Invisible People

Butch from InvisiblePeople.tv on Vimeo.

After watching this video (and many others), I'm torn between two responses. One response blames me and rest of society for not doing more. The other response (I'm afraid to actually say it) blames the homeless person. I think to myself, "Why should I be blamed when this all could be the fault of the homeless person?"

Is finger pointing the point? Here's a guy who's lived on the street for 40 years, and I'm debating who's to blame! Is that what Christ would expect of me? I'm glad Christ did something for me when I was in need. By the way, speaking for myself, I was clearly to blame.

Romans 5:8
"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Coping in a Post-Jackson World

I didn't believe it until Twitter told me. There I was, chatting with my friends at a cookout when, upon receiving the Tweet heard 'round the world, my phone chirped. It was the BBC just letting me know that, "Oh, by the way, Michael Jackson has left the building."

More fascinating to me than the rise and fall of a musical genius, is the reaction of that fickle entity which openly confesses to being America. I'm not sure I understand the sentiment expressed in some i-reports which (and I don't remember for sure) went something like this, "AHHHHHH! MY LIFE IS OVER!!!! AHHHHH!!!" I also don't really understand the opposite (and very un-Christian) sentiment which basically says, "Burn in you-know-where, you stupid you-know-what."

I think my sentiment more parallels what one of my friends remarked via Twitter, I am "strangely saddened my Michael Jackson's death." I'm "strangely" saddened because I have no relationship with Jackson, and I'm not convinced he made the world a better place or that his lifestyle brought glory to God. I'm strangely "saddened" because I have no reason to believe that Jackson had placed his faith in Christ for his salvation. This saddens me.

It's a sober reminder that all the riches (and he was rich), all the fame (and he was famous), and all the talent (and he was talented) couldn't stop the ready-or-not-here-I-come appointment with your enemy and mine - death.

American Theater

IMDB (Internet Movie Database) is a massive online tool for researching anything to do with movies, TV, actors, etc. On their website, they have a list of the all-time USA box office movies. Tell me if you noticed the same thing I did about the following list of the top 35 grossing movies of all-time in the USA.

Rank. Movie (Released) $Ticket Sales

1. Titanic (1997) $600,779,824
2. The Dark Knight (2008) $533,316,061
3. Star Wars (1977) $460,935,665
4. Shrek 2 (2004) $436,471,036
5. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) $434,949,459
6. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) $431,065,444
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $423,032,628
8. Spider-Man (2002) $403,706,375
9. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) $380,262,555
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $377,019,252
11. Spider-Man 2 (2004) $373,377,893
12. The Passion of the Christ (2004)$370,270,943
13. Jurassic Park (1993) $356,784,000
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) $340,478,898
15. Finding Nemo (2003) $339,714,367
16. Spider-Man 3 (2007) $336,530,303
17. Forrest Gump (1994) $329,691,196
18. The Lion King (1994) $328,423,001
19. Shrek the Third (2007) $320,706,665
20. Transformers (2007) $318,759,914
21. Iron Man (2008) $318,298,180
22. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) $317,557,891
23. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) $317,011,114
24. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $313,837,577
25. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) $310,675,583
26. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) $309,404,152
27. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) $309,125,409
28. Independence Day (1996) $306,124,059
29. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) $305,388,685
30. The Sixth Sense (1999) $293,501,675
31. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) $292,000,866
32. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) $291,709,845
33. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) $290,158,751
34. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) $289,994,397
35. Home Alone (1990) $285,761,243

(Taken directly from this IMDB web page)

Even after a cursory reading of this list, it's hard to not notice the prevailing theme. All but five of these movies (Titanic, Passion of the Christ, Forrest Gump, The Sixth Sense, and Home Alone) have strong plot elements of fantasy. (Some would argue that "Passion of the Christ" and "Sixth Sense" also have elements of fantasy, I disagree). Whether it's animation (Finding Nemo), magic (Harry Potter), supernatural curses (Pirates of the Caribbean), Sci-Fi (Star Wars), aliens (Independence Day), superheroes (The Dark Knight), or people and places from a whole new world (Lord of the Rings) 81% of the top 35 all-time grossing movies in America have strong non-natural elements. Fascinating, isn't it?

