Spirit Scholars

Another Twist on an Old Country Song: Tough as Nails Holly Hunter Searches for God ... in All the Wrong Places

When Holly Hunter hits the screen in the opening minutes of TNT's new "Saving Grace" series at 10 p.m. on July 23, she seems absolutely determined to out-country the toughest country song. Since she not only stars in this new spiritual cop series, but also is producing the series, the Oscar-winning actress clearly has a whole lot of creative energy invested in the concept.

Nevertheless, it's certain to make more than a few religious viewers gulp to find her moaning and gasping in her opening scene, mostly nude and entwined in bed with a man who pauses in the midst of their lovemaking to declare that what they are doing is wrong--very wrong. She urges him onward, then finally collapses on the bed as the camera pulls back to make it clear that this is a squalid mess of an apartment. When her lover asks her to make a vow to God that they won't do this again, she snaps back, "I don't believe in God, but I promise you'll never have mind-blowing sex with me again!" Clearly, she's indicating that she'll soon be having it with someone else.

Then, just to complete the sad refrain of this country ballad, she rolls over, pops some pills, washes them down with stale beer--and belches loudly.

Apparently, this is supposed to be gutsy drama about the struggle for faith in the life of a "real person." The TNT network press kit accompanying preview DVDs of the show's first two episodes points out to reviewers: "'Saving Grace' might be viewed by some as a 'religious' story, but in fact it's unlike any religious story ever told and features themes that reach far beyond the boundaries of any single religion."

The press kit for reviewers also argues: "Many television shows in the past have featured spiritually grounded characters, and a few have even featured angels offering second chances or a guiding hand. But few shows dive into such subject matter as deeply and probingly as this one, breaking conventions and providing television audiences with a new take on spirituality."

Well, maybe.

Anyone who has struggled through a 12 Step program knows tougher tales than this. And many would argue that series like "The Sopranos" and even "Deadwood" explore the deepest, most probing, of spiritual issues in the course of their long and twisting tales.

Yes, there's a quirky angel in this new series, played by Leon Rippy (who is better known at the moment for his work in "Deadwood") -- but others have probed this fictional turf before, including the sad-sack, second-string Clarence in "It's a Wonderful Life" and John Travolta's hung-over, chain-smoking angel in "Michael."

We're actually not panning "Saving Grace," although we are viewing it, here at Spirit Scholars, with a sort of wry weariness at Hollywood's limited understanding of the cosmic scope of spiritual drama. Who writes a phrase like "a new take on spirituality" that seems to instantly dismiss and comodify spirituality all in a stroke of five words?

But having said all of that, adult viewers of a certain age will appreciate our recommendation: Holly Hunter is a marvelous actress and her portrayal of police detective Grace Hanadarko, whose traumatic past has left her deeply wounded, is far more compelling than most other dramas on network TV these days. In fact, she's so good in this new series that she threatens to blow away the other lesser talents who fill out the ensemble of detectives and criminals.

That is with the exception of Laura San Giacomo, also better known for her work in movies, who plays a forensic scientist and Grace's best friend. Laura believably has a "real" life of faith and becomes intrigued by her friend's reports of repeated meetings with a quirky angel. In fact, the scientist begins compiling a dossier of evidence on the angel appearances that's just odd-ball enough to make viewers want to check back regularly and see how this new country ballad unfolds week by week.

Beyond all that, when artists of this caliber start wrestling with spiritual themes, however clumsily publicists try to explain those themes to journalists, it's another sure sign that religious yearnings are alive and, if not well, at least they're moaning and groaning loudly these days in mainstream American culture. And, if nothing else, that's a sign of vigorous life.

But, tell us what you think, when you tune in on July 23. Offended? Intrigued? Is the whole thing too laughable to take seriously? Or serious enough to stay tuned?

From the Spirit of Lewis and Tolkien, through the Mists of Time ... to You

Are you a fan of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien -- or their lesser-known but still very creative friend Charles Williams? If so, you may already know about the 40-year-old Mythopoeic Society, an international literary society that promotes their works.

Today, the Society just released their annual "finalists" for awards given in the tradition of the original Inklings, the name the British writers gave to their circle of friends many years ago.

We'll share that with you in a moment -- because we know that many of our Spirit Scholars readers are voracious readers and you might spot something intriguing on the list of nominees.

But, first, if you haven't visited the Society before, you'll want to at least glance at their simply designed but highly informative Web site. So, here are a few helpful links:

First, the Society's home page is here, which is the main hub to the group's resources.

