1. First off, a timely rejoinder to our many social-media-is-making-us-lonely posts from Paul Miller on The Verge, entitled “I’m Still Here: Back Online After A Year Without Internet”. As the title suggests, Miller unplugged for a solid year, partly as an assignment to try to discover how technology, and the Internet in particular, had affected him (and us) over time. He reports that while the experience was initially incredibly freeing, he eventually found himself right back where he started, i.e. his new habits became just as constraining as the old ones. In theological terms, you might say that Paul’s story…
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Another Week Ends: Techno-Fasting, Google Glass, Tiger Babies, Missional Burnouts, Serrano’s Backfire, Powell’s Joy, and Family Tree
A New Pentecost, or Maybe Just a Rhetorical Revival, According to Peanuts
We have written several pieces on Charles Schulz’s Peanuts here before, and in particular on Robert L. Short’s prophetic interpretation in his The Gospel According to Peanuts (1965) here, here, and here. Both Peanuts in general and Short’s book in particular have played meaningful roles in my life ever since my conversion to Christian faith. In fact, I recently reread Short’s very important (and Mockingbird-esque) first chapter, “The Church and the Arts.” I found that he gives us—as Thornton Wilder called it—some “new persuasive words for defaced or degraded ones” about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit’s work in the arts and…
The Gospel According to The Office
Many moons ago, Mockingbird put together and distributed a little teaching series called “The Gospel According to The Office.” When we made the transition to the new site a couple of years ago, it somehow fell through the cracks. The show’s finale seemed like as good a time as any to put it back into circulation. Like the show itself, we don’t vouch for how it may have dated–but it sure seemed like a good idea at the time! You can download it by clicking here.
While we’re on the subject of the show, if you’re at all like me and…
Poorly Navigating Kamikazes and the Secret History of the World
How do you write about the reality of the human condition in concrete terms without coming off as sanctimonious or a total downer? I don’t know, but I think Tim Kreider may. I’m sure I’m not the only one who was so impressed with (and addressed by) his essay “The Busy Trap” that appeared in The NY Times recently that they immediately ordered his essay collection, We Learn Nothing, which came out in paperback last month. Hard to imagine there’s another volume out there with endorsements from both Judd Apatow and David Foster Wallace, not to mention an astonishing opening…
No More Winning: Stephen Colbert on Love, Service, and Improv
We’ve gotten a lot of mileage over the years from graduation speeches. Perhaps because they tend to be so long on law and short on grace–i.e. full of exhortation rather than comfort–that when they’re good, they really stand out. Among our favorite “anti-commencement addresses” would have to be those by Bill Watterson, JK Rowling, Conan O’Brien, Jonathan Franzen and, of course, David Foster Wallace. With schools around the country gearing up for their big days, I figured it was time to toss another log on the fire, in the form of the hilarious and deceptively wise words Stephen Colbert delivered…
Dad Is Fat: Jim Gaffigan’s Refreshingly Honest New Book on Parenting
Comedian Jim Gaffigan just wrote a book: Dad Is Fat. It’s a not-so-serious (but therefore very serious) book on parenting, and the publisher actually sent me an advanced copy to review here on Mockingbird—hence this post. (Can I just take second to revel in the fact that this is the first advanced copy I have received to review. Thanks.) The book will be released for sale tomorrow, May 7th. You can read my previous ruminations and some helpful background on Gaffigan and his comedic talents here, but you might already know him as “the Hot Pockets guy.”
My overall response is that…
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Another Week Ends: Underconfidence, Kate Middleton’s Picnics, Unreported Medical Advice, D.H. Lawrence’s Christian Wonder, the Double-Bind of Summer Movies, More Christian Wiman, and (Way) Too Much Sociology
1. How confident are you? Over at The New York Times, David Brooks surveyed his readers to get a sense for self-confidence, lack thereof, and the ways males and females experience confidence differently. While the word itself is a bit vague and murky, and Brooks found few trends in the survey data, the individual responses are definitely worth a look:
But it was really hard to see consistent correlations and trends. The essays were highly idiosyncratic, and I don’t want to impose a false order on them that isn’t there. Let me just string together some of the interesting points…
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…
From The Onion: Come On, Carl, Pull It Together
Capping off a refreshingly funny week on the site, a new classic from America’s Finest News Source, ht JD:
That’s right; reports indicate that you, Carl Mendel, 33, of Dayton, Ohio need to wake up, get moving, and pull yourself out of this weird funk you’ve been stuck in for, what is it, sources confirm, three years now? Those familiar with the situation said that we all care about you, Carl, and experts claim it’s time you take charge and break out of this cycle of apathy that’s preventing you from living up to your potential.
“You know, life’s short, Carl,” said…
The Chelsea Clintons Have Great Energy
An ingenious prank from Jimmy Kimmel, in which the Law of Cool is exposed in all its hilarity and absurdity and severity. But lest we pick on hipsters unfairly, this dynamic plays out just as blatantly in Bar Harbor as it does in Marin County or Austin. When confronted with an attribute with which we’ve identified ourselves, we will lie before admitting ignorance. Reminds me of that ultra-cool Stephen Merritt song about “the books you read, and the books you said you read”:
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…
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Another Week Ends: Schismogenesis, Megachurch Funerals, Accidental Theology, Smartphone Shrinks, Mean Professors, Nocebos, Zooropa and Elysium
1. The NY Times published a wise op-ed from sociologist Tanya Luhrmann this past week on the the subject of “How Skeptics and Believers Can Connect”. She begins the column by recounting a disconcerting experience she had promoting her terrific book, When God Talks Back, on a Christian radio station. Luhrmann does not self-identify as a Christian, which the host of the show apparently took as a cue to berate her into converting on air (rather than dig into a book that has quite a bit of sympathetic material to relate). Now, God only knows what exactly the motivation/justification at…
Going Rogen: Hiding Behind the Cross
About 95% of the way through this video, I decided that I wasn’t going to post about it, because it touches on things about I’ve already written about. But the last 5% compelled me otherwise. The video has some questionable elements, so, if you’re pure of heart (or at work), you may want to skip to the summary:
For those who didn’t watch, the video begins with a flashback to one year ago, following the completion of Hilarity for Charity 2012. The organizers, including Seth Rogen and Dave Krumholtz, are congratulating each other on a job well done. At the end of…
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