For Safety's Sake

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and all you parents out there (unless you're as on top of things as our friend and neighbor, who's ALREADY DONE! Sheesh...) are getting ready to do a whole lot of Christmas shopping. Well, I just saw a news report with some new safety guidelines and some old ones that we should maybe be reminded of. First, if your child is under three years of age, avoid toys with small parts. That is to say, parts that are small enough to attempt to swallow. Swallowing parts is bad, ok? Second, if your child is under six years of age (and this is a new one, so pay attention) avoid toys with magnets inside. When magnets come loose, and can be swallowed, your initial reaction may be that they will simply pass through... however, once inside your child, the magnets can (and in some cases have) join together, effectively creating a larger blockage that can seriously injure your child. Finally, in children under the age of eight, you should avoid toys with sharp edges and corners.

Be safe!

And be good to each other,
Rev. Josh Sander
112206

Silver Lake!

So, we're getting ready to take SPF (Senior Pilgrim Fellowship--that's our Senior High School youth group) to Silver Lake Conference Center. Yes, that Silver Lake, the one you see linked in my sidebar. Go on. Click it. You know you want to. I'll wait...

Anyhow, we're dropping like flies. Several regulars just aren't coming. Two of our advisors can't make it (one's even being shipped off to Puerto Rico for work) and now the son of another has come down with strep... which means one less kid and one less advisor. But I'm not worried! We still have two adults for nine youth, and that's really not that bad.

Besides... if we've had this much trouble before the trip, it has to get better during.

Right?

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
111706

Be Intentional!

Thanks to my wife for finding these videos and showing them to me. Actually, this is the second of the series, which you can find on YouTube. It has been the focus of some lively (and for the most part, civil) blog discussion at redhead ramblings Go check it out, even I couldn't refrain from throwing my two cents in!

So, with no further ado, "I'm A Christ Follower Pt 2"

The Last Halloweenie

I thought I'd write an overarching, beautiful, poetic, creepy, scary, powerful post about Halloween that you would never ever forget.

But I'm not going to.

I'm just going to wish you a Happy Halloween. Be safe. Have fun.

and of course

Be good to each other
Rev. Josh
103106

hangin' out with the DREAM KING

Not a Halloweenie, but then again, The Sandman gets pretty dark in places. But that's not really why I'm writing this post. I'm writing this post because Neil Gaiman is quite simply an author everyone should familiarize themselves with. I especially wanted to link this post from Neil's blog. You may have to scroll down a bit, but there's a great question about graphic novels' being eligible for literary awards. I love Neil's response. If you have any interest whatsover in our First Amendment Rights, and you should, you definately want to dig deeper into Neil's brain. Oh, and check out the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund The Comic Book Legal Defene Fund helps people like Mike Diana, the first American artist to be arrested under an obscenity law. His sentence was... rediculous, I honestly can't believe a U.S. court enforced his sentence.

Sigh...

I guarentee that if Mike were a novelist instead of a comic book artist, this case would have been all over the news.

Huh, maybe this post is scary enough to be a Halloweenie after all...




Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
102706

Halloweenie of the... ok, the Week, sorry.

I know I haven't been keeping up with this very well, but you'd much rather I kept up with my other work first, right? I still have hope that my wife will be writing something about one of her favorite horror flicks, but for now I want to tell you about one of my favorite television shows that explores the creepy.



Ghosthunters follows a group of paranormal investigators called The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) which operate out of Warwick, RI. This information in and of itself catches my attention, after all, I've been to Warwick many a time on shopping outings... and they're often investigating places we know, such as The Lighthouse Inn, New London and the Bradley Playhouse. (Incedentally, I know folks who have been involved with the Bradley, and they were disappointed in the episode... can't all be winners, I guess.)

Anyway, my wife and I have both seen shows that tear apart paranormal investigators as utterly pseudoscientific, and indeed, the founders of TAPS are not scientists--they're plumbers who had personal experiences which led them to wonder more deeply about the possiblity of hauntings. But they are a little more grounded than most of the "investigators" I've seen torn apart. For example, a staple of paranormal investigation is an EMF (electro-magnetic-field) detector. The theory is that unexplainable electro-magnetic fields could be evidence of a haunting. The thing is, anything with electricity has an electro-magnetic field, so when you see other investigators oo-ing and ah-ing over their beloved toy while they're standing next to an outlet... it means nothing.

