A Ransom Fellowship Publication 2011 Issue 2

Poetry: FireĚ ies and Dust Film: Winter’s Bone, The King’s Speech, 127 Hours Resources: Make College Count, The Arabs, Of Pilgrims and Fire and Hindrances to Communication

Issue 2 Cover.indd 2 4/21/11 9:36 AM CRITIQUE 2011:2 CONTENTS

FROM THE EDITOR DIALOGUE 1Trust and Readers Feeling Safe Respond 2 POETRY “FireĚ ies” 3and “Dust” 2011 Issue 2, © Ransom Fellowship EDITOR Denis Haack DESIGNER Karen Coulter Perkins BOARD OF DIRECTORS Steven Garber Director, The Washington Institute, Washington DC Donald Guthrie REFLECTIONS Associate Professor of Educational Ministries Covenant Seminary, St Louis MO 4 Hindrances to Denis and Margie Haack Co-founders, Ransom Fellowship Communication Ed Hague Owner, MacPro Services Instructor, Christ Classical Academy, Tallahassee FL Bonnie Liefer Vice President for Marketing and Communications CCO, Pittsburgh PA Henry Tazelaar Professor of Pathology 10 DARKENED ROOM 12DARKENED ROOM Mayo Clinic College of Medicine CONTACT CRITIQUE www.RansomFellowship.org Winter’s Bone The King’s Speech 150 West Center, Rochester, MN 55902 Movie review by Movie review by [email protected] Drew TroĴ er Greg Grooms ABOUT CRITIQUE Critique is part of the work of Ransom Fellowship founded by Denis and Margie Haack in 1982. Together, they have created a ministry that includes lecturing, mentoring, writing, teaching, hospitality, feeding, and encouraging those who want to know more about what it means to be a Christian in the everyday life of the 21st century. RECEIVE CRITIQUE Critique is not available by subscription. Rather, interested readers can request to be added to Ransom’s mailing list, which is updated frequently. Donors to 14 Ransom Fellowship, a 501(c)(3) nonpro¿ t, tax-deductible DARKENED ROOM ministry, are added to the mailing list automatically unless requesting otherwise. Love is a Cry for Help Everyone on Ransom’s mailing list also receives Notes A movie review of 127 Hours by Wesley Hill from Toad Hall, a newsletter by Margie Haack in which RESOURCES she reÀ ects on what it means to be faithful in the ordinary and routine of daily life and gives news about Ransom’s ministry. Book: Make College Count: A Faithful COPYING POLICY 16 Guide to Life and Learning by Derek Melleby Feel free to make up to 50 copies of any article that appears in Critique for use with a small group. We only Book: The Arabs: A History by Eugene Rogan ask that you copy the entire article, note the source, and distribute the copies free of charge. Book: Of Pilgrims and Fire: When God HEARTS & MINDS Shows Up at the Movies by Roy M. Anker Hearts and Minds bookstore donates 10% of your purchase to Ransom Fellowship if you mention us when placing your order: www.heartsandmindsbooks.com. BACK PAGE 18 Images from COVER SOURCE PHOTO © NOAM ARMONN, DREAMSTIME This Issue’s Films

Issue 2 Cover.indd 3 4/21/11 9:36 AM FROM THE EDITOR Trust and Feeling Safe by Denis Haack time to intentionally build trust is a Source: Jim Belcher in Deep Church: rare grace, an expression of part of the A Third Way Beyond Emerging biblical gospel of Christ. and Traditional (Downers Grove, IL: But it is also true that some people InterVarsity Press; 2009) p. 52. Thomas seem to have an uncanny ability to Watson [1620-1686] in The Beatitudes, inspire trust relatively quickly, if not (1660), an exposition of MaĴ hew 5:5. instantly. I would like to be more like that. How they accomplish this doesn’t seem to me to be easily quantię able. It can’t be faked, of that I am certain. I think it boils down to meekness, a grace that Jesus recommended (MaĴ hew 5:5) but that we don’t con- “Trust is conę dence,” Jim Belcher sider very oĞ en. “Basil calls this ‘the says, “that the other person’s inten- indelible character of a gracious soul,’” tions are good and that we have no the Puritan Thomas Watson said. “By reason to be protective or careful nature the heart is like a troubled around them.” If we are to feel safe in sea, casting forth the foam of anger conversation, safe to be truthful and and wrath. Now meekness calms the open, safe to expose our fears, convic- passions. It sits as moderator in the tions, and hopes, safe enough to risk soul, quieting and giving check to its asking hard questions, admiĴ ing deep distempered motions.” doubts, or voicing strong disagree- No doubt about it, I cast up far too ment, we must be able to trust those much foam. with whom we are talking. “As God’s chosen ones, holy and Whether the reputation is deserved beloved,” St Paul writes, “clothe your- or not, evangelical Christians tend not, selves with… meekness” (Colossians as a group, to inspire this trust. It’s 3:12). If it is true that we are chosen, one of the reasons many Christians if it is true that we are set apart to are afraid to invite non-Christians God by grace, if it is true that we are to church functionsȰchurch is actually beloved of God, Father, Son, oĞ en an unsafe place for everything and Holy SpiritȰthese realities mean except conformity and easy answers. that meekness is possible. I need not Treating people as those made in try to be God, or to try to ę x you, or God’s image, loving them as St Paul to control the conversation so it ends deę nes love in 1 Corinthians 13 means where I am most comfortable. I am wanting them to be able to trust us called simply to be gracious moment evenȰor especiallyȰwhen we hap- by moment, because God through pen to disagree with them. The fact Christ has been gracious to me. Being they may not return the favor is beside gracious makes sense because grace the point. is the only thing of value I have, and It’s true this sort of trust usually since I received it as a giĞ , I can oě er it needs to be built over time. You may in turn, and be grateful for the op- feel conę dent that my intentions portunity, whatever transpires. Being are good towards you only aĞ er we gracious is possible because in the have goĴ en to know each other a gospel we have been granted grace, bit. You may need to watch me in a and God’s Spirit who arrives to take variety of seĴ ings before you feel up residence within our very being very certain that you can cut loose proves his presence by causing fruit to without risking my anger, or dismis- grow that Ě ows out into a lifestyle of siveness, or sarcasm, or an answer shalom and loveliness (Galatians 5:22). that ends the discussion instead of This is what inspires conę dence deepening it. Granting unhurried and trust, and makes us safe. Ŷ

A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP CRITIQUE 2011:2 1 DIALOGUE: READERS RESPOND

