Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

The Film Talk – Journeying Behind the Screen

Paul writes – One of the good things about summer holidays is a chance to relax and catch up on films that weren’t able to be seen on the big screen during the year. Most recently I’ve caught up on the lovely little movie Sunshine Cleaning. Almost as good a seeing the films is listening to friend Gareth Higgins and his colleague Jett Lowe debating the merits or otherwise of movies. They have a great website – The Film Talk – and produce a weekly podcast. I commend it and shall be visiting it often during the course of 2010. They offer great insights into some excellent movies and reveal layers of meaning and significance that I’d missed when watching the movie the first time. It makes for a richer second viewing.

Here’s links to a couple of podcasts I’ve enjoyed:

A Discussion centered on Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds.

A Discussion on The Films of the Decade.

Stanley Hauerwas on Leadership

Paul writes – Now while not a “Hauerwas groupie” I have a huge admiration for his thinking and ways of being in the world, ways that emerge out of his theology. I’ve read numerous essays by him over the years, and have thoroughly enjoyed introductions to Hauerwas by the likes of William Cavanaugh, and the occasional published PhD thesis that interacts with Hauerwas’ thinking, particularly in relation to ecclesiology. I’m very much looking forward to reading his memoir, while hoping that Walter Brueggemann is doing something similar (or having somebody write his theological biography).

Meantime I enjoyed reading a brief interview on leadership with Stanley Hauerwas.

“Leadership can’t be abstracted from the communities that make it possible, says Stanley Hauerwas, a Duke Divinity School professor considered to be one of the [United States of America’s] most influential theologians.”

Here are some excerpts:

“...Power is rightly one of the gifts God has given us for the formation of good communities and good people. The way you put the question presupposes that you might have an alternative. You don’t. You have to discuss questions of how you discover those among you with gifts necessary for the whole community...

...So much of how creative authority works is by being articulate for the community about what needs to be done in a way that defies limits. It often comes by reframing and helping us discover ways to understand where we are in terms that do not reproduce the necessities of the past...

...The recognition of limit is a good discipline for discovering what kind of institution you actually should be...

... I have often been identified as someone who is very critical of the institutions of which I’m part. I oftentimes am, but that’s a lovers’ quarrel. I’m, I hope, a very institutional person...

... The church’s liturgy has been a history of constant innovation. Innovation should occur in a way that we recognize continuities through time.

It was a bad innovation when the revivalistic structure overtook the church’s primary liturgical form in a way that charismatic preachers replaced the centrality of Eucharist...

... People called to administrative positions have to undergo a deep ascetical discipline. You’re dealing with people who have possibilities and limits, the limits sometimes will drive you crazy, and you cannot take it personally.

...You do this to provide space for the different gifts of the community. I’m very Pauline in this. Communities have diversities of gifts. Part of your responsibility as an administrator and leader is to help members of the community own them as contributing to the overall good of the community. To be in a position of power means that you recognize how fragile the power is. You wouldn’t have it otherwise. And you have enough confidence that you don’t have to win all the time. That’s a real ascetic discipline, a discipline of the ego, which is absolutely crucial for being an administrator and to allow the institution to go on once you’re no longer there...

... For any person that wants to be in leadership, if they try to lead in a way that means they don’t have to deal with people, they automatically defeat community. It is everyday interactions that make it possible for there to be people who tell the truth to us one at a time in the hopes that in that process we will be a truthful community...”

You can read the complete interview and watch a brief video clip here. 

Lesslie Newbigin – Marking What Would Have Been His 100th Birthday

Paul writes – I missed the date (8^th Dec. 2009), but I wanted to mark what would have been Lesslie Newbigin's 100^th birthday if he hadn’t died on the 30^th January 1998. I’ve read Newbigin and have heard a lot about Newbigin over the last 4-5 years in particular. Al Roxburgh, Steve Taylor, Colin Greene and Martin Robinson have been big advocates, offering both affirmation and critique, and it is through them that I have come to really appreciate and value Newbigin’s insights and just how contemporary and relevant they still are.