Then, want to know who's behind this group -- and maybe explore some of their personal Web pages? Among the group's members are former Michigan writer Sarah Arthur, who wrote "Walking with Frodo" and "Walking with Bilbo" -- and who remains quite involved in the C.S. Lewis festival each year in northern lower Michigan.

Oh -- and here's our Favorite part of their site -- a group of links to various Inklings Web sites that the Mythopoeic Society feels are helpful places to visit.

Well, if you've never visited the Society's Web hub, that'll get you started -- and, most likely, leave you lost in inter-related links for hours!

But, before you leave Spirit Scholars, here's the list of nominees this year. The winners of this year's awards will be announced during Mythcon XXXVIII, to be held from August 3-6, 2007, in Berkeley, California.

Take a look at this list -- because you might spot something here that'll be a real summertime gem on your own reading list:

2007 Mythopoeic Award Finalists

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature
Peter S. Beagle, The Line Between (Tachyon Publications)
Susanna Clarke, The Ladies of Grace Adieu (Bloomsbury USA)
Keith Donohue, The Stolen Child (Nan A. Talese)
Patricia A. McKillip, Solstice Wood (Ace Books)
Susan Palwick, The Necessary Beggar (Tor)
Tim Powers, Three Days to Never (William Morrow)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children s Literature
Catherine Fisher, Corbenic (Greenwillow)
Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Spirits That Walk in Shadow (Viking)
Diana Wynne Jones, The Pinhoe Egg (Greenwillow)
Martine Leavitt, Keturah and Lord Death (Front Street)
Terry Pratchett, Wintersmith (HarperTeen)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies
Marjorie Burns, Perilous Realms: Celtic and Norse in Tolkien's Middle-earth (University of Toronto Press, 2005)
Verlyn Flieger, Interrupted Music: The Making of Tolkien's Mythology (Kent State University Press, 2005)
Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall and Edmund Weiner, The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2006)
Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide
(Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies
Simon Blaxland-de Lange, Owen Barfield: Romanticism Come of Age: A Biography (Temple Lodge, 2006)
Jerry Griswold, The Meanings of Beauty and the Beast (Broadview Press, 2004)
Charles Butler, Four British Fantasists: Place and Culture in the Children's Fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper (Children's Literature Association & Scarecrow Press, 2006)
G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., Gemstone of Paradise: The Holy Grail in Wolfram's Parzival
(Oxford University Press, 2006)
Milly Williamson, The Lure of the Vampire: Gender, Fiction and Fandom from Bram Stoker to Buffy (Wallflower, 2006) 

In Finally Throwing Open His Attic Door, Gunter Grass' Tragic Past Becomes a Hopeful Coda

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
(from Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield")

When Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us ... what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" And, Jesus answered them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet."
(from Matthew 24)

"Hans left home on his own ...
Went into the world alone."
(a German nursery rhyme popular in the 1930s)

As children of conflict, how can we even dream of peace? That's the haunting question gnawing at some of the world's greatest minds these days as our tiny planet rumbles further into this era of seemingly endless wars -- and rumors of wars.

And, right now, that question is painfully clawing its way to the surface of one of our greatest minds: the Nobel Prize-winning German author Gunter Grass, who 10 months ago revealed that his own wartime service in the 1940s, as a teenager, was actually in the dreaded Waffen-SS. For years, he had vaguely dismissed his wartime years as virtually irrelevant to the German war effort. (That's Grass at right in the black and white photo in 1944, temporarily in the uniform of German Labor Service.)

Grass' reflections, just published in English, are not only an important landmark in the public understanding of Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, but they're also like peering through a skeleton-key hole into the long-locked-away artifacts in a grandparent's attic. Fascinating, dusty stuff -- but also, in many cases, deeply disturbing in their implications. And, even more than that, this little memoir is likely to rank with Stephen Crane and Erich Maria Remarque as required reading for years to come in courses on the global literature of war and peace.

If you aren't a regular reader of the New Yorker, we strongly urge either finding a copy of the June 4 issue with Tony Soprano on the cover -- or Click Here to read the online text of Grass' memoir of those years, "How I Spent the War: A Recruit in the Waffen SS."

Unfamiliar with Grass?

Well, for Baby Boomers coming of age on college campuses in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Grass' sprawling, satyrical, surreal novel about Germany's descent into Fascism, "The Tin Drum," was a cultural watershed. The tale is written as the memoir of the war-traumatized dwarf Oskar Matzerath, who winds up locked away in an asylum, reflecting back on the decades in which the Nazi Party rose to power and devastated Europe. The novel skewers and screams at readers on a whole host of social and moral issues, but the central themes cluster around the absurdity, cruelty, selfishness and blindness of most of the adult authorities in the world.

