Somethings Missing

Saw Terminator Salvation this week, not a very good movie.  Like many of the sequels / remakes these days its primary currency is nostalgia.  You have tiny pieces of the original film pasted throughout that give you short smile, but not much else.  There is no story, no emotional investment, nothing.  It feels like a hollow note out of place and off key.  

This afternoon I opened up Netflix and saw that the original was available on instant play.  I've had several experiences where the nostalgic memory of a TV show or movie colors my perception, I wondered if that was the case with Terminator.  It has been probably 10 years since I've seen the TV edited version of the original.  I loaded it up and watched it through.

First thing was that the movie is just as good as I remembered it, maybe even better.  In the age of computer generated effects seeing the work of Stan Winston made me smile.  Now those were special effects.  The animatronics and make up work are just phenomenal.  The thing that stays with me after watching the movie though was its commitment.  

Every movie shoots for PG-13, and the original Terminator is a definite R.  It would have never been made today, or if it had it would have been a completely different movie.  It takes a seriousness regarding the material to sell such an outlandish concept.  Time travel, cyborgs, sentient computer systems.  To sell the movie you have to take it seriously, and a serious take on the movie means that it is almost certain to be rated R.  The idea is that PG-13 movies make more.  If the lifetime of the franchise is considered would that be the case? 

The problem is one of formula -- 1:30 runtime x PG-13 rating + lead male star + lead female star x ($xx,xxx,xxx) = $x,xxx,xxx,xxx.  You cannot quantify movies like that.  The current theory is "mining" proven intellectual property. What happens when they run out of properties to mine?

Where is the new idea, the new franchise in the making?  With the current limitations they are placing on movies how will they create the next big thing?  Its a risk / reward model.  What they are doing is cashing in on the risks of the past, but they are destroying the viability of the future.  As much as I hate to admit it I miss the 80's and 90's.  It makes me sound old, but its true.

I miss being amazed at special effects in movies.  I miss seeing completely new stories and hearing original music.  Nothing hasn't been affected by the wave of been there done that.  Music, movies are all just remakes and remixes.  The new Terminator is really just fleshing out the story from the first one.  They add a few different plot points but there is no real suspense, you know the end.  The funny thing is that even though I've seen the original Terminator several times it was as intense as it was the first time.  How did they do that?  They need to teach the current wave of filmmakers how that is done, I think its more than just me that misses the intensity.  

Cupid

A little while back we were flipping stations looking for some hours to kill before bed and came across this cheese-ball of a show that happened to be the best thing on. The longer I watched the more familiar it seemed. The setup around this man in serious need of some sort of depressant attempting to get people to hook up. During the cut to commercial there was the title Cupid. I was stunned.

About 10 years ago I was addicted to a show named Cupid. A guy named Trevor, thinks he's Cupid, kicked off Olympus, if he gets enough couples matched up he gets admittance back onto that most spectacular of mountain tops. His foil is Claire, the psychiatrist assigned to him because come on, he thinks he's Cupid. Could this be a revival of that show? I wasn't really sure, it had been a while since I had seen the it, but this didn't have the feel of what I was remembering. The premise was the same, but the soul was different.

Quick search of YouTube revealed every episode (all 13 of them) posted and awaiting my viewing pleasure. My wife and I quickly devoured every episode that YouTube had to offer, and were both rather somber when the realization that there would never be another one sank in.

This was a great show!!! It took an outlandish concept and made it work. The writing was smart and sharp. The actors were above usual TV grade - in fact the lead actor of the show was non-other than Jeremy Piven. Who better to play an over-caffeinated, match-making madman?!!?? Why was it cancelled???

Apparently low ratings finished off Cupid. A Saturday night time slot did not work for its audience. Of course a Saturday night time slot does it for very few shows. Why?? It was another case of wondering how in the world studio executives still keep drawing paychecks. Someone realized that Cupid was a gem and tried to revive it, but the quality is not there, they are missing the point and they will never get that cast back.