To the editor: in God’s image. Thus, when the church I was absolutely addresses such topics, we must speak with stunned—and I compassion, in other words, in a tone don’t mean that in a characterized by love. good way—to read The content of what we say, if it is to the statement, “The be persuasive, must recognize that those Western church who disagree with us diě er not just on the will need to speak level of policy but on the far deeper level of of euthanasia with assumptions and presuppositions. In other greater compassion words, their support of euthanasia is based and thoughtfulness on a whole series of convictions and values as the population that form their underlying worldview. It is continues to age” [Critique 2011:1]. threatening to be challenged on that level, Really? We are to speak compassion- and doing so requires thoughtfulness if ately of murder? On the contrary—as we are to gain a hearing. We must be able the population ages, euthanasia will to enter their perspective, identify points To the editor: become a more enticing temptation, of truth, and patiently build a case from You probably saw the article in and therefore we will need to speak there—just as St Paul did with his pagan the New York Times by A.O. ScoĴ out more forcefully against it. The listeners in Athens (Acts 17). Simply tell- on “The Cinematic State of Things.” fact that man is made in God’s image ing them euthanasia is wrong is not only It picks up on many of the themes demands nothing less. not persuasive, it suggests our position is explored this year in Critique. Way I’m not sure which error is more implausible and thus not worthy of careful to keep your ę nger on the pulse. troubling: the doctrinal decision to consideration. This will be especially 1. blurring of reality (particularly advance such a startlingly un-Bibli- important as the population ages during identity) cal position, or the editorial decision the early decades of the 21st century. As 2. maternal monsters to present it as if it were a fairly a generation of young adults mature and 3. maternal suě ering mundane and self-evident observa- begin to make decisions for their aging 4. kids are perfect tion. This sentence is a glaring Ě aw parents, I’m not conę dent that many share 5. arrested male development in an otherwise well-wriĴ en article. the Christian conviction that every person 6. investigative docs I urge you to print a retraction. bears God’s image. Their commitment, 7. residual Bush era Sincerely, instead, to a mystical spirituality, liber- 8. nostalgia for hedonism Bob Stulac tarianism in personal ethics, and inter- 9. power to the actor Crystal, MN connectedness as a measure of personal 10. discussion is more interesting Denis Haack responds: value will not only make euthanasia seem than the movie Bob: Thank you for writing—I appreci- aĴ ractive but make them doubt the inten- I saw the ę lm Inception and ate the chance to clarify my statement. tions of those who wish to use the power of remembered a review in Critique Whenever we wish to persuade people the state to force them to act in accordance [2010:3]. It proved to be very help- to change their ethical beliefs and prac- to another set of values. ful for a ę lm that needs thoughtful tices, it is important to consider both the My hope is that the church could do discussion aĞ er viewing it. The tone and the content of our speech. beĴ er in the days ahead. Those that are questions were right on the money. I If our tone is beliĴ ling or unloving or open to euthanasia believe their perspec- was then drawn into your excellent harsh, for example, we can hardly expect tive is enlightened and humane, while ours article on discernment, which de- our argument to be persuasive. This is is hard-hearted, rigid, and dangerous to serves wide reading. On the basis of part of what St Paul is geĴ ing at in 1 personal freedom. If the church continues these two articles, I mailed copies of Corinthians 13. Even if we happen to be to engage in shrill partisan rhetoric, Critique to two friends today. saying things spoken by angels or uĴ ered political posturing, and unkind sloganeer- Keep up the excellent and unique by prophets or containing all knowledge, ing, we may feel (self) righteous about our work. he argues, if we say it without love our eě ort, but we will fail to persuade people Warmly, speech is indistinguishable from the to examine the claims of Christ as the Lord John Seel jarring clamor of jangling metal. Actually of life. Indeed, the western church will nCore Media he goes further in his indictment—it is need to speak of euthanasia with greater Los Angeles, CA the Christian that is “a noisy gong or a compassion and thoughtfulness as the population continues to age. Ŷ Denis Haack responds: clanging cymbal” (13:1). The reason is John: Thank you for your encouraging that even those who hold incorrect views words. on ethical issues like euthanasia are made

2 CRITIQUE 2011:2 A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP POETRY FireĚ ies Dust Out in the country The leaf obeys its Creator, ScoĴ Schuleit received the the stars speak to you, wavering its green in the tireless, MA in Christianity and sometimes they sing their silver unfailing wind. Culture from Knox tongues And the sky Theological Seminary. His there shimmering in vast choirs continually bears poems have appeared in the amidst cathedrals of night. on its immense back, Mars Hill Review, The Beneath their singing a burden of blue. Penwood Review, Spring Hill Review, two boys were running over dark earth, And when a storm comes on Christianity and Literature, and racing, tumbling, laughing through the the clouds darken, Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal. His darkness, weaving together without question, non-ę ction has been published in several their footfalls as Ě eet and from this, print and non-print publications, includ- as a rabbit’s heart beating, lightning looses its silver, ing: Tabletalk, Reformed Perspectives beating out its blood its Ě icker and Ě ash, Magazine, Monergism.com, The dancing through veins. always obeying Gospel Coalition, and Modern My twin brother was ahead of me, with sudden bursts of illumination. Reformation. ScoĴ is the youth ministry breathing out brightness The rain falls willingly, leader at Lake Worth Christian Reformed into warm night wind dropping down Church and enjoys walking, observing, as we driĞ ed through soĞ streetlight to pummel dry earth, reĚ ecting, and spending time with his dear and past glowing orange windows mixing it into mud wife Christina. moving with murmuring shadows, as it should, our legs moving through the dying ę re a task performed of our neighborhood, without hesitation, feet kicking through its ashes. yet the dust, that which is most blessed, And we would make our way to the crowned over all creation, woods, burns, to the moon-illumined labyrinth burns with a rage ę lled with the cymbal brush deep in its breast. Ŷ and light percussion of leaves and stream Copyright © 2011 ScoĴ Schuleit. and insects gently humming All rights reserved. through the incense of wildĚ owers dreaming out their cool spice. And I remember, I remember the ę reĚ ies imprisoned in our amazed hands, weeping and weeping their green luminescence, pleading for release to meet familiar ę res, yet we carried them home and later we pressed close to the jar with dark faces and wide eyes Ě ecked with the Ě are of their loneliness. Ŷ Copyright © 2011 ScoĴ Schuleit. All rights reserved.

A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP CRITIQUE 2011:2 3 REFLECTIONS Hindrances to Communication

by Denis Haack Good communication room, over coě ee and pieces of fresh arise is an invitation to disaster. I need berry pie as a short story is read aloud to keep reminding myself that good is hard even at the best of and discussed. Neither am I suggest- communication is always a precious, times in this badly frag- ing that strangers can never meet and ultimately fragile thing—so that I mented world. quickly ę nd a point of contact—per- never take it for granted, and so that I haps similar backgrounds, concerns, always remember that without grace, Have I overstated that? questions, giĞ s, interests—and feel eě ort, and a sense of humor it can all I don’t think so. Would like they’ve known each other for too quickly unravel. someone more optimistic years when in reality they’ve just met. I found my old Bible stories hardback And I’m not suggesting that weeks, and brought it out on the porch. It was than I (someone who is, in perhaps even months can pass while time somebody taught them something other words, less realistic two people—neighbors, colleagues, about something. lovers—ę nd an almost sacred mix- than I am) put a more ture of talk, listening, and silence They gathered round, siĴ ing on the positive spin on the topic? that nourishes peace in both souls, Ě oor, and I got down amongst them. allowing the relationship to deepen I started into Genesis and how God Perhaps. with slow beauty and without hints made the earth, and how he made us Please understand: I’m not sug- of tension. I do not doubt any of that, and gave us a soul that would live for- gesting communication never Ě ows and I cherish it all. ever. Moonbean reached into the book smoothly and with apparent ease. Rather, when I say that communi- and put her hand on God’s beard. “If he That sort of lovely, free conversation cation is hard, I am suggesting that shaved, he’d look just like that old man oĞ en happens in Toad Hall’s dining assuming it will always go well, or down at the Pak-a-Sak,” she said. room over a shared meal, a line of that some relationship is so secure My mouth dropped a bit. “You mean lit tea candles, and later in the living that misunderstanding could never Mr. Fordlyson? That man don’t look

4 CRITIQUE 2011:2 A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP SOURCE © PICSFIVE, DREAMSTIME like God.” “Ain’t this garden snake a real snake?” angel was holding a long sword over TammyneĴ e yawned. “You just said Freddie asked. Adam and Eve’s downturned heads as God made us to look like him.” “It’s the devil in disguise,” I told them. he ran them out of the Garden. Even Nu-Nu got excited and pointed a ę nger “Never mind,” I told them, going on TammyneĴ e Ě ipped her hair. “Aw, at the angel. into Adam and Eve and the Garden. that’s just a old song. I heard it on the Soon as I turned the page, they saw the reddio.” “What’s that guy doing?” TammyneĴ e asked. snake and began to squeal. “That Elvis Presley tune’s got nothing “Look at the size of that sucker,” to do with the devil making himself into “Chasing them out of Paradise. Adam Freddie said. a snake in the Garden of Eden.” and Eve did a bad thing, and when you do bad, you get punished for it.” TammyneĴ e wiggled closer. “I knew “Who’s Elvis Presley?” Moonbean sat I looked down at their faces and it they was a snake in this book.” back in the dust by the weatherboard seemed that they were all thinking “He’s a bad one,” I told them. “He lied wall and stared out at my overgrown about something at the same time. It to Adam and Eve and said not to do lawn. was scary, the liĴ le sparks I saw Ě ying what God told them to do.” “He’s some old singer died a million in their eyes. Whatever you tell them years ago,” TammyneĴ e told her. at this age stays forever. You got to be Moonbean looked up at me slow. “This careful. Freddie looked up at me and snake can talk?” “Was he in the Bible, too?” asked, “Did they ever get to go back?” “Yes.” I beat the book on the Ě oor. “No, he “Nope. Eve started worrying about “How about that. Just like on cartoons. ain’t. Now pay aĴ ention. This is everything and Adam had to work I thought they was making that up.” important.” I read the section about every day like a beaver just to get by.” Adam and Eve disobeying God, turned “Well, a real snake can’t talk, nowa- the page, and all hell broke loose. An “Was the angel really gonna stick days,” I explained.

