Sophie Scholl - Woman of Valor

Last night my wife and I watched another fascinating movie (and a second that was entertaining but not nearly as engaging and shall, therefore, not receive further mention). Sophie Scholl: The Final Days is a powerful account of a young woman who opposed the Nazis and was executed for her stance. As a student of German language, culture and history, I should have known more about Scholl and the movement known as Die weiße Rose (The White Rose). I had certainly heard both the name of Sophie Scholl and of the movement but had never taken the time to become better informed.

 Having watched the movie, I can say without hesitation that Sophie Scholl is an Eshet chayil – a woman of valor. The movie, which was based on material from her trial (alongside her brother Hans) found in the archives of the East German state after 1990, depicts Scholl as a courageous, bold young woman with clear convictions and the willingness to stand for them even when doing so will cost her life. Confronted with the opportunity to shift blame to her brother or to betray others involved in the movement, Scholl accepts her responsibility and more. She tries to allay suspicions against her brother and others, ultimately unsuccessfully. But she does not take the easy way out offered by the investigator, who seems to want to find a way to safe this bold young woman – even as he rejects and despises her convictions. In the face of insulting statements by the presiding judge at her trial, Scholl speaks out boldly in defense of freedom of conscience and against the murderous policies of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi state. For this she earns only more abuse from the judge, but the viewer recognizes who in the courtroom occupies the morally superior position.

I am not a film critic, but I found the style of the film very powerful as well. Although filmed in color, shades of grey dominate the film's scenes. The only real splashes of color are the red of the Nazi flag and paraphernalia, the red tones of Scholl's clothing and the blue sky that brings a smile to Scholl's face whenever she gets a glimpse of it from the jail and prison. I felt that the Scholl's colored clothing stood out against the dark, dim grey of the Nazi surroundings, visually depicting where the light truly radiated in that dark place.

The film has little action as the majority of scenes take place in the office of the Gestapo investigator or in the jail or prison. The limited action allows for powerful confrontations between the forces of the Nazi state, advocating for their vision of a glorious future, and the stalwart Scholl, who refuses to recant her convictions or violate her conscience.

While depicting very clearly Scholl's strong character, the film does not idealize her. She remains human and we see scenes of her fretting over her family and friends, worrying about how her actions may affect them. We see her uttering prayers to God, asking him to be with her through her trials. According to other sources, Scholl's Christian faith played a definite role in shaping her convictions and giving her the courage to stand for them. In one moving scene after she has been convicted and is in prison awaiting her execution (which occurred the same day as the trial), she has one final opportunity to briefly see her parents. She grieves for the pain they are experiencing but asserts that she would not do anything differently had she to do it over again. To this her father responds that he is very proud of her and her brother. I would hope that such words of affirmation helped carry her to her execution with a greater sense of peace and certainty.

I read on Wikipedia that in a competition held in 2003 by the German television station ZDF, Scholl and her brother (and co-conspirator) Hans placed fourth in a listing of the most important Germans of all time, beating out Bach, Gutenberg, Einstein and others. Among the youngest voters the Scholl siblings placed first. I applaud this affirmation of these two valiant youth. I wish American culture would choose to honor people of character like this more than our sports and music stars. In our culture, which so often upholds women only for their physical beauty or occasionally for their athletic skill, we should celebrate women like Sophie Scholl. She (and many other women of valor – see Rachel Held Evan's series for many such stories) represents the best of human nature and all of us, women and men, can be inspired and encouraged by her testimony. If you haven't heard about Sophie Scholl, I wholeheartedly encourage you to see the film. You won't regret it.

A Call to Men

How does our male-dominated, "man-up" oriented culture affect both men and women? This video from Tony Porter provides some great food for thought and discussion.

Hope Springs in Autumn

 As I watch the sun set on another Arizona day, I can feel a hint of fall in the air—Arizona fall that is. In Arizona fall means that the daytime highs normally remain under 100F and the nights once again cool off to the point that one can turn off the air-conditioning and draw in the cool evening air. It also means the end of our summer monsoon. I will miss the refreshing rainfall and the dynamic thunderstorms that have marked the last two and a half months. However, I won't miss the high humidity that comes with them. I like living in a dry climate, one in which I can open a bag of chips and leave it unsealed for a week without the contents going soggy. Last week I left a granola bar on my desk and when I came back a couple days letter to eat it found it soggy. No, I'm not going to miss that.

I love the powerful thunderheads that build over the mountains during the summer storms. I love the vivid colors that splash across them as the sun sets. But I also love the clear sun-drenched sky that characterizes most of our days. Living in Arizona, a cloudy day counts as a rare treat rather than a typical day. I lived in Seattle for six years and while I truly loved it, I wonder sometimes how I endured the persistent cloudy grey skies. I thrive on sunshine and we certainly have it in abundance here.

