I have talked to people many times about how we have become distracted through morality, and how we obsess so much over the things we shouldn’t do that we forget the things we should do. In fact, the greatest evils in this world are perpetuated, if not created, by apathy and heedlessness more than hate.

“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens is just such an example. I grew up, like anyone else, thinking of Scrooge as a villain. I never really stopped to think about why he was evil, that is what the story said he was, so that’s what I knew. We as people love to hate. It is so much fun to have the villain or criminal that we can hate without fear of consequence. That is why we love villains in stories.

What has disturbed me of late, is that I finally came to be aware of why Scrooge was such a villain at the beginning of the story, and here is the thought that shocked me: Scrooge was not a criminal, nor dishonest, nor a cheat. He was hard working, minded his own business, and paid his taxes. In fact, even in today’s world, he would have been looked on as a true conservative and a pinnacle of the American dream.

The scary thing is that Scrooge was absolutely moral. He didn’t drink, fornicate, or have any other of the vices we spend so much time obsessing over. All this and IN THE SIGHT OF HEAVEN HE WAS LESS FIT TO LIVE THAN ANY OTHER. Indeed, Scrooge was so hated by Heaven not for any evil he did, but for the good he did not.

You know as well as I do, that you never read or saw “A Christmas Carol”, and thought Scrooge was a good man. No, you hated him as much as any other. That is the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is in your heart, pleading with you. That is why we love that story, and never question it’s true message. Your heart knows why Scrooge is so low in the eyes of heaven, your heart already knows the truth.

Now take a break for a second and stop thinking about Scrooge. How many times have to looked down on those who are poor? Scrooge said, “I don’t make merry myself on Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry.” How many times do you ignore those who need another chance, just because “they did it to themselves”? How many times do you deprive yourself and others of joy, just because you are too afraid to open your heart to them? Well, these are the sins you have judged Scrooge for. Just because he is fiction doesn’t matter. That is the same judgment that awaits you in Heaven.

Of course, being the genius that Dickens was, he didn’t stop the lesson with Scrooge. Another lesson is given to us in “A Christmas Carol” with Scrooge’s nephew, Fred. While most of the characters in the story chose to hate Scrooge for what he was, Fred loved him for what he could be.

Fred’s role is that of the true saint. He loves those who hate him, and shows mercy to those who don’t deserve it. He refuses to speak badly of Scrooge, and invites him over to his house every year for Christmas. He perseveres through all of Scrooge’s insults and spitefulness and in the end, plays a large role in Scrooge’s redemption.

I love stories like “A Christmas Carol” that portray good and evil as they truly are: an internal war inside all of us. Scrooge wasn’t evil, but corrupted by it. If Scrooge was evil, redemption would not be possible, but as Fred and the Ghosts found, there was good in him after all. We should learn from Fred as well, not to write anyone off as evil but persevere in love for the sake of the salvation of all.   As for me, I am always humbled by the story. I don’t think I ever live up the example given by Fred, and often live with Scrooge’s sense of self-justification. I recommend every family takes the time to read (not just watch) “A Christmas Carol” every year, as I can’t think of any story that better teaches the meaning of the season (the Nativity excluded of course, c’mon people!)

P.S. The image I used for this article comes from the movie version of “A Christmas Carol” where Patrick Steward plays Scrooge. There is no substitute for the book, but this is the best of all the movies (and I have seen them all).

Technorati Tags: a christmas carol, charles dickens, meaning of christmas, scrooge

UPDATE 2/08/10: This show is being made into a movie “The Last Airbender” directed by M. Night Shyamalan. You can view the official site and trailers here: http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/. I am so stoked!

When it comes to kids television, often times the best shows can merely be described as “harmless” and “amusing”. Avatar: the Last Airbender is the exception to this, and quite frankly, can be called “exceptional” in every way. Avatar: the Last Airbender is probably the most edifying television series for children ever produced that is not an “educational” show. Aside from it’s high quality production and engrossing story, Avatar: the Last Airbender teaches true spiritual virtues and spiritual truths of a maturity level that even adults will have a lot to think about while watching it with their kids.

Avatar: the Last Airbender is set in a world of four nations; water, earth, air, and fire. Each nation has “benders” which are people capable of manipulating their element. The story starts as the fire nation as become domination-focused, and is waging war with the other nations. The Avatar is a person born to every generation that can “bend” all four elements. The Avatar in this story is Aang, so is only 12 years old and has been frozen for the past 100 years. He awakes to find the world in chaos and must set out to defeat the Fire Lord, and bring peace to the world.

Avatar: the Last Airbender series finally ended this weekend with a 2-hour, 4-episode series finale. I have been enjoying the series for a couple years now, but wanted to wait until the series ended before reviewing it. Mostly, I wanted make sure the lessons I felt the writers were trying to teach still held true through the end of the story line. Now that it has ended, I can confidently recommend it to any parent who wants to show their children something deeper than the usual dumbed-down dribble.