As we consider mission in Western Culture Newbigin’s is a voice we need to listen to and enter into conversation with.

Below is an excerpt from an 8^th December article on Newbigin published in Christianity Today – The Missionary Who Wouldn’t Retire by Krish Kandiah. You can read the full article here.

The gospel in community

“...I remember being in a crowded living room in Birmingham as a group of university evangelists and apologists sat at the feet of a very old man who needed a magnifying glass to read his tightly typed notes. He explained that the bottom line of his whole theological project was "the doctrine of election." That was my first encounter with Newbigin, and after immersing myself in his writings for five years, I discovered that his entire missiology revolved around that idea. God's people are elected to join in God's mission to call others to God in keeping with the Abraham calling, "blessed to be a blessing." There is therefore a dual purpose: God wants to reconcile people to himself, but also to reconcile people to each other. The election of individuals cannot be separated from God's election of the church: we are elected to be God's missionary people. The church is, by its very nature, missional.

This has two major implications. First, the church, not the individual, is the basic unit of evangelism. A community that lives out the truth of the gospel is the best context in which to understand its proclamation. This insight is at the heart of courses like Alpha and of the best examples of church planting and church growth...”

James K A Smith on ‘Desiring the Kingdom’.

Paul writes – I trust and hope that you've all had a wonderful Christmas doing those things that are special to you at this time of the year in your context. Merry Christmas from the ProdigalKiwi(s).

I had lunch with a friend last week and during the course of our wide-ranging conversation I was reminded of, and mentioned this recent interview with James K. Smith. The interview is on the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship blog.

Here’s an excerpt (the question is in bold text):

“Augustine, you argue, had it right: it's not what we know, it's what and whom we love. How and why did Christians start to get this wrong?

...Somehow we started to see ourselves differently. What we thought—the ideas and beliefs we had in our head—were seen as the "essence" of who we are. In other words, we start to put less emphasis on what we do and more emphasis on what we believe/think...

You call Christians to a countercultural awareness, to resist the cultural empires of our age. How can we cultivate this awareness while avoiding the pitfalls of resistance movements: self-righteousness, insularity, and oversimplification of complicated conflicts?

Great question. Really great question. Here's where I think the specifics of historic Christian liturgy make a big difference. Christian worship owns up to the messiness of things in all sorts of ways. The litany of confession obviously comes to mind. But also just the nitty-gritty reality of worshiping with an intergenerational community whose worship is "governed" in a way by practices and rhythms we didn't invent. The very "gathering" of a collection of folks into a worshiping congregation brings together all this messiness and difference. I tell my kids, church is where we go to learn to love people we don't like (and we hope they're doing the same!). That in itself is a discipline that should give us pause before identifying "our" cause as "the" cause...”

Unrelated I also wanted to record this reworking of the doctrinal term “election” by Brian McLaren. I was reminded of it as I read Len Hjalmarson’s blog.

“Brian McLaren challenges orthodoxy, and questions the mediaeval version of Jesus that’s been handed down through the centuries. One of the most important clues to McLaren’s thinking is that he believes people have misunderstood the doctrine of election. ‘Election’, he says, ‘is not about who gets to go to heaven, it’s about who God chooses to be part of his crisis response team to bring healing to the world.’

The Mystery and Gift of the Other – Seeing our Lives and Place in the World Afresh

Paul writes – One of the tremendous privileges of life is people allowing you someway into the mystery of who they are, the mystery and the complexity of their lives. Monday evening, this week, was one of those special moments, a chance to sit and listen, and a chance to be drawn a little way into another’s life and indeed, their perspective on life, the values that compel them, and the life stories and experiences that animate and shape them.