Watching the old Cupid was like meeting a lost acquaintance and spending lunch time catching up. Why can't good shows stay on the air? Guess its for the best, if shows like this were on all the time I wouldn't get much done.

I can't say that I'm entirely sad that it was killed before it got a second season, a complete first season would have been nice though. There were a lot of questions, was Trevor really Cupid? Would he hook up with Claire and break out of his "delusion"? The show was far to smart to actively engage in trying to answer these questions. Its good that the show finished before writers came along who actually thought it would be a good idea to answer whether Trevor was really Cupid. The good die young in TV shows too I guess...

20/20

Several weeks ago, while my wife was still busy with school, I took the opportunity to watch a movie that I knew she wouldn't enjoy, one of the "art flicks" that drive her crazy.  It was a movie called Let the Right One In that had made quite a few top ten lists on some of the blogs I read.  

The movie was billed as a "sweet coming of age story with a vampire twist" some called it a grown ups Twilight.  I watched the movie and wondered at how so many people who are "professionals" could be so wrong.  Were they watching the same movie?  Either they weren't or they had no understanding of what this movie was about.  This was not a "sweet coming of age story" this was a horrific story about a dark, life altering choice for a young man.

Spoiler ahead, just a warning, don't think anyone who will be reading this will want to watch this movie anyway but warning...

The story begins with a boy during the awkward years that gap elementary and high school.  He is picked on by those around him and is ignored by his parents.  Left for hours alone he develops a fascination with death, he keeps newspaper clippings of murders that he flips through.  He has a knife that he keeps close and caresses after thumbing through the articles.  He spends time alone in the courtyard and stabs at trees reciting the same phrases used by his bullies.  One night a new family moves in, a father and daughter.

The man covers the windows of the apartment.  Later you see him ambushing a man in a wooded area, he strings him up in a tree and bleeds him into a container.  Some women walking a dog disturb him before he is finished.  The man runs and next you see him he is frightened and pathetic mass being berated by a small girl.  The shot focuses on the man, slumped low against the wall, terrified of whoever the girl is.  

The girl leaves.  A group of people are walking home, a man splits from his companions and walks underneath a bridge, a small figure ask him to help her.  He walks to her asking if she needs help, she says yes, says that she's been hurt and can't walk.  He moves towards her telling her not to worry he will help, he gets close and she suddenly wraps around him, clinging to him and his neck as she kills him.  The girl is revealed to be a young girl Eli.

This is the introduction of the two main characters in the film, Oskar a disturbed, bullied boy and Eli a evil vampiric entity.  What comes after can play at being a sweet love story between Oskar and Eli.  They meet, find companionship in their loneliness, she helps him learn to deal with the bullies, she gains a much needed friend.  That is not the movie though, that is the deception Eli is acting out for Oskar.

The misunderstanding of this movie stems from a misunderstanding of Eli.  She is a parasite, she is evil wrapped in a twelve year old girls body.  The movie is about Oskar's seduction by this vampire.  Everything about her is a deception.  She looks twelve but says that she has been twelve for a long time.  She acts sweet towards Oskar but she is a brutal killer.  She has obviously decieved most of the audience as well.  Was this intended?  Did the filmmaker intend for Eli to draw the audiences sympathy?

I find it hard to understand how.  

Eli is Oskar's dark longings, his homicidal imagination.  She is the dark thing that is growing in his soul during his neglect and beatings.

If this movie were made only 10 or 15 years ago it may have been different.  There may have been redemption at the end, there might have been a moment when Oskar recognized Eli for a vampire and not a friend.  This movie is to modern for that, it finishes in the middle of the story, after the consummation of wrath, leaving you to wonder how long this "happiness" of Oskar's will last.  There will be that moment in life where you recognize what evil has done to you.  You will be confronted with the results of your selfishness, your lust, your rage, it is the law of reaping and sowing.

