Some Good Articles

I've been a bit behind on blogging recently because work has been uber-busy and because I'm trying to spend extra time studying for my licensing exams. At some point, I want to make some excellent comments about the films The Book of Eli and The Secret of Kells. Both have very nice spiritual elements. This is a good review of Eli, exploring some of these elements. And I first became interested in the film after this article (plus, Denzel is my favorite actor, and I'll basically see whatever he's in). I would say I enjoyed Kells more, but Eli was definitely powerful (although clearly more bloody). But I recommend both if you have the chance for either.

So you all don't start getting withdrawls from my posts (because I know people hang so much on every one of my posts and words :) ), here's some interesting articles that I recommend:
How the Early Church Read the Bible (I like the comments about a self-focused Gospel--it actually seems to tap into some of the themes of Eli)
Spiritual Lives All Their Own (about kids' spiritualities)
Would a Religious Conversion Change Your Brain? (emphasizes that it isn't nature v. nurture--they work together)
Missional Community Formation (emphasizing that false boundaries of faith traditions are not terribly helpful)
The Battle Lines Over Justice (again emphasizing the stupidity of some of these boundaries)
Believing in God and Evolution (Gasp!)

And then there's the humorous, not safe for work photo that might offend some, but that I find hilarious.

The Social Construction of Holidays

As we are in the end of the holiday season, I've been thinking about holidays a lot and wondering about their purpose. This year, they haven't felt that special: The days seem like any other day of the year, emphasizing the social construction of them.

I think holidays can be useful, but they are often over-emphasized as separate, wonderful, holy things. For me, one of the problems with holidays is people do things out of obligation than out of heart-felt desire.

And these things (thanksgiving, gratitude, giving, expressing love for each other, etc.) are things we should be doing every year. But if we miss the day, then we must not love our spouses, or appreciate our lives, or love Christ. One day set aside to emphasize the birth of Christ, for thanksgiving, for showing our love to our partners, etc. is not bad, but I think we also put too much emphasis on it.

I wonder what it would be like if we went a year without celebrating any holidays. Might we appreciate them more and approach them more appropriately? Maybe the Jehovah's Witness tradition of not celebrating holidays has some honest legitimacy...

What do you think?