A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP CRITIQUE 2011:2 5 Adam with that sword?” Moonbean never seems possible, when every- Good communication is hard even at asked. thing we say is taken wrong, or heard the best of times in this badly frag- “Forget about that darned sword, will wrong, or assumed to mean things mented world. you?” we never intended. People seem Dumbed down and numbed unwilling or incapable of listening, of “Well, that’s just mean” is what she said. by time and age entering into a view of things diě erent Your dreams to catch the world, the cage “No it ain’t,” I said. “They got what from their own. Sometimes all that The highway sets the traveler’s stage was coming to them.” Then I went into seems to maĴ er is what they say. We All exits look the same Noah and the Flood, and in the middle wonder if they wanted understanding of things, Freddie piped up. at all or were merely looking for a Three words that became hard to say chance to proclaim whatever idea or I and love and you “You mean all the bad people got belief they happen to have adopted. I and love and you drowned at once? All right!” Here relationship becomes reduced [From “I and Love and You” on [From Welding with Children to conformity, meaning we need I and Love and You (2009) by (1999) by Tim Gautreaux, p. 8–10] to conform to them, as if they have the AveĴ Brothers] The sad truth is that understanding become the ę nal standard for all that can falter—even disintegrate—even is true. Though imagining themselves MISGUIDED EXPECTATIONS wise, their embarrassing immaturity between friends who have been close Sometimes our troubles in com- for years. Or that we imagined were derails conversation, guts friendship, and increasingly makes their position munication involve expectations we close. But then understanding dis- have adopted, usually unconsciously. sipates into hurt, painful silence, or implausible and unaĴ ractive. Christians are not immune to this Julie Gorman, who teaches at Fuller worse, angry, rabid accusations and Seminary, identię es some that appear we wonder if we’ve known them at brokenness in communication and understanding. If you doubt that, to be deadly to healthy communica- all. Or we seĴ le into a kind of middle tion and fairly widespread. And as ground, a to-all-appearances-friendly- review the legacy of biĴ er rivalries and congregational splits that have I will explain, for Christians each veneer covering a relationship, now expectation represents a failure to uncomfortably hollowed out, that plagued church history. And to think we are the ones expected by our Lord appropriate some aspect of the truth used to overĚ ow with eě ortless talk, of the Christian faith. conę dence, and aě ection. Sadly some- to demonstrate his divine origins to a times the relationship just seems to doubting world Expecting to be Understood unfold that way, liĴ le by liĴ le, slowly, by loving one an inexorable process that’s hardly another, even at noticeable at ę rst, until we ę nd that cost (John 13:35; no maĴ er what or how hard we try, 17:20-21). It’s a things stay stuck. Sometimes the pas- travesty, some- sage of time introduces change that in- thing I have oc- terrupts the rhythm of the friendship, casionally needed and for some reason no new rhythm to apologize for to can be found, so absence produces my non-Christian bad feelings that fester. Sometimes, friends. Another far more oĞ en than I care to admit, sad proof of our aĞ erwards I can spot ways I derailed failures here our communication, intentionally or involves the sadly not, maliciously or not. distorted percep- SOURCE © GUNNAR 3000, DREAMSTIMEOURCE tions of evangelical faith prevalent Communication and understand- “We expect to be understood by among our non-Christian neighbors. ing is central to our humanity, and other Christians,” Gorman says, “and Many have “been witnessed to,” essential to life and community. Since it comes as a shock to realize that an ordeal that leĞ them convinced it is usually the artists who are most they do not understand.” Actually I that evangelical faith has nothing of alert to the things that maĴ er most, it’s think it applies more widely than that. signię cance to say into their world. no wonder that musicians oĞ en weave We expect to be understood, period, They are asking questions about God’s the troubles of miscommunication and and are shocked when we aren’t. If existence and the nature of spirituality the heartbreak of misunderstanding not shocked, at least convinced it’s while the one witnessing talked about into the lyrics of their songs. the other party’s fault—things were forgiveness and accepting Jesus. It was certainly clear when I spoke them. when I did something like ships passing in the night. They But Christians should never be (so stupid, so dumb) have also been exposed to evangelical shocked to be misunderstood, whether I saw it coming rhetoric in the public square, convinc- by those who share our faith or those now all I want to know is how come ing them that evangelicals represent who do not. Misunderstanding occurs (how come?) a subculture intent on using political because of two realities, both basic we’re all ę ngers and thumbs? power to remake society, whether our to the Christian understanding of neighbors like it or not. [“Stupid” on This (1998) by creation, that as creatures we are both No, I think I have it about right. Peter Hammill] fallen and ę nite. Being fallen means I have bungled communication too our minds are never fully dependable, Sometimes real understanding oĞ en to imagine it is an easy endeavor.

6 CRITIQUE 2011:2 A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP and our autonomous hearts are always convictions and values that are usu- Not perfectly, of course, but substan- aĴ racted to whatever ideas seems to ally assumed rather than examined tially and really. make us the center of the universe, and discussed. Misunderstanding Tried to give you warning even though it sets us adriĞ to be, in isn’t conĚ ict—if by conĚ ict we mean but everyone ignores me Walker Percy’s memorable phrase, lost quarreling, discord, and antagonism— Told you everything loud and clear, in the cosmos. If anything we should though in our brokenness we oĞ en but nobody’s listening be shocked when someone hears us turn it into that. Called to you so clearly correctly. But even if we were not Given that we are both fallen but you don’t want to hear me fallen we would remain ę nite. Even if and ę nite, we should expect both Told you everything loud and clear, all we are and do weren’t so badly bro- misunderstanding and disagree- but nobody’s listening ken we would still be severely limited. ment. Discovering that the people I Even at the best of times we can never am conversing with are not on the I got a heart full of pain, comprehend everything at once, but proverbial same page is a good thing. I head full of stress only grasp bits and pieces, parts, and may be wrong, you may be wrong, we Head full of anger, held in my chest partially at that, which means we can both may be wrong, or we both may Uphill struggle, blood sweat ’n’ tears never fully, exhaustively understand be correct—just because we are both Nothing to gain, everything to fear anything. correct doesn’t mean we won’t neces- [“Nobody’s Listening” on Being both fallen and ę nite, it sarily seem to disagree or misunder- Meteora (2003) by Linkin Park] makes more sense to expect misun- stand each other. I may be saying the derstanding, to see clear communica- same thing you are, but saying it so Misunderstanding Agreement tion as a grace, a giĞ as precious as it diě erently that you have to believe is unexpected. I’m wrong, or think I’m claiming My life is diě erent now I swear something that I’m not saying I know now what it means to care at all. The trouble comes when About somebody other than myself we respond to disagreement or misunderstanding in a way that I know the things I said to you serves to end the conversation They were untender and untrue instead of deepen it. Or when we I’d like to see those things undo deę ne what is essential for unity So if you could ę nd it in your heart so narrowly that almost no one To give a man a second start makes the cut. That is not Christian I promise things won’t end the same orthodoxy but self-centeredness. It DREAMSTIME ROTHSTEIN, DANA is never wise to be stricter or more Shame, boatloads of shame insistent than God is himself. © SOURCE Day aĞ er day, more of the same An illusion of unity is neither How Blame, please liĞ it oě healthy nor godly. As hypocrisy it can Please take it oě , please make it stop is it possible that Christian friends, be maintained only so long before people who as far as I can tell seem [From “Shame” on the conĚ ict breaks into the open. As quite reasonable and nice can support Emotionalism (2007) by the an eě ort to sidestep the hard work unjust political policies and candi- AveĴ Brothers] of dealing with whatever misun- dates, conform to such reprehensible derstanding or disagreement that Misinterpreting ConĚ ict cultural trends, endorse such wrong- disturbed our unity, it is like ignoring headed ideas, and insist on such “We believe that conĚ ict is the warning signs of cancer. Still, like counter-productive paĴ erns of church wrong,” Gorman notes, “so we oĞ en receiving a bad diagnosis, it is hard to life and worship? “We oĞ en live with gloss over misunderstandings to face conĚ ict, especially when our busy the assumption,” Gorman says, “that maintain the illusion of harmony.” lives have already removed whatever unity means we will all think alike or Misunderstanding isn’t necessarily margin we need to Ě ourish emotion- agree on everything.” It seems, at least bad. It can become the beginning of ally and spiritually. “I don’t care to from my experience, that this assump- discovery, the moment when a friend- belong to a club,” Groucho Marx once tion is widespread among Christians, ship begins to deepen, the chance to said, “that accepts people like me as but needs to be gently and ę rmly address members.” Only the gospel both calls refuted as a false expectation. us to such graciousness and provides For decades, following in the us the grace to make a lovely footsteps of Harry Blamires, Os response to conĚ ict pos- Guinness has argued that evangelical sible. Grace insists Protestants need to recover what he that conĚ ict—mis- calls “thinking Christianly.” This is understanding and not, he says, “thinking by Christians,” disagreement—need since it is obvious a Christian can not lead to despair, think in ways quite contrary to his cynicism, or shat- faith and beliefs. Nor is thinking tered friendships, but Christianly “simply thinking about can lead instead to Christian topics.” Christ’s claim is to deeper relationships and be Lord of all, which means that the