When I moved to Arizona many years ago to attend graduate school, I certainly didn't anticipate that I would end up calling this state home. I'm not really sure what I envisioned. Life in those days went forward without a master plan. Now that I think about it, much of my life seems to have played out that way, guided by a master designer who thankfully has orchestrated my steps and missteps into an intricate tapestry.

Last year at this time my world was being turned upside down. Pulled away from the work and life we had invested in for several years, I found myself struggling to define my focus and purpose. I felt myself adrift, even abandoned. I could have sang with Elton John “Don't let the sun go down on me.” Now, a year and many trials and hardships later, I can say that the sun has not gone down on me. Often we think of fall as a season of closure, a time when the green of summer comes to an end in the vibrant colors of fall (not so much here in Arizona though). Spring is the time of new beginnings, not autumn. But for me, this year, autumn seems to be spring, and as the weather cools from the egg-boiling summer temperatures to the pleasant warmth of fall, I sense new hope and new perspectives. I don't know what the future holds and there are still many obstacles and challenges even in the immediate future, but God is renewing my heart, mind and spirit.

Hope springs anew – even in the autumn.

(Note: Not all pictures in this post were taken in Arizona.)

Living in Our Sweet Spot

Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person's capacity to act.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

as cited by Susan Cain in her book Quiet, The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking.

After months of waiting my turn to read Susan Cain's book Quiet finally arrived this week. Our local library has only one copy and when I first reserved the book there were over 160 people in line in front of me. I guess I'd better complete it during my check-out period!

In her book Cain speaks out in defense of introverts and provides a number of interesting arguments and powerful conclusions related to the importance of introverts in society. My family contains four introverts of varying degrees. My wife and daughter are quite strong introverts. I drift more toward being an ambivert (one with characteristics of both intro- and extroversion), which may be where my son is as well. We all need significant amounts of solitude and our home might strike many as excessively quiet and dull. This used to trouble me. I felt that our home should somehow be more dynamic and exciting. We should “do” more.

Over the past few years I've become much more comfortable with being who we are. In chapter 5 of Cain's book I found affirmation for this. As reflected in the citation at the beginning of this entry, Cain argues that the ideal place for any person, extrovert or introvert, lies in a “sweet spot” where she or he experiences an optimal level of stimulation. This spot will differ from one person to another, and probably differs for most individuals at different times of the day or week or season of life. My son needs a higher level of stimulation than anyone else in our family, which leads at times to conflict as he seeks to interact verbally with the rest of us more than we desire. I also have a higher stimulation level than my wife and daughter, so when I press my wife to do an activity that surpasses her preferred level, she naturally feels uncomfortable or reluctant to engage, although sometimes she will for the sake of relationship.

In order to find the optimal level of energy and satisfaction, Cain encourages her readers to identify their “sweet spots” and build their environment as much as possible in such a way as to achieve that. I like this idea and can see where I have taken some steps in this direction even before reading her book. I need a quiet place to work, free from major distractions. Thankfully I have been able to create such a place. I also need a certain level of social interaction though. Since it would overwhelm my wife to invite people to the house as often as I might prefer, I must look for other ways of social interaction. We both prefer smaller social settings though, so this works to our advantage. We're very happy to have a small group of friends to our house and tend to avoid large social gatherings, even when we may know a number of people there.

A challenge comes because we all (or at least most of us) live in a social framework and do not have complete control of our environment. We may not have the ability to set up our workspace according to our own preferences. We may be married to someone with a strongly different temperament in terms of introversion and extroversion. Reality compels us to find compromises, but knowing one's personal preferences helps even in such situations. If we don't know what environment we most prefer, we can't seek to make the best allowance for our needs that a given situation allows.

Cain actually touches on the question of how introverts fit within evangelical church culture, with the conclusion that most American evangelical churches don't really seek to accommodate them. Often our churches push us to live as extroverts, to be engaging in social outreach, to be exhuberantly outgoing, to be sharing the Gospel as often as possible. For some people this works very well, but for introverts, no so much. I would like to see our churches making more room for introverts to live their faith in ways consistent with their personalities. This may mean promoting quiet reflection. It means allowing people to find their niche and serve in their strengths, rather than pushing everyone to be an outgoing evangelist. Too often I have found myself asked to fill a role simply because the role needed filled and not because it suited my personality and strengths. I am thankful that our current worship community, while encouraging and inviting people to be engaged, does not adopt a one-size-fits-all model of ministry.

