Social Science
Why We Need Community
Forgiveness / Humor / Psychology / Relationships / Reviews / TV

Why We Need Community

by Matt Schneider on May 3, 2012 • 2 Comments

The latest issue of Christianity Today includes a short review by Todd Hertz on one of Mockingbird’s favorite sitcoms, Community. The article, “Why We Need Community,” discusses what Christians in particular, and the world in general, will be missing if Community is indeed canceled and not renewed by NBC for a fourth season. Hertz argues that despite its wacky hijinks and endless parodies, Community is honest about, well, community—or  as Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, life together.

In Mockingbird-like fashion, Hertz also insightfully touches on the abreactive nature of the show. (Cool. Cool, cool, cool.) Here are some highlights excerpted from the…

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Prostitot, The New Accessory by Marc Jacobs
Fashion / Identity

Prostitot, The New Accessory by Marc Jacobs

by Ethan on May 2, 2012 • No Comments

And he said, “Let the little children come to me.” A New York Times article that gives us an amazing portrayal of the lengths to which we go to accessorize and craft an identity that will justify us. Interestingly, Jesus tells us, like Charles James, that we must become little children: “Most American fashion is based on older women trying to look like babies.” Ironically, this trend towards the accessorization of children, and the fashion industry’s relevance-seeking chops, has inverted the biblical paradigm–and children are becoming adults, way too soon.

In the last year or two, Lanvin, Gucci, Stella McCartney and…

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When Happiness Stalks You: Get Huge Like The Hulk!
Addiction / Film / Identity / Law

When Happiness Stalks You: Get Huge Like The Hulk!

by David Browder on May 1, 2012 • 2 Comments

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. - Galatians 1:11

In honor of the release of The Avengers this week, Muscle & Fitness Magazine has fortified us with another brilliant analogy of the impossibility and allure of the unattainable.  This month’s issue sports an impressive picture of The Incredible Hulk right next to the promising tagline: “Get huge like the Hulk with our real-life routine!”  The article exposes the incredibly neurotic belief that happiness always lies at the next level up.  Funny how it is always just beyond your grasp.

Speakeasy…

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“It’s You I Like” by Fred M. Rogers
Children / Grace in Practice / Music / TV

“It’s You I Like” by Fred M. Rogers

by Matt Schneider on May 1, 2012 • 8 Comments

I was probably familiar with this song when I was a kid, but I recently ran across it again… for the first time. Its words of gratuitous unconditional love may seem a bit flaky at first, but if Mr. Rogers can’t pierce our cynicism, no one can! The lyrics are on par with that scene in Bridget Jones’ Diary when Mark Darcy tells Bridget Jones, “I like you very much. Just as you are.” (As opposed to who you think should be). Love that is not interested in attributes or works, but the person themselves, warts and all – we…

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Boomers and Stickers: Wendell Berry’s 2012 Jefferson Lecture
America / Economics / Relationships

Boomers and Stickers: Wendell Berry’s 2012 Jefferson Lecture

by Ethan on Apr 30, 2012 • 2 Comments

Last Monday, Wendell Berry, widely known as today’s quotable agriprophet, America’s modern man of letters, was given the prestigious honor of presenting the Jefferson Lecture, the nation’s highest prize for “distinguished intellectual achievement.” What he spoke of–beyond his grandfather’s h0meland loyalty and the tragic industrial legacy of James B. Duke, for whom Duke University is named–was an ethic of affection, a turning way from the Diaspora of Modern Mobility–our privatized and lonesome Babylon–a repentance and return to a culture of sympathetic humility to one’s own. Berry’s essay was titled “It All Turns on Affection.”

