Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone 

who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

- 1 Peter 3:15b (NIV)

Recently, Amber and I went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful, Disney's new prequel to the Judy Garland classic, The Wizard of Oz. Ordinarily, when I hear "Disney" or "Oz", I tend to imagine things that are bright, cheerful and family-friendly; but for some reason, when these two came together (as before), they created something often dark, scary and I would say not really appropriate for smaller children. It only earned a PG rating, but I'm surprised!

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in 1939 anymore!

That being said, I thought the Wizard's origin story was interesting, and the movie took time to emphasize several good lessons, which is (of course) why it's being featured here!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Everybody Loves... the Meaning of Life

Why are we here? That's the question Ray's daughter Allie asks in the Season 6 episode of Everybody Loves Raymond titled "Talk to Your Daughter". It's a question people have pondered since the beginning of time, and depending on whom you ask, there are probably a million different answers people can give. In this episode, each of the adults offer their insight, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to look at their various answers, and then give another possibility at the end.

The beginning of the episode doesn't even hint that it will deal with anything so deep. It opens with Ray trying to prove to his friends that he can call his wife Debra mean names and get away with it as long has he says it in a nice tone. When Deb catches him calling her "Smelly Tramp", however, she is not amused. That night, she calls Ray immature and accuses him of shirking responsibility. To prove her wrong, Ray offers to step up and have "the sex talk" with his daughter, who's been asking questions lately. But for all his studying, Ray is thrown for a loop when he approaches Allie and learns that her real question isn't so much where babies come from, but WHY they come at all!

Ray: "OK, here's what happens. When a man and a woman love each other very much, they get married, and then sometimes, they decide to make a baby.
Allie: "Why are there babies?"
Ray: "Right, OK, I'm gonna get to that. What a man and a woman do is-"
Allie: "No, I mean, I know that the man and the woman have to do something, but... Why are we born? Why does God put us here?"
Ray: "...because...that's...WHAT?"
Allie: "If we all go to Heaven when we die, then why does God want us here first?"

A Tribute to Mister Rogers

Today marks 10 years since "Mister" Fred Rogers passed away. With that in mind, I posted a tribute to him on my other blog, and I just wanted to share that with you.

----------------------------------------From my "I See Blessings" blog----------------------------------------

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor...
Would you be mine?"

For years as a kid, I remember turning on the local PBS affiliate, and there were a few shows I always liked to watch: Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street... and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. My favorite at the time was probably Sesame Street, but I loved all three. Eventually, of course, I grew up and began to feel like I grew out of those shows, and I haven't watched any of them in ages. But looking back, I think I have more happy memories of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood than any of the others.

I remember a few of the educational segments, I remember the trolley ride into the "Neighborhood of Make-Believe", and some of the fun characters there. I remember the sweaters, feeding the fish, and fun songs like "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" and "It's Such a Good Feeling". But most of all, I remember how Mr. Rogers seemed to genuinely care about the children watching his show. He spoke in a way that would be easily understood - in a calm, clear tone. He talked about things that were important to us as kids - about hopes and fears of all kinds. And his messages were always reassuring and uplifting.

"You are special."          

          "You are loved." 

"I like you, and I hope you like you, too!"

Sadly, Mr. Rogers left us 10 years ago today. I have a small book called, "The World according to Mister Rogers", which is a collection of quotes published the year he passed away. I'd like to share just a few of my favorite quotes with you.

CLICK HERE to read the Full Text
on my "I SEE BLESSINGS" blog!

By Fairest Blood...

Last year, two new movies based on the classic "Snow White" fairytale were released in theaters. The first, Mirror Mirror, came out at about the time I started this blog, and it became the first movie I talked about here. The second, Snow White and the Huntsman, came out a few months later, and while Amber and I saw it at the theater, I didn't write about it here at the time. As we recently watched this second iteration again, though, I was reminded of so much rich symbolism I wanted to share with you.

Snow White and the Huntsman

In Mirror Mirror, Snow White stood as an example for us because of her exemplary behavior, but Snow White and the Huntsman actually takes it one step further, going to great lengths to set her up this time as a type for Christ. In other words, like Superman and a few others I've talked about from time to time, Snow White in this film shows us something about the nature of our Savior. There are also several lessons for us from the examples of Snow White's father, the evil Queen and her brother, the dwarfs and the huntsman.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Almighty Answers

Wouldn't it be great if every time you prayed for something, God just went ZAP! and you got what you asked for? Why do you think he doesn't do that?

Back in 1990, Garth Brooks had a #1 hit with his song, "Unanswered Prayers", where he pointed out that sometimes it's better NOT to get what you ask for because you often don't really know what's best for your life. One great line from the chorus says, "Just because he doesn't answer, doesn't mean he don't care"... but do we really believe that? I mean, do we believe there are prayers that God just refuses to answer?

The people who made 2003's Bruce Almighty seem to believe it. In the movie, Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) feels like God has turned his back on him, and he decides that God must be either non-existent or evil, because if God has infinite power at his fingertips, he could clear up all our problems in five minutes. In order to teach him a lesson (or several), God (Morgan Freeman) gives Bruce a unique gift: he allows Bruce to temporarily have all of God's powers!