How do so many people see something so different in this movie?  After doing a few quick searches I found out that the book was much more straight forward.  There is no ambiguity there, reviews of the book talk of how malevolent Eli is.  This may be the most pure horror I have seen in a while, it is the destruction of a young boy's soul, his surrender to something dark.  

This movie is an unfinished story that would make a great illustration for a sermon.

Generational Chasm

 

We took pictures at a wedding back in January, this is my favorite image from the wedding.  Since the couple are my clients I do not feel that I can honestly comment on the wedding.  I will say that I wondered what this elderly couple thought as they shuffled through their grandchild's wedding.  The gap, no chasm, between the two was staggering.  How alien this world must feel to the Greatest Generation.  I wonder if they watch the news, their street, even their progeny and wonder where their America went.

Doubt

In a tough spot right now. I have come to a major intersection of my beliefs and I am struggling with the turn I must make. This began about a month ago, it was a tremor at first, now it is a major movement in my life. All I felt was truth has begun to fall away and I am for the first time in doubt about what it means to be a Christian.

"The feet upwards, the head downwards he falls"

A month ago I saw a friend of mine who introduced me to much of the apologetics I have clung to, Schaffer, Lewis, and Zakerius. He mentioned to me some of the problems he was struggling with, namely the lack of morality in the Old Testament. I was a little uncomfortable as soon as he voiced his concerns. They were broad and we didn't dwell on them, you cannot really debate morality during a normal afternoon conversation. Instead I went home and began studying.

I set my direction on defending the God of the Old Testament as every bit as merciful and just as the God of the New. This should be easy, its the same God, he didn't change, our perception may have, but he did not. My first stop was David, this study went well. David is not really that hard to defend, nor God's blessings on him. David is a radical, something God always cherishes. He did everything with enthusiasm and without a thought to the opinions of others, including adultery and murder. Despite his sin he was a Godly man, he worshiped, he repented, he acknowledged God.

After David I began to formulate my overall defense and I hit a snag. I began poking around slavery in the Bible and like many before me found myself taken aback. The practice of slavery itself is not to hard to explain, there was no social security of the day, everyday life was like managing a rather large small business. Food did not come in microwaveable containers, water was not available by turning a knob. Slavery was voluntary (for the most part) and not perpetual or based on race. Then there was a disturbing verse in Exodus 21 that lead me to the disturbing verses in Leviticus 25.

I will not write out the verses, they essentially made me doubt God's goodness. Doubting what God gives us as an attribute of himself is dangerous. Who are we to call God on his actions?

Let me tell you about my God, let me tell you that even if you doubt his goodness, even if you don't understand he is good. When I left for Easter service I had begun writing this blog post. I had titled it Doubt, and I set off for church with an unsettled spirit. I sat through worship without worshipping. I could not bring myself to sing praises with the doubt in my heart. The message started and Pastor Greg began talking about doubt.....

Yes, the message was over doubt and unbelief. An Easter service whose message was about doubt. It felt like God came and sat next to me, leaned close and whispered that he knew where I was, and knew what I was struggling with. He said that no matter how much I doubt his goodness he still cares enough about me to seek me out, and to bring me back.

God is great, God is good, let us thank him!!!

The Palace - Corsicana, TX

Christmas Cheer

"I know what my next two tattoos are. One is the praying cowboy on that shoulder (left) right there. I think the good lord would like that..." My brother-in-law.

That as far as I was concerned was the quote of the Christmas season.

Awkward

There are few things more awkward than holding the leash of a dog while they take a dump...

That's all, you already have the visual in your head.

Book I Enjoyed

Just finished up another book Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. The book is quite imposing at 750+ pages. I bought it on the bargain rack at Barnes & Noble for $2, the price per page was hard to pass up, I figured if it was awful then it could always be economically used to start fires. I was surprised to find it one of the better, more imaginative books I have read in quite a while.