broader understanding. SOURCE © NOAM ARMONN, DREAMSTIME ARMONN, NOAM © SOURCE A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP CRITIQUE 2011:2 7 gospel has something constructive Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’ are so radically diě erent from the to say about every aspect of life and Through the world mysterious and vague stories of Scripture, so removed from reality. Rather, “thinking Christianly Heart burnin’, still yearnin’ the reality of life in a fallen world. is thinking by Christians about any- Walkin’ through the cities of the plague. “Because of a strong ‘do right’ per- thing and everything in a consistently Well, the whole world is ę lled with spective [in the Christian community], Christian way—in a manner that is speculation many ę nd it diĜ cult to be honest in shaped, directed, and restrained by The whole wide world which people say communicating,” Gorman notes. “We the truth of God’s Word and God’s is round ę nd it easier to share what we should Spirit.” And Guinness is quick to add, They will tear your mind away from do and our success stories rather than “thinking Christianly should not be contemplation our real feelings and struggles.” confused with adopting a ‘Christian They will jump on your misfortune There is something about trans- line’ on every issue.” It isn’t even al- when you’re down parency that is strangely beguiling. ways desirable or needed or possible. Hypocrisy has always been detest- Yes, there is a core set of beliefs Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’ able, but in a cynical age it becomes that deę ne the Christian tradi- My mule is sick, my horse is blind. increasingly troublesome. Don’t imply tion—one ancient example is found Heart burnin’, still yearnin’ you have no doubts or questions in The Apostles’ Creed. Deviation Thinkin’ ‘bout that gal I leĞ behind. about faith, because all that proves is here involves moving from orthodoxy [From “Ain’t Talkin’” on Modern either that your faith is too shallow to to heterodoxy, and that places one Times (2006) by Bob Dylan] prompt reasonable reĚ ection or that outside historic, biblical faith. But you are so distracted that the cries of to imagine that sharing core beliefs Triumphant Testimonies your own heart are drowned out by means that every detail of life is As I grew up in the church, one the cacophony of your busyness. Don’t equally well deę ned is to misread respond to every hard question with a holy Scripture. Living as a Christian source of discouragement and doubt came in the stories—we called them “verse” or “saying” or “sermon quote” involves a process: we move from the because hard questions are resolved DREAMSTIME ALEXSTAR, © SOURCE biblical text, to the meaning of the “testimonies”—that people told about their coming to faith. The testimonies within community and ongoing con- text, to an application of the text in our versation, and bullet points only prove own historical, sociological moment, seemed to have three parts: I was bad and my life was messed up; then I you are not taking the questioner with to a decision as to what policy we suĜ cient seriousness. Don’t try to give will support in the public square, to invited Christ into my life; and now I am happy all the day. No one seemed the impression that everything is ę ne actions taken to support it. Each step with you, because we know it isn’t, in that process is not equally evident and so your impres- to every believer. So, as we move from sion is as faked as the text to action, from Scripture to daily latest tabloid version of life, we need to grant one another Madonna or Lady Gaga, freedom. Again, I am not here talk- made possible because ing about rejecting such doctrines as like them you have Christ’s divinity or God as one God, learned to manipulate Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or the your public image. inspiration of Scripture. I am referring I am not saying that to how we can agree as Christians that we must all exhibit our Deuteronomy is canonical, and that in dirty laundry in public, the law recorded in the text there are because that is neither details touching specię cally on how admirable nor edifying. Israel was to treat their natural envi- ALEXSTAR, DREAMSTIME We simply need to be ronment—as in Deuteronomy 20:19 honest, real, willing to

SOURCE © and 23:6. However, moving from those acknowledge being ę nite texts (along with others we deem to have doubts and and fallen and the wonder applicable), to support raising taxes on of being given grace. I gasoline to help decrease America’s questions, and when I voiced mine it became evidence that my faith and need to demonstrate I am safe to be dependency on foreign oil is an argu- with, neither hiding nor displaying ment that (unfortunately) might not devotion were faulty. We talked a lot about “God’s blessing,” but that my dirty laundry, so that you can convince everyone. We might both be know that you do not need to protect faithfully seeking to have a Christian looked suspiciously to me like the success promised to those pursuing yourself in my presence, and that real mind, to think Christianly, but we conversation is possible. might still disagree on lots of things. a lifestyle of middle class consumer- ism—mentioning this was not well When I was younger, They say prayer has the power to heal received. I’m certain the desire was so much younger than today, So pray for me, mother good (to honor God for his goodness) I never needed anybody’s help in any In the human heart an evil spirit can and the intention was admirable (to way. dwell encourage everyone to trust God), and But now these days are gone, I am a-tryin’ to love my neighbor I do not question that. What I would I’m not so self assured, and do good unto others question is how Christians can expect Now I ę nd I’ve changed my mind But oh, mother, things ain’t going well their stories to be helpful when they and opened up the doors.