But the TAPS team doesn't do that. They try to find what the base readings are in a room, and record fluctuations. And if they find fluctuations, they attempt to discover a reasonable explanation for it. For example, in one episode the team is investigating the claims of a pair of homeowners. The gentleman of the house is a refurbisher, and the house is old and in the process of being refurbished. The homeowners complain of phantom noises, unexplained shadows, and feelings of dread and depression. And the kicker? These symptoms are only experienced when in the house! During their investigation TAPS discovers that there is an unshielded electrical box in the basement under the stairs (where phantom sounds are heard) putting off an emense EMF. They also discover a serious mold problem. And the chemicals used in the gentleman's refurbishing business are stored near an intake for the air vents in the house. Any one of these, high EMF, mold, and chemical fumes, are possible explanations for the hallucinations and emotional swings the homeowners were experiencing.

Most of the cases they cover have no conclusive evidence at all. Some are even easily explained away rationally. So when they do catch something, it becomes that much more impressive. Now, I'm pretty sure that I could reproduce most of the evidence they've caught on tape. But if the show is a hoax, it's a really elaborate one, with money spent covering episode after episode where nothing really happens.

So when TAPS goes home and goes through their audio footage and hears a voice that they have no memory of, and they bring the audio clip to their host and she says, "No, that's not my daughter," then they call it an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenominon) and they put it in their "evidence file."

It's enough to give you a shiver, and get you to thinking... what if there are ghosts, and science just hasn't caught up yet?

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
102006

I'm Sorry

I've actually gotten a response or two from my last post through private channels, and I think I came down too hard on the subject. From my original perspective I saw a large percentage of the congregation in a big hurry to escape from what I considered to be the responsibility of the membership. After all, the boards and committees of the church worked hard to get to that meeting and all that was asked of us was to vote on it--which, again, only took 7 minutes. And one of the first things I heard in the midst of that was what felt like an accusation that it was the fault of Pastor Ed and myself that so many people left. And as I reflected on that, I came to the post before this one. It was a little defensive, and it blew things out of proportion, and for that I'm sorry. It was not my intention to cause guilt over our busy schedules, and I'm sorry for doing that.

So let me try again. Pastor Ed and myself should not have recessed, it gave our "captive audience" the freedom to "escape."

I'm sure that there were many reasons for folks to not want to stay for a congregational meeting. We live in a society where every minute of the day is packed with more and more activities, especially if you have children. And you have to eat sometime. And so out they go. I'm sure there are people who would rather poke themselves in the eye with a sharp stick than sit through one more meeting. And so out they go. I bet there were at least a few who just hadn't been listening that hard, or their minds had wandered, and so they didn't hear that they were asked to stay. And so out they go. And so on, and so on.

There were people who thought they had time to leave and come back, or were coming up from the church school, and the meeting was over before they could make it. And so out they go, and back in they come, surprised!

What worries me is the idea that some people just don't care about the meetings and boards and committees and how the church works, as long as it's still there for them. It worries me that there might be people who aren't as concerned with making this church a thriving, growing place as the rest of us are. The very idea worries me on a personal level (after all, you added my position with the intention of it helping the church become a more thriving, growing place), but more importantly the idea worries me because I love this community, and I want it to thrive, and grow.

And so, instead of asking you, "Why did you run?" I wish I had asked, "Do you care?"

Because I hope with all my heart that you do care.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
101906

Velly Intellesting... But not funny!

I know, I know, I'm too young to be making Laugh In references, but I figure I gotta keep you wondering. I mean, even You Can't Do That On Television is pushing it just a little bit, and you ought to be wondering how I've even seen and retained any Laugh In. But I have! I especially remember Art Johnson popping up in his Nazi uniform, and Ruth Buzzi as an old woman beating the crap out of an old man with her purse.

But... that's not the thrust of this post.

The thrust of this post is... you ran. You ran away. You know who you are. You might be able to claim that you received a false signal from Pastor Ed and myself... but...

you ran.

From a meeting that lasted all of 7 minutes.

And I shouldn't take such a confrontational tone, but it's frustrating. We said at the beginning of the service that we would like you to stay put for a quick meeting. We said at the end of the service that we would like you to stay put for a quick meeting. And then we made the mistake of doing the recessional, just like we always do. And you got up and followed us, as you always do.