I am from Kentucky, my family has…

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Another Week Ends: Celebrity Body Image, Depression Chemistry, the Burden of Secrecy, Fitz Allison, Ryan Gosling, Community, Game of Thrones, and Spiritualized
Celebrity / Film / Humor / Music / Psychology / Science / Suffering / Technology / Theology / TV / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Celebrity Body Image, Depression Chemistry, the Burden of Secrecy, Fitz Allison, Ryan Gosling, Community, Game of Thrones, and Spiritualized

by David Zahl on Apr 27, 2012 • 5 Comments

1. On Slate, Emily Shire asks, “Should Celebrity Body ‘Struggles’ Make Us Feel Better About Ourselves?” and her insightful little response doubles as quite the treatise on the function of Standards (of beauty etc) and how attempts to allay judgment often backfire, i.e. that the notch on the scale isn’t the issue so much as the scale itself:

Allure’s feature is only one of the latest in a long line of magazine stories about female celebrities “bravely” grappling with their “physical imperfections.” A growing number of publications are trying to pass off barely-clad celebrities strutting their stuff as an inspiring act…

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2012 NYC Conference Recordings: Honesty, Humility and the Grace of God
Addiction / Bible / Children / Conferences / Everyday / Film / Grace in Practice / Humor / Identity / Law / Literature / Music / Poetry / Psychology / Relationships / Religion / Suffering / Theology / TV

2012 NYC Conference Recordings: Honesty, Humility and the Grace of God

by Mockingbird on Apr 26, 2012 • 6 Comments

A major thank you to everyone who helped put on this past weekend’s conference in New York! We could not be happier or more grateful for how it all went. We are offering the recordings free of charge again this year; we only ask that those who were not able to attend this year *consider* making a donation to Mockingbird to help cover the cost of the event. Download links are followed by an in-line player for each recording.

Thursday April 19th

Devotion 1 – Jacob Smith

“The Zoolander Antidote: Telling the Truth (About You)” – Aaron Zimmerman

Friday April 20th

Devotion 2 – Jacob…

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My Heart Would Poison You, But God Wants My Poison Heart
Addiction / Conferences / Poetry / Suffering

My Heart Would Poison You, But God Wants My Poison Heart

by Matt Schneider on Apr 26, 2012 • 2 Comments

Yitzhak Zuckerman

I just came across this quote from Yitzhak Zuckerman, who was a Jewish resistance movement leader in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II:

If you could lick my heart, it would poison you.

Wow! You see, although a hero of the resistance movement, plagued by survivor guilt, he became an uncontrollable alcoholic later in life. So despite rightly being celebrated for his wartime heroism, Zuckerman was in touch with the darkest parts of himself. (This quote, by the way, is originally from the French documentary Shoah, which—full disclosure—I have not seen.)

While allowing Zuckerman’s words to stew in my…

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Pete Campbell: With Success Comes Sadness
Identity / TV

Pete Campbell: With Success Comes Sadness

by Aaron M. G. Zimmerman on Apr 25, 2012 • 5 Comments

Slate recently interviewed Vincent Kartheiser (aka Pete Campbell on Mad Men). In case we needed any reminders that human beings need love, not love-based-on-achievement, there’s this:

Slate: [Your character's] a man of ambition, but he seems to get more unhappy the more he achieves. He’s achieved many of his goals—Trudy had the baby, he got a bigger office, he’s dominating Roger—but he seems to get crabbier by the week. Do you understand why he’s so unhappy?

Kartheiser: With success comes a level of sadness. You think, “I’ll reach this goal, and then I’ll feel a sense of completeness, of wholeness. I’ll feel…

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Instagram Knowing: Why Little Sips Don’t Equal A Big Gulp
America / Identity / Relationships

Instagram Knowing: Why Little Sips Don’t Equal A Big Gulp

by Ethan on Apr 25, 2012 • 2 Comments

As if there weren’t enough people writing about it already, I suppose for posterity’s sake we’ll continue unfurling the scrolls. Apparently there’s an opinion out there that says that if we’re everywhere at once, we’re nowhere at all. That technology–most significantly the ever-presence of the smartphone, the synced life, the facebooked life–has kept anyone from knowing anybody. Why, though? Having a sister who lives 2,000 miles away, I’m glad I have a chance to watch my nieces and nephew grow up by way of her Instagram updates. Is there anything wrong with that? It’s a great way for me see…