8 CRITIQUE 2011:2 A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP Help me if you can, I’m feeling down I do not regret the hours I spent in relevant. Our problem is not the need And I do appreciate you being round. preparation, even though what I had to impose an agenda on conversations Help me, get my feet back on the planned ended up being oě target. and discussions but of having such a ground, The fact I was so comfortable with weak understanding of the gospel that Won’t you please, please help me. the material meant I could relax as we cannot meaningfully discuss our [“Help!” on Help (1990) by The the discussion unfolded in surpris- own faith unless we’ve turned it into Beatles] ing ways, conę dent that my surprise religious exercise. didn’t mean we were lost. It turned Imposing an Agenda out to be a rich conversation, with GOOD COMMUNICATION thoughtfulness, disagreement, story- The glory in all this is that, against telling, laughter, and sober all odds, good communication is reĚ ection. When I mentioned possible. As a Christian I have this it was time to close several conę dence not simply because I have were surprised the evening experienced it but because I believe had gone by so quickly. One that this hope is grounded in the person mentioned we hadn’t very nature of God. This is part, one really resolved anything— small part, of the wonder that God far more questions had been reveals himself as Trinity, one God, raised than answers. My Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When the goal had been to prompt us biblical creation narrative has God to think about our spiritual saying, “Let us make humankind in pilgrimage of faith in new our image, according to our likeness,” ways, and they agreed we (Genesis 1:26), it sets itself apart from had accomplished that. all the creation myths of antiquity. Not all of our small group This God is a unity yet, more than discussions go that well, of that, a complexity in unity that is Sometimes we feel we must insist course. Sometimes we get bogged on an agenda to make the conversa- believed by the prophets and ę nally down, or chase some tangent that made clearer by the apostles aĞ er tion turn out correctly. I realize some fades into insignię cance, or Ě oat on meetings have a set purpose. We’re Christ’s death, resurrection, and the surface of things so our hearts are ascension. This God not only speaks both busy, I don’t want to waste time protected from the inroads of grace uselessly, and so when we meet let’s but lovingly communicates in himself and love and truth. I am convinced, and to his creation, meaning that identify our agenda and do what is however, that had I insisted on my needed. But that’s not what I’m con- communication among his creatures agenda I would have shortchanged the ę ts into the reality he has made. It is a cerned with here. I’m concerned with group, undercut the discussion, and all the times we feel somehow obligat- grace, but not an anomaly, and since substituted a sense of control for the God’s communication did not cease ed—through guilt or self-centeredness liveliness of true community. or whatever—to impose some agenda at the fall, we need not despair that as But if we care about bringing the fallen creatures good communication in order to keep from losing control. gospel into the conversation, someone Last night is an example. Our small is somehow impossible. will say, won’t we want to “impose” Hindrances to good communica- group met, and the evening unfolded that agenda? This question makes in ways I had not anticipated. I take tion are real, as we can all aĴ est. We sense only if by the “gospel” we mean are fallen people that bring expecta- my role as facilitator of the group a presentation—about the cross and seriously, and so had set aside several tions to every conversation that, forgiveness—that we want to give. If when examined, are revealed by the hours over several days to prepare. I that is what you want to do, why not had planned our study around a short faith we profess to be unhelpful and inform your friend and ę nd out if they misguided. “Let the words of my piece a friend of mine had wriĴ en that are willing to continue the conversa- I thought raised provocative ques- mouth,” the Hebrew poet prayed, tion. Isn’t that more honest, more “be acceptable to you, O Lord, my tions about our spiritual pilgrimage truthful than ę nding some way to as Christians. I spent time reĚ ecting rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). slip it in? But, someone might object, David had it exactly right. Acceptable on the ideas involved, identię ed what if I do it lovingly? I don’t know possible tangents that might come up, words can’t be expected, but they are how that is possible. Manipulating a possible because God stands behind prepared questions I could use if the conversation for my own ends always discussion Ě agged, and imagined how reality like an unshakable rock, and requires treating the other as less than because he interrupts our brokenness the various members might respond fully signię cant, less than a fellow to the topics we’d be covering. To put with redemptive grace. creature made in God’s image. More So, let’s talk. Ŷ it mildly, I got it all wrong. The discus- to the point, it is unnecessary. Since sion did not go as planned, I never Christ is Lord of all, the gospel—the Sources: Community that is Christian used the questions I had prepared biblical story of creation, fall, redemp- by Julie Gorman, p. 150. Fit Bodies, since they would not have ę t the Ě ow tion, and restoration—has something Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t of the evening, and the members profound to say about every slice Think and What to do About It by responded in ways I never anticipated. of life and culture and reality. Let Os Guinness (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Yet it turned out to be a wonderful the conversation go where it will, Books; 1994) p. 135–136. evening. and everywhere it goes the gospel is

A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP CRITIQUE 2011:2 9 DARKENED ROOM Winter’s Bone A movie review by Drew TroĴ er of life, lived as a mother and caretaker frames of the ę lm, she is asked to do far before one’s time. All these adverse something so grisly even imagining it circumstances ę nd in Ree a heroine in makes the blood run cold, her cour- every way their match. age and grit reaches its apex. Never Extraordinary performances, par- planning beyond the next step, Ree ticularly by John Hawkes as Teardrop is driven by her love for her siblings Dolly and Dale Dickey as Merab, but and her deep sense of responsibility really by all the ę lm’s actors (some for them, but she is also driven by the of whom were locals with no acting second source of her perseverance: experience) make this ę lm as engag- poor as it is, she loves the land and the ing as any for a long, long time, but simple log house they inhabit because chief among them is Lawrence, who it is theirs, because it is home. Debra plays Ree with a subtlety and grace Granik, the writer and director of that has to be seen to be believed. the ę lm, has a remarkable sense for Ree’s tenacity for good, the depth of establishing tone and atmosphere, and her willingness to risk her life to see her work gives the viewer this same the right thing done, derives from sense that, though the world of the several sources, all of them chal- Ozarks is ugly and miserable in many lenging for the Christian. First, and ways, that world exists in the midst of clearly foremost, she recognizes the a beauty and an elegance that makes need her siblings have for her protec- one appreciate it anyway. The ę lm, for tion and provision of even the most instance, begins with a lovely Ozark basic things in life, and she responds tune about hearing a lullaby “way self-sacrię cially to those needs. They down in Missouri…on my momma’s Winter’s Bone, the darling of last are allowed to live the life of children, knee,” when, suddenly a long shot ę lls year’s Sundance Film Festival, where happy with their trampoline, their the screen, a landscape that is at ę rst it won the coveted Grand Jury Prize walks in the woods, their dolls and bleak and depressing, showing a hilly, as well as a special jury prize for dogs, but she also makes them face scraggly ę eld strewn with cars, an old screenwriting, dazzles not only the their fears, and, slowly, with love, RV, and a school bus. But the camera mind but also the heart with its schools them in the way to live in lingers long enough to allow the eye to characterizations, its plot and its a world that they already know is take in the hills beyond and a cloud- tone. Of its many themes, perhaps the hard. She cooks for them, drills them ę lled, winter sky, beautiful in their most interesting is the diĜ culty of on their spelling and oversees their blue and gray silence. From there the perseverance in a universe that seems homework, teaches them how to shoot camera cuts to children bouncing on relentlessly stacked against one. Ree a gun and skin a squirrel. Poignantly, a trampoline, riding on a skateboard, Dolly, a seventeen year old girl who when her friend Gail asks her what playing with new-born puppies. These lives in the southern Missouri Ozarks she’s doing with “all them guns,” are Ree’s brother and sister and while and Bone’s main character, is saddled Ree maĴ er-of-factly replies she’s “just they play, she hangs wash on the line, with a basically catatonic mother teaching them a liĴ le bit of survival.” repairs an old doll, takes care of the and two siblings aged 12 and 6 for When their own parents—Ree’s daily chores. Finally, as the opening whom she has complete responsibil- parents, too—fail them, she steps in sequence ę nishes, Ree speaks the ę rst ity. Her father, in and out of trouble, and does the best she can to help the words of the ę lm: “Come on, let’s go.” has put their property up as a bond children not only to survive but to They’ve had their play-time, allowed for his release from jail, and now has live, and to live as if the world is a by her work on their behalf. Now it’s disappeared. The ę lm’s plot revolves good place with wonders and joys, time for supper. Life is hard, but life is around an odyssey in which Ree, even in the midst of its brutalities and good. played by relative newcomer Jennifer limitations. She is their still point in a Her ę nal words, also the ę nal Lawrence, goes looking for him, and, turning world. words of the ę lm, echo the open- as the IMDb summary puts it, “hacks But when she needs to be, Ree can ing words by speaking almost their through dangerous social terrain” be as hard as nails, hard enough to opposite: “I ain’t goin’ anywhere.” It as she does so. That terrain includes face, and even pursue, men with guns, is a promise to her two siblings not the searing edginess of mountain menacing women who beat her sense- to leave them, not to join the Army. poverty, the dangers of backwoods less, and drug lords who could kill As she puts it “I’d be lost without the drug dealers, and the general rawness her as easily as spit. When, in the ę nal weight of you two on my back,” but

