Something new for the new year

There's a provocative new blog called Kassander & Jameson which i have recently come across. i recommend it for those who like poetry _ although i admit that some of the poetry i don't quite understand. There are also numerous references to books or things i have never read. However, i have enjoyed checking it out and plan to often.

One of the entries there deals with whether or not there is "a Christian bone in Braveheart." Here in full are K & J's thoughts on it:

Is there a Christian bone in Braveheart?

I was just thinking about this recently. Back in the day, '95, I thought Braveheart was a Christian story. But what exactly was Christian about it? Is it, perhaps, just heroic, with misleading Christian symbols? What about slaughtering the garrison because his wife is dead? What about invading England because his Scots were not free? Wallace does not defend anything. Wallace is an aggresor. That's a heroic tale that we have seen before, the kind we love, as humans living on earth. It is about human justice, about what needs to be made right on earth. Wallace corrects this life.


Well, at this point the language gets tricky. Does it make sense to call Braveheart Christian, to say that Braveheart presents a true interpretation of Christianity? Who calls Christ an aggresor? Is there anybody out there? If people do, I'd be happy to agree. But I'd probably be wrong. Christ might not be an aggresor. And in that case, what do we, as humans, love on this earth, and why do we love it?

i certainly have my own thoughts on it, which i have already emailed to K & J, but i would love to hear what the visitors to my site think of the movie and K & J's thoughts on it.

Word Watch

For those of you enjoying language and cringing at its misuse, check out this.

Wonder

i came across this at Chasing Hats, discussing wonder and the importance of never losing our sense of it.

i have to say i appreciate now more than ever essays such as this one. The world, in various ways, seems to constantly strip wonder from me _ and i think from all of us. i certainly see a loss of wonder in most of the people i know. It is a fight of sorts to not grow "sophisticated and mature" _ words we use which are deceptive and really mean hard-hearted.

The recapturing of wonder in my own life began in 1998 as i read John Eldredge's book, Sacred Romance. He had much to say about wonder.

Another means of wonder God has put in my life is my niece, Caroline, who has Smith Magenis Syndrome. She is full of wonder, and i think she is able to be so because she moves at a different pace than the rest of us and sees the world from a slightly different perspective. To watch her dance and sing and twirl as though she were the only person in the world; to hear her exclaim at Christmas at all the joys of the season; to simply watch her face light up when she is joyous _ reminds me once again that she knows something about wonder which i need to learn.

i was so thoroughly pleased this Christmas to be strapped for cash because it forced my family to think creatively about the gifts we gave our families. For Caroline, i decided that it would be appropriate to give her a song because she absolutely loves music. So i began writing and was surprised by what God did. From somewhere deep inside me came a song to Caroline which was a beautiful reflection of how i really experience her . . . and a reflection of how others do too, i found out.

It's a gift which truly keeps on giving, as the words and music stick with me and with all her family. i would never have written that song were it not for a lack of money which forced me to really give something rather than just go to the store and grab a toy from the shelf. It's just another way Caroline has blessed me, and the whole of our family.