Grass seemed to argue that only Outsiders, especially artists and musicians, could hope to rise above the powerful desires that lead to the insanity of global conflict. Like Thoreau, Grass argued for beating a different cadence even in the face of mortal danger. The novel's title refers to Oskar's prize possession, a bizarre little "tin drum" that he plays compulsively and that comes to embody his life's vocation as an angrily prophetic artist.

That summary barely captures the energy of the novel, which later was turned into an Oscar-winning film in 1979 by German director Volker Schlöndorff. But, perhaps the summary suggests why it captured the creative imagination of a restless generation of American college students, disturbed by the Vietnam War, depressed about the lingering Cold War and generally eager to rush to the creative barricades in the hope of carving out a new world.

And, now?

Now, safely settled in a new millennium and approaching his ninth decade of life, Grass finally is admitting the shockingly high stakes of his creative strategy. We now realize that much of the passion in his novels and political activism was fueled by his personal guilt and shame over the moral failings of his teenage years. His fierce creativity as an adult now looks much like a flight from the humiliating blindness of his youth.

But the next question is: How different was Grass from millions of other youth? Many American World War II veterans still are coming to terms with their own youthful wartime experiences. The critical success of Clint Eastwood's twin films about Iwo Jima -- one from an American perspective and one from a Japanese perspective -- spring from the same half-century-long trauma that yawns like a Grand Canyon between the 1940s and today.

To his credit, Grass seems to realize that he now is draping his life across a public window frame -- and that his admissions are, indeed, guilty. No, he never so much as fired a shot at another human. No, his service never took him to concentration camps. But these admissions are of guilt, nonetheless.

For example, he admits in his memoir to having been part of the hazing of a German boy who apparently was a member of a pacifist religious minority -- a hazing so terrible that the boy was repeatedly beaten and eventually was sent to a concentration camp.

Overall, this memoir is a costly admission, even late in Grass' life. After years as an international symbol of the post-war search for peace and political reform, Grass' bombshell about his wartime record has been savagely skewered by many of his critics. The most frequently quoted critique came from German journalist Joachim Fest, frequently one of Grass' conservative political foes, who declared before his own death late last year: "After 60 years, this confession comes a bit too late. I can't understand how someone who for decades set himself up as a moral authority, a rather smug one, could pull this off."

And that was among the milder critiques!

But there's one more question worth raising -- and it is the reason we so strongly recommend reading Grass' memoir: If someone so blinded by the mists of war as young Gunter Grass could emerge from that youthful era of morally repugnant self interest to become a prophetic and hopeful voice for an entire generation, then cannot we, too, rise above our moral failings to become something resembling Our Better Selves?

Even if we're often, deep inside, toggling together those Better Selves with duct tape, glue and staples to hold together our fractured skeletons? If this thug of a youth can emerge as Gunter Grass, can't we, too, help to build better people of ourselves?

With this  memoir, Grass is throwing open the attic door and letting us glimpse the fractures and failings gathering dust for so long. "What I accepted with the stupid pride of youth I wanted to conceal after the war out of a recurrent sense of shame. But the burden remained, and no one could alleviate it. ... I will have to live with it for the rest of my life."

But, please, read his story for yourself. If you're a already a reader of Grass' novels, you'll find tantalizing clues to some of the most powerful metaphors in his fiction. And you'll find an old man honestly admitting how a tragically blind and bull-headed youth once set out to make his way in a war-torn world -- and wound up inflicting scars so deep that their pain would resonate for good and for ill around the world.

"Holy, Holy, Holy, Batman!" Now, Here's a SUPER-Spiritual Web Site Where One Can Meditate for Eons!

Zowie! Here's a truly SUPER-spiritual Web site where an ordinary mortal could disappear for untold hours. And what's Truly Amazing about it is that it's just one small part of the nearly legendary Web site: Adherents Dot Com.

Have you ever checked out Adherents? For years, we've watched this strange site swell from a sometimes downright quirky Web project in the 1990s, created by a Webmaster who seems to be a virtually invisible man in American media: a guy named Preston Hunter. (Note: If you're a reading this on Spirit Scholars and you know a good site to find background on Mr. Hunter, please Click Here and email us the link. He doesn't have so much as a Wiki or "About Us" Bio Page!