10 CRITIQUE 2011:2 A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP it’s not just going away from them Drew TroĴ er, a contribut- that would cause Ree to be lost. She’d ing editor for Critique, is QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND be lost without the woods, stark and the executive director of the REFLECTION leaĚ ess as they are in February and Consortium of Christian March in that part of the world. She’d Study Centers (hĴ p:// 1. Several times Ree is faced with be lost without the music, heard studycentersonline.org), and giving up the search for her father. throughout the movie, roots music has taught at the seminary level for more Many times she is counseled to do that can only be spawned in the hills than thirty years. However, there is no so. Was she right in continuing? of places like Missouri and Tennessee, evidence that his teaching has ever done Would you have? Why or why not? symbolized by her father’s banjo that anything for anyone but provide a lasting, 2. Can you think of a parallel situa- her liĴ le sister plays at the end of the non-invasive cure for insomnia, tion in your own life when it was ę lm, music that speaks of longing and so he wonders whether or not he actually all up to you? What did you do? of joy in ways that only old-time folk should include this impressive statistic in music can. She is a woman of the land; a blurb that is being distributed to the 3. Only once in the ę lm is there any she knows her world, and longs for general public. reference to anything spiritual no other. Even her feeble aĴ empt to (when Ree, teaching the children get into the Army derives only from Winter’s Bone Credits to shoot a riĚ e, tells them to kneel the purpose of obtaining the $40,000 Starring: down “like you do when you’re promised for joining so she can Jennifer Lawrence (Ree) prayin”), yet the reference seems to continue the life she is living. Isaiah Stone (Sonny) indicate that prayer is a natural part Ashlee Thompson (Ashlee) of the Dolly family’s life. Are there Ree’s wisdom is also exceptional. Valerie Richards (Connie) Early on in the story she delivers to Shelly Waggener (Sonya) other indicators? How would you her younger brother one of those lines Garret Dillahunt (Sheriě Baskin) have changed the ę lm, if at all, if that punches you with joy it is so as- Lauren Sweetser (Gail) you had wanted to show the Dolly Cinnamon Schultz (Victoria) family as Christian? tute. Her neighbors have killed a deer John Hawkes (Teardrop) and are skinning it as Ree and Sonny Kevin Breznahan (LiĴ le Arthur) 4. Other than Ree, with which charac- watch from their porch. Sonny inno- Ronnie Hall (Thump Milton) ter did you most identify? Why? cently says, “Maybe they’ll share some Dale Dickey (Merab) 5. The script has been cited for its of that with us.” Ree replies, “That Director: Debra Granik Writers: Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini elegance, not just in its dialogue could be.” Sonny persists, “Maybe we (screenplay), Daniel Woodrell (book) but also for its tightness of plot and should ask.” Ree turns to him, takes Producers: Jonathan Scheuer, Shawn Simon, its full development of even minor his chin in her palm and turns his and others characters. Can you cite some face toward hers, speaking clearly in a Original Music: Dickon Hinchliě e Cinematography: Michael McDonough examples of this elegance? Do you strong, motherly fashion: “Never ask U.S.A.; 100 minutes; 2010 agree with this assessment? for what ought to be oě ered.” In one Rated R (for some drug material, language, and sentence both their dependence on the violent content) 6. What would you say are the richest kindness and support of their neigh- truths of human experience por- bors, and the dignity and self-reliance trayed by this ę lm? Give examples they know they must retain at all costs of those truths. to live in this world, burst the heart of the viewer. But there is something more in this gentle command: the maxim draws the boundary between these two conditions. This is wisdom. Winter’s Bone is as good at every level as any ę lm this year, and that is saying something. Hopeful, without ever straying from depicting the grit and gristle of the “hard-knocks life” experienced by its characters, it is a movie not to be missed. Ŷ Copyright © 2011 Andrew TroĴ er

A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP CRITIQUE CRITIQUE 2011:2 11 DARKENED ROOM The King’s Speech A movie review by Greg Grooms were spent in braces to create a good, royal bearing. Unfortunately all of this shaping also produced a strong stam- mer that haunted Albert throughout his life, and for a man whose profes- sional purpose is to be a public ę gure this was, to say the least, awkward. In The King’s Speech Albert’s search for help with this problem leads him through a frustrating procession of doctors who treat his problem with less-than-eě ective therapies ranging from marbles–in-the-mouth to smok- ing. (Albert died in 1952 from lung cancer brought on by smoking.) When his wife Elizabeth (played by Helena Bonham Carter) incognito seeks the help of yet another therapist, he simply suggests her husband “change jobs,” and when she says “he can’t,” he wants to know why. “What is he, an indentured servant?” Her ironic answer—“Something like that”—cap- tures Albert’s dilemma: he is not free “Be not afraid of greatness: some to decide which role his life will play. careers and spouses, but they can are born great, some achieve great- His only choice is how that role will choose to change their sex, their ness and some have greatness thrust be played, and with war looming appearance, and one day whether or upon them.” [William Shakespeare in there’s a lot riding on his performance. not to keep their children. For them, TwelĞ h Night, Act II, Scene V] Enter his redeemer. Lionel Logue freedom is doing what they want. It’s In January 1936 King George V of (Geoě rey Rush) is the antithesis of not what Jesus had in mind when he England died, leaving the throne to Albert (Colin Firth). He’s not only a spoke. According to theologian J.I. his son David, who reigned as Edward commoner, he’s a (mostly) failed actor Packer, Christian freedom is ę rst free- VIII for 325 days before abdicating in who makes his living as a self-styled dom from: freedom from the power order to marry an American divorcee, speech therapist. He’s a man who de- of sin and the tyranny of pleasing Wallis Simpson. His brother, Albert, terminedly lives life his way. He treats ourselves. And as people who have then became King George VI and speech impediments his own way, too. been set free, we’re called to see what reigned until his death in 1952. The King’s Speech is rated R because of freedom is for: to love and serve God Tom Hooper’s splendidly entertain- a scene in which Lionel encourages and our neighbor. Service is what we ing ę lm The King’s Speech is the story Bertie to curse extemporaneously. The were made for, so freedom is found in of Albert’s unlikely ascension to the result is one of the most delightfully serving. throne and of help he received along vulgar things I’ve ever seen on ę lm. Does Bertie live happily ever aĞ er? the way from an equally unlikely With Lionel’s help, Bertie not only At the risk of spoiling the ę lm, I’ll source. learns how to give a speech, he learns answer: No more than we do. The In America we’ve long celebrated how to serve. hope of the gospel isn’t that if we the right of an individual to shape his The bell tower here at the work hard everything will be all right. or her own life. It is part of our DNA. University of Texas is engraved with Our hope is in what Christ has done In pre-World War II Britain, things a quote from the gospel according to and is doing in our midst. But Bertie could not have been less American, John: “You shall know the truth and does discover that necessity isn’t the especially for the royal family. The the truth shall make you free.” It’s opposite of freedom. young Albert, it seems, was leĞ - a goal students at the University of I recommend The King’s Speech handed. As this was considered inap- Texas pursue every day, not a pursuit to you: well acted, well scripted, a propriate for a prince, he was forced to of knowledge, but of the freedom delightful story. It’s Oscar worthy. Ŷ use his right. Bertie was also slightly to deę ne one’s self. In the name of Copyright © 2011 R. Greg Grooms knock-kneed, thus his boyhood years freedom they choose not only their

12 CRITIQUE 2011:2 A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What are your ę rst impressions of the ę lm? First impressions aren’t consid- ered conclusions—they’re what you’re leĞ thinking of in the moments aĞ er the ę lm ends. 2. Contrast the brothers, David and Albert. How are they similar, in what do they diě er, and why? Which aĴ racts you more and why? 3. Contrast Albert and Lionel. Aside from their professional relationship, what do you think aĴ racted them to one another? How was theirs an unlikely friendship? 4. What visual images from the ę lm stand out most strongly in your mind? Lionel is shown most oĞ en against an inviting backdrop—a ę replace or a chair—while Albert is shown more oĞ en in space—in a large room or in front of a blank wall. How does this inĚ uence the way you feel about each character? 5. While he never pretends to be a medical doctor, Lionel makes no eě ort in the ę lm to make sure Albert knows he isn’t one, which leads to an embarrassing moment later. In your opinion is this less than honest and worthy of criti- cism? Or is Lionel the victim of society’s overemphasis on credentials? 6. David also gave a famous speech—his announcement that he has stepped down as king—that isn’t heard in full in this ę lm. It includes these words: Greg Grooms, a contribut- “You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But I ing editor for Critique, lives want you to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or with his wife Mary Jane in a the empire, which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-ę ve years large home across the street tried to serve. from the University of Texas in Austin, where they “But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the regularly welcome students to meals, to heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to warm hospitality, to ask questions, and to do without the help and support of the woman I love. seriously wrestle with the proposition that “And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine Jesus is actually Lord of all. alone. This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a diě erent course. Credits: The King’s Speech Starring: “I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought Colin Firth (King George VI) of what would, in the end, be best for all.” Helena Bonham Carter (Queen Elizabeth) Derek Jacobi (Archbishop Cosmo Lang) Discuss this quote. Do you admire David’s decision to abdicate? Why or why Paul Trussell (Driver) not? Charles Armstrong (BBC Technician) Geoě rey Rush (Lionel Logue) 7. There were many objections to David’s marriage to Wallis Simpson—social, Jennifer Ehle (Myrtle Logue) political, and moral—but only one with legal grounding. Mrs. Simpson’s ę rst Calum GiĴ ins (Laurie Logue) divorce was not recognized by the Anglican Church and, therefore, might Dominic Applewhite (Valentine Logue) not have been considered legal in a British court. So David, in marrying her, Ben WimseĴ (Anthony Logue) Guy Pearce (King Edward VIII) might have been guilty of bigamy. Do you think David should have been Timothy Spall (Winston Churchill) allowed to marry her and continue as king? Defend your answer. Michael Gambon (King George V) Adrian Scarborough (BBC Radio Announcer) 8. Deę ne freedom. How would Albert, Lionel, and David deę ne it? (That’s 3 Andrew Havill (Robert Wood) more deę nitions, not one shared.) Director: Tom Hooper Writer: David Seidler 9. In one of the ę lm’s pivotal moments, Lionel, deliberately goading Albert to Producers: Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, anger, asks “Why should I listen to you?” Discuss Albert’s reply: “Because I Gareth Unwin have a voice!” Cinematographer: Danny Cohen U.S.A.; 118 minutes; 2010 Rated R (for some strong language)

