Be of good cheer, little pup, for thou too in resurrection shall have a little golden tail. ~Martin Luther @revdeaconb
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The Rasta-Banana of Great Price
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a man in search of an X-Box Kinect, who, on finding one at a carnival game, went and emptied his life savings, didn’t win the Kinect, and was given a giant…
Another Week Ends: Forgiveness, Giving Trees, Therapists, and Aging with Grace
1. Forgiveness and apology seems to be a theme in the news as of late, or at least it was prior to Monday’s heartbreaking news from Boston. CNN’s belief blog highlighted the story of one man’s quest to forgive and restore the man who killed his brother when they were teens. I found the story enlightening as it ping-ponged between the two poles of forgiveness by grace (the victim’s brother) and forgiveness by works righteousness (the recently released killer). Quote: “I think for me, forgiveness will come in doing good works, trying to help others. But as far as forgiving…
Reflections on Identity and Bracketology
Congratulations to Louisville, winners of the NCAA tournament, and the team I picked to win in my tournament bracket! Unlike Louisville though, I only came in third in my pool for picking who would advance throughout the annual collegiate basketball tournament. Third out of six participants. Some bracket I picked, huh?
Maybe it’s just me, but this year in particular, it felt like the trend of “bracketizing” things left the sports world and entered pop culture big time. Are you a fan of public radio programming? A Southern Cali public radio station put all your favorite programs on a bracket. Needless…
Mockingbird at the Movies: A Quick 2013 Summer Blockbuster Preview
It’s April, and you know what that means? A mere four weeks away till the start of the summer blockbuster season! By no means complete, here’s a list of “big” movies to look out for this summer, based upon trailers, the likelihood they’ll merit a fuller Mbird review after they premiere, and my personal taste in movies. But if I run afoul of the almighty Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, perhaps my recommendations will change? As has been noted elsewhere, it looks like we’re in for a quite a bit of post-apocalyptic mayhem:
4/5 Jurassic Park 3D: This is the first…
Maundy Thursday: The Tears of St. Peter
During Holy Week, it is customary hear again of the end for Jesus’s earthly ministry. He has been welcomed into Jerusalem as a new king, only to find the crowds demanding his blood a few days later. Along with the crowds, Jesus’s smaller group of close friends and students also left him, so by the time of his trial and death, only his mother and one friend stood supportive in the bloodthirsty mob to witness his crucifixion.
Perhaps the most tragic of all the relational failings of this time is the three denials of St. Peter. The…
Mockingbird at the Movies: Warm Bodies
By my own count, there are precisely three films in the underrated genre of Zombie Romantic Comedies, or RomZomComs, if you will. The first was 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, a cult classic where the zombie apocalypse was the occasion in which mid-life crisis Shaun steps up to win back his ex-girlfriend. The second is 2009′s Zombieland, where anti-social, nerdy germophobe Columbus thrives in the zombie apocalypse by teaming up with a crew of misfit survivors, one of whom quickly becomes his love interest. The third, and probably not the last, is this year’s Warm Bodies, which does the…
Schooled in Gospel: Grace, Identity, and Higher Education
We couldn’t have said it any better.
You might have already heard Professor Francis Su’s lecture “The Lesson of Grace in Teaching” as it bounced across social networks last weekend. Su is Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and was recently awarded the Haimo Award for his work as a mathematics educator. All Haimo award winners are invited to lecture regarding their own pedagogical discoveries to their peers, and Su chose to speak the on role of grace in higher education.
Again, we really couldn’t have said it any better.
You can find the the whole transcript and audio for the…
…and auld lang syne! Top 10 Stories We Missed in 2012
It feels like, and maybe this is just me, but 2011 was a year everyone was eager to put behind them. Natural disasters, global revolutions, untimely deaths. Unfortunately, add a dash of apocalyptic terror and election exhaustion to that mix, and 2012 didn’t end much better than 2011. “There is nothing new under the sun” saith Ecclesiastes, and in that regard, here is a list of 2012 stories that were too short to post or slipped past the Mbird radar this year.
10. In the world of judgment and measuring up, there’s epicpinterestfail.com, where humble, average, normal people attempt to create the…
“And Death’s Dark Shadow Put to Flight…” A Post for Newtown, Connecticut
It goes without saying that our prayers and hearts have been with Sandy Hook Elementary and the Newtown community since last week. On this side of our Sunday services, “Lord have mercy” is pretty much all I have left to say in my spiritually and emotionally exhausted state, and I don’t think I’m alone when I say that.
For those of us who are still struggling to maintain composure in light of tragedy, or for those exhausted from the 24 hour media coverage, or for those wrestling with the relationship between a good God and an evil…
“Jia Jiang’s Rejection Therapy Goes All Wrong”
When Jia Jiang was turned down by a prominent investor for his tech startup, he was beyond devastated: “The final rejection hurt as if Santa Claus showed up in person and told me he’s not real, and then ran away with my gifts,” he says on his blog. After reflecting on the pain of being turned down, Jiang decided to try Rejection Therapy as a method of inoculating himself from the pain, fear, and anxiety that such dismissal inevitably brings. For the next 100 days, he decided to have some fun: ask normal, everyday people a wildly inappropriate request, be…
Wrecking Ralph: Extinguishing the Quest for Glory
Score one for this year’s winter film season! With a half-dozen movies premiering on Mockingbird’s *must* see list (including The Hobbit, Les Mis, James Bond, Django Unchained…), Wreck-It-Ralph kicks off the winter with a pixelated parable of judgment, love, and identity so potent, you half-expected to see Martin Luther listed as a guest-writer in the credits. Okay, so perhaps I’m a bit over-enthusiastic in my praise of Disney’s newest in-house release, but when movie critics call Wreck-It Ralph “pixar-esque,” well, we’ve kind of got to take notice.
Perhaps there’s no better world to play out the drama of law-trapped characters than the unforgiving…
More Jimmy Kimmel on Luke 11:11-13
Last Christmas, we posted Jimmy Kimmel’s segment, “I Gave My Kids A Terrible Present,” featuring parents who pranked their kids by giving them terrible Christmas presents. Presents like a half-eaten sandwich wrapped up in a big box. Parents recorded their kids’ reactions, and the resulting tantrums and tears were hilarious and theologically insightful, to say the least.
This Halloween, Kimmel brought back his original prank, “I Told My Kids I Ate Their Halloween Candy,” showing kids reacting to the news that their parents ate all their Halloween candy. Overall, it’s pretty similar stuff: kids crying and throwing tantrums, hilarity (and depravity?) ensues. This seasonal compilation, however, has a bit of a surprise ending. It gives grace-in-parenting a whole new meaning…
Hurricanes Aren’t Funny
Odds are, most of our readership won’t be browsing this till next week, thanks to Hurricane/Blizzard Sandy. This post is coming to you from wintery West Virginia, about an hour’s drive from that twenty-six inch snowfall you’ve been hearing about on the news. And not only is your power out, your heat not working, and your smartphone almost out of battery, but the topic of this post was last night’s late-night monologue compilation, which you probably didn’t see because your power is out, your heat’s not working, and your smartphone is almost out of battery.
Last night, David Letterman and Jimmy…
Ken: This reminds me of the story of Bill Graham explaining basic economics...
David Zahl: Matt- Not sure if you've had the chance to read My Bright Abyss yet, ...
Bryan J.: I too have a difficult time with Vampire Weekend, though I'm trying ha...
mark mcculley: 1 Corinthians 6:20 You are not your own for you were bought with a pri...
Bill Chapman: I really cannot see why anyone coulkd be opposed to Esperanto. I’ve us...