Mostly, what's known about Mr. Hunter is that he is almost obsessive-compulsive about gathering information on religious affiliation -- although he's hardly a whiz at Web design. His site has become one of the leading destinations online for figuring out membership numbers for various denominations and sects around the world -- even though it remains Old School Internet. Just take a look at this rag-tag assemblage of data -- a big, messy heap of details roughly shoveled onto Mr. Hunter's vast site.

But now? Now, given the popularity of made-from-comic-book movies this year, the Web buzz -- including a recent posting by the Religion Newswriters Association -- is pointing out that Hunter also is an obsessive fan of comic books.

How obsessive? Well, try reading his entire entry on Superman's religious affiliation (some experts say he's Jewish; some say he's Methodist; some say he's generically Protestant -- and Mr. Hunter finally votes Methodist). The entry and citations from various comics, graphic novels, TV shows and movies is ETERNAL! And then there's a vast galaxy of reader comments after that!

Some of the entries are a little -- well, they're Works in Progress. Ghost Rider is Baptist, Mr. Hunter says on his index page, but jump to the actual discussion of Ghost Rider and it's clear the debate isn't fully settled.

There's a whole lot of fascinating trivia here, though. Like, the giant green Hulk? He's Catholic -- or probably "lapsed Catholic," Hunter argues. There's truly arcane evidence here for this conclusion -- including a closeup of a comic book panel that shows a fallen Dr. Bruce Banner (the Hulk's human alter ego) clutching what appears to be a circle of rosary beads in his hand.

And the orange-hued, terrifically strong Thing? He's one of the co-stars of the hot new "Fantastic Four" movie that's scheduled to hit movie screens around the world next week. And, he's Jewish.

Here's how Mr. Hunter explains his background: Ben Grimm, known as "The Thing," is a founding member of the Fantastic Four, the foundational comic book series of the Marvel Universe.

The character of Ben Grimm was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby and appeared in the first issue of The Fantastic Four in 1961. Lee and Kirby, both Jewish, imagined that The Thing was Jewish from the beginning. The character's name is actually Benjamin Jacob Grimm. But during the 1960s (and for a long time afterward), there was a strong taboo in comics and many other popular entertainment mediums against referring to real-world religious affiliations of major characters. It was not until four decades later that The Thing's Jewish identity was revealed. The revelation occurred in Fantastic Four Vol. 3, #56, published in August 2002, in a story titled "Remembrance of Things Past." Ben Grimm has apparently never been a synagogue-goer as an adult, but he still remembers and sometimes says Jewish prayers, and he does think of himself as Jewish.

Of course, not everyone in comics is Abrahamic. There's the Greco-Roman (perhaps we'd say "Pagan" today) Wonder Woman. There's the Norse (or "Teutonic Pagan") Thor. And, there's the Egyptian-Classical Birdman.

There are various Buddhist (or faux Buddhist) super heroes, including the so-called "Bullet Proof Monk" popularized in a recent movie. And there are  number of Muslim heroes, the coolest among them called Rampart, whose alter ego is Jaffar Ibn Haroun Al Raschid -- a Muslim prince created for DC Comics in the 1990s.

Finally, if you do get hooked on this stuff, there's even a cosmic-size SUB-page of Super Heroes whose religious affiliations haven't been determined yet. Anyone out there know where the Tick goes to pray? Or how about the cigar-chomping Sgt. Rock? Anyone know whether the Blue Beetle was ever baptized?

Or, perhaps these should remain Eternal Mysteries.

"Amazing Grace" Sunday is Loaded with Amazing Resources for the Struggle

A couple of hundred churches across Michigan are expected to participate in "Amazing Grace Sunday" on February 18, a remarkable cross-promotion of a politically charged film, a historical reflection on the end of the British slave trade 200 years ago -- and a plea for renewed efforts to combat modern forms of enslavement.

One regret we have, here at Spirit Scholars, is that this movement was organized along such limited Christian lines. Of course, John Newton, the author of the "Amazing Grace" hymn, and William Wilberforce, the courageous British crusader who led the political charge against slavery, were motivated by an evangelical Christian faith. But this seemed to us like a wonderful opportunity to link hands across religious boundaries to combat an evil that's virtually guaranteed to spark fresh political energy, especially among younger Americans.