I recognize that there are times at which all of us must stretch ourselves and go beyond our comfort zones. We cannot always be in our “sweet spots.” Sometimes by stretching ourselves we may discover new interests and talents, or find areas that we would like to expand our skills in. Sometimes in the discomfort God may show us aspects of our character that need refining. But on the whole I think we all serve best when we can serve out of the character God has placed in us, whether we are extroverts or introverts, whether we are gifted at construction work or talented in writing and drawing. I am embracing more fully the unique balance of intro- and extroversion that God created in me and learning to live from that. I'm finding it to be a much healthier and happier place.

You can hear some of Cain's key conclusions in this TED video:

Speaking - and Listening - in Love

As we head into the heart of the election season, I keep being told to “vote my values.” I wholeheartedly concur with this statement, except that usually those who make it have a clear set of values that I'm supposed to vote according to. What they really should say is “vote our values.” That would be more honest. Because in fact I think most voters vote according to their values. The problem doesn't lie in not voting according to our values. The problem, if we choose to see it as such, lies in our different values. This shouldn't surprise us, given that we live in a pluralistic society that values freedom of opinion and expression.

Even if we try to narrow the message of “vote your values” to “vote your Christian values” we run into difficulties. Despite what we like to think, Christians take different views on many issues and, in most cases, argue that their views are “biblical.” I don't know whether we could even define a list of values that all who call themselves by the name of Christ should vote according to, because ultimately what defines us as followers of Christ is not a set of values that inform our voting, but a set of beliefs about a certain person named Jesus the Messiah. The last time I checked his name wasn't on the election ballot this fall.

A lot of polemic is flying these days over which candidate more fully represents “biblical” values (there's that problematic phrase again). The answer you give will depend on how you define those values. In fact, neither candidate can or should make the claim to be “the” godly candidate (and I don't know that either has, in those words at least.) Their supporters, however, seem quite willing to do this on their behalf. I am tired of hearing that President Obama is ungodly, that he is leading this nation away from God, that he's not a Christian, and on and on it goes. I find it quite interesting that so many who call themselves by the name of Christ have such difficulty acknowledging that our president views himself as a follower of Christ as well. Just because he doesn't line up with a certain list of political viewpoints doesn't mean he's outside of the Kingdom of God. Only God gets to determine that. You may legitimately differ with his policies and politics, but don't tell me that the man is ungodly and anti-Christian.

Having said that, I must say that Mitt Romney also should not be charged with being ungodly. Although I take issue with key theological points of his Mormon faith, ultimately he does not stand or fall before God based on his political views and policies. Neither candidate, no candidate in the election for any position, can stand as “God's candidate” because God doesn't have a candidate running in any electoral contest. He doesn't need to. God will accomplish God's purposes through whichever people we elect. Regardless of the outcome of the election and the resulting impact on our nation, whatever it may be, God will continue to do God's work through God's people.

I have spoken out on several issues I feel strongly about in the last few months. I do not regret that nor disclaim what I have written. But recently, at the encouragement of Caris Adel, I started to read Gregory Boyd's book The Myth of a Christian Nation. I haven't made it far yet, but his first chapter struck me squarely on the forehead. As followers of Jesus Christ we are not called to advance a political agenda. Yes, we can and should engage in the political arena. But we are called far more to represent the Kingdom of God and to do so through acting in love and grace toward one another. When our political rhetoric becomes such that we deride those we disagree with, our we really demonstrating the love of Jesus? I recognize that I have been guilty of this. I see that my voice has often been unnecessarily strident. I acknowledge that I have often spoken more than I have listened. I appreciate the challenge of Danielle's words at From Two to One earlier this week. In reflecting on what she wrote and what I am reading from Gregory Boyd, I want to adopt a different approach in the remaining weeks of the election period. I may still speak out at times, but mostly I want to listen, ask questions and engage in respectful, civil conversation. The result may not be that you persuade me or that I persuade you, but at least we can learn from one another and in the process recognize that we don't always have to agree to live in harmony with one another. Unity does not require unanimity and those who differ from my beliefs and opinions are not inherently my enemies. In the end it's not about who wins this election. Our nation will not go to hell in a handbasket regardless of which candidate wins. This country is more than our political leaders and following Jesus is about far more than getting “our” candidate into office.

The Gospel of True Colors

While driving the car the other day I heard a song on the radio that brought back fond memories: True Colors by Cyndi Lauper. I'm sure to date myself by saying that I listened to this song back in my high school days. I'm not a big fan of Cyndi Lauper in general, but this song and her hit Time After Time resonated with me then and continue to do so to this day whenever I hear them. I wonder if the song True Colors doesn't contain important echoes of the gospel.