Reviews of this book seem hesitant, they are always reserved, I had wondered after I bought it why. While it could properly be called a "fantasy" it is distinct from that genre. The story involves magicians that talk more about magic than actually do it. There is a whole alternate history involved in the book that is only briefly mentioned. Characters spend the majority of the novel unaware of their antagonist. You spend as much time loathing the protagonists as rooting for them. It is a hard book to classify, or even completely follow. Now that I've finished the book I believe I understand why, the story involves magic and magicians but it's interest is in relationships.

There are some interesting comments about relationships in the book, very practical ones. There is the question of sacrifice in relationships for the sake of careers, country, and a cause. The heroes pour their heart's into what they consider a public service and their wives, friends, and servants pay the greater price for it.

I really enjoy books like this, they may not be to everyone's taste, but I personally love the way they blend fantasy with the real. The further from reality a tale gets often the more boring it becomes to me. Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell has some pretty outlandish stuff in it, but it is grounded in the very real relationships among the characters. That is the secret all good fairy tales share, they are true to the nature of the characters and relationships, even if they create a fantastical view of nature and physics.

What Happened?

Just finished watching Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Movie is horrible. I had heard it was bad, what I heard was right. I should be ashamed of myself for even watching it. Aliens!!???!!! Indiana Jones is not about aliens.

What happened to the man who is responsible for an entire generation's childhood imagination? What happened to George Lucas? I can't explain it. I have wondered if the ability to create worlds in a digital space is his biggest problem. The man obviously has a big imagination, but imagination is only good up to a point, one foot has to be planted in reality. Before computers, when special effects were truly special, he had to keep his story grounded, after computers he could go anywhere his imagination let him, unfortunately that wasn't a good thing.

Past-Time

One of my favorite past times is re-writing crappy TV / movies in my head. Yes you read that right. I spend my time polishing turds, or pretending to polish turds, or thinking about what a polished turd would be like. Have I said "polished turds" enough for you? How about this one, Diamond in the Turd. A diamond in the turd is a cool idea / story that has been ruined.

Well known Diamonds in the Turd - the Star Wars prequels. The Star Wars prequels were much cooler before they were made. Pirates of the Caribbean that aren't the first one. Heroes.

Heroes has been my favorite subject lately. I think the main reason is that its so easy to improve. The show is horrible right now, anything you do would be an improvement.

So there it is. These shows are my version of the Maury Show. I watch them so I can shake my head and feel superior.

I need to get off this pain medication, I maybe admitting things that I shouldn't.

TURD - I said it again, couldn't help myself.

Surfing While Medicated

Any regular reader of this blog will also be someone I know (can't imagine there is anyone out there who finds this entertaining enough to follow otherwise). Anyone I know will know that I have just had knee surgery. This was my first experience with surgery, its pretty interesting, you close your eyes and a moment later there is a overbearing nurse asking you annoying questions like "What did you have surgery on?" Geezzz lady can't you look at my bandaged right knee and see, hey wait a minute, WHAT, not the right one, just kidding it was the right one... That was a joke I wanted to play, but didn't get a chance cause all I could think about was getting more wonderful, beautiful sleep...

So now that I'm back home, right knee bandaged up, walking on crutches, and with time on my hands the only rational thing to do is surf the internet. Surfing while on medication is fun. There are all kinds of things you can find. Example?

Here you go...

Being on medication makes me question whether I really saw what I think I saw on that webpage. BTW the google search for Cobra Commander is the Antichrist did not give me anything worth looking at - I need to create the page I expected to see from such a search.

Ebay is dangerous for the medicated. I was thinking about cereal and whether it would be more economical to win the bids on cereal nobody wanted so I did a search for corn flakes, and I found this. What I really wanted though was just a box of cereal, not the virgin Mary on a flake of corn. I almost got into a bidding war for a box of Honey Nut Cheerios, then I remembered there was some in the cabinet. My knee is hurt so getting to them may not be so easy. I wonder if I could get free delivery of my Honey Nut Cheerios to my lap from my cabinet.

