomed from the blood-field of his personal history. 

Jose’s family provides a cocoon for the two sojourners during their day together.  While mom and dad (wonderful, heartening performances by Angelica Aragon as Jose’s mother, and Jaime Tirelli as his father) berate their son for abandoning his brother, they love as parents should, without condescension or belligerence.  Nina’s conversation with Jose’s father is the story’s climax, pressing us to remember what is most important in life. 

Shades of pain paint this story.  Yet it is the compassion that draws us, that compels our viewing.  The ending is both satisfying and abruptly obnoxious: be ready for it.  But one cannot help but celebrate the wonder of conscience and sacrifice through redemption whose cost cannot be counted, but whose life can be shared through Bella.[1] 

Rated PG-13 for adult situations, traumatic events, and some language. 

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[1] For the background to Eduardo Verastegui’s story see Tim Drake. 2008. Behind Bella. (Ignatius).

Ecklian Reviews: No Country for Old Men

Mark Eckel, Director, Mahseh Center, Lake Bruce, IN

If this life is all there is, “we are all of us lookin out of the wrong end of the glass” (283).[1]  The Coen brothers (Blood Simple, Fargo, Miller’s Crossing) marry their view of cinematography with Cormac McCarthy’s view of life in No Country for Old Men (Blood Meridian, The Road).  Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) leads the viewer with voiceover and dolorous character creation toward the naturalistic precipice where choice is religion.  Though not wanting to place his “soul at hazard” (4) the lawman knows that this extraordinary experience at the end of his career is the zenith of evil he has faced. 

A hunter, ex-Vietnam vet Llewelyn Moss (Joss Brolin), follows the blood trail of an animal he has shot to discover not a carcass, but corpses.  A drug deal gone bad has left a truck load of heroin and two million dollars in the hands of dead men.  Yet to discover “whatever you do in your life it will get back to you” (281), Moss chooses to take the money for himself.  Returning to the scene of the crime results in Moss leaving his own blood trail; the hunter now the hunted, encounters a true-to-life killing machine. 

Chigurh’s (Javier Bardem playing the assassin) world philosophy mirrors his life- changing quarter flips: “I got here the same way the coin did” (258).  Roger Deakin’s camera angle of Chigurh’s hotel hallway walk is as bone-chilling an image as ever has been placed on screen.  Moss’s relentless nemesis charges that “every moment in your life is a turning and every one a choosing.  Somewhere you made a choice” (259).  Life is either one way or the other: “I only have one way to live…You can say that things could have turned out differently…They are not some other way. They are this way” (260). 

Coen’s chose a mostly music-less approach to their script allowing the drama to create its own haunting melody.  A glaring exception is the mariachi band.  Awaking from a feint having lost much blood Moss is greeted with smiling, vivacious singers, whose music abruptly stops when they see his blood-stained shirt.  Similar to reality, the viewer is meant to know again that life is not happy amid ever-present violence.  Facial smiles are reserved for Chigurh’s maniacal killing sprees.  Like the scenery-the vast desert expanse of west Texas-life is portrayed as an arid walk through; a play performed on a bare stage.  

Choosing to maintain McCarthy’s narrative on screen is a satisfying experience for readers.  Most pleasing to those who reflect on the big questions of life is the honesty of both writer and filmmaker.  A philosophy course might do justice to the book-film.  But in a view of life where choice is religion, “I just don’t know” peppers page and picture (e.g. 213, 228, 268, 283, and 296).  No Country for Old Men gives young men pause. 

Rated R for graphic violence and some language. 

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[1] Cormac McCarthy. 2005. No Country for Old Men. New York: Knopf.  Page numbers are referenced in parentheses.  In this reviewer’s opinion, the book should be read before the movie is seen.

You would have thought she was carrying The Holy Grail: that’s how my friend treated the return of my season one Lost DVDs.  First prompted by the nail-biting episodes, some had formed groups that would meet to watch the program each week.  My friends were playing catch up.  While most people are not going to be stranded on a desert island, many were drawn to the great questions the series raised, especially during its premier season.  In an unusual way Lost became found.  People were discovering directions for life.[1]  

Getting lost or having the wrong directions could mean death in biblical times.  The ease of online maps via internet connections was non-existent.  Modern hotels did not exist.  “Fast” food only applied to how quickly one walked and ate what they brought from home.  The roads themselves were little more than well worn footpaths.  Apart from a few major trade routes, daily travel was quite limited.  Robbers also made a journey perilous: witness Jesus’ Good Samaritan story.[2]  It was best to travel in caravans with others.[3]  

