Field Report #040

Good morning!

This post may mark the beginning of a more sporadic time in blog posting. Not that I was particularly consistent in the past, but I'm moving toward keeping my thoughts more exclusively in my pocket notebooks, as opposed to putting a lot of things up here. I still have several posts I can see myself making in the near future, such as NBA Finals analysis, Log and Jotter product review, ESV The Psalms product review, etc. But not so much in terms of Field Reports or theological writing.

We'll see what happens, maybe the extra time available in summer will lead to more posts than I currently expect. But like the dark legend himself, my actions and plans must ultimately drift into obscurity and shadow.

Psalms are at the heart. Haven't made a fitness breakthrough yet, but it is developing. 0 Entertainment is pretty good overall, despite a small off day today. 

My one piece of advice - and I can't say for certain how universally this applies (but boy does it work for me) is just pray the Psalms, out loud, throughout the day, every day. Find a straightforward program that has you doing this, and then just stick to it.

Why? I'll put it this way:

I've been wandering through the desert in the midafternoon heat, sometimes aimless, sometimes frantically chasing mirages. Dry, cracked lips eating stale crackers and choking down some kind of warm, thick syrup. Sun beating down on my head. Beside me is a cool, clean, clear stream, with wide green trees offering shade at its shore.

Stop and picture that.

A few times a day, and once a week, I stop by, kneel down, and take good long sip. Then it's back to running around the desert like chaff in the wind, looking for that shimmering shape in the distance that turns out to be just another pile of sand.

But here's God's revolutionary idea in the very first Psalm: Leave the desert, take a comfortable seat leaning against a tree next to the stream, and dip your hands into the cool running water. Bring it up to your mouth and take a drink. Then another. Then another. Then another. And live your whole life right there next to that chuckling stream, turning back toward the water whenever you drift a little too far out into the desert, chasing sand.

Field Report #039

 

Good morning!

Psalms are going the strongest they have all year. They keep everything else in line. 

Burpees are not going, due to partly to a string of minor injuries. But I'm looking to come off of that with a more active stretch.

0 Entertainment has been good the last few days, along with the resurgence in the Psalms, but has not been quite as consistent.

I'll leave you with a quote from Jan Hus, pictured above:

"Seek the truth,

Hear the truth,

Learn the truth,

Love the truth,

Speak the truth,

Hold the truth, and

Defend the truth until death."

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Movie Review

 

With the sequel coming out this weekend, it's about time I gave my favorite movie a review.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an absolute masterpiece. Released in 2018 to thunderously positive reviews, this groundbreaking piece of cinema won best animated feature at the 2019 Academy Awards, and rightfully so. Here's a quick breakdown of what makes this movie truly special:

Visual Design - Never before has an animated film ventured so boldly into a new artistic style - and boy does Spider-Man pull it off. The movie's visual aesthetic is an absolute joy to behold, and leads to some of the best animated action sequences ever put to film.

Writing and Character Design - Every character is deep, real, and capable of evoking an emotional response. The villains and heroes are all written with a level of mastery rarely seen in 21st-century cinema. The large cast of characters doesn't feel large because you so quickly and intimately get to know everyone. The writing is absolutely stunning. It feels both natural and compelling, and achieves its aim almost without fail; informative, funny, exciting, moving, inspiring.

Entertainment - This movie pulls you in from the very beginning and does not let go until the credits begin rolling. The action is fast-paced and fun. The serious moments are serious, and the epic moments are as epic as it gets. One good judge of entertainment value can be how well something holds the short attention span of a group of children. I had the opportunity to witness three groups of kids between the ages of 11 and 14 watch this movie, and nearly every eye and ear was engaged and entertained.

Story and Theme - Into the Spider-Verse is a coming-of-age story for the protagonist, Miles Morales (a.k.a. Spider-Man). But unlike so many other movies to explore this motif, Into the Spider-Verse absolutely nails every step and swing of that stage of life. The beating heart of the film is clearly and vividly expressed in some of its final lines: "Anyone can wear the mask. You could wear the mask." Like most Spider-Man movies, the weight of power and responsibility is thrust upon the protagonist. But more importantly, it forces Miles to decide what to to with that gift. Will he remain as he was, or leap into the unknown, and choose to wear the mask? I think it can serve as a powerful metaphor for the Christian life. We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, and a new heart in Christ. Do we choose to hide the gift under a bushel, and bury the talent in the earth? Jesus rebukes this kind of behavior most sharply. Christ calls us out of darkness to live our ordinary life in an extraordinary way, and that is exactly what this film is calling its viewers to do.

Faith Comes From Hearing - I truly don't think that creators Phil Lord, Rodney Rothman, and Christopher Miller were trying to imbue Lutheran theology into their film. But somehow, perhaps by the providence of God, they pulled it off anyway. The critical moment in Miles' transformation into Spider-Man comes in the "Leap of Faith" sequence when Miles uses his electrical powers to bust out of the webs tying him to his chair. But what moves Miles to make this critical leap? What gives him the faith he needs to proceed and put on the mask? The words of his father: "I love you. You don't have to say it back, though." The unconditional love of our heavenly Father, delivered through the Word of his grace, has the power to create faith in the heart of a man. And what does Miles need to hear in order to make his leap of faith? The loving words of his father. Beautiful stuff.

Summary - At the end of the day, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse is a film that took the time to do things right, from the visual design, to the story, to the writing, to the characters, to the soundtrack, and everything in between. The result is a truly meaningful, incredibly fun, profoundly good piece of audio-visual storytelling.

10/10