1. A truly remarkable piece by James Martin over at Slate entitled, “How Easter Stubbornly Resists Commercialization”. A few notable excerpts (ht AZ):
“What enables Easter to maintain its religious purity and not devolve into the consumerist nightmare that is Christmas? Well, for one thing, it’s hard to make a palatable consumerist holiday out of Easter when its back story is, at least in part, so gruesome.
The Christmas story, with its friendly resonances of marriage, family, babies, animals, angels, and—thanks to the wise men—gifts, is eminently marketable to popular culture. It’s a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life.
On the other hand, a card bearing the image of a near-naked man being stripped, beaten, tortured, and nailed through his hands and feet onto a wooden crucifix is a markedly less pleasant piece of mail.
To his followers, therefore, [Christ’s] execution was not only tragic and terrifying but shameful. It is difficult not to wonder what the Apostles would have thought of a crucifix as a fashion accessory. Imagine wearing an image of a hooded Abu Ghraib victim around your neck as holiday bling.
Easter is an event that demands a “yes” or a “no.” There is no “whatever.”
2. Along those lines, if you can overlook the continued nepotism, one doozie of a Good Friday sermon is PZ’s 2003 “The Thin Line Between Realism And Suicide”:
3. While we’re on the heavy stuff – it’s a heavy day after all – I’m not sure it gets more Good Friday-intense than the National Review’s recent “Getting Serious About Pornography”. It’s a deeply personal look at the social cost of the internet, and it is jarring to say the least. But also a must-read (ht DB).
4. Considerably lighter, two sides of the same Grace In Practice coin: “Letting Students Choose Books Could Make Them Better Readers” and “Small Soda Taxes Don’t Dent Obesity” (ht JD and AZ).
5. Approaching weightlessness – in the best possible way – another in a series of wonderful lists over at The A/V Club, this one on “Childhood Entertainment We Still Love”. Not surprisingly, Calvin and Hobbes wins the race. Roald Dahl and Charles Shultz also get their due, as does Marty McFly (aka the son of the one-armed bellhop in Hot Tub Time Machine). What would you include? I’m very surprised no one mentioned The Beach Boys…
6. USA Today ran a pithy rundown of the biblical themes being explored on LOST.
7. Finally, I give you the Fat Albert Easter Special:
Bonus Track: A moving little reflection on “Human Failing and Easter Grace” that takes a 1976 interview with Jimmy Carter as its starting point.
And don’t forget to register for our upcoming conference – now only two weeks away! We’ve worked really hard to make this the best one yet. Trust us when we say you won’t want to miss it. Wink wink nudge nudge.
COMMENTS
4 responses to “Another Week Ends: The (Non-)Commercialization of Easter, Realism vs. Despair, Childhood Favorites, LOST, Fat Albert”
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My top childhood favorite is still Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. It's rarely on PBS these days, but I will stop everything to watch an episode. His gentleness was powerful and, from what everyone who met him said, authentic. Even the simplicity of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe (with characters admitting up front that they are pretend) seemed to have a healing touch to it. And since Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister, that makes him my favorite TV preacher as well.
Speaking of Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts — I'm always surprised when I find out that some of the things I was reading when I was younger turn out to be much more "adult" than I realized.
That USA Today piece was beyond pithy; it was an example of terrible literary criticism. The author searches in vain for a direct line between Lost and Bible verses, forgetting the more philosophical indirect clues the writes themselves have placed in the show.
What a great round-up, Dave. Good stuff!
Todd's probably right about the LOST piece, but since I haven't seen the show except the first 6-7 episodes, it'd be hard for me to say.
The Childhood Favorites piece was lovely. Several mini personal essays, each giving you a window into a very different person — not just because of the books or music or TV shows chosen, but also how he or she writes.
Nice to see so many people talk about the Roald Dahl books (AS books), and how intensely formative they were for so many of us. Also loved the guy who talked about ELO and the fellow who talked about GET SMART.
That Slate piece was great. I find the ending of it interesting. Beyond the fact that resurrection demands a response, it is that media really hasn't figured out how to depict the resurrection. The Jesus movies are so "good" at depicting the life and death of Jesus, but his new life is such a challenge.
I'm borrowing a bit of it for my Easter sermon. Thanks for sharing.