Archives for July 2008

The world’s next superpower is in the midst of a spiritual revolution.
    I’m not talking here about individual movements like Falun Gong. I’m talking about China as an emerging powerhouse in our global community where leaders have ruthlessly pulled the cultural rug out from under their own people so many times that it is incredibly difficult to sort out one’s values.
    This should concern all of us, because in the absence of cohesive spiritual values, the temptation is toward a reflexive nationalism. Or perhaps pressures build until there is a powder keg of unresolved anger that occasionally explodes as it did recently among parents of children killed by corrupt and shoddy construction of school buildings. Stunning news photographs showed normally mild-mannered middle-aged parents towering angrily over local “bosses,” some of whom were reduced to groveling in the streets.
    But don’t take my word for it about all of this spiritual change — see for yourself.
    As ReadTheSpirit Editor, I’ve taken a special interest in Asia in recent years, reporting from several Asian countries on short-term journeys with the East-West Center.
    Today, we’re recommending two terrific films that are deeply engaging to watch because both show the spiritual heroism of young Chinese men and women — grappling with the deeper meaning of everyday life in a culture where so many pillars seem to be crumbling.

“SUNFLOWER” IS FICTION, BUT RINGS TRUE TO THE HEART
    One chaotic issue facing Chinese families today is quite literally the demolition of traditional neighborhoods in urban areas. These maze-like patterns of traditional homes surrounding communal courtyards are vanishing to make way for high-density housing. The Wall Street Journal’s Andy Jordan recently reported on this issue — which is remarkably similar to the challenges facing poor people in American neighborhoods slated for up-scale developments.
    In China, however, there still are deep wounds from the Cultural Revolution that turned entire families topsy-turvy. This was the turbulent era in the final years of Mao’s life when family and friends were pushed to denounce each other and many of China’s brightest and best were tortured and exiled into the countryside to perform manual labor. As families have tried to reassemble themselves in the decades since that violence, however, even traditional ideas about “home” are vanishing.

    I know from reporting in Asia myself that, in the absence of other deeper religious practices, the basic commitment to family remains a tap root of spiritual values. But even this tap root winds up severed in these waves of cultural and social change.
    That’s the context of “Sunflower,” a bittersweet drama that runs just over two hours. It’s a gorgeously photographed and deeply engaging story starting with the drama of a plucky little boy who has been running wild in the streets of his traditional maze-like neighborhood — until his stern father suddenly reappears. The boy doesn’t realize that his father, once a great artist, has had his dreams dashed by a long exile in the Cultural Revolution. He can’t understand why his father’s love for him is expressed in an obsessive desire for the little boy to develop his artistic talents.
    The first half of the film is this kind of compelling, wonderfully written family drama. Then, director Zhang Yang suddenly jumps forward so that we see this boy as a young man — falling in love with a beautiful Chinese ice skater. If your heart isn’t made of stone, you’ll quickly soften to this part of the story, again beautifully photographed — as we see the young skater through the eyes of this budding artist.
    The film’s final scenes take us even further into the saga of this scarred, yet spiritually resilient family. I won’t spoil the end, but you’ll find yourself — just as I am doing here — urging friends to see “Sunflower.”

“A NEW GENERATION IS COMING OF AGE”

    If you’re interested in China, pick up these two films as a set and organize a mini-film festival. Sue Williams’ amazing documentary, “Young and Restless in  China,” will  feel as though you’ve stepped right from the family’s story in “Sunflower” into a broader circle of the young artist’s friends.
    You’re switching from drama to documentary, of course –- but the narrative trajectory flows honestly and earnestly from the issues raised by Zhang Yang in “Sunflower” to those uncovered by Sue Williams’ reporting on the lives of young men and women spiritually adrift in China’s new world.
    I’m using the term “spiritually” broadly in this case, but it really is the unifying theme that runs throughout these young lives. They’re all searching for some ultimate sense of meaning in a country that seems to be on the verge of overheating as the world’s biggest economic engine.
    As a journalist, I’m hugely impressed with Sue Williams’ many years of commitment to exploring China and producing a long series of top-notch documentaries. If you’ve seen her earlier overviews of Chinese history, this new film opens with a breath-taking freshness -– like jumping on the back of one of the motorcycles in the film and racing through the streets of China.

    Without years of immersion in China, I can’t imagine how it would be possible to produce such a film with intimate access to the lives of young adults. I was especially touched by the life of Wei Zhanyan, who may appear to us as perhaps a college student pursuing a degree when we first glimpse her walking through the streets. In reality, she’s virtually a slave in China — an impoverished migrant worker who was forced to leave school at an early age to support her family. Eventually, she was forced into complete exile from her family to take a job assembling cell-phone headsets.

