Whether tis better...?

Win or participate?

As a Christian school we often debate about what is the Christian view on sport. Is it cowardly to try to be inclusive and let all play, winning being a possible side line?

As a coach, is it okay to try to win?

What about the kids?

What about those who compete to win and are held back by those less dedicated or skilled? Is it fair to them to learn to lose, so that others will learn to compete, to be team members, to have fun?

If the Christian school teaches our students to lose, who will teach them to win? There are lots who will be willing to take on people who just want to win. Politics, terrorists, Al Davis...

How do you win with class? We can all paint on a smile, clap appropriately, say nice things, like, "Good effort", or "Nice try," but who teaches us to win with class, if all we ever do is lose?

Is it about competing, then? Just compete and see what happens? We obviously can't do anything about another team better prepared or better skilled. Do we just do our best then? Is it okay to add strategy that only leads to winning then(Intentional walks, traps, delay of game tactics, taking a knee)? If it is just about competing, then some of these things would have to be eliminated. Is there any point in talking strategy, making plays, practicing our own skills, if its just about participation?

Should winning be a goal? If we don't try to win, are we cheating our students out of the joy of seeing hard work pay off with favourable results? How do we demonstrate to our students that its okay to want to win, that its okay to feel bad when we don't, that sometimes we fail because others fail, that sometimes we succeed through no skill of our own? Sports. There are so many lessons.

As a coach, sometimes I feel pressure to win. Our school tries to focus on fewer sports in order to see better results (read that as win) in those areas. We even won two tournaments this year. A first since I've been at this school. That puts pressure on me to have them succeed. Often I feel like my lack of experience or know-how may lead to less favourable results than I would like. Should I feel that pressure? Should I be getting myself better skilled, paying big bucks and getting certified so that we can be even more successful?

I wonder if Christians have lost their desire to succeed. Are we content with being beaten? With coming last, but being nice about it? We start our own leagues and labels and movie companies, etc, but why? So we don't have to compete with bigger dollars, more creative, less scrupulous people? How do I teach my students to rise above if I don't want to myself??

Shaaaaaaaaaark!

JAWS
(see #48 below)

Does this movie ring true? I’m not talking about giant sharks eating whole fishing boats. I’m talking human decisions. I thought the giant mechanical sharks were quite believable except for one moment when the thing jumps on the boat. Otherwise it was really terrific for 1975.

The issue for me is more about whether the actions of the characters are true. Would a politician and a physician intentionally stand silent? Would a police officer allow themselves to be quieted into no action? Would a parent let their child go to swimming knowing what they know?

I found that all in all, the politician’s stance was believable. His job was at stake. If the beaches were empty, then his job would be gone. He could easily convince himself that there was no shark, or that it was a freak, once in a lifetime event.

As far as the medical examiner was concerned, I didn’t see how he could be silenced into changing his report, and the movie doesn’t even try to convince us. He just does, it’s implied that there is intimidation or something, but we’re never really let in on it.

The policeman I found the hardest to believe of all. He has so little to lose, especially as a parent. Why he allows the events to be worked out the way they do is bizarre. I appreciate his efforts to bring down the shark later, but even then, his aversion to water is ignored and he just heads out to sea.

Why does this movie stand up so well as a classic then? I guess it’s the music. Duh-duh, duh-duh, duh-duh, duh-duh. I mean you still hear that familiar theme today to imply impending disaster. I think the randomness of the attack is fairly well designed too. With so many potential victims, except for the boat captain, you can’t really anticipate who is going to be next. I also think the first time you see the unbelievable shark glide by underwater you realize that it is a bigger problem being faced than you ever expected.

Fun movie, I suppose. I think I still prefer "The Birds".

The American Film Institute top 100 list

Sabrina and I decided a couple of years back to see if we could round up and watch the top 100 movies as voted on by the American Film Institute(1997 list). Oh, American films only on the list... Its a great list. We're avoiding a few of them, well, Sabrina is avoiding them, but since we have to see them together...our rules, (individually we've seen some of these not checked off, but we want to see them together.) After watching the first 20 or so, I decided that I wanted to make something of it, not just sit through them, so that's where some of these blogs come from and hence, why I'm suddenly writing about a thirty or eighty year old movie.