It could be that these movies do so well, because, broadly speaking, they are more "family" oriented. In other words, movies that are rated 'R' can't do as well in the theater because you can't bring the whole family along and, consequently, the movie doesn't earn as much money. These Top 35 movies may have simply had the better chance of grossing high, not because of their genre, but because of their PG-PG13 content.

It could also be, and I think this is closer to the truth, that these movies fill a whole in our lives much more than a "realistic" genre, such as Drama, ever could. We want to escape from the hum drum of everyday. We want to exercise our imaginations again like we did when we were kids. We want a safe world where black is black and white is white. We want a hero we can emulate, and a villain we can conquer. We want the satisfaction of withholding impending doom from an alien attack. We want a place where our creativity can maneuver unhindered by the harsh realities of life.

Whatever your interpretation of the Top 35 list, it certainly provokes thought, and, perhaps, helps us understand each other just a little bit better.

Is that Ok with You?

I'm a people watcher. At any social gathering, I enjoy just sitting back and processing it all. The subtle glances between husband and wife; the business man checking his Blackberry, again; the loner staring off into space; the extrovert hamming it up, much to the pleasure of his 'audience'; and, of course, the other 'people watchers' who, like me, are taking mental notes.

I love to analyze things, peoples, events, conversations - pretty much everything. I often will memorize important conversations, and play them over and over again in my head - trying to catch something I've missed. One thing I love to do is place people into their respective "I'm Ok - You're Ok" category. If you're not aware, "I'm Ok - You're Ok" was a very popular "self-help" book in the early 1970's, written by Dr. Thomas A. Harris.

I won't try to summarize the book here, but basically (and this is an over-simplification) there are four life positions/attitudes you may embrace.

1. I'm not Ok, You're Ok (low view of self, "high" view of others)

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2. I'm not Ok, You're not Ok (low view of self and others)

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3. I'm Ok, You're not Ok ("high" view of self, low view of others)

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4. I'm Ok, You're Ok ("high" view of self and others)

I don't share this with you because I agree with the prescriptions of Harris (I don't), I share it with you because I find his descriptions of people quite fascinating. I find these four categories very helpful in being more aware of what makes people tick. With a little thoughtful observation, I think we could understand those around us a lot more.

While, in many instances, categorizing the behavior of someone may seem a bit trivial, there are other times when it can be very important. We should train ourselves to notice the bizarre behavior of others. If someone blows their top over some minor detail (the straw that broke the camel's back), it ought first to move us to compassion and curiosity, not condemnation. In reality, their temper tantrum, off-color comment, or startling behavior may be a symptom of something deeper. It is the loving friend who notices, and (here's the kicker) does something about it.

Public Opinion

I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I've always gotten the impression that Darwinian Evolution is the "origin theory" chosen by the vast majority of Americans (I would have guessed 65-70 percent). I was surprised to learn that this isn't the case.

According to a CNN article, "the most recent Gallup poll on the issue, conducted in May, found that only 14 percent of Americans believe that humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. Forty-four percent believe that God created human beings almost overnight within the past 10,000 years, and another 36 percent believe that God guided humans' evolution from animals over a much longer period of time."

These statistics (and, of course, that's all they are) really shocked me. I just always assumed that those who believed God was involved in the Creation process (a form of Young Earth Creationism; or some type of Theistic Evolution), were just a small group of people on the fringe of societal thought. Rather, 80% of those polled thought God was involved in the Creation process.

Obviously, this isn't an argument for Creation. The number of people who believe something has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether or not it is true. Truth can't be snuffed out by even the biggest and angriest of mobs. If an argument for Creation is to be strong, it will have to come from different means than a popular opinion poll.