Media Monday - "The Line" Trailer

Each Monday, this blog will feature a song, video, piece of art, or other type of media that tells part of a story. Sometimes the message will be light and funny, other times it will be deeper and more somber. I may not even fully agree with what is posted. My aim is to present narratives that are worth experiencing, knowing, and discussing.

This week's media comes in the form of a trailer for a documentary on poverty. I'm hoping that once it premiers in October, I will be able to be a part of a public screening. From what I have heard about the film and from the trailer, I get the idea that it will illuminate a lot of truth that gets distorted about poverty and those living below the line.

Media Monday - A Sunday on La Grande Jatte

Each Monday, this blog will feature a song, video, piece of art, or other type of media that tells part of a story. Sometimes the message will be light and funny, other times it will be deeper and more somber. I may not even fully agree with what is posted. My aim is to present narratives that are worth experiencing, knowing, and discussing.

For today, our media is a little less intense, since last week we got all heavy and deep with thoughts on war and violence. The painting below is "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat in 1884. It's one of my favorite paintings, not because I'm such a connoisseur of art, but because it helps flesh out one of my favorite stories ever put to film. 

If you haven't seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I'm deeply disappointed in your life choices to this point. This clip won't spoil the movie for you, but do yourself a favor and check it out soon. If you are familiar with the film, you'll probably remember this scene, where our three heroes take in the sights at the Art Institute of Chicago. Cameron Fry, the tall one sporting the Red Wings jersey, becomes entranced by a girl in the painting.



Maybe it's because Cameron is such a conflicted character, often lonely and unloved. Maybe it's because I wish I stood and drank in good things more often like these three do. Maybe it's just because this scene precedes a great impromptu song and dance number. For whatever reason, this painting and this part of the movie always struck me, and I can't help but feel emotions when I remember either.

Media Monday - Hans Rosling on HIV

Each Monday, this blog will feature a song, video, piece of art, or other type of media that tells part of a story. Sometimes the message will be light and funny, other times it will be deeper and more somber. I may not even fully agree with what is posted. My aim is to present narratives that are worth experiencing, knowing, and discussing.

For today, our media is an informative and encouraging look at the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as told by one of my favorite people at TED.com. Check it out below.

Hans Rosling illuminates how the HIV/AIDS narrative is changing. 


First of all, I'm a big fan of TED Talks. Brilliant presenters speaking on what they're most knowledgable and most passionate. It's a remarkable website.

You may have already figured out that I'm an optimist by now, which explains why I'm so thrilled by this video. Rosling breaks down an astonishing amount of data, and makes it digestible for regular folks. I love that he's not just optimistic, but has data that substantiates his hopefulness.

I never really knew much about HIV/AIDS before watching this video, although I have read several articles and watched other videos after this TED Talk sparked my interest. Despite some sketchy scenes and a lot of coarse language, Rent did a good job of unveiling the life of people living with the virus. Rosling helped me expand my knowledge beyond the misconceptions that I had grown up hearing. Basically, my Sex Ed. class mentioned the disease, mainly saying that if you had premarital sex, you could get HIV/AIDS and die. Apparently, that was all we needed to know.

One of the things that struck me was that the bubbles that Rosling shows us represent so many people. If Rent helped remind me that people living with HIV/AIDS were more than statistics, this video reminds me that there are millions of individuals struggling to live their lives despite their condition.

A point that I love from Rosling's talk is that "...people say HIV is very high in Africa. I would say, 'HIV is very different in Africa!'" (Interesting note that may only interest me: This teaching technique is very old. Jesus is recorded as using the same "You have heard it said... but I say to you..." in the Gospels.) My friends who hail from Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa have passionately argued the same point that Rosling argues: we do African citizens and ourselves a disservice when we attempt to simplify an entire continent into one characterization. As Rosling puts it, "It's not very respectful, and it's not very clever."

It was also fascinating to see the differences between income groups in Tanzania, with those with larger incomes having a higher rate of HIV/AIDS. The same goes for Kenya's different provinces. It's baffling to see such stark contrasts in the amount of infected persons based on where they live. This data certainly makes treating the whole of Kenya for the disease in the same seem silly.

Rosling ends his talk with a hopeful sentiment. He encourages us to continue fighting AIDS with our heart, to continue fighting AIDS with our money, but to find ways to combine those with fighting AIDS with our minds. For me, this video was a great start in that direction.

Media Monday - Diversity's Symphony

Each Monday, this blog will feature a song, video, piece of art, or other type of media that tells part of a story. Sometimes the message will be light and funny, other times it will be deeper and more somber. I may not even fully agree with what is posted. My aim is to present narratives that are worth experiencing, knowing, and discussing.

For today, our media is a spoken word piece by David Bowden called "Diversity's Symphony." Check it out below.

Diversity's Symphony by David Bowden

One of the parts of this video that strikes me the most is David's wrestling with his church's lack of unity with other groups of Christians. His Southern Baptist congregation doesn't work with the Nazarenes, Catholics, or even other Baptists. He speaks to the need for unity among the Body.

I don't know about others, but I have heard more sermons on unity within the Body than I can count. But unfailingly, they all seem to center around the idea of one congregation being the Body, instead of the entire Church being the Body; "Don't act like our church doesn't need somebody just because they play a different role," instead of "Don't act like the Presbyterians aren't Christians just because they do things differently."

I come from a stream of Christianity that has a history of believing that only those who are a part of our faith community are real Christians. (And that many claiming to be in our group aren't really Christians either!) Though these beliefs are not nearly as widespread in the Churches of Christ today, they've been so ingrained, both in CoCs and in those who know of them, that I'm sometimes asked, "Is that the one that thinks they're the only ones going to Heaven?" This questions hurts, because it's so far from the truth for me.

Confession time: I have a huge thing for unity. If a person can have a crush on an idea, then I definitely have had it bad for unity for several years. When I think about what I consider the ideal future for the Church, I imagine something similar to what David Bowden described lyrically. I imagine congregations that are united by what they have in common, not divided by their differences. I picture churches that value people from diverse backgrounds, whether that diversity means races, ages, mental disabilities, languages, financial situations, or faith backgrounds.

Sure, it seems overly optimistic. But I have seen flashes of it in the past. Christian sisters and brothers from a wide variety of faith backgrounds coming together to serve a one Body for a season. A congregation that actively seeks to bring in and make welcome mentally handicapped, and serves them and their care-takers with love and dignity. Regular gatherings planned and led by a racially diverse mix of Christians, each mutually submitting to one another. These experiences have left me with hope that God can still unify us, even if it seems impossible at times.