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World Peace Ejected from NBA Game
Identity / News / Sports

World Peace Ejected from NBA Game

by Bryan J. on Apr 24, 2012 • 2 Comments

No, not from The Onion… In 2011, Ron Artest of the L.A. Lakers officially changed his name to “Metta World Peace.”  Saith Wikipedia: ”‘Changing my name was meant to inspire and bring youth together all around the world,’ World Peace said in a statement released after the name change court hearing. His publicist, Courtney Barnes, said that World Peace chose Metta as his first name because it is a traditional Buddhist word that means loving kindness and friendliness towards all.” It was a move one-part publicity stunt, one part atonement for his history of brawling with payers and fans alike. With the history…

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Another Week Ends: Blue Like Jazz, Youth Ministry, Franzen, Facebook, and Harvard Grads
Bible / Children / Film / Identity / News / Religion / Theology / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Blue Like Jazz, Youth Ministry, Franzen, Facebook, and Harvard Grads

by Todd Brewer on Apr 20, 2012 • 5 Comments

Filling in for DZ this week as the Mockingbird Conference is now in full swing!

1. Our very own Cameron Cole wrote a wonderful piece on youth ministry over at The Gospel Coalition, highlighting its strong tendency toward legalism and making a plea for a gospel-centered youth ministry.

Wanting validation for their tireless labor, youth ministers occasionally focus on behavior modification as a means of providing tangible proof of the efficacy of their ministry. A kid carrying his or her Bible to school, signing a chastity pledge, or sporting a WWJD bracelet may appear like signs of spiritual progress—the fruit of…

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Coal: The Power of the Good Father
Children / Grace in Practice / Relationships / Theology / TV

Coal: The Power of the Good Father

by David Browder on Apr 19, 2012 • No Comments

In the (by now quite famous in our circles) series of talks given at The Cathedral of the Advent by Professor Rod Rosenbladt on the subject of fatherhood, one of the first insights presented was that of Helmut Thielicke’s The Waiting Father. In this, his work on Jesus’s parables, Thielicke artfully and tragically describes modern man’s belief that he is quite alone in a dark universe ambivalent to his existence:

Man is walking through the dark forest of life in the gloom of night. Specters are lurking all around him and strange sounds disquiet him. The dark forest is full of…

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I’m Just Like Pele… Except I’m Terrible at Soccer
Identity / Sports / Theology

I’m Just Like Pele… Except I’m Terrible at Soccer

by Nick Lannon on Apr 18, 2012 • No Comments

Brian Phillips is a writer for Bill Simmons’ sports and pop-culture website Grantland.com. His writing is gorgeous. Last year, he wrote several articles about Roger Federer that include some of the most lyrical sports writing I’ve read in a long time. The other day, he wrote an article about Pele (likely the greatest soccer player of all time) on the occasion of Pele’s critical comments about Lionel Messi (likely the greatest soccer player playing today).

But then part of Pele’s post-career shtick is that any high praise given to another player in his presence is a boorish deviation from the continuous…

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From The Onion: Human Civilization Brings Out Worst in Area Man
Humor / Identity

From The Onion: Human Civilization Brings Out Worst in Area Man

by David Zahl on Apr 17, 2012 • No Comments

A new addition to the top tier of Onion brilliance, me thinks. You can read the full article here, ht JD:

“I’ve known Justin for years, and whenever he’s not engaged with modern society in any way, he’s actually pretty nice and laid-back,” said former roommate Michael Mariani, 32, who noted Krypel was typically agreeable when sitting by himself in a room doing nothing. ”However, as soon as he’s exposed to some aspect of the culture in which he lives, he can get pretty irritable and difficult to be around.”

“Some things just really seem to push his buttons, like work, having to deal…

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