Enjoy your day, my medication is making me want a nap..

Clarification

Some might look at my last post and assume my concern, like so many others, is the economy.  Economic conditions are set by the moral issues, I believe that as a countries principles go, so goes its prosperity.  In other words, lack of morals creates an environment where prosperity is impossible (maybe a future post). 

I singled out the voting based on the economy as something that disturbed me, and here is the reason.  There are people who voted for Obama based on the idea that he will restore economic prosperity.  What disturbs me is their lack of reason.  You have the right as an American to vote however you wish, if you want to vote based on economic policy you have that right, but if you're going to vote for economic policy make sure that the economic policy you are voting for makes sense.  Use the brain God gave you to consider whether the policies that are being proposed have historically worked.   

That is my issue.  Its the Idiocracy at work in the voting booth that causes me the most concern. 

Two-Minute Replays

So here is what could have been maybe 3 independent blog posts, but in the spirit of efficiency (laziness) I'm doing the two minute replay.

Crazy cartoons. Found a Donald Duck cartoon from the 1940's that has been banned, this ranks a 10 out of 10 on the Crazy-Crapto-Meter.



There was also this one...



Another post was about a co-worker who has to be a radioactively charged, mutant alien, with the super ability to stall projects. I was thinking of trying to compare him to a campy Batman villain from the 60’s, one with a very tight fitting and homo-erotic costume.



Lastly, although you might not believe it after readin this post, I have been thinking about depth. I admire those individuals that understand not only rhetoric, but the substance of the words and the meaning of the system that birthed that rhetoric. They could perhaps see in color the true make-up of the problems we now face. I want to hear from a prophet. There are things about our next President that I do not like, his stance on abortion and gay rights are a few, but even greater is the fallacy of the sweet sounding promises he has made. I feel a little I feel like a kid sometimes, who has just learned to tread water jumping into the deep end. There are a couple of moments where you push up and out of the water with an extreme sense of accomplishment right before you get your first mouthful of water. Thats how I feel arguing economic policy sometimes.

Here is what I do know, the US spent 30+ years defeating a socialists system, we didn’t have to fire a shot, socialism collapsed under the weight of the system itself. It doesn’t work. Taxing wind-fall profits, yeah what exactly is that going to do? If a company pays more taxes for making more money there are only two things that can happen, either they will cut back to assure no “wind-falls” or they will raise prices to compensate. Does everyone reading understand that neither are good things? Oh and one more thing, if a company is foreign then they don't pay the tax, so it kind of encourages any company that actually wants to be successful to not be American.

This is where I begin to feel that I am treading ideas and gasping for a concise thought. I understand the mindset that wants something for free, that acts as a parasite. I understand the mindset of the politician who says whatever he needs to get elected. I don’t understand the “educated” voters who turned out, the ones not looking for a handout, the ones who don’t recognize the danger of implementing irrational policies that have failed before. These are the people who pay into Social Security and don’t expect to take out. How can they not recognize that no matter how good it sounds to "help people out" to "give people a hand" the best way to do that is not to implement a socialist program.

The government will not save you. Historically government has been the most devastating, oppressive force known to man. The best you can hope for is a government that upholds the law and establishes order. If government doesn't demand you invade Russia for the cause your lucky, if you get to voice dissenting opinions and vote without first placing your nether-regions in a vice your blessed by God.

Emails & Comments

I haven't posted much lately, but its not because I have forgotten the blog, or slipped back into the habit of neglect, I've spent quantities of my time writing emails and posting responses to a co-workers blog.