    Somehow, Williams is able to follow her back to her tiny room (photo at left), a sort of makeshift shelter, where Wei Zhanyan curls up and writes in her diary about life’s difficult challenges. She feels that she is carrying her entire family on her shoulders, she says. She misses them very much -– and yet she’s caught in a vice-grip of work and poverty. She says, “I don’t dare have any ideas or ideals.”
   We watch tensions with her family unfold over several years through an agonizing decision over whether to accept an arranged marriage back in her home village. I won’t spoil the film by telling you what happens.
    Some young Chinese rebel a little more openly like the rapper we meet with the word “reckless” tattooed in Chinese on his neck. He’s a motorcyclist. He says without a hint of awareness at the strange leap he is making: “Hip hop empowered me because I can identify with black people in America.”
   Just as fascinating as these more personal stories are Williams’ stories of spiritual conflict in more public spheres. We meet a young doctor who can’t hope to treat all the patients who line up outside his hospital each day. And we meet young entrepreneurs who have had a taste of global culture and have serious doubts about forces within Chinese society.
   One young business owner talks movingly about dealing with the temptation toward paying bribes to get work done. The problem is not business, he says, “It’s about my moral standards. Every day I have to make a choice how far I want to go.” He pauses thoughtfully and admits to a deeper concern — that one day bribery will seem normal to him. He says, “The thing I’m really afraid of down the road is — I will no longer have this struggle everyday.”
    Williams is such a good documentarian that we meet each of these “young and restless” men and women on their own terms without condescension or ironic twists forced upon the material by the filmmaker.
    The openness in these stories will touch your heart even as it stirs your mind to a greater understanding of life in our world’s emerging superpower.

CARE TO READ MORE?

• MORE CHOICES FOR “SEEING” ASIA: Check out some of our earlier reviews of films on Asia that explore various aspects of history and modern culture.
• AND GOOD BOOKS, TOO: In addition to clicking on the covers of the two DVDs today — which will carry you to our mini-reviews and our Amazon store (where purchasing a copy also helps to support our online magazine) — you also can check out our recommendations of books that will help you “Read the World.”
• ON FALUN GONG AND SIMILAR MOVEMENTS: Read our Conversation with Dr. David Ownby, a frequent visitor to China and the author of the insightful new book, “Falun Gong and the Future of China.”
• EXPLORE OUR OWN SERIES ON ASIA: If you’ve missed it, take our ReadTheSpirit pilgrimage through several Asian countries.
• (Photo of Wei Zhanyan courtesy Zeitgeist films and Julia Kao/Ambrica Production.

AND, PLEASE, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Leave a Comment by clicking at the end of our online stories — or you can Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm directly.

You probably have heard or seen Michael Novak, 74, even if you haven’t read his books.
    When there’s news about faith and politics, especially related to Catholic issues or the Vatican itself, he’s likely to pop up in radio and television interviews. Sometimes, working through the American Enterprise Institute or with his own large network of colleagues, he makes news himself. He regularly publishes new books, editorials in major newspapers and sometimes works with friends to issue statements on various issues.
    For a while, politically liberal commentators liked to peg him as a “neoconservative” and, in the mid 1980s, the Nation magazine even poured such scorn on his relationship with Pope John Paul II that they accused Novak of blatant opportunism. Here’s the hardest blow that Nation commentator Alexander Cockburn could muster in his attack on Novak in ’85. Cockburn wrote that, in moving into the Vatican’s inner circles, Novak “has capitalized on two rather meager assets: his Slovak heritage and his claim to be a theologian.”
    Nasty stuff from Cockburn, right? The point I’m making here is this: Over the years, Novak has taken as many hard shots as he has fired in global debates. He’s a fascinating writer precisely because his sharp-edged intellect and his deep faith allow him to keep picking himself up, dusting himself off and going back for more.
    If you regard Novak as mean spirited — you’ve completely missed his message. It’s a passion for faith and liberty and building bridges between people all around the world that animates his work.

    In recent years, something quite interesting is happening in our culture’s collective regard for Novak. Much like Pope John Paul II, as the smoke of old skirmishes is fading from the battlefields, the basic arguments advanced by both John Paul and Novak about the nature of faith in our modern world are standing pretty solidly across the tests of time.
    Late last year, when we launched ReadTheSpirit, we quoted John Paul II in our second online article. This is not to endorse every word John Paul uttered nor to take John Paul’s side in all the battles he fought with his critics. In fact, it’s pretty clear that John Paul picked a few very bad fights over the years. And, I’m not even going to touch the still-red-hot issue of John Paul’s regard for women.

    Similarly, I’m not trying here to revisit each of Novak’s battles over the decades. Today, we’re focusing on an exciting new position he is staking out in “No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers.”
    I’m certainly not alone in praising the brilliant side of Novak’s work. Among the accolades that have come his way was a 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, