ARGGGHHHHH!!!

Today was National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Wow.

May 30th Is Joseph's Day

Every May 30th for the past five years has been a special day for the Hill's. It commemorates the birthday of our son and little brother, Joe Mac. It is a good day for us as a family. A little bit sad, a little bit happy. We make a cake, what we hope would be his favorite, and release balloons up into the air. It is a bit of a party.

What we would trade...

The Battle of Hair

Charlie Rose's interview program on PBS is one of my favorite TV shows. The show is set around a wooden table with a completely black background. The focus is entirely upon the interview and conversation between Charlie and his guests. This format makes even the most mundane of conversations interesting.

However, Charlie Rose recently had heart surgery and has taken a hiatus from the show in order to adequately recover. There have been several guest hosts taking over for him. Most of them look really uncomfortable trying to fill Charlie's shoes and, in my humble (or not so) opinion, I don't think they are doing very good. I must admit, however, that last week's interview of Malcolm Gladwell by Brian Grazer had to be one of the most interesting moments in journalistic TV ever. Why?

It was all about the hair.




It was all a bit distracting wondering whose hair was going to hit the lights first and burst into flame. Then, I began to wonder what kind of product Brian Grazer used to get the elevation. The picture above doesn't really do justice to just how high his hair was. Charlie Rose has the ability to fade into the background, ask his questions and make his comments without distracting the viewer. Grazer's hair looked like the photo negative of the "White Cliff's of Dover". Impressive.

Nonetheless, Grazer was a gracious host and a great admirer of Malcolm Gladwell. It goes without saying Gladwell's hair could take Grazer's anyday.

Max Gets It

Two days ago I was driving my son to his friends house and he asked me a great question. "Who are your two favorite authors and your two favorite illustrators?" I love to read. I love books. I love that my 8 year old son asked me a book question and I love his answer even more.

Before he told me his, of course, I had to tell him mine. This is not an easy thing to do. How can I just share two? To resolve this dilemma I resorted to one author he might be familiar with and one author that I just read a couple of hours before. The first author I shared was C.S. Lewis. Harrison would be familiar with him because I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to him and he had seen the movie a couple of months ago. The second I mentioned was Eugene Peterson who translated The Message and whose book, Christ Plays In Ten Thousand Places, I am now reading and loving. He interrupted me before I could tell him my favorite illustrators. Andrei Rublev, maybe? (Iconographers are divine illustrators.)

What shocked me is that Harrison told me his two favorite authors were Max Lucado and Chester Drawers. Now I wasn't surprised about Chester. Mr. Drawers is a children's author who recently visited my son's school. He loved him. He just saw him the week before and hence he was his favorite. The first author he mentioned, however, was a total surprise to me. I didn't like it at first but now I love the fact that Harrison named Max Lucado as one of his favorites.

I have never been a huge Lucado fan although I have enjoyed hearing him preach. The first Lucado book I ever read was No Wonder They Call Him Savior back in college. I loved it then but felt that his other books were an aweful lot like the first one so I never dug into him again. I do appreciate Max's honesty though. When I visited his church in San Antonio a few years ago he acknowledged to the congregation that he was leaving for a writing retreat where he would transform many of the previous year's sermons into a book. That is refreshing.

Here is why Harrison likes Max and here is why I think Max is on the right track. He is a storyteller. There are people today, and suspect they will always be with us, who demand what they call solid teaching. This level of teaching is marked by expository teaching, propositional truth, theological erudition and doctrinal clarity. These kinds of sermons are fine but it is sad that many people simply don't hear them. They don't hear these sermons because the story is missing.

Max is a master storyteller. His skill in telling stories enables his readers to connect with the big story, the story of Jesus. By taking the time to highlight the simple details he ambushes his reader with profound truths. However, the truths he propounds are usually best communicated in a good yarn, not a theological formula.

Perhaps those of us who teach and preach should take a lesson or two from Max. The reason people from 8 to 85 like him is because he captures the imagination of his reader. He then releases them so that they can find how their story fits into the story of Jesus. He captivates the imagination of his reader and listener. Too many of us kill it. He takes his clue from the best teacher the world has ever known. Or, should I say, the best storyteller the world has ever known.

The Limits Of Loyalty...almost

I am an unrepentant, semi-rabid, ever loyal Dallas Cowboys fan. Having been born in Texas I can name more players and coaches from the Cowboys than I can governors. In fact, it could be argued that Tom Landry in his heyday was more important than any of the elected officials of the great state. (In spite of his death, that still may be true.) Dallas was, and some argue, still is America's Team. Although not one of the oldest teams Dallas remains not only one of the most successful but one of the most traditional.

Even those who have perennially disliked the Cowboys are amazed that the fans have stayed true to the team after Landry's dismissal, the eccentricities of their owner, and the regular clashing of egos between players, coaches, owners and pundits.

Cowboys fans are committed, as loyal to their team (if not more so) than any fans out there, forgiving, gracious, and traditional. That is why the team's latest procurement is so disturbing. Fine, bring the Big Tuna to coach. Go ahead, hire an ex-Patriot (expatriate?) to throw the ball. Let slide some of the vital traditions of the past and continue to play in what is probably the most in need of care facility, though likely the most recognizable, of any team. But, hire TO? Loyalty has it's limits.

Terrell Owens committed the greatest sacrilege in Texas Stadium that could be committed by an opposing team. Like Antiochus Epiphanes slaughtering a pig on the altar in Temple of Jerusalem, Owens, after scoring a touchdown ran out to the center of the field, twice, attempting to spike the football. Sacrilege. George Teague, in an example of Maccabbean effort ran out to the center of the field and tackled TO. But the damage was done.

Now the Cowboys are hiring him to break them out of their slump. Parcell's thinks he can reign in this wild and unrepentant mocker. What is up with the Tuna?

To help me understand this I am reminded of the most important tradition within the NFL. In the words of one of the sport's greatest founding fathers, Padre Lombardi who said: "Winning is not everything, it is the only thing." If this Owens fella can get us there...so be it.

It makes the Dallas - Philly rivalry even better.

Happy International Women's Day

This is a cool cartoon. Don't read too much into this post though.
To all you ladies have a good one!

"If I had a hammer..."

Crash...of course

All of the buzz this year was around the movie Brokeback Mountain and the fact that it was breaking down a barrier that many in the entertainment industry felt needed to be torn down. One should not be surprised that in a group of films about homosexuality, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and abject cruelty that a film about the universal problem of racism won the day. All of these films may have been great but Crash was not only an extraordinary cinematic achievment but a film that challenged all of our assumptions about how we are doing when it comes to issues of race and difference.
The complaint of many is that Hollywood has ignored the mainstream and that it honors films that don't really connect with those of us in the real world. While they may not be commercial successes in the way that Star Wars and others are, these films, but especially the winner of Best Picture this year connect with human realities in a way that is too real, too close to home, and downright disturbing. And of all of these "disturbing" films Crash has the most universal application.

The plight of an Israeli revenge bomber and the experience of two gay cowboys simply don't connect in the way that the interwoven broken lives of two LAPD officers, an artist, a shopkeeper, a district attorney's wife, and a locksmith do. No one gets out of Crash unscathed, not even the audience.

Good art inspires and disturbs us. Zombie movies are disturbing but not inspiring. The best movie this year won because it was well written, well acted, well done in everyway. It also won because it disturbs us the right way.