Evidence of the broad appeal of this issue is the fact that, just one week ago, Rabbi David Saperstein and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism issued a tough new "open letter" on the problem. (The Religious Action Center is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism that represents 1.5 million Reform Jews across North America.) Saperstein's letter said, in part: It is our responsibility to protect the rights of those victimized by human trafficking and help them to reclaim their dignity and independence. Our Jewish tradition teaches, “One who saves one life, it is as if he saves an entire world.” We recognize the divine presence in each and every victim of human trafficking and welcome the additional federal resources now being committed to ending trafficking and prosecuting those responsible.

So, here at Spirit Scholars, we're a little miffed that the organizers of this immense "Amazing Grace" effort didn't seize opportunities to link arms with a broader religious community.

Nevertheless, wherever you find yourself these days -- YOU can educate yourself about the problems of human trafficking and figure out your own avenue into this global effort. (Note on Accompanying Photos: At left is a painting of the real William Wilberforce. Below is actor Ioan Gruffud portraying him in the film with actress Romola Garai as Barbara Spooner.)

OUR SPIRIT SCHOLARS RECOMMENDATIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

No. 1: BUY a copy of David Batstone's terrific (and deeply troubling) book, "Not for $ale," and after you've read it, turn to the appendix about various resources for getting involved in the struggle. There's something in the book's long list of resources to suit almost anyone's preferences for involvement. (SEE the mini-review of the book in the right-hand margin of this Web site and click on the title to jump to Amazon. That way, you can buy the book right now!)

No. 2: CHECK out the three main Web site for this campaign. They're jammed with multi-media resources and web links. Yes, this particular set of Web resources is aimed at Christians, but there's an impressive array of material there. The effort is worth observing, even if you're not Christian to see how an effort like this can be staged. CLICK here to jump to the main Sunday-campaign Web site. OR, CLICK here to jump to the main Movie-related Web site. OR, CLICK here to jump to the main political-action Web site.

No. 3: WHOEVER you are, and whatever your background, you'll want to get your facts straight and the U.S. government provides an excellent resource in this regard. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons offers an overview of the problem, plus a "downloadable" copy of its Year 2006 report on the global problem. Click here to jump to the State Department's site.

No. 4: GO SEE THE MOVIE! (NOTE on Accompanying Photos: At left is the real John Newton, who wrote the "Amazing Grace" hymn, and next to that is Albert Finney who portrays him in the film.) The movie opens on Feb. 23, but we've previewed it already. You're likely to see mixed reviews on the 23rd as critics weigh the film from a whole variety of perspectives. But -- in light of this campaign -- we give the movie highest praise! It was directed by Michael Apted, the near-legendary British director who is responsible in his long career for everything from a James Bond blockbuster ("The World Is Not Enough") to the landmark documentary about aging, called "7 Up." Woven among Apted's commercial projects over the decades are smaller films focused on a broad array of social issues from the concerns of Native Americans ("Incident at Oglala") to the plight of Chinese activists in Tiananmen Square ("Moving the Mountain"). The new film, "Amazing Grace," has the aura and pacing of a "Masterpiece Theater" production, so -- no, there are no edge-of-your-seat thrills here. What there is, instead, is a beautiful articulation of the way that young William Wilberforce channeled his youthful idealism for both faith and politics into a hard-as-steel strategy for pursuing an achingly slow campaign that would eventually change the world.

Now, WE KNOW! We realize that we're sending you away from Spirit Scholars with all these suggestions for further reading, viewing and links to jump elsewhere. But, hey, there's a World to Change Out There! So, Get Going!

Here's a Chance to Make YOUR View Count in Honoring the Best in Spiritual Cinema

Cinema is such a popular subject at Spirit Scholars that we're thrilled, today, to recommend that you check out a cool new section of the giant Beliefnet Web site designed to let YOU vote for the Best Spiritual Movies of 2006 -- just in time for the Oscars.

If you've missed our own coverage of Film, Please Note that in our Calendar (in the upper right corner of this Web site), we've been listing the "Jesus @ the Oscars" program in Birmingham (it's free and open to the public, although it is hosted by a United Methodist church and is focused specifically on Christian reflections). For more diverse reflections, click on our "Film" Category (in the left margin of our Web site) and you'll jump to various stories we've run recently.

TODAY, though -- We're talking about Beliefnet. And, here's fair warning: If you are fascinated by the intersection of faith and film, you'll find yourself "lost" for quite a while in Beliefnet's presentation of its annual "Film Awards."

Here are the Beliefnet Film Awards Nominees:
For BEST SPIRITUAL FILM, The Nominees Are: "Flags of Our Fathers," "Babel," "The Nativity Story," "Children of Men" and "The Pursuit of Happyness."