A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP CRITIQUE CRITIQUE 2011:2 13 DARKENED ROOM Love is a Cry for Help A movie review of 127 Hours by Wesley Hill time I can remember being this moved every aspect of the stereotype: brash, by a cinematic experience is, well, enamored with his own humor (snap- when I watched Slumdog Millionaire. ping pictures of himself incessantly And that same hunger—the thirst for and Ě irting with a couple of girls he what this ę lm has given me—just may meets on the trail), arrogant, over- take me back to the theater for one conę dent. But by the end of the ę lm, more go. when the moment has come for him to You probably don’t need me to decide whether to actually go through rehearse the plot, but just in case, with the amputation, what ultimately here’s the outline. 127 Hours tells gives him the courage to do so is a the true story of then 27-year-old memory of his ex-girlfriend looking at Aron Ralston, who in 2003, while him with a mixture of pain and pity, hiking in Blue John Canyon in Utah, saying, “You’re going to be so lonely, was trapped by a chockstone that Aron.” He’d wanted the loneliness pinned his right arm to one wall of at the time, savoring freedom from a crevice. AĞ er surviving for about entanglements. But now, remember- ę ve days—hence the movie’s title—on ing her love, he has a premonition of 500 ml of water and exhausting all himself having a son—hoisting him other options (he ingeniously tried on his shoulders, holding his hands, to devise a pulley with his climbing leĴ ing him place his tiny boy feet rope and carabiners to hoist the rock on top of his massive man feet and oě his arm), he fashions a homemade walking him around the room, as if tourniquet and with a blunt pocket on stilts, laughing. Imagining that A couple of years ago, when tool cuts oě his arm and hikes out of future—a life of family, children, love, Slumdog Millionaire came out, I went the canyon. relationships—is what gives him the to see it ę ve times in the theater. At one level, it sounds like just ę nal motivation to pull out his pocket Each time I took a diě erent group of another action movie, with maybe a knife. He realizes he’s made a ter- friends, eager to share my enjoyment bit more gore than is usual for that rible mistake, isolating himself, and with them. Each time I wept, moved genre. But pinning it with that label he wants another chance to live life by the staggeringly joyous ending, just doesn’t capture this movie’s diě erently. feeling what critic Roy Anker, in his profundity. Why does this ę lm grip Aside from the sheer brilliance review of the ę lm, called “the soul’s me so much? In the ę rst place, James and zany innovativeness of the ę lm’s deep thirst for repair of some small Franco’s performance as Aron Ralston technical artistry, it’s this narrative slice of the world’s incalculable woe.” is a remarkable, beautiful feat of act- arc—from loneliness to love—that We were given a glimpse of that repair ing. I suspect it will go down as one explains, I think, my enthusiasm when the two protagonists, Jamal and of the great cinematic performances for this movie. Near the end, when Latika, kiss and then cue the credits we have. Think about it from a purely Aron has made it out of the canyon with one seriously awesome dance artistic standpoint: How many actors and is on the trail, his severed arm scene. For perhaps the ę rst time in can you name who could manage to dripping blood, he sees some other a very long time, a movie’s “happily remain compelling while dominating hikers a liĴ le way ahead. With the ever aĞ er” ending didn’t seem trite or 90 minutes of screen time with virtu- triumph of Sigur Rós’s song “Festival” aě ected. I remember at the end of that ally no supporting cast? providing the soundtrack, he cries year making a list in my journal of the More deeply, this ę lm explores out, barely audible at ę rst, “Help me.” high points of the past twelve months, what it means to love. (All good stories Then, bellowing hoarsely: “PLEASE a record of experiences that had leĞ boil down to this, so if this movie is HELP ME!” The hikers hear him, turn their mark on me. Seeing Slumdog good, then it shouldn’t be a surprise around puzzled. Then, seeing what’s made it on that list. that it does too.) At the beginning of happened, they come running. That And now director Danny Boyle’s the ę lm, Aron barrels into the canyon, was the moment the screen started to next ę lm, 127 Hours, is playing in music blaring in his headphones. He blur as I tried to blink away tears. For theaters as I write this. I’ve now seen arrives there aĞ er ignoring phone me, it wouldn’t be much of an exag- it three times, ę rst with my brother, calls from his mom and sister and geration to call that moment in the then with two other couples, dear brushing aside his boss’s queries theater, holy. friends both. I think I probably won’t about where he was headed. The Browsing the Internet recently, I see it again, but who knows. The only archetypal narcissistic loner, he ę ts stumbled across this quote from the

14 CRITIQUE 2011:2 A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP actor Hugh Laurie. Credits: 127 Hours QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND “One of my favorite moments in Star Starring: James Franco (Aron Ralston) DISCUSSION Trek is when Captain Kirk looks over Kate Mara (Kristi) the cosmos and says, ‘Somewhere out Amber Tamblyn (Megan) 1. Did the characteristically frenetic there someone is saying the three most Sean BoĴ (Aron’s friend) Treat Williams (Aron’s Dad) cinematography of a Danny Boyle beautiful words in any language.’ Of ę lm enhance or detract from this course your heart sinks and you think John Lawrence (Brian) Kate Burton (Aron’s Mom) particular story? Why? it’s going to be, ‘I love you’ or what- Lizzy Caplan (Sonja Ralston) ever. He says, ‘Please help me.’ What Fenton Quinn (Blue John) 2. This ę lm includes a scene of horrię - a philosophically fantastic idea, that Director: Danny Boyle cally graphic violence. How would vulnerability and need is a beautiful Writers: Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy you compare this scene to violent (screenplay), Aron Ralston (book) thing.” Producers: Bernard Bellew, Lisa Maria Falcone, moments from other ę lms? Does it ę t on a continuum with those or More profound than that, I’d argue, John J. Kelly, and others Original Music: A. R. Rahman does it stand alone? Is it eě ective, is the vision of 127 Hours. According Cinematography: Enrique Chediak, Anthony necessary? Why or why not? to this movie, it’s not that “Please help Dod Mantle me” is more signię cant than “I love U.S.A.; 94 min; Rated R (for language and some 3. How would you explain Aron’s you.” Rather, “Please help me” is itself disturbing violent content/bloody images) looking upward to say “Thank a form of “I love you.” The two cries you” once he’s free? If you don’t belong together. interpret it as a prayer to God, how It’s when Aron asks for help that else would you make sense of it? the ę lm’s weight and euphoria reaches 4. Discuss Aron’s journey in the ę lm its climax. His vulnerability, his plea under the heading of “conversion.” for rescue, is what leads him back Why is Aron’s story an instance of into the arms of his family, back into what Christians mean when we relationships with people, back to talk about “repentance”? Or, if you love. Ŷ don’t think that it is, why not? How Copyright © 2011 Wesley Hill has Aron changed? Wesley Hill is pursuing a 5. Is this movie a “feel-good ę lm” (as PhD in New Testament Danny Boyle claimed)? Why or why studies at Durham not? Should Christians—with our University, UK. His book, story of creation, fall, redemption, Washed and Waiting: and restoration—like “feel-good ReĚ ections on Christian ę lms”? What makes for a genuinely Faithfulness and Homosexuality, is happy ending? available from Zondervan.