That this is a privilege, a gift if you like, is what makes these rare occasions precious. We are each a wonderful mystery – a mystery to ourselves, and also to others. Yet, on these occasions, the mystery that is the other, the mystery that is a little way opened to us, extends to us the possibility of healing, the possibility of seeing ourselves or some dimension of ourselves anew. Maybe too it offers the invitation to us to grow a little, to sink a little below the surface of our lives, and to deepen who we are?

Monday reminded me of that. Pip reminded me of that. 

One theme woven through that conversation was how we see the world and how we see our lives, particularly with respect to that which seems adverse and unfair. 

John O’Donohue in his wonderful little book Anam Cara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World reminds us of this as well. On pages 85-93 he reflects beautifully on vision – the ways in which we, sadly, so often see our worlds and those around us. He begins, “…Many limited and negative lives issue directly from… narrowness of vision” and then continues by describing what he terms “styles of vision”. For some of us we look a our world and those around us with “fearful eyes”- “all [we] see and concentrate on are things that can damage and threaten [us].” For others, or at other times, it’s “judgmental eyes” through which we see. We are always “excluding and separating”, and therefore “never see in a compassionate or celebratory way.” Through the eyes of judgement we give expression to the doubt and deep insecurity of our lives and are unable to see the nuances of truth and other persons through the lens of paradox.   

At other times, we see and engage our world through the “eyes of indifference”. “Nothing calls or awakens…” Indifference places us “beyond the frontiers of compassion, healing and love.” 

For some the eyes through which they see are the “eyes of resentment”. “Everything is begrudged. People who have allowed the canker of resentment into their vision can never enjoy who they are or what they have.” Who they are and what they have is never enough. They struggle to embody gratitude and to live in the present moment - a seeming lack of fulfillment or success in the past gives birth to future expectations of continued disappointment. 

Then of course, there are the “eyes of inferiority” – “everyone is greater; others are more beautiful, brilliant, and gifted than we are. 

And, most importantly, the eyes and vision so many of us long for are the “eyes of love”. “If we could look at the world in a loving way”, O’Donohue writes, “then the world would rise up before us full of invitation, possibility and depth.” The past would be gently accepted. “The loving eye”, he says, “can even coax pain, hurt, and violence [especially that we direct toward our selves] towards transfiguration and renewal.”  

Conversations like those I experienced on Monday gift to us the possibility of seeing differently, of seeing through the eyes of another, and in that process of changing our habitual ways of seeing and engaging our own lives and the worlds which we inhabit.

Why we should be thankful for Rowan Williams and his church of common sense

Paul writes - Over the weekend I finally got to have a look through Anglican historian and commentator Diarmaid MacCulloch's huge new book, A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (1184 pages). It looks fascinating, is beautifully presented, and comes in at NZ$65; but I’m not sure I’ll get a copy, not because it wouldn’t be a great addition to any half-decent theological library (private or otherwise), nor because MacCulloch hasn’t done a very fine job, but because I doubt that I would ever read it in its entirety, and would likely only read a chapter or two. I appreciate history, but have never been a big reader of history and frankly this book has more pages than I would ever be able to read on the subject. A smaller tome that reflects accessibly, historically and theologically on contemporary ecclesial challenges would be a big help. We need the big picture and the back-story, but how big does that picture and back story need to be?

Perhaps Harvey Cox’s new book, The Future of Faith (256 pages) will offer a more accessible and practical way of bringing history and our contemporary context into conversation?

That said, I hope we get the BBC television adaptation of MacCulloch’s book here in NZ for purchase in due course. I will make a point of securing it and watching it. A more fruitful approach for me when it comes to history.

Meantime, here are some excerpts from MacCulloch’s Christmas newsletter to Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams, published in the Observer last Sunday (20/12/09) 

Dear Archbishop Rowan,

“Even though I'm not sending Christmas cards this year – ran out of time – you are not going to escape my seasonal circular letter. It is filled not with the record of my many achievements, holidays taken, operations survived and the GCSE results of my imaginary children, but instead has a few tidings of great joy, because you seem to need them at the moment.