Its been a fun, yet strenuous experience. There is nothing like questioning to make you grow. Over the past several weeks I have been amazed by the questions that hinder people. I've had times in my life where seemingly unanswerable questions rose and drowned much of my faith. I understand the debilitating presence of uncertainty. Being somewhat egotistical I guess I feel at times that all struggles are the same, and that all questions are your own.

If your interested in my co-workers blog it is here - I've responded as best I can to some of them, I hope to have more to report soon.

Other stuff... Couple of things this week that are blog worthy, and both are funerals. Two funerals in one week. Both funerals were caused by cancer. One lady was 36, a member of our Sunday school class. She had been married but a few years, and fought cancer through most of them. The other lady was 73, she lived a full life. Something that was notable about both ladies, they were both models of Christianity.

One of the great hindrances is that of the "unfaithful Christian". You don't even have to evangelize to hear tales of "Christian's" who act immorally and unfaithfully and cause others to shake their head dismissing anything Christian as hypocritical. I have heard a co-worker (not the same one) speak of Christian's with such spite because of this. Here were two ladies who were not a hindrance. They were lives lived to the very end with a loving, gentle spirit.

Man-Made?

Before sunrise Saturday morning I took this picture and pondered how preposterous the phrase "man-made lake" is.

Uncertainity

I, like everyone else, have wasted vast amounts of time over the last few days reading articles on the finical crisis. Why did it happen? What can be done to correct it? Should we correct it? When will we get our chance to make a run on the bank? All these questions and no clear answers.

My feeling on the crisis is that we will only know the right thing to do in about a decade or two. The economy is wicked complicated, filled with equal parts bullcrap and gold. The market's well being is based on the faith a large collective of people. Is the market bullish? Well all these people feel like it is, so it must be. The more collective good faith the market has, the better it is. Fuel and commodity prices are based on perceived future value. Companies that post record profits take a hit on their stock because they didn't excel expectations. Anyone who says they have it figured out is either Warren Buffet or they are lying.

Economists still haven't agreed on what was the exact cause of the Great Depression, even after fifty years of analysis. I have yet to see a theoretical set of steps that would have prevented the depression once it began. My feeling is that even with the benefit of hindsight the perfect solution will not be evident. There is the possibility that a bailout will instill confidence and the economy will rebound. There is also the possibility that a bailout will create massive inflation, causing even greater problems.

It could be that the problems are bigger than the will to solve it.

My favorite quote was from Warren Buffet. He had made comments a while back saying that you can't see who's swimming naked till the tide goes out. His comment today - "Wall Street looks like a nude beach.."

SpaceBookSter

I caved, yes its true I created a Facebook account. Yes, I know, its completely lame. So there are several things about this that annoy me, I know your dying to hear them.

First this is third profile I've had to setup on a social - networking site. I am a survivor of Friendster, and MySpace. This is the third time I've had to come up with something witty to say and pick out which which colors to paste all over the site. There is only so much of working with colors I can take, I am not color blind but I am color I-could-give-a-crap.

Second is the sense of exposure. I feel naked posting anything on Facebook, and not in the kinky way, its closer to the experience you get while wearing one of those hospital gowns. I feel like every picture, every post is analyzed thoroughly by everyone. I feel that way because that's what I do to other peoples profiles.

Third I am neither that into being social or into networking. If I don't know you, or haven't kept up with you there is probably a reason.

Why a Facebook profile? My Mom got one. When my Mom, Sister, Cousin, Wife all beat me to the punch technologically there is a problem, the strain on reality is to great.

I have an idea, I'm going to create the worlds first anti-social networking site - SpaceBookSter. Its just gonna be one page with a big sign....

GO AWAY!!!

Forgotten Post

Back in June I wrote several journal entries that I meant to post up but never got around to it, so consider this post back to the future, accelerate to 88 MPH and charge to 1.21 gigawatts.

In the airport (Washington DCA) waiting on a flight to take me home to Houston. Home is knowing where the nearest restaurant and store is. During this trip I have come to realize one of the comforts of home is knowing. Knowing where, knowing how far, knowing who.