update...now we've seen 41/100 as of July 1, 2008
another update, I think we're at 49 as of August 20th
a third update...51 as of Oct 10, though I think I've miscounted at some point...
a fourth update... 55 as of April 6, 2009
a fifth update... 59 as of October 18th, 2009
1.CITIZEN KANE (1941) √
2.CASABLANCA (1942) √
3.GODFATHER, THE (1972)√
4.GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) √
5.LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) √
6.WIZARD OF OZ, THE (1939) √
7.GRADUATE, THE (1967) √
8.ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) √
9.SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
10.SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952) √
11.IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) √
12.SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) √
13.BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE (1957) √
14.SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) √
15.STAR WARS (1977) √
16.ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) √
17.AFRICAN QUEEN, THE (1951) √
18.PSYCHO (1960)
19.CHINATOWN (1974) √
20.ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)√
21.GRAPES OF WRATH, THE (1940) √
22.2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
23.MALTESE FALCON, THE (1941)
24.RAGING BULL (1980) √
25.E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) √
26.DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) √
27.BONNIE & CLYDE (1967)
28.APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) √
29.MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) √
30.TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
31.ANNIE HALL (1977) √
32.GODFATHER PART II, THE (1974)√
33.HIGH NOON (1952)
34.TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) √
35.IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
36.MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
37.BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THE (1946)
38.DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
39.DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965) √
40.NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) √
41.WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
42.REAR WINDOW (1954) √
43.KING KONG (1933) √
44.BIRTH OF A NATION, THE (1915)
45.STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A (1951)
46.CLOCKWORK ORANGE, A (1971)
47.TAXI DRIVER (1976)
48.JAWS (1975)√
49.SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) √
50.BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
51.PHILADELPHIA STORY, THE(1940) √
52.FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
53.AMADEUS (1984) √
54.ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
55.SOUND OF MUSIC, THE (1965) √
56.M*A*S*H(1970) √
57.THIRD MAN, THE (1949)
58.FANTASIA (1940) √
59.REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) √
60.RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) √
61.VERTIGO (1958) √
62.TOOTSIE (1982)
63.STAGECOACH (1939)
64.CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
65.SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE (1991)
66.NETWORK (1976)
67.MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, THE (1962)
68.AMERICAN IN PARIS, AN (1951) √
69.SHANE (1953)
70.FRENCH CONNECTION, THE (1971)
71.FORREST GUMP (1994) √
72.BEN-HUR (1959) √
73.WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939) √
74.GOLD RUSH, THE (1925)
75.DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
76.CITY LIGHTS (1931) √
77.AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78.ROCKY (1976) √
79.DEER HUNTER, THE (1978) √
80.WILD BUNCH, THE (1969)
81.MODERN TIMES (1936)
82.GIANT (1956)
83.PLATOON (1986)
84.FARGO (1996) √
85.DUCK SOUP (1933)
86.MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935)
87.FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
88.EASY RIDER (1969)
89.PATTON (1970) √
90.JAZZ SINGER, THE (1927)
91.MY FAIR LADY (1964) √
92.PLACE IN THE SUN, A(1951)
93.APARTMENT, THE (1960)
94.GOODFELLAS (1990) √
95.PULP FICTION (1994)
96.SEARCHERS, THE (1956) √
97.BRINGING UP BABY (1938) √
98.UNFORGIVEN (1992) √
99.GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) √
100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)

Annie Hall says WHAT???

First off, I know this review is 30 years late. Sadly however, the movie is still relevant to today’s pop culture. What we have here is basically a view of the world that says love is good, but how we go about it doesn’t necessarily have goodness to it. Woody Allen, a name that today means “laughingstock”, at the time meant “relevant”. No body is laughing at the message of Annie Hall, even though the delivery may have been humourous. This is black comedy though. Laughing because it hurts, its better than crying perhaps…

What seems to be missing in this movie is the Midwest. New York is portrayed as hard working, serious, sad even. California is portrayed as partying, laid back and foolish. Into these two settings we have our main characters trying to establish their relationship. The only real mention of any middle ground is to mock Annie’s Wisconsin upbringing, that things neat and peachy are outdated. From this we get the idea that ideal relationships, happy endings, and improving conditions between spouses and lovers is not really something modern Americans should think is possible. Either live morosely, expecting the worst, or live uncaringly with whatever the outcome is.

I want something more. I’m living something more. Is there foolishness and sadness? Yes. But is there hope and progress and joy and real love? Absolutely. Annie Hall, there is a better way.

Entitlement

I actually had a parent tell me a few days ago that their child was entitled to a party. Two times. They compared it to having a birthday cake at a birthday party. “Who cares whether they’ll eat it or not, a party has a cake”. “My child will have a party.”