You sounded a bit down the other day when you were talking to the Daily Telegraph, complaining that our government assumes "that religion is a problem, an eccentricity practised by oddities, foreigners and minorities". Well, the government is often right about that, so if I were you I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'd be more worried if the government didn't think religion was a problem...

...My third reason is the election of a bishop in a diocese of the American Episcopal Church in California who happens to be a lesbian. There's maturity for you. Faithful, seriously worshipping Christian folk have made a free decision in an open election that the best candidate for the job is a woman, who has shown by her decisions in life that fidelity, love and honesty are demanded by her practice of the Christian gospel.

...Meanwhile, I hope that you may rejoice at Christmas in this multiform church over which you so graciously and thoughtfully preside – give a welcome to the continuing unobtrusive and untrumpeted trickle of converts, not least from your sister church of Rome, join in the worship at one of your cathedrals, so packed to the gills, so well cared for and cherished as never before in their history, and enjoy the heritage of beautiful music that is one of the treasures of Anglicanism...

...The Christmas story may be expressed in biblical forms that are not very good history and which some of your congregations may find difficult to take literally, but Christmas music can sweep past the puzzles of words to celebrate a new human life, weak, vulnerable and humble, which is glorified precisely for that. You will know the saying of Thomas Aquinas, which a wise old Dominican friar once quoted to me over a great deal of Irish whiskey, that God is not the answer, he is the question. As long as your church, and all other churches, go on asking the question, they will never die.”

Diarmaid

You can read his full letter here. 

The Germs of Self Destruction…? Brian McLaren on Obama’s Oslo Speech

Paul writes – Michael Gorman drew my attention to a very useful little reflection by Brian McLaren. McLaren reflects on President Obama’s “Oslo speech”. 

Here’s an excerpt:

“…These conflicted thoughts of war and peace, naïveté and realism were churning in my mind a day or so after the speech as I walked through a plaza in Riverside, California. Who is more naïve, I wondered – those who believe violence can overcome violence, or those who believe violence always creates new and more complicated problems? By chance, at that moment in my musings I came upon a monument to Gandhi that stands between the city’s Convention Center and old mission. As I slowly circled the monument, it wasn’t the quotes from Gandhi that seized my attention, but rather this quote from General Douglas MacArthur:

In the evolution of civilization, if it is to survive, all men cannot fail eventually to adopt Gandhi’s belief that the process of mass application of force to resolve contentious issues is fundamentally not only wrong but contains within itself the germs of self-destruction.

It would be one thing if these words were spoken by an idealistic young candidate, a community organizer, a pastor, a poet, or a movement leader. But when a seasoned general from World War II – well beyond naïveté about either war or evil – makes a statement like this, one hopes that the rest of us will at least give his words a second thought…” 

You can read the whole post here. 

And, if you missed my earlier e-mail, I recommend listening to Brian McLaren being interviewed by Rachel Kohn in Australia in Nov 09. You can find it, and the transcript, here. Be quick though, the audio won’t be available for much longer. 

Spirituality and Recession…?

Paul writes - The latest issue (Summer 2009 – 2010) of Refresh Journal has been published and is also online as a PDF. This issue takes as its theme the Recession, and as Andrew Dunn, the editor, writes:

“...Looking at the articles and other material we include in this issue we are asking two basic questions without actually asking them! 

1. In the diagnosis of all that has happened, what human and spiritual values have gone astray and led to this situation?
2. As we think it through, reflect on it biblically and theologically, can we see ways ahead that are necessary, encouraging and hope-full? 