For BEST SPIRITUAL PERFORMANCE, The Nominees Are: Jennifer Hudson (as a singer who is ousted from a successful singing group in "Dreamgirls"),  Nicolas Cage (as a hero trapped under the rubble in "World Trade Center"), Nick Nolte (as a mentor to an injured gymnast in "The Peaceful Warrior"), Will Smith (as a homeless Dad trying to hold his family together in "The Pursuit of Happyness") and Virginia Madsen (as a mysterious angel in "Prairie Home Companion").

For BEST SPIRITUAL DOCUMENTARY, The Nominees Are: "An Incovenient Truth" (about global warming), "The Ground Truth" (about U.S. veterans returning home from the war in Iraq), "The Saint of 9/11" (about New York Fire Department Chaplain Mychal Judge), "Shakespeare Behind Bars" (about prisoners producing Shakespeare) and "When the Levees Broke" (Spike Lee's long examination of how the hurricane, and the government's response, affected lives in New Orleans).

Here's how this portion of the vast Beliefnet site works: Start at the Introductory page by Clicking Here. You'll find the three sets of nominees. Click on one of the Categories, then explore each film. There's a lot to read and see. For example, Beliefnet is offering Clips from the various films that you can watch, if your Internet connection is reasonably speedy. There also are related Articles, plus Postings by various online reviewers to read.

As you zero in on films you'd like to see "win" a Beliefnet award, there's an interactive "Poll" accessible from each page. As you submit your vote, an "instant poll results" screen pops up and you can check to see how your choices compare with other voters.

Tempted to vote more than once? Unh Unh! We tried it, while we were "test driving" the Beliefnet presentation. Any attempt to cheat pops up an error message that says: "You've already taken this poll! Your vote wasn't counted in our tally this time." So, spiritual purity is ensured by Beliefnet's security system!

As always, we'd like to know what you think, here at Spirit Scholars. Click below to add a Comment directly on our Web site -- or Click Here to send us an email with your thoughts.

NCC's Innovative Programming: Networking from Abolitionists to Animal Lovers

Under the Rev. Bob Edgar's leadership, The National Council of Churches continues to forge innovative partnerships, especially around issues related to poverty and ecology. Two cool new opportunities came our way today from the NCC -- and we're sharing the NEWS with you here at Spirit Scholars.

The first partnership was forged by primarily evangelical groups, including the politically influential National Association of Evangelicals. But, somewhere along the line, Edgar and the Council have added their clout to the effort by sending out Web invitations to the Council's constituency, inviting them to take part in this effort. And we applaud that linking of online networks!

This is, indeed, a Cool and a Spiritually Important Effort! It's called Amazing Grace Sunday and -- examining this particular project in terms of evolving media and culture -- it represents another outgrowth of the Mel Gibson-inspired cross promotion of religious feature films. (We know. We know. We've all got issues when it comes to Mel -- but objectively he was a pioneer in this field of media.) In this new project, religious leaders are issuing a nationwide call for a special observance on February 18th in churches coast to coast. The date was picked to coincide with the February 23 release of a British film, "Amazing Grace," which dramatically retells the story of the abolition of the slave trade by Britain 200 years ago.

The cross-promotion effort includes a number of new books that have been published about William Wilberforce as well as a couple of new books about combatting the modern slave trade. By one estimate, human trafficking enslaves 27 million people around the world. (See a mini-review in our right-hand margin of David Batstone's book, "Not for $ale.")

(The Photo at right shows actor Ioan Gruffudd playing Wilberforce in the new movie opening on Feb. 23.) Here's how Wilberforce's life is summarized on one of the NCC Web sites about this event: William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was the original Great Emancipator. His twenty-year fight to end the British slave trade continued until Parliament finally acted. ... Wilberforce is less well known than Lincoln but the U.S. president said the British statesman was one of his political models. Wilberforce also advocated for child labor laws, campaigned for education of the blind and deaf, and founded organizations as diverse as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and the National Gallery (of Art). "Good causes," it has been said, "stuck to him like pins to a magnet."

So this is truly a convergence of media, culture and religious motives. Note how the NCC Web posting describes Wilberforce's life -- accurate, to be sure, but also focusing on his agenda as it might relate to the NCC today. (Among other observations that could be made about the life of Wilberforce is that he played a huge role in finally convincing John Wesley to come out against slavery. Wesley, who had seen slavery first-hand in the American South, spent many years contemplating this social ill before finally coming down forcefully against the practice -- and he credited his friend Wilberforce with helping to shape his spiritual conscience on this issue.)