A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP CRITIQUE 2011:2 15 RESOURCE

those seven questions. what we do than what we don’t do. Melleby realizes that Christian My prayer is that this book equips you students are usually told what not to with a vision to make the most of your do when they leave for college, and college experience by growing in your he knows that is insuĜ cient advice. faith, developing lasting friendships, The law, no maĴ er how holy, does not and thinking more deeply about your answer the deepest yearnings and place in God’s world. But please don’t needs of the human heart. take this book as another lecture trying There will be pressure to engage in to tell you what to do. Rather consider social and intellectual activity that it an invitation to envision college could be detrimental to your health diě erently, to ask good questions before and faith. No question. But if there is going to college, and to be pointed in one message that I hope gets through the direction of helpful resources. in this book, it is this: Christian We recommend Make College Count Right students should not fear college. to you. Ŷ The Christian faith oě ers a founda- Resource: Make College Count: A Questions, tion and framework for you to make Faithful Guide to Life and Learning by your time in college the best four (or Derek Melleby (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Good Answers ę ve or even six!) years of your life. Books, 2011) 113 pages. The Christian life is deę ned more by Whenever a book is wriĴ en by someone who works with the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding, I take notice. Make College Count is by Derek Melleby, who directs CPYU’s RESOURCE College Transition Initiative, and if you are a college student or know a by a serious scholar, but the goal is college student, get a copy and read not a recital of events, names, and it. Make College Count is brief, thought- places but the telling of a story in ful, rooted in the gospel, and on the which events unfold as real people mark when identifying the issues in real places sought to live life in a worth discussing. This is not a book part of the world where those who by someone who has burrowed away desired power, political inĚ uence, and into a library and done research but international prestige always leĞ their someone who has read widely, sunk mark. The Arab world is a place where deep roots into Scripture, reĚ ected armies have oĞ en marched, where wisely, and hung out with young empires have risen and fallen, and adults, listening, learning, talking, where a history rich in art, culture, and praying. and extremes of wealth and poverty Melleby organizes Make College have produced people who are proud Count around a series of seven ques- of their legacy and willing to ę ght to tions every college student answers, preserve their dignity. whether they realize it or not: 1. What kind of person do you A World Bound by a common identity grounded want to become? in language and history, the Arabs 2. Why are you going to college? We Should are all the more fascinating for their 3. What do you believe? diversity. They are one people and 4. Who are you? many peoples at the same time. As the 5. With whom will you surround Know traveler moves across North Africa yourself? I suspect I do not need to list from Morocco to Egypt, the dialect, cal- 6. How will you choose a major? reasons that it might be wise to ligraphy, landscape, architecture, and 7. How do you want your life to include this book (or another on the cuisine—as well as the form of govern- inĚ uence others? same topic) on your reading list. The ment and types of economic activity— The university years is the period reasons are evident in the headlines of transform in a constantly changing during which people are shaped in each day’s news. kaleidoscope. If the traveler continues ways that help form their character, The Arabs is accessible for the through the Sinai Peninsula into the understanding, worldview, relation- general reader, covering ę ve centuries Fertile Crescent, similar diě erences ships, and vocation. That shaping of Arab history from the OĴ oman arise between Palestine and Jordan, revolves around the answers that are Empire to the present historical mo- Syria and Lebanon, and Iraq. Moving given—intentionally or by default—to ment. It is a work of serious history south from Iraq to the Gulf States, the

16 CRITIQUE 2011:2 A MAGAZINE OF RANSOM FELLOWSHIP RESOURCE

I have never met Roy Anker but question, concluding ę nally that “the from his books I think I have at least safe, imaginary world of a story may… a good hint as to what he is like. I have a unique power to persuade and suspect he loves his work as a teacher motivate, because [stories] appeal to (he is a professor); he is commiĴ ed our emotions and capacity for empa- to the notion that Christian faith thy” (9/18/2008). speaks meaningfully to all of life and culture (he teaches at Calvin College); Most stories are really very simple. and he loves good stories (he teaches The late novelist John Gardner once literature and ę lm). It is true that observed that there are really only the facts about Anker are included two kinds of stories: a stranger comes in his author’s bio, but I would have to town, or someone goes on a trip. recognized his passions—mentoring a Someone comes, or someone goes—both generation of young adults, reveling in are pilgrims—and then change and the good stories, appreciating the expan- unexpected happen.... sive wonder of the gospel—simply Moving from reading what he has wriĴ en. Stories work to tell us what the world This is a man who has more than a and the creatures in it are like, provid- Pictures, Godly job; it is his calling. ing maps, if you will, of the terrain of In Of Pilgrims and Fire Anker human experience: why people do what ReĚ ections allows us to listen in as he watches they do, what’s likely to happen, what and reĚ ects on twenty ę lms, from evil looks like, what ultimately mat- mainstream classics like Superman and ters most, and what we can generally E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, to thoughtful expect from life in a human skin. expositions of life like Magnolia and You will not have to agree with RESOURCE The Shawshank Redemption, to foreign everything Anker says in Of Pilgrims Arab world shows inĚ uences of nearby productions like Decalogue 1 and and Fire to beneę t from the book. It is Iran. In Oman and Yemen, the inĚ u- BabeĴ e’s Feast, to older, oĞ en ignored intended to be a guide to seeing more ences of East Africa and South Asia are ę lms like Crimes & Misdemeanors and clearly, an invitation to engage the art apparent. All of these people have their The Godfather: Part III. For each ę lm and beauty of ę lm more fully instead own, distinct history, but they all see he provides some general comments, of just leĴ ing movies wash over you as themselves bound by a common Arab a brief list of things to watch for in you sit in the dark. history. the ę lm, some comments to read aĞ er We recommend Of Pilgrims and Fire viewing the movie, some questions to you. Ŷ This wildly diverse story is the for reĚ ection and discussion, some of one Eugene Rogan, professor at St Resource: Of Pilgrims and Fire: When the things that ę lm critics said about God Shows Up at the Movies by Roy Anthony’s College, Oxford, tells in the ę lm, and a few other ę lms that The Arabs. It is a story many of us M. Anker (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans; include the director and/or main ac- 2010) 249 pages. do not know very well, though our tors. Of Pilgrims and Fire helps us think representatives makes crucial deci- without telling us what to think. sions about this part of the world on an almost daily basis. As I write this, Humanity’s appetite for stories is the blood of American soldiers is insatiable, because stories are deeply being absorbed into the soil of one pleasurable. Within the human’s relent- country, Iraq that is in the very heart less curiosity, though, the most urgent RESOURCE of the Arab world. Those who ruled question of all is the one about what will happen to one’s own self, fragile Hearts and Minds bookstore is a in Baghdad once ruled a sprawling well-stocked haven for serious, reĚ ec- empire that stretched into Europe and mortal, and for what reasons and purposes it will happen. That is the tive readers. When ordering resources, and controlled trade that poured such mention Ransom Fellowship and they wealth into the caliph’s coě ers that deep mystery to which stories speak. People generally seem to be wired that will contribute 10 per cent of the total the European ambassadors who came back to us. Ŷ calling were intimidated by what they way, whether from a survival instinct saw. or as a trace of the “image of God” Resource: Hearts and Minds bookstore, This is a story, a history we need lingering within them. Simply put, we www.heartsandmindsbooks.com to know, and in The Arabs the prose love stories, and not just as illustra- makes reading it a delight. We recom- tions of larger, abstract truths. Stories mend it to you. Ŷ themselves have a depth of appeal and cogency that math and philosophy Resource: The Arabs: A History by never will. Stories entice and compel Eugene Rogan (New York, NY: Basic and, if told well, convince. Even the Books, 2009) 407 pages + notes + index. Scientię c American has pursued this

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