I wonder what that means to someone in Somalia watching their child die of starvation? I wonder if they feel like their child is entitled to a graduation party? I wonder if education is more important than the party? I had a different parent come to see me about that same time, for the first time all year. To discuss academic concerns? No, and there are a few things that could have been discussed. They came to discuss a party. I wonder why I struggle at times with getting students to take any learning process seriously at all? If graduation from school is more important than school itself, what kind of message am I fighting against when I try to get them to put out any effort.

Forgiveness part 2

This concludes my previous post of a few days ago...

With great regret, I can honestly say that at times I have found myself the offended and was unwilling to respond with forgiveness right away. We need to feel vindicated. We want to be heard, but even more we want others to know the depth of our pain. Forgiveness implies that we are leaving behind the weight of what we’ve been carrying based on that offence. We want to drop it. We don’t want the bitterness and anger and sadness and strain that that unforgiving spirit brings us.

Here are a couple of related thoughts. Is your complaint you are bringing about your brother worthy of having them removed from fellowship in the local church? Some may be saying “if its Mrs So-and-So, or old Mr Kadidlehopper, then yes, yes, yes! I’ve had to put up with their foolishness for 60 years.” Don’t forget that God’s had to put up with your foolishness for 70 years, or 26 or 53, or 36 and ¾ to the day, in my case!

Secondly, is refusing to fix something worthy of having yourself removed from the local church? I heard someone this week say, “if he was more thick-skinned he wouldn’t be complaining.” I thought that was an interesting thought. But it avoids the issue. This person was being accused of something, and they came up with fault for the other person to avoid that they had offended. Obviously developing thick skin is a valuable tool. But our job as offending party is to acknowledge our offence and make things right.

Is there ever a time when someone is too petty and hard to deal with, that no matter what there will be something wrong no matter what? Likely. Perhaps you’re saying, “Yes, it’s so and so over there!” Perhaps someone is saying it about you. The exceptions do not negate the rule. The exceptions make the rule even more important. By bringing private grievances before other witnesses, it allows the pettiness to be exposed.

How many times must I forgive? Until 70 times 7! Keeping track means you are not really forgiving. I mean, Jewish tradition said three times. Peter was stretching it to say 7. Jesus was saying, “If you’re keeping count, you’re not forgiving. Not the way God has forgiven you.” Here is where we come back to humility. Its not about me anymore, its about Christ. It’s about living life like Him. To truly follow Him in this area, we must forgive.

Forgiveness

We are currently internetless. This is very hard to do. I think it would be easier to go without a phone. Hopefully in the next few days we'll have dial up of some kind... oh, we've moved in case you didn't know. You'll have to check my good wife's blog, at some point I'm sure she'll have pictures up and such.

Anyway, I had to preach this Sunday, the following is where I was coming from, I'll post the rest later. Too much of a good thing...or bad thing, you know.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of forgiveness lately, I believe God allows us to deal with certain areas, think about and practice certain things for a season. Forgiveness has been it for the past couple of months.

One of the most celebrated movies of 1992 was called Unforgiven. I saw it for the first time about a month ago. In it the hero, played by Clint Eastwood faces the consequences of his past and is faced with his unpayable debt to society. He has killed and even though in the wild west, his past is excused, he is still marked a killer. He can not be forgiven and forgotten. Worse still for the character is that he can not forgive himself. He lives on with the guilt of who he has been and who he remains being.

Recently I heard that David Berkowitz, the notorious New York City Son of Sam murderer had given his life to Christ and one of his victim’s mothers had forgiven him. Stories like that are not extremely rare, but still refreshing and inspiring when you hear them.

I’ve also been inspired lately by the ease with which our boys utter the phrase, “I forgive you.” No hesitation, no grudges, no debating, or explaining how they’ve been hurt, just “I forgive you.” How does their father get to be like his sons?

A couple of weeks ago at the junior youth group we help lead in Kleinburg, we were watching a video clip from Rob Bell about forgiveness, and how you never know when you are having your last chance to make things right. One of my favourite song writers, Mark Heard put it this way, “Nobody gets the second chance, to be the friend they were meant to be.”

Personally, I’ve also been struggling with my own inability to forgive in a truly Christ-like manner. I find it so easy to expect forgiveness, its been easy to learn to say “I’m sorry,” or “I was wrong”. The struggle for me is not in those phrases, its in forgiving. In the phrase, “I forgive you.”

Happy Birthday, Grandma

Just a short quick note to let you know that I had a great day reminiscing about you today. Happy Birthday, hard to believe you're 97. You barely seem 80 to me. I hope someday I'm as gracious as you.