Bella

Normally I don't do something like this...at least I don't think I do. Go see this movie! Bella is currently playing in Champaign and Savoy and is definitely worth the 92 minutes of the film and the 6-9 dollars you will pay for it. It is a fantastic story that entraps the human condition and what it is like to rise above our sinful nature. In a completely un-overt spiritual film, I believe God's heart speaks loudly. It is an absolute beauty. Don't go scouring for plot or trailers though. The internet is full of spoilers, and in my opinion, some of the trailers ruin the plot. I'd say don't even watch the official trailer. I went in with no expectations and that's what made it so beautiful for me. I think everything played well into a substantially climactic end and just beautifully worked together. The music is fantastic. It just oozes fantastic artwork in my opinion.

GO SEE THIS FILM

Recent Photos

I've never had a flickr account before, but I have tried it and these are some pictures I've taken recently with my roommate Mike's camera

Quad Cam

Ok, so this is definitely my third post of today, but I just can't help but show you all this wonderful item. This is the Quad Cam. The University of Illinois has a camera placed atop Foellinger Auditorium that you...YES, YOU...have the opportunity to control. It can pan and zoom very accurately. You can even snap a picture. Creepy...

This is awesome...

Blog Reading Level

I stole this from Amy and was somewhat surprised at the rating of my blog. Go check it out yourself. It is a site that will identify the reading level of your blog. I'm not sure of the criteria they use, but I'm down with it.

Get a Cash Advance

Culture Shock

So, whilst watching Ninja Warrior recently, there were some intense changes. The reason for these changes most likely falls on the shoulders of Makoto Nagano. He is the man that in Sasuke 17 achieved Ultimate Victory. This lead to a complete overhaul of the courses used in the program for the 18th competition. So, that puts us at watching Sasuke 18 on G4 the other day.

Now that we're caught up, we are watching Stage 3 of the competition where 2 instances of different culture revealed themselves.

The first was when a competitor failed on a section of the course. He graciously said that the section had gotten the best of him. In fact, I paraphrase him when I say he thought he trained enough, but his failure on the day of the competition shows his training clearly was not enough. He said this even though the obstacle had be redesigned.

The second was when Makoto disqualified himself from the course because he broke a rule. In fact, the officials hadn't disqualified him because either his mistake wasn't caught or they were going to allow it. He would have most likely completed the stage had he allowed himself to continue along.

So, what do these two instances say? They show a culture of intense respect and honor. My feeling is that here in the States, people would have a far bigger problem with losing. In fact, we would blame our loss on the course. It's not our fault the course changed. Why should we be penalized? And in the case of the self-disqualification, it seems like that took such guts and honor to do. If we can get away with something, we do it. The phrase, "If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying" is an indicator of the American attitude towards victory at all costs. I even consider a guy Terrell Owens or other professional athletes with historically bad attitudes and can't imagine a similar outcome.

So that's the culture shock. We in general in America seem to be more concerned with victory than honor. It makes for an interesting conversation for sure

The Lord's Prayer

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

When Jesus of Nazareth gave us a prayer to pray, he gave us a "formula" about what we need to think about when talking to God the Father. It seems like there is such depth to this prayer. Some of it doesn't even strike me while reciting it in a group.

For a long time the passage

Thy will be done.

stuck out to me. It was powerful. It talks about what God wants. We should want what he wants. It is super simple really. We are asking that whatever he wants should happen. There is such power in that simplicity.

This weekend, while at Mass in Evansville, the first phrase I wrote

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

really hit me deeply. I've been doing a lot of thinking about the animosity that I hold towards others. In little ways, big ways, what have you. Sometimes it affects the relationship, sometimes it doesn't seem to. It just really strikes me that in Christ's prayer, he is saying we must ask for forgiveness...but there is more. This might be intensely obvious, but it still strikes me that we just don't forgive those who trespass against us. It doesn't say that "Forgive us our trespasses and we'll try our hardest." No, in fact in the language used here, it suggests that God will forgive us as we are forgiving others...not that they are seperate actions.

Matthew 5:23-25 says,

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."

This is God's way of doing things. We are to forgive and accept forgiveness. This is one of the central messages of the Gospel, FORGIVENESS. We must forgive. What sort of animosity are you harboring? Pray about that. Who are you holding things against? Ask God to take it away. I know for myself, this is one of the toughest things I am wrestling with. How can I remove such deep feelings? How can we truly

forgive those who trespass against us.