You with the sad eyes

Don't be discouraged

Oh I realize

It's hard to take courage

In a world full of people

You can lose sight of it all

And the darkness inside you

Can make you feel so small.

But I see your true colors shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors

Are beautiful like a rainbow.

I can hear Jesus singing this to me, or to anyone else who finds themselves lost in a sea of voices that tells them how worthless and insignificant they are. I can see Jesus speaking into a person's darkness and showing them their true worth. This is a message of redemption and hope. When Jesus draws out our true colors, we shine like rainbows.

True Colors reminds me of another song, this one a contemporary hit: Firework by Katy Perry. Caris Adel drew an intriguing parallel between this song and the beautitudes which drew my attention to it. Listening to it carefully with Adel's analogy in mind, I recognized that Firework speaks a similar message. Perry invites her listeners to let the light within them shine out and illuminate the darkness. We need not live our lives in shame, regret, humiliation and fear. The world tells us every day how worthless we are, but the message of the gospel speaks a different story.

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,

drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?

 Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin,

Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep,

Six feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing?

Do you know that there's still a chance for you,

'Cause there's a spark in you?

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine

Just own the night like the 4th of July.

'Cause baby you're a firework

Come on, show 'em what you're worth

Even as I draw connections between these two songs and the gospel message and I can hear objections being raised. I can hear them because they come from within myself. I grew up primarily in a Presbyterian environment and therefore have a strong Calvinist background to my theology. That Calvinist background emphasizes the total depravity of humans. In the interest of affirming the majesty and sovereignty of God, Calvinism denigrates the worth of human beings. The extent to which it does so varies on the shade of Calvinism, but the underlying message that comes out often in many churches speaks of the inherent worthlessness of humans. God doesn't need us. We can do nothing apart from him. We should be thankful that God doesn't squash us like an annoying pest that one finds crawling across the living room carpet. 

I acknowledge that Calvinism contains an element of truth. But too often because of its emphasis people who are already broken, crushed and reminded regularly by the world of their worthlessness hear a similar message from within the community of Christian faith. In the interest of helping people recognize their sinfulness we actually end up breaking them down even further. Some of us (perhaps all of us) need to be broken down, but that is the work of God, not the message that needs to come first from the lips of God's followers. To a person already feeling worthless, a message that proclaims his or her absolute depravity may not offer a lot of hope.

Thankfully Calvinism is not the whole picture. The Church, especially some branches of it (I think in particular of the Orthodox churches), have historically affirmed the divine element within each of us. We are, after all, created in the image of God (and by all I mean all, not just white men or even men as a whole, or any other particular subset of humanity). Yes, we suffer the effects of turning away from God in rebellion. Yes, we cannot regain that state through our own effort. But that does not, as I now understand it theologically, mean that the divine spark within us has been fully extinguished. We are still God's children and still retain the stamp of our creator in our innermost beings. 

With that perspective, the message I draw out of True Colors and Firework does speak truth. It calls us, if I dare say it, with the voice of Jesus to embrace who we were created to be, to turn in faith and allow Jesus to ignite that divine spark within us so that we radiate with the brilliant rainbow of colors that he stirs within us. For we are valuable and precious in his sight, worth more than any of us can ever begin to imagine. What if we focused first on this message and allowed God then to work in each person's life to illuminate and cleanse those elements that need to be transformed? 

Like any analogy, this one can be overstated. I don't claim that True Colors nor Firework proclaims the fullness of the gospel message. But I do think that they both resonate with an important element of that message. Now when I hear these songs that's the message they speak to me. I do not deny that humans are sinful. That fact is painfully apparent every day. I don't claim that some humans have not reached such a point in their brokenness and fallenness that the divine element within them seems impossible to see, much less to ignite. Simply because we have the divine spark still within us doesn't mean we live or act in accordance with it. Many people, aware of their divine nature or not, choose to live in open and clear rebellion against it, doing things that harm themselves and others. This does not mean that they are without hope. If they were, Jesus would have nothing to offer them, which would mean that some people are beyond the salvation of Jesus. I don't believe that. We are all created in the image of God and retain that stamp of our creator, but we also need the healing, restoring hand of that creator to be renewed in the fullness of that image.

Ten Reasons to be Thankful Today

(Listed in no particular order.)

1. Looking out my front window at the sun filtering through the trees.

2. Time for relaxation.

3. Sunday morning worship left me feeling refreshed not frustrated.

4. The hummingbirds that visit our bird feeder.

5. The anticipation of teaching again starting tomorrow.

6. Watching a movie with my wife.

7. My daughter's creative ability.

8. Redemption and forgiveness -- the opportunity to start over again, and again, and again

9. Good books (and the ability to read them)

10. A nice cold glass of cherry cola.