The series is founded in a variety of martial arts disciplines and draws heavily on eastern philosophy such as Hindu, Buddhism, and Yoga. The result is impressive and entertaining martial arts action with rich and spiritually insightful scripting. As both a mystic and a martial artist, Avatar: the Last Airbender really found a place in my heart and a great platform for introducing mysticism and martial arts to my children.

One of my favorite elements of Avatar: the Last Airbender is how they present the “bad guys”. While the series starts out with the usual “us vs. them” narrative, they slowly unravel the nature of the “bad guys” as more complicated than just good and evil. They don’t let the villains off with any kind of “it’s not their fault” non-sense, but they do show how the evil done by those individuals hurt themselves as much as others. By the end of the story, many of the beginning villains become allies. I always love stories that promote redemption.

Don’t get me wrong, Avatar: the Last Airbender is never preachy and often makes fun of itself. Aang, the Avatar, meets with a spiritual master in a swamp who teaches him “death is an illusion”. Later on, that same master is asked to put pants on (he only wears a leaf and twine) and responds by saying “pants are an illusion”. In fact, the show’s frequent humor, even in the most serious of scenes, is what helps give it credibility. It is show that can put you on the edge of your seat and make you laugh at the same time.

To those of you concerned parents: Sure, I don’t agree with everything presented in the series, but that’s not the point. It is a show that will make you and your kids think. Besides, it is a fictional story that never pretends to be anything more. There is never an obligation to the audience to accept everything presented as fact. That being said, the nature and depth of the relationships between the characters, and the lessons each characters learns as they mature and progress through the story are well worth some attention.

Later this Fall, the whole series will be available on DVD and can already be downloaded on iTunes. If you feel the need to keep commercials out of your home, like me, it is a great series you can invest in for your kids (and yourself).

Official Site: http://www.nick.com/shows/avatar/index.jhtml

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender

Technorati Tags: avatar, avatar: the last airbender, Chrisitan Mysticism, kid shows, Movies and TV, spiritual truths, spiritual virtues, the last airbender, TV

In The 13th Warrior, the heroes are a group of rough battle-ready warriors. The viewer of the movie is shown a culture where men live, not for comfort, but for a new challenge. A culture where luxury is rejected in favor of struggle and adventure. They value teamwork and camaraderie and rely on each other for their very lives. Even the physical depiction of the characters as large, strong, hairy, lumbering men is a huge contrast to the popular skinny, weak, and gender-ambiguous male leads we know today (More and more I keep finding myself asking “Is that a man or a woman?”). At the end of the movie, I always feel like I just watched a pretty accurate depiction of male utopia.

The de-masculization of male spirituality in modern culture is a running theme of mine. The strength of the male spirit has been stifled and replaced with sentimentality. Male relationships are designed to grow from conflict, as iron sharpens iron. But we live in such a non-confrontational culture, men rarely take the effort to form the powerful brotherly bonds that allow men to work as a team and create strong communities.

There is a true masculine mysticism in The 13th Warrior that adds additional value to the story. The main character learns for himself to overcome his own whiny sanctimonious spirituality. Ending with what is one of my favorite prayers, he realizes that comfort and wealth mean nothing to compared to one’s character:

Merciful father. I have squandered my days with plans of many things.
This was not among them.

But at this moment, I beg only,
to live the next few minutes well.

For all we ought to have thought and have not thought.
All we ought to have said and have not said.

All we ought to have done and have not done.
I pray thee, God for forgiveness.

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, Masculine Mysticism, masculinity, the 13th warrior

Technorati Tags: anti-mysticism, Christian Mysticism, christian mystics, new age, quantum mechanics, What the Bleep Do We Know

The things you own end up owning you. It’s only after you lose everything that you’re free to do anything. ~Fight Club

Bill Talen (aka “Reverend Billy”) has gained much of my esteem. He stars in a new documentary/comedy called “What Would Jesus Buy?”. The movie is not only funny, but really hits home. Seldom does anyone stop to question consumerism, yet it runs (ruins?) our lives. Consumerism isn’t about buying things, it is about buying things we don’t need. We have created an entire culture were we work, labor, and struggle all in the hopes of buying our next… something.

Bill Talen calls this the “Shopocolypse”. I think this term is quite apt, as the act of “shopping” has turned into a major part of our lives. Just think for a moment that America’s favorite leisure-time activity is to go looking for things to buy we didn’t even know we wanted. We are the hardest working country in the world (well, maybe Japan, but we’re close), have the richest middle-class, and yet the majority of our population is in a large amount of consumer debt.