So during the trip - last couple of days in fact we have walked over the capital city, soaking in what we could. Places we visited National Zoo, National Cathedral, National Portrait Gallery, Library of Congress, ate at Old Ebbitts Grill (oldest resturant in DC).

I was deeply affected by two places we visited, one was the National Cathedral, the other was the Library of Congress.


Walking to the Cathedral was a feat, no close subway connection, to those who are not used to it a two mile hike is not easy. The camera (Nikon D200) is just heavy enough to make lugging it around uncomfortable. The wind in DC kind of snaps at you every now and then. No clothing is quite appropriate. To hot for long sleeves, yet when that cold wind snaps you can’t help but want long sleeves and jackets. Its like walking into a cold room when you’ve been outside sweating.

We made it to the Cathedral and I was overwhelmed. Ten stories high (or something like that). Full of beautiful stain glass, flying buttress ceilings, statutes, carved stone, and scripture, yet the glory has left the place. The Cathedral stands on the highest point and is the highest building in DC. Coincidence? NO! It was built as a point to look to, a place where our leaders could look out and the highest place, the place of prominence would be a place of God.

While we were there we sat through a midday service. An Episcopal priest gave the service. She read scriptures, “if your eye offends you pluck it out...” she read this word of God, and she abruptly disregarded it. “I don’t believe anybody is going to hell, we are all under the grace...” Really? She then proceeded to concentrate on the “salt of the earth” and bring a self help to the message. We should be rich and flavorful to each other. I was prepared for something like that, but still, I sat in silence, angry at the irreverence of her message. If the word of God doesn’t mean what it says why is she teaching it? If she doesn’t like the passage why teach it? In this place that is the spiritual capital of our nation I felt an emptiness. The Cathedral was a museum. To her, and the care takers of that place, the scripture carved in stone (so they couldn’t be changed) were history lessons, simply ancient words of irrelevant nature. I wondered at the audacity of it. The answer to how came the next day when we visited the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress was established after the Civil War, around 1897 (date maybe somewhat wrong but around there). This is important because at this time the 20th century was dawning, the Enlightenment was happening or had just happened, and the aftershocks of that event are plainly seen in that library. Unlike many of the monuments in the capital the library is relatively new, it s not seeped in the religious, it is a monument to man. The mascot of the library is Minerva, the Roman goddess of knowledge and defense. She is plastered along nearly every wall. Murals of her stood everywhere. I have a hard time explaining the folly I could feel seeping from the symbols plastered along all walls, I remembered Tom Nelson’s series on The Road to this Present Darkness. Pastor Nelson spoke of philosophical ideas launched from Europe, landing in America and spreading like cancer. Here it was, one of the first casualities, and one seeped in the philosophy that has spread. Man, honor and glory to MAN all around. Knowledge is theology, knowledge is god, man harnesses knowledge making himself into god.

One set of murals depicted the rise of communication. Man setting stones in patterns to communicate. Man creating scrolls from animal hide, a barely clothed woman looking on admiringly. An Egyptian carving symbols, a bare breasted woman sitting to his side. Monks copying onto a scroll, then finally Guttenburg and his press. Man, creating, woman as a ornament to the man’s side. There sitting in a case, sealed, one of the original Guttenburg bibles. The text is not admired as the word of God, but as a monument to man’s knowledge, his ingenuity. Modern man prefers the abstract god, the symbol without the substance, a mascot. It was this that connected the two things for me, the empty, hollow cathedral and the library. What the priest wanted was a mascot. She read the words of Jesus, the author and founder of our faith, and decided they were not to her liking, much better to have a symbol.

There are other things that connect the two places as well. The library reflects the philosophy under which it was built, man is elevated, it is the one of the first beach heads of modern thought and philosophy into the American mind. Down the street is an institution overcome with the philosophical compromises that were made as a result.

Downtown