BUT THAT's NOT ALL! Click here to visit the main Amazing Grace Sunday Web site. The NCC and many other groups are sending Web surfers ultimately to this multi-media site. Once you reach this Web site, you'll find a host of media resources -- from bulletin inserts for your parish to Web graphics to post on your Internet site. There are various lyrics for the "Amazing Grace" hymn and clips from the movie that multi-media parishes could show to their congregations. There's even a way to register your congregation on an ever-growing national "map" of participating churches.

  AND AS IF THAT WEREN'T ENOUGH? The NCC also is announcing a national preaching contest on themes related to ecology. Click Here to jump to the NCC site about this new effort. Here's how the NCC site introduces the contest: As stewards of God’s creation, it is our commitment to protect God’s creation and ensure justice for all of God’s children. But while our nation and the rest of the world progresses into a society of technology and convenience, we may let our commitment to the Earth slip aside, and let God’s precious gift of creation waste away. Please limit your submission to 1,500 words maximum. The deadline for this contest is March 1, 2007. Send us your sermons by email at info@nccecojustice.org (please write 'Environmental Sermon Contest' in the Subject line). There's also a mailing address for sermons on the NCC site.

As we often do at Spirit Scholars, we realize that we're sending you off into other Internet realms. But, we'd also like to hear what you think about all of this. Either add a Comment (by clicking below), or click here to send us an email directly.

Divine Light Pictures Peace Prize Encourages Young Filmmakers

FIRST, Do you want to read more about the Divine Light Pictures project?

Click Here to read about how to buy a copy of their film. OR, you can Click Here to read about the crew's latest interview with Buddhist scholar Geri Larkin. OR, you can can Click Here to read a longer story about the World Sabbath event at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where the film crew was given the Peace Prize.

THEN, Here is the LATEST NEWS about the Divine Light crew:

The First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor, the home base for this pioneering crew that now has included nearly 30 young people over the past two years, is issuing a News Release about the World Sabbath honor given to this group.

To read that full release, which includes a Web link to see more photographs of the Divine Light crew, click on the link in our left margin under "READ MORE."

ALSO -- If you're curious about this film crew and their work, PLEASE think about attending the February 11 event at Temple Beth El, hosted by the Dove Institute and Beth El. That's a chance to see the 72-minute film in Beth El's beautiful Maas Chapel. See you there!

Ernie Pyle Report 01: Learning to Live in the Face of Death

DATELINE: FROM the FRONT LINES OF RELIGIOUS CONFLICT -- Spirit Scholars is launching another ongoing feature, which we're calling the Ernie Pyle Report in honor of the remarkable war correspondent who gave his life in World War II to capture snapshots of human life in the face of horrific violence.

To read more about Ernie Pyle and figure out why we're invoking his name in this particular feature, you might enjoy reading his biography (recommended in our book reviews in the right margin of this Web site). Or, to learn more RIGHT NOW, simply click on the link to Ernie Pyle in our handy "Read More" list in the left margin! (If you click on Ernie in the "Read More" list, you'll find links to several cool Ernie Pyle Web sites, plus we've included a copy of Pyle's most haunting dispatch from the front lines. Take a look!)

But, why should we spend any time reporting on religious conflict? Isn't it better to ignore that anxiety-producing side of spiritual life?

Well, earlier this month, the Detroit Free Press convened its 2nd Annual New Year's Forum on Religion, featuring seven men and women representing a broad range of religious traditions. Participants were asked to identify trends we'll see in this new year and one of their "Seven Things to Watch in '07" was this: "We will see more violence perpetrated by people claiming to have religious motives. That's one reason leaders in all the world's major faiths will talk more about calming violence."

Spirit Scholars isn't interested in picking fights. We try not to be partisan. Our goal is clarity in sorting out the religious influences -- good, bad and sometimes bizarre -- in the rapidly changing culture that's swirling all around us.

But, sometimes, that means we've got to climb down into the trenches as well as scan the horizon. So, like Ernie Pyle, we're going to occasionally report on Spiritual Life in the Face of Conflict.

To kick off this occasional series, we're posting a two-part article.
FIRST, you can continue reading this story, if you want to learn more about how this theme plays out in several of the Oscar-nominated movies this year.
And, SECOND, if you're weary of conflict and you're ready for some inspirational reading, scroll down to the next article, "A Prayer for Peace: If You're Willing for a Child-Like Dare." That prayer we're offering to our readers is a wonderful oasis, provided by a local pastor in metro Detroit.