Only much, much faster.

So it's very interesting to me that you're willing to come to the service, that you're willing to be members of the church, but that you can't stay for a 7 minute meeting.

I'm told that our annual pledges are down a staggering amount of money, and I guess I already knew that, but...

I don't know.

I've never seen the sanctuary empty so quickly before, and I'm interested to know why.

It's very interesting.

But not funny.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
101706

Breaking News

The Senior Pastor just came in and asked if we had heard about the chemical fire in Apex, North Carolina. Apparently the new Peter Pan book, some basketball guy firing a gun into the air outside a nightclub, and Uwe Boll literally beating up his critics were deemed more newsworthy today.

Anyway, he has family there, who have been safely evacuated from the area. He says that they have a good evacuation plan in place because they're also near a nuclear plant. Anyway, here's the story.

Thank God for the rain.
And that it wasn't the nuclear plant that went.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
100606

Ooh-vay Scary...

I thought I was done posting for the day, but I was checking my e-mail and found an interesting headline on the yahoo home page. It read something like, "Horror movie director takes on critics in boxing ring."

What?

So I read further. Said horror movie director is named Uwe Boll. Never heard of him. So I check out the video. I was wrong. I have heard of him. I had simply blocked it out of my mind because his movies are bad. And I don't just mean a little bad. I mean cataclysmically and unredeamably bad. And I like schlock. And I'm in the redemption business, right? To be fair, I've only seen one of his films, Bloodrayne... sorta. We fell asleep. We've been joking that our minds were trying to protect us from the crap. A lot of the arguments around why people hate Uve's movies so much center around his treatment of the source material. But here's the thing... I've never played any of the Bloodrayne games, and the movie was still bad. And I think that we all ought to be able to say that Uwe's movies are bad without personally attacking him. Be good to each other, right?

And this is a perfect example of why we should be good to each other. Because not being good creates more and more ungoodness. Now, I'm not feeling sorry for Uwe. Oh no. In fact, Uwe scares me a great deal more than his bad movies. You see, this isn't celebrety boxing. This isn't even a simple PR stunt. This is Uwe Boll, German film director and amature boxer brutalizing internet film critics with no training in boxing whatsoever! I don't like boxing to begin with, it's too violent, and before you come after me with arguments that I'm being hypocritical, stop and think. The stuff I'm into is all simulated violence. It's fantasy. It's not real. Boxing... boxing is real violence, and in this case, it's violence against defenseless people who thought they were in a simple PR stunt.

Uwe Boll must be stopped.

Be good to each other
Rev. Josh
100606

"It's Funny Because It's True!"

Ok, so this isn't a Halloweenie, and it's not the post I promised you, but a friend sent this video to me from YouTube and I had to share it. It reminded her of my wife, and I'm not unconvinced that it should... so here's a vid for my wife and all of her fellow knitters!

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
100606

Reminders

I was reminded just the other day that new people might be having a look at my blog as word of its existance spreads far and wide! For those of you just joining us, I've been preparing for Halloween since... um... the beginning of September. Heh. I love Halloween. I always have. And when I made the Halloweenie updates to the site's look I did a whole big post about why I love Halloween and why I don't think it's counter to my faith or particularly harmful. If you want to, go back and read it. For now, just know that I think you can relax and have fun with Halloween, and that is why I've been sharing my favorite scary things with you all.

Next time, I think maybe I'll have my wife write up a little something about one of her very favorite scary movies. It's another slasher flick, but the killer doesn't wear a mask. It has very strong female characters--but I doubt that's what it's famous for! And many fans like it because they think the killer is... funny?

Be good to each other
Rev. Josh
100506

The Other Originator

Yesterday I said I'd do a post on the originator of violence, Tommy Dreamer!

Wait.

No, no I didn't. I said I was going to tell you about the other movie credited as an originator of slasher films. Have you guessed what it is yet? That's right, it's...

"He" of course is Michael Myers. There he is! Isn't he just as cute as a psychotic serial killing little button? Isn't he? This shot from the opening scene of the film explains what poor dear Michael was doing in the insane asylum to begin with. Of course, years later, when Michael has grown into quite the big boy, he escapes and returns home to go on a random murderous rampage. The plot really is just about that simple, like a campfire ghost story, right? Except with a Halloween mask. Oh yes, and good old Dr. Loomis, the psychologist (psychiatrist? I'm not sure the film specifies) who's responsible for Michael. Dr. Loomis quite seriously informs anyone who'll listen that Michael is nothing less than the bogeyman. And maybe he's right.