Are You Obsolete?

Whenever you hear, "Twilight's on!" at our house, you have to pay attention who's speaking. If it's my wife, undoubtedly she's talking about the recent series of popular vampire movies. But if it's me, more than likely I'm referring to something else: I'm always excited whenever I can see an episode of the classic series, "The Twilight Zone" on TV. Thankfully, Syfy has gotten in the habit of running a marathon every year around the first of January, so after the ball drops at Times Square, I like to get up the next day and watch as many episodes as I can stand!

Romney Wordsworth stands trial for the crime of being obsolete.

There are so many great episodes, but I especially enjoy the ones that feature Burgess Meredith (maybe in part because I'm such a big fan of Rocky and Batman!).

In particular, I think my episode favorite is 1961's "The Obsolete Man". Here, Meredith plays Mr. Wordsworth, an appropriately named librarian living sometime in the future, who is sentenced to death when he is deemed "obsolete" by a society that believes it has evolved beyond the need for books or religion.

So examine with me, if you will, this glimpse into other dimension - a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind... Next stop, The Twilight Zone!

Byrds' Eye View

In 1965, the American rock band, The Byrds had a hit with arguably the oldest lyrics of any modern #1 song when they released their cover of Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!" In fact, nearly the entire song (minus the melody and just a few words) is copied out of the King James Version of Ecclesiastes 3. As we enter the new year, though, this old song with ancient lyrics still raises some questions and relevant points for us to consider.

The Cure for Scrooge-itis

This is the fourth entry in a series looking at some of our favorite Christmas TV shows and movies, and talking about God's message especially to those who do not enjoy the Advent and Christmas seasons. Those who know me well may recognize some of this from a sermon series I did during last year's Advent season. For Part 1, click here. For Part 2, click here. For Part 3, click here.

1st edition of Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol (1843)

Today: A Christmas Carol

Since Advent is a season to prepare for the coming of the Lord (both at Christmas and when he promises one day to return), this should be a time of reflection, when we look at our lives and ask how well we're living up to God's standards. The Bible says a lot about how we ought to live, and some passages are especially rich. For instance, Hebrews 13:1-16 gives us several principles:

• Share love with others at all times
• Show hospitality to strangers
• Care about people in prison or being tortured as if it was you
• Treat marriage as precious, and be faithful to your spouse
• Don't focus on money - be content and trust God to provide
• Study and learn from the faith of godly people
• Find a way to praise God no matter what happens
• Do good and give to others, even when it's a sacrifice

Of course, these aren't always easy. Often, we struggle with these and other Biblical ideals because they feel backwards to our selfish human nature. But consider: how backwards is it that a king would leave his throne to suffer with his subjects and would offer his own life to save theirs after they ridiculed and beat him? Jesus repeatedly shows us that if we want to be the people of God, we have to let him change our selfish hearts into hearts filled with humility and love. And if we have been inwardly changed, it should show in an outward way. If not, then something's definitely not right!

At the beginning of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge seems to be so calloused, he's actually living the opposite of the godly life. He has developed a sickness. Thankfully, as the story unfolds, we see a prescription for the cure.

Overcoming the Grinch

This is the third entry in a series looking at some of our favorite Christmas TV shows and movies, and talking about God's message especially to those who do not enjoy the Advent and Christmas seasons. Those who know me well may recognize some of this from a sermon series I did during last year's Advent season. For Part 1, click here. For Part 2, click here.

The Grinch is green with envy!

Today: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

This classic tale first appeared as a children's book in 1957, but was immortalized as a half-hour cartoon special a decade later, and was even turned into a full-length movie with Jim Carrey in 2000. While Dr. Seuss is well-known for many of his stories, for me, How the Grinch Stole Christmas has always been my favorite.

“Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot...

But the Grinch, who lived just north of Who-ville, did NOT!

The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!

Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.”

- Dr. Seuss

Is It a Wonderful Life?

This is the second entry in a series looking at some of our favorite movies/shows to watch during the lead-up to Christmas. Those who know me well may recognize some of this from a sermon series I did during last year's Advent season. For Part 1, click here.

Today: It's a Wonderful Life

Have you ever felt like your life is not going the way you’d like it to? Maybe life would have been better if you had finished college...if you'd gotten that promotion...if you'd married someone else...if you'd spent more time with your loved ones and less money on things that don’t matter..... Of course, we could play the game of “What ifs” all day if we want, but dwelling on the past will never change a thing about the future. Still, it’s hard not to think about it sometimes. Often, it can be particularly enticing to wonder “What if...?” during the holiday season - especially when Christmas seems to come faster every year, and the years begin to slip away!

At the end of his rope, George Bailey considers the unthinkable

If you know what I'm talking about, George Bailey could definitely identify with you. George grew up in the small town of Bedford Falls, but he never planned to stay there. No, George wanted to travel, and he wanted to become a great architect and make a real difference in the world. That was the plan, but as my mom says, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans!"