While travel was much more treacherous in biblical times than today, knowing one’s way-moving from “lost” to “found”-has always been crucial.  While a person could be on their way to the Red Sea or traversing the road back to Jerusalem from exile[4], most often the words referred to one’s course of life.  Believers were to guard their ways so that they would not sin following directions contrary to “ways of darkness” and “crooked paths.”[5]  Ezekiel, for instance, consistently warns Israel that God will judge their ways, calling for them to turn from their wicked direction.[6]  

The idea of “two ways” was introduced in Deuteronomy[7]: life or death.[8]  Yahweh, as Lord over Israel, stipulated that His people follow His way of life.  Moses’ fifth book was written in the form of a suzerain vassal treaty.  The suzerain or king established rules of living for the vassal or servant in the ancient world.  The pattern of responsibilities of Israel as the vassal to Yahweh, the suzerain, is established by the repetition of the phrase “walking in the ways” of the Lord.[9]  The first time the phrase is used in Deuteronomy 5:33, the normal Hebrew word order (verb, subject, object) is reversed: “in all the ways which Yahweh your God has commanded you, you shall walk.”  The emphasis is placed on the path one follows.[10] 

How one follows, noted by the Hebrew preposition “in,” is important.  “In” can express both the condition of something and its movement toward a goal[11].  “Walking in the ways of God” explains who I am and where I am going.  I am both actively engaged in pursuing God’s ways as well as participating in God’s ways.[12]  Notice the 360 degree evaluation.  “Walking in God’s ways” encompasses the person, their place, the intention and objective of one’s action, as well as their moment-by-moment response.  In short, every aspect of a believer’s life is governed by a Heavenly GPS.[13] 

A group coming to Mahseh for a few days got lost on the country roads at night.  After multiple phone calls I told them to stay where they were, I would find them, and lead them back to Mahseh Center.  Sometimes directions are not enough to find our way.  If we are lost, we want to be found.[14]  If the television series Lost teaches us anything it is that we want answers to our questions, direction for life.  But God does not simply give directions.  He “goes after the one that is lost” until he or she is found[15] and then says, “Come, follow me.”[16]  

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[1] See, for instance, Lost and Philosophy: The Island Has Its Reasons (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007).  Twenty-one philosophers discuss the deep, human questions raised by the Lost series.

[2] Luke 10:25-37.

[3] For example, the “wise men” noted via the incarnation story most probably traveled with a sizeable retinue, including servants, which would have made their group much larger than the three figures normally included in Christmas manger scenes.

[4] Numbers 21:4; Isaiah 40:3.

[5] Psalm 39:1; Proverbs 2:12-15.

[6] Ezekiel 7:3, 8; 18:30; 22:31; 33:20 with 3:18; 13:22; 18:23; 33:8, 11.  The New Testament word hodos is used much the same way as derek in the First Testament to describe a pathway.  The unique metaphorical phrasing indicates a direction or manner of life.

[7] The book of Deuteronomy is the fifth most quoted book in the New Testament.  The fact that Jesus quoted exclusively from Moses’ last book to turn back temptation suggests its strength.  Orthodox Jewish homes remind everyone of Deuteronomy’s importance as the shema is affixed to every doorpost.  [William Sanford LaSor, et al. 1982. Old Testament Survey.  (Eerdmans): 188.]

[8] Deuteronomy 30:15-16.  “Two ways” dominates the book of Proverbs with a device known as antithetic parallelism.  As one reads Proverbs, one life choice is contrasted to another most often with the word “but.”  Different options include: wisdom versus folly, righteousness versus wickedness, and life versus death.

[9] Deuteronomy 5:33; 8:6, 10:12; 11:22; 13:5; 19:9; 26:17; 28:9; 29:19; 30:16.  See also Joshua 22:5; 1 Kings 2:3; 3:14; 8:58; 11:38; 16:31; 2 Chronicles 6:27, 31.

[10] Of course, one can always walk contrary to the ways of God as pointed out in Leviticus 26:3, 12, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28.

[11] Ronald J. Williams. 1980. Hebrew Syntax: An Outline. (U of Toronto, reprint): 46

[12] E. Kautzsch. 1980. Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar. (Clarendon, reprint): 380.

[13] These ways must be taught (Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2) because they bear the name of the Lord (Micah 4:5).  A voice will remind the walker “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).  Authority is given those who adhere to the path (Zechariah 3:7). 

[14] See the three stories Jesus tells about “lost and found” in Luke 15.

[15] Luke 15:4.

[16] Over 50 times in the Gospels, beginning with Matthew 4:19, people are physically following Jesus.