Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving is an important holiday that often gets overlooked. Giving thanks for the blessings we enjoy as individuals and as a nation seems so 19th century, non-commercial, and irrelevant in the post-modern world. Many mock the idea of a divine power, and those who don't are too busy overeating, going to the movies, watching football, and shopping. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy most of these activities (except the shopping). It's just that I/we have so much to be thankful for. Setting one day aside to reflect on the blessings doesn't seem too much to ask.

So, here's my Top 5 things I am thankful for this season:

- Amazing Grace (how sweet the sound)

- Family (a wonderful wife, two healthy kids, a rich spiritual heritage...)

- The Church (the Bride of Christ in all her "glorious dregs" - and in particular my local church body)

- Good friends (both local and abroad)

- Being born in America (Even with all its imperfections, this country is still a great place to live and be citizen of)

Underdogs: weeks 11 & 12

Week 11:
MISSOURI 8 Baylor
usc (Southern California) 19 CALIFORNIA
Florida 4.5 SOUTH CAROLINA

Steve Spurrier proved that he is still a winner with Florida ;-)
Point total: 73.5

Week 12 picks:
TEXAS TECH 7 Oklahoma
AUBURN 7 Alabama
Penn State 7.5 MICHIGAN STATE

Dwight Ozard 1963-2005

Writer, editor, culture critic, social activist, and self-proclaimed "worldly" Christian, Dwight Ozard, passed away this week after a 4-year battle with multiple myeloma.

I was first exposed to his work through the organization Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA). At Cornerstone 1997, they sponsored a series of seminars on music and culture and released a compilation cd to promote their magazine Prism.

I can't say that I knew Dwight personally, but for the last 4 years I've followed his battle with cancer through his writing (Mike Roe of the 77s would forward those e-mails to the listserve). His writing always educated me to the struggles cancer brings and stirred in me a compassion for those who have that horrendous disease. But he didn't want his readers to just feel sorry for him - he consistently prodded us to take that compassion and spread it around to the sick, the poor, the hurting all around us. In one of his earliest updates he says

And even as I've felt so at home, I've wondered about those who get news like this and have no support base, who don't feel at home in the church. I've thought, especially, about how people with HIV-AIDS must feel--and if they get the same sense of embrace that I received. No need to preach here--I just invite you to think about that with me, and when you pray for me, remember too to pray for those on the margins of our society, those who have no family, no support, and no love.

You can read about his battle along with his other writings at his website.

To many, Dwight was a bit of a "evangelical" rebel in the vein of Tony Campolo. I know,I didn't always agree with his points of view or his politics, but I'm convinced that he was good for the church. Sometimes calling us to greater levels of compassion and at other times holding up a mirror so that we could see just how silly and irrelevant we can be. I for one am grateful for the small impact his life has had on mine.

Now he is home with his maker - free to rest after an arduous battle and enjoy a grand reunion with all the saints that preceded him.

Spiritually Significant Films

Filmchat draws attention to the annual(?) The Arts & Faith Top 100 spiritually significant films. Of the 100 films listed I've only seen 17 (a handful of others are on my need to rent/view list). Here is my ranking of the 17 I have seen (with the AF100 ranking in parentheses).

1 The Mission (13) - a great soundtrack as well
2 Schindler's List (49)
3 A Man for All Seasons (19)
4 It's A Wonderful Life (52)
5 Shadowlands (40)
6 In America (99) - I highly recommend this one
7 Life is Beautiful (80)
8 The Hiding Place (51)
9 The Apostle (11)
10 The Passion Of The Christ (35)- Gibson got carried away with the gore, but otherwise the most artful "Jesus" film I've seen.
11 The Lord of the Rings trilogy (74) - Jackson's films diminished the spiritual elements of Tolkein's classic work
12 Babette's Feast (8)
13 Chariots of Fire (21)
14 Jesus of Nazareth (37)
15 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (98)
16 Amadeus (97)
17 Les Miserables (88) - I prefer 1978 version over the 1998 version on this list

Here are a 10 films on the list that I want to see:
27 Magnolia
48 To End All Wars
60 Luther
62 The Gospel of John
65 To Kill a Mockingbird
66 Hotel Rwanda
72 Millions
90 2001: A Space Odyssey
92 The Shawshank Redemption
100 Unforgiven

Here are a few films that should have made the list (in no particular order):
Philadelphia - Compassion overjudgmentt
The Matrix * - What is reality?
The Original Star Wars Trilogy * - Redemption, faith, good over evil...
Forrest Gump - destiny versus chance
Ben Hur
Pulp Fiction - not recommended for everyone
Blade Runner *
Life of Brian *
Signs *
The Truman Show *

* denotes inclusion on the 2004 list

Underdogs Weeks 9 & 10

Last week I had my best results, so far, with wins by Cincinnati and Akron for 20 points. My total is now 58 for the season.

SYRACUSE 5 Cincinnati
FLORIDA 5 Georgia
BOWLING GREEN 15 Akron

So here are my silly picks for week 10. No I didn't pick my hapless Vols - I just hope they score against Notre Dame....

Boston College 4.5 NORTH CAROLINA
VIRGINIA TECH 6.5 Miami
USC (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) 32.5 Stanford

While I picked against two unbeatons this week, wouldn't it be great if we had four undefeated football teams at the end of the season: USC, Texas, Bama, and VT - that would really throw a wrench in the BCS. Alas, there is a lot of football yet to be played - Go Tar Heels, Cardinals and Canes!

Closing Thoughts

On Friday while traveling home, we made a stop in Picayune, MS, where we surprised the pastor of a small pentecostal church (Good Works Fellowship) with some much needed assistance moving distributed goods out of their sanctuary and into some tents. After spending about 2 hours there, we hit the road and made it home safely, just before 8pm.

Some reflections:

* What I/we did in terms of addressing the needs and lending a hand was just a drop in the bucket compared with what has been done by others and still needs to be done.

* The residents of the Gulf Coast will still need our prayers, our contributions and our assistance long after Katrina fades from the headlines.

* Our team got to experience a little bit of several key components of disaster relief: Food Service, Distribution of Goods, Cleanup, and Reconstruction. It was almost like a 101 course in disaster recovery.

* The amount of goods and services being donated to the recovery effort (including the numbers of volunteers) is an amazing sight. It is indicative of two things: the great prosperity of this nation and the even greater generosity that the Church is capable of.

* I wish I could go back and stay longer.