“You are meant to Deepen!”

 

                      -Madeleine L’Engle A Wind in the Door

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts on New Stadium…

I checked my son out of school Thursday, and together we went to see the Royals play an afternoon game against the Mariners.  Great day.  The Royals won – six in a row (and counting).  I’m happy and enthused by the Royals so far – please keep that in mind.  

This was my first trip to the new stadium and I’ve been desiring to record my thoughts.

Overall – it’s pretty much what I expected – a stadium that primarily exudes a “family fun center” ethos.  It’s not that I’m against family fun centers, or that I think they did a poor job executing a design, etc.  It’s just that the new stadium embodies one of my frustrations with the Royals marketing branch for generations…

 

…They refuse to understand that baseball can sell itself.  

 

If you market baseball in an authentic and honest way, the sport can sell itself – it’s that unique.  It’s that beautiful.  I have traveled to many stadiums, and other organizations seem to get that (take a trip to Texas and see how well baseball can sell itself in Arlington by going to one game at the Ballpark).  

The Royals organization however (marketing) downplays baseball in favor of trying to create a day at an amusement park (your thrills will be catored to you – you do nothing and invest nothing).  I’m not sure they even employ anyone with an understanding of and love of the game.  If so, the “stadium” experience would feel a little more historical – a little less Party Deck, etc.  

Here’s a brief list of my complaints (and suggestions) this year and throughout the years:

• Why call this a “stadium”?  Stadiums are for football and concerts.  Baseball is about “Parks” and “Fields”.  We had the perfect opportunity to rename this place, “Kauffman Field”, “Kauffman Park”, or even “Kauffman Yards” – all of which evoke baseball.  Not “Stadium”.  
• Related to the above – why take the only good part of our park’s name (“Kauffman”) and reduce it to “the K”?  Are we ashamed of the name Kauffman?  Or is it just easier to say “K”?  (I’m sure the Party Cove leftovers on the “Party Deck” approve).  What about the logo for “the K”?  Is it just me, or does it evoke images of an all-night convenience store?  One must ask – who is the target of this marketing ploy?  Who reduces one of the great baseball names in Kansas City to a “fun-filled” letter and thinks that is more likely to sell tickets?  
• I am appalled when I go to a baseball game and am treated like I’m going to a youth group/Young Life event.  I’ve always felt like the Royals organization is trying to shape the game into a kids’ club experience (let’s play the song “Another One Bites the Dust” when an opposing pitcher is taken out.  Get it…get it???).  The new stadium has ratchet up the youth group cheese element – a ton.  Now between innings, our club leader/mc for the day travels around different sections asking fans to play silly games and do silly things.  I couldn’t believe we didn’t see a fan stick as many marshmallows in their mouth as possible…that’s coming soon, I’m sure.  

I love the Royals and want to love the game experience.  Every time I go to a Royals game (at the K!!) I leave feeling more and more, however, like I don’t belong in this town and need to move to the east coast.  (By the way, can you see Royals marketing men during a seventh inning stretch at Fenway?  ”Why are they playing Sweet Caroline?  Is the pitcher’s name Caroline?  Why are the fans singing so wholeheartedly?  There’s no bouncing ball and mascot telling them to?)

I want my son to love the Royals and I’m working on that (turns out, it’s not hard…he loves them).  But to foster his love of baseball I’ll have to take him to Arlington (or just about any other baseball city – not Arizona…we have a lot in common with them…), and that makes me sad.

The Power and the Glory

 I read Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory for Mrs. Scott’s”Major British Authors” class in high school.  I’ve rediscovered Greene as an adult, and I decided to read this masterpiece once again – hopefully through the eyes of someone who has slightly more appreciation of the complexities involved in faith and the human condition than my eighteen year old worldview. What a potent novel.  

Here are some quotes that will stay with me:

 

“Hate is a failure of the imagination.”

 

“God is love…we wouldn’t recognize that (God’s) love.  It might even look like hate.  It would be enough to scare us – God’s love.  It set fire to a bush in the desert, didn’t it, and smashed open graves and set the dead walking in the dark?  Oh, a man like me would run a mile to get away if he felt that love around.”

 

“He was touched by an extraordinary affection.  He was just one criminal among a herd of criminals…he had a sense of companionship which he had never received in the old days when pious people came kissing his black cotton glove.”

Top Five Movies of ‘08

Now that the Awards are over I can reveal the true five best pictures of the year.  Actually, I promote these films as simply my favorites – not necessarily “the best” (a much more difficult and unreasonable stance to defend).  

 

Number Five:

WALL-E

It’s hardly fair to refer to this wonderful film as merely a “kid’s movie”.  Indeed, Pixar’s annual summer offering was not only up to their usual standards, it was perhaps the best animated movie I’ve ever seen.  Wall-e was beautiful, heart-warming, and provocative – a sermon in and of itself.  Pixar’s redemptive messages continue to be more and more poignant – responsible and seamless faith indeed.  

 

Number Four:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

What I find to be the most curious case about Benjamin Button is how vastly underrated this movie has become in the popular imagination.  Yes, it’s long – but since when has that been a bad thing?  This movie is remarkable to watch for more reasons than just the extraordinary make-up and special effects.  It’s truly a quite beautiful film.  Although I hesitate to admit it, watching this movie was a rather emotional experience for me.  I think it’s because, at its core, Benjamin Button is about the passage of time, and when this theme is explored thoughtfully and through the lens of loneliness, loss, and isolation it often proves to be very powerful.  Comparisons to Forrest Gump are appropriate, but I found this more  affecting simply because – unlike Hank’s Gump – Benjamin Button was fully aware of just how lonely he was.  Speaking of underrated – Brad Pitt is an excellent actor who’s credibility seems to suffer from his tabloid popularity.  This was not an easy role to play and Pitt was fully deserving of an Oscar.  