There are a broad range of very interesting articles / reflections, including an excellent essay by Kath Rushton RSN – Jesus and His Sermon 

Here’s an excerpt:

“…The external deserts arise from internal deserts, hence the vital importance of a religious reawakening of the interior dimension of individuals and peoples in order to build structures of grace and solidarity. The truth of the Sermon of the Mount contrasts a culture of affluence with a culture of inner freedom to create conditions for social justice…”

Also, you'll find below a un-abridged version of the article I wrote, which is included in this issue of REFRESH.

Download Paul Fromont - On the Wings of Desire

Insatiable Moon – It’s a Wrap!

Paul writes – If you haven’t been following The Insatiable Moon Story, or you haven’t checked in for a little while, can I encourage you to do so. Gareth Higgins has been beautifully capturing the heartbeat of this kiwi film-making story, its actors, production team and crew, who against the odds, have demonstrated, absolutely, over the last month and a bit that “they knew they could, they knew they could!” And, by the end of today, they will have. The filming will have been completed.   

“…At one stage the budget and interest was such that noted Scottish Indie film-maker Gillies MacKinnon was set to direct it, and James Nesbitt and Timothy Spall to appear alongside lead actor and Whale Rider star Rawiri Paratene.

Recession and lack of support on the home front - New Zealand Film Commission? - scuppered that particular permutation.

And the film, along with several years of hard labour, teetered on the brink of oblivion.  

But the constant support of Paratene, a British producer, and Mike's own dogged self-belief - the same that saw him make the prize-winning Dunedin short film Cake Tin on a wing and a prayer - meant they adjusted their sights, opted for a shoe-string budget, high-end digital technology and found the support of a number of professionals who believed that there is more to the film business than the business of films…” 

Read the rest of the Otago Daily Times editorial here.

Here’s three of Gareth’s posts that really moved me as I reflected on my own experiences of being on set and on my own understanding of the back-story – here, here, and here.

 The journey to-date has been a magical experience, and something very special will emerge in due course. As post-production work begins in 2010 naysayers and those unwilling to support the project will have a chance to review their decisions and do the right thing for New Zealand Film-Making and the widespread telling of New Zealand stories, profoundly human stories earthed in this land, in our experiences as a richly diverse people, and with the   grace and power to touch and engage the deep places of the human heart, the longing for this world to be a better place, and for our own lives and living to be more humanizing, hopeful, redemptive, meaningful, and whole.

We need movies like The Insatiable Moon on our big screens, and eventually being played on our televisions and home theatre systems. We need these stories skillfully and sensitively exported and brought into conversation with other equally rich stories of context, people,   community, relationship, subversion, dreams, hopes, mythology and archetype from around the world.

Well done to all who’ve been involved in “Moon” to this point. You’ve done something very special, which I guess that’s the natural outcome of the kinds of persons you each are, and of the rich and diverse range of skills and experiences you’ve been willing to share collaboratively with each other.

“Mission Control we have touchdown – we have landed the moon!”

Films Worth Entering Into…?

Paul writes – I’m always on the lookout for good movies, particularly those that you might want to describe as “independents”, “non-mainstream” and/or “foreign language”. James K. A. Smith is an occasional commentator on movies he’s seen, and having watched one or two, I now typically take notice.

Here are two recent ones he’s reflected on.

Wendy and Lucy (2008).

I’ve Loved You So Long (2008).

Feel free to send me an e-mail or leave a comment with your top 5-10 films watched (or re-watched) during 2009.

Mine would include:

• As a group I’d include the several films directed by Hayao Miyazaki (cf. Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Porco Rosso).
• Doubt starring Philip Seymour Hoffman (I’d seen the play in Auckland 3-years ago).
• This Way of Life, a documentary Directed and filmed by Tom Burstyn.
• Men’s Group – “what lies in the hearts of men.” Directed by Michael Joy.
• The Wrestler, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Mickey Rourke.
• Gran Torino, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.
• The Visitor, directed by Tom McCarthy.
• Revolutionary Road, directed by Sam Mendes.
• 2046, directed by Wong Kar Wai.
• Volver, directed by Pedro Almodovar.