In any case, there are a lot more subtle things going on in the beginning of the film that I think make this one a classic. Michael's rampage is preceeded by an extended amount of, well, lurking. His mysterious shape appears almost randomly in the background and the affect is just a little disturbing.

Click on the picture to make it bigger. And see if you can spot him. Even in broad daylight, he's almost not there. Creepy. But the film doesn't stay in the realm of fear of the unknown. Oh no. You'll get to know Michael quite intimately.

Why won't he stay down?

This is the iconic Michael Myers moment. Our heroine is directly underneath him, and hurting badly. Will she escape?

You may be surprised that this film actually has very little blood and gore, especially compared to other "slasher films" that were to follow. In any case, this is a classic of the horror genre in general, and an originator of the "slasher films" specifically, and it's worth a watch, if you're up to it!

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
092806

Quote of the Day

“[I]t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.”

— Judy Blume

Something That Actually Scares Me

Ok, I was going to talk about the second originator of slasher films, and I will (maybe you'll get two posts today, exciting, yeah?), but first something important.

Apparently this week is Banned Books Week, and I didn't know it. And the Something That Actually Scares Me? Censorship. The American Library Association has compiled a list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the last decade (1990-2000). They define a "challenge" as a "formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness." And they go on to state that, "According to Judith F. Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, the number of challenges reflects only incidents reported, and for each reported, four or five remain unreported." So no, the ALA's list isn't completely accurate--it's actually a very conservative estimate!

Some of these books shouldn't be read by small children and certain immature people, but does that mean that they should be removed from the shelves of the local library? No. It means that parents should be regulating what their children are reading right up until the point you know they are mature enough to handle such themes appropriately. This might mean that the library should (and I believe most do) separate their stacks into age appropriate sections, but the ultimate responsibility for what their children read should still fall to the parents. Your 13 year old is not going to find Madonna's Sex in the teen section of your local library.

In my admittedly limited knowledge of the books on this list, I only know of one that might actually be dangerous. The Anarchist Cookbook actually contains recipies for drugs and explosives. In the wrong hands, this book could be dangerous. In the hands of a political science major, however, it could be intriguing, since it was written in response to the Vietnam War and represents a political view that violence is an acceptable means to a political end--a view which the author no longer holds. In fact, the copyright is not held by the author, but rather the publisher, and remains in print and circulated despite the author's requests that it be taken out of print. Again, your 13 year old shouldn't be reading this book, and it's not going to be found in the teen section of your local library!

The Anarchist Cookbook aside, there are many books on the most challenged list that have every right to sit unrestricted on the shelves of your local or school library. Several of them were required reading when I was in school, and rightly so. Some of them I simply do not understand at all why they are on the list. Maybe it's just been so long since I read How To Eat Fried Worms that I've forgotten the recipies for explosives hidden in there... I'm sure that there are books on this list that have been challenged on the basis that they're popular pieces from the Fantasy genre, or display some aspect of the fantastic. (And we all know how I feel about that.) But honestly, there are some that I would encourage anyone with the comprehension abilities to understand what they're reading to pick up right this instant. Everyone should read A Wrinkle In Time. Everyone should read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Books like Bridge to Terabithia deeply influenced me when I was but a boy...

Ok, I've said my piece. Here's the list. Read it and be scared.

Be good to each other
Rev. Josh
092806

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth's Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What's Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women's Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where's Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Three Halloweenies For The Price of One!

Of course, one is free, two are free also, and you guessed it, three! Free! so... anyway...

I grew up near Mystic, Connecticut, home of pricey tourist shops and summer getaway of folks from "the city." Oh, and fall getaway for leaf peepers from the city. Oh, and winter getaway for Christmas shoppers from the city.

Sorry... got a little carried away there.

Where was I? Oh yes, Mystic. Mystic is also home of the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, where my father is now working part time, incidentally. And yes, they have some Halloweenies in store for visitors. They call it Seascare. You might even see my Dad there, all dressed up in his costume!

Mystic is also the home of Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea, and yes, they too have Halloweenies, known as Nautical Nightmares: Maritime Ghost Stories at Mystic Seaport I'm sure someone I know is likely to be there, too!