Some may wonder what this has to do with Christian mysticism, but Jesus spoke about money MORE than He did about love. In fact, to Rev. Billy’s observation, the only time Jesus really got pissed in Scripture what at people shopping and lending money in the temple. Mysticism and materialism are pretty much natural enemies. And as Rev. Billy says, “slowing down your consumption is a spiritual act.”

Probably one of the greatest mystic experiences was when I did a “stuff” sweep of my home. Encouraged by a friend of mine, my wife and I went through the entire house finding things to sell, donate, or throw away. Starting with easy stuff, like things we don’t want or need but just left around, and moving on to things we wanted but really didn’t need. In the end we filled over 40 large-size garbage bags full of stuff. We now live in a much smaller home as well, but never feel at a loss, because what we do have is now that much more precious.

I was amazed to see how much this even effected our children. Our “kids room” had gotten so cluttered with stuff from birthdays, Christmas, grandparents, and relatives. With all those toys, our kids never played with anything. Surprisingly, after we cleaned out their room and eliminate their stuff down to specific edifying and creativity-based toys, they now play with their toys almost constantly.

We now repeat this process frequently, going through the house just about every month to eliminate excess “stuff”. This process completely broke our addiction to shopping. After all, it is hard to buy something when you know you are going to get rid of it in a few weeks. Also, now that we intentionally have less space (albeit clean and well organized), we are less tempted to buy anything to clutter it up.

We never “shop” anymore, only going out to buy stuff we need. Most of our leisure time and outings are spent at playgrounds, the library, museums, or treating ourselves to a nice restaurant (which we have more money for). I have been blown away by how much easier money management has become.

Think about how much stuff controls your life. If you are struggle in your spiritual life, you may want to consider pruning your material life…. Oh yeah, and go see “What Would Jesus Buy”!

Links:

• Bill Talen on YouTube
• “What Would Jesus Buy” Movie Site

Related Articles:

• Consumerism – How We Got Here, and More Importantly, How We Get the Hell Out

Technorati Tags: bill talen, Christian Mysticism, consumerism, reverend billy, what would jesus buy

My wife and I have been fans of the work of Hayao Miyazaki since the translation and import of Princess Mononoke to the American market back in 1999. Shortly after this, Disney took it upon themselves to translate and import most of his more family-friendly films and bring them to America. A couple films you may have heard of are Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. Hayao Miyazaki’s films are all done with great imagination and creativity, but he also portrays the human condition more accurately than other movie director/writer I have ever seen.

The other great wisdom shown in Hayao’s Miyazaki’s films is how evil is overcome. “Overcome” is the key word here, evil is not “conquered” but rather overcome through perseverance and maturity. In Spirited Away, the main character starts out as whiny and selfish, and likewise most of the characters around her are shallow and greedy. Throughout the film, the main character is actually struggling against herself as she overcomes her own weakness, as she grows those around her are challenged to grow as well. In a couple movies like Howl’s Moving Castle, the films end with no villains left at all, everyone has reconciled.

It is hard to say “everyone has reconciled” without making it sound like a pansy Sunday school-like cartoon. In truth, Hayao’s Miyazaki’s films run the gamut from warm and moving to deeply disturbing. Movies like My Neighbor Totoro explore the innocence and purity of childhood, while still pushing the characters to grow. On the other end, Princess Mononoke is a harsh warning toward greed and selfish living (and not recommended for children). Kiki’s Delivery Service presents children with a need to grow up and take responsibility, without losing the joy and wonder in life. Howl’s Moving Castle is about courage and how even the best of us become corrupted when we don’t face life’s challenges directly.

Not all of Hayao Miyazaki’s films are so obviously about good and evil, but all the films do carry his insights into each of the characters. While Princess Mononoke was truly about good and evil, it was watching his other films that made me realize how deep is insights into the human condition really are. Aside from good and evil, his films teach other truly relevant and important virtues. He teaches the need for charity and mercy, showing love not as a “good-feeling” but as a sign of true character and self-sacrifice. He also teaches the need for courage, instead of main characters being comforted or encouraged constantly throughout the story, they are only given wisdom and direction leaving it to them to follow it. He doesn’t pander to the audience, but challenges his viewers to grow and mature.

I highly encourage all parents show his films to their kids (excluding Princess Mononoke). And then when the kids are in bed, go ahead and watch Princess Mononoke. His depth of insight into the human condition combined with his epic imagination and captivating stories make Hayao Miyazaki a true master of his craft. Hayao Miyazaki is a great hero of truth in our day and age, and I just wanted to draw a little attention his direction.

External Links:

Hayao Miyazaki on Wikipedia

Hayao Miyazaki on IMDB

NEW! Get his latest work “Ponyo” on Amazon. It is a great family movie!

Technorati Tags: good and evil, Hayao Miyazaki, my neighbor totoro, princess mononoke, spirited away