NOW, in this first article, you may wonder why we're suddenly talking about movies, again. Why? Because, it's clear that, even beyond Michigan's circle of religious leaders, people all around the world are worried right now about the cost of violence. And, artists as well as religious thinkers are searching for spiritual strategies for living in an era of deadly conflict.

This weekend, we "studied up" on the current crop of Oscar nominees, getting ready for the Rev. Rod Quainton's innovative "Jesus @ The Oscars" series at First United Methodist Church of Birmingham. (Check out our new calendar for Rod's dates and times, including an opportunity to hear from Spirit Scholars Editor David Crumm at the Feb. 15 program in the series.)

Working hard, visiting theater after theater in our research this past weekend, we located three important movies that you're likely to skip this year, because they're challenging to locate in local theaters and they're equally challenging to watch. BUT, we strongly urge you to seek out these films.

Here goes ...

What's New? Rob Bell's on the Road Again, Packing New NOOMA and His Long-Awaited Book, "Sex God"

Mark your calendars! Rob Bell, Michigan's hottest evangelist, is hitting the road again and he's stopping first at the University of Michigan Power Center in Ann Arbor at 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 8. Late on Monday, this free public appearance was announced by Rob's staff. The latest tour is planned to debut his new NOOMA film, "You," as well as his long-awaited book on the theology of human sexuality, "Sex God."

(UPDATE February 4: Click Here to jump to the Detroit Free Press Web site and read even more fresh news about Rob Bell and his plans. At the Free Press, you'll find a "Spiritual Life" story about "NOOMA" films,  Rob's style of preaching and why he approaches ministry in this unusual way. And, now, back to our original January 23 Spirit Scholars story ...)

We're starting with Rob Bell today, though, because we know lots of our readers will want to know about his latest tour, film and book. So, here's a summary of that news:

Monday and Tuesday this week, Rob has been the headliner at Mars Hill Bible Church's first international conference on the future of The Church, a series of talks and "break-out" sessions aimed mainly at pastors and pastoral leaders of churches. (Even though Grandville, the home of Mars Hill, is situated in western Michigan near Grand Rapids, the crowd at the conference is estimated to be 90 percent from outside Michigan, mainly from other states across the U.S. -- but with a number of foreign countries, including Norway, Sweden, England, Australia and Kenya, well represented in the mix.)

On Monday, Day No. 1 was an amazing roller coaster ride through issues as diverse as the theology of a Christian community, the spiritual need to pitch in on the global effort to combat AIDS, the divine nature of creativity -- and the courage necessary to pursue ministry in an age of global conflict.

Rob's own talks restlessly ranged from the New Testament to Rolling Stone Magazine, from the earliest Hebrew hymns to the final recordings of Johnny Cash, from the challenges of preaching on difficult Bible texts to the challenges of wrestling with abusive Email messages.

At this point, Rob is a Triple Threat in competing for ears and eyes in the modern media mosh pit. His first book, "Velvet Elvis," quickly reached Best Seller status. His hugely popular short inspirational videos, collectively called "NOOMA," are considered a cultural innovation. And, last summer, he rewrote the guidebook for touring evangelists with his sold-out, stand-up preaching gigs at clubs nationwide.

For at least a year, Rob watchers have been waiting for his second major book, "Sex God," to hit bookstore shelves. Finally, it's just about to debut, and we're told that the Feb. 8 event at UM's Power Center will be the first chance people will get to buy copies of the new book. That's even before the book is sold in bookstores, we're hearing.

Also, Rob will debut his latest "NOOMA" at the Power Center, called "You," a spiritual reflection on self esteem. Not even the crowd at the Mars Hill conference was given a peek at the new movie. So, Feb. 8 is shaping up as a "must attend" event for those curious about Rob's ministry.

If you live in Ann Arbor, we're told, you'll see posters going up around town in the week or so before the event. Rob and his ministry team are hoping that the event will draw heavily from the university community itself, but it's open to anyone who wants to attend. No tickets required.

If you live in other states, Rob tentatively is slated to visit the University of Kentucky on February 15 and, then, March 5 through 9, he's making a West Coast swing that will include the University of Washington and UCLA, passing through the Bay Area sometime in the middle of the tour.

Want to know more? Naturally, Rob's got his own Web site in the works. A cryptic "Coming Soon" page already is online at www.sexgodtour.com   Stay tuned for more.