And finally... your Halloweenie of the Day!


I have most of these films on DVD, but far and away my favorite is the first. The rest of the series is almost completely schlock and all of them fall in the much maligned category of slasher films, but to be perfectly fair, Friday the 13th is often credited as one of the originators of the genre. For whatever that's worth to you. But here's what really makes the original film for me (without giving it away entirely). When I first saw the first Friday the 13th film, the only thing I knew about the series was this.
If this is all you know of the series, even if you don't usually like the plot of slasher films, you have to watch the first one. It will surprise you. Of course, if you don't like slasher films because of the blood and the gore... give this one a pass. After all, it really is one of the originators of the sub-genre.

Next time... the other originator.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
092706

The Pile

I have been under the pile for way too long. But look! And gasp! The light of day, and a few moments to blog! We've already missed Talk Like a Pirate day, but since pirates are most definately in this Halloween, I still feel within my rights to share this video with you. Enjoy!

Be Good to each other,
Rev. Josh
092606

Halloweenie of the Day!

Just to remind everyone. I'm sharing with you some of our favorite scary things because (a) I love Halloween. and (b) It is now close enough to Halloween to go nuts. If you want to see a discussion of why I blieve that Halloween isn't harmful in and of itself, go here.

And now, one of my favorite scary things:


Needful Things probably isn't my favorite story of King's. But it is the reason I began reading King to begin with... and the first time my wife and I really got to seriously talking it was because we were both reading King in a study hall... so in a way, Needful Things is responsible for my marriage. In any case, Needful Things is the last King novel set in the fictitious rural Maine town of Castle Rock. And I first picked it up because I saw the first half of the movie (which is the best half, by the way... read the book and leave the movie alone, in my humble opinion)--I honestly don't know if I would have continued to devour King if I'd read, say, The Stand first. But as it was, if this was the last Castle Rock novel, what were the others? And that's how my King phase began.

Needful Things also represents one of my first epiphanies about horror. I already instinctually knew that being scared can be fun in the same adrenaline rush kind of way that thrill rides are fun. But Needful Things taught me that the basic horror plot is, undertneath everything else, about Good vs Evil. So pick up a copy of Needful Things, and see if Evil wins out in the end.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
090806

Halloweenie of the Day!

The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999 in the midst of a television and internet campaign that managed to suggest that the amature footage used in the film was the result of a real event... without actually saying so. Some people were pissed about the film, some people were made physically ill from the camara work (although I suspect that these people were sitting in the front row... which would make me sick on a "normal" film)--but I think that the Blair Witch Project (A) Was the most brilliant attempt at facilitating the willing suspension of disblief in the history of the cinema. And (B) One of the scariest movies I've ever seen because it plays on what H.P. Lovecraft describes as the most ancient of fears: Fear of the Unknown.

I think that The Blair Witch Project struck me the hardest in the theater, but it's still worth a rent (heck, we own a copy). Put it in, tell yourself you're going to be watching a Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky documentary, and prepare to avoid wooded areas for about a month or so.

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
090706

Seek.

I read something really good that our Senior Pastor wrote for the church news letter. He was talking about looking for the image of God in one another as a spiritual practice. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, check out Genesis 1:27 at oremus.org. Faced with this scripture, the theological question becomes one of response. In other words, what do we do with the knowledge that every human being was made in God's image?

So here's where Ed picks up with the idea:

It's not an easy thing to do. But I've come to realize that we find whatever we're looking for.
If you look for dirt, you'll find it. If you look for God, you'll find God. I'm talking what you focus on in each situation you face and in each person you encounter. I nthe worst sinner, if you look hard enough, you will find the image of God. I can attest to that, having developed relationships with two men who were on death row. And I can attest that if you look hard enough in the holiest of saints, you'll find some dirt; or a demon they struggle with or something dark that haunts them. Trust me as your pastor. There are skeletons in everyone's closet and problems in the best situations; just as there are good things to find in the worst situations. The key, for each of us, is this. What are we looking for? After all Jesus said, "Seek, and you will find."

Personally, I'd rather look for the good. There's enough bad, and sad, and tragic in the world to depress me several times over. It's a whole lot nicer to find God.

Let's look for that, then.

Be good to each other.
Rev. Josh
090606