 

Number Three:

Let The Right One In

 

Oh Yeah.  I don’t expect everyone to understand this, but I love vampire stories (good ones…).  Suffice it to say, I’ve been waiting for this movie my whole life.  I was so jazzed after seeing it I couldn’t go to sleep.  A great movie to provoke conversation – there’s more going on here than meets the eye.  It’s not quite fitting to simply call this a “horror” film – it’s so much more.  Unlike the sloppy helping of cheap thrills usually offered by this genre, Let the Right One In is driven by characters providing, among other things, a challenging metaphor for adolescent coming of age.  See it.  In a dark room.  

 

Number Two:

Frost/Nixon

 

The best of the nominated films this year yet the least sexy one to see.  Regrettably unnoticed, this movie is about so much more than just an interview with former President Richard Nixon.  It’s about conscience and the consequences of a broken one.  Ron Howard successfully makes a movie revolving around an interview exciting.  Again, the key factor is the amazing characters driving the action and Frank Langella portrays the most human and believable Nixon I’ve ever seen in film.  The most under-appreciated talent involved, however, is Michael Sheen’s brilliant portrayal of David Frost – a man equally desperate to find his own redemption.     

 

Number One:

In Bruges

 

This is a movie of many dimensions.  A deft crime thriller that creates characters capable of breaking your heart.  I am a huge fan of witty dialogue, dark comedy, and crime thriller mixes, and I haven’t seen many that do it better.  In Bruges truly took me to a place I’d never been (who has seen this movie and not wanted to travel to Bruges?), told a fresh story I had never heard, and introduced me to novel and quirky characters I’d never met.  Quite an accomplishment.  

 

 

 

 

Continuing the Conversation

 Sunday we hosted a conversation regarding church discipline and wrestled with the tension involved in walking in two worlds yet being formed and shaped by only one.  This eventually led to the topic of accountability and the whole issue of accountability partners.  

I’ve often wondered if “accountability” is the best metaphor for our intentional relationships.  As noted Sunday, according to Websters on-line, accountability is “The system of recording and summarizing business and financial transactions and analyzing, verifying, and reporting the results.”  Although this works well in the business world, does it really translate to human relationships?  Are we not cultivating a climate that expects and looks for failure?  Is there another way to envision how we intentionally relate to one another?  

I love Joseph Meyer’s suggestion in his book Organic Community that we consider the metaphor of editing rather than accounting.  Think about it – while accountants look for problems to correct (a rather dehumanizing way to approach life), editors “help an author (person) toward richer communication – a rich, full voice that is free of encumbrances.  Accountants keep records.  Editors wipe away errors while keeping the voice of the author.”

Top Three Christmas Movies…

As a father of a a six and seven year old, the majority of my Christmas television watching is occupied with countless kid’s Christmas specials.  Not that I have anything against Rudolph and The Grinch, but one of my favorite things to do during this season is watch my favorite Christmas movies.  

Question: what are your top three Christmas movies of all time?    

                                                                          

Mine: 

1. It’s a Wonderful Life
2. Going My Way
3. A Christmas Story

My family just returned from our second year celebrating Christmas at Silver Dollar City in Branson Mo.  

I know that enjoying Silver Dollar City is not cool.  

I have to confess however: I really enjoy it.

Apologies…

Shortly after Thanksgiving my computer received a virus that made it virtually impossible for me to get on-line (I had to borrow a friends laptop in order to conduct some church business).  Needless to say, I haven’t been able to blog until now.  You see, we had our home computer fixed – only $130 – and I finally bought my own laptop.  Now I should be free to blog wherever and whenever I want. 

I realize that no one may check my blog anymore since I’ve “been away” but if you do – I am glad to inform you that I am virus free and writing again!

Reasons to be Thankful…

    In light of our conversation Sunday at Beggars Table, allow me to offer some reasons to be thankful this year:

• A posture of gratefulness can improve your cardiovascular system. (American Journal of Cardiology)
• A posture of thankfulness can increase your life. (Aging with Graceby Dr. David Snowdon)
• A posture of thankfulness can improve your immune system. (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology)
• A posture of gratefulness can save your face. (Abraham Lincoln – “By 40 we have the face we deserve.“)
• A posture of thankfulness can counter a posture of pride – which makes life ugly… (Proverbs)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I recently finished this popular novel by Cormac McCarthy.  Like everybody else, I found the most touching part of the story the relationship between the father and son.  It rang true throughout the novel, but resonated especially close with these words from my seven year old son two nights ago as I was tucking him in:

“I had a dream last night.  In the dream we were in a restaurant when these bad guys came in.  I asked them ‘are you the bad guys?’ and they said ‘Yes, we’re the bad guys.’  They took you outside to fight and I cried.  But then the dream was the next morning and you were smiling at me and said ‘everything is alright.’”

It sounds like I made that up – but I didn’t! 

By the way – The best thing about that story is my son thinks I can beat up bad guys.  I love this age…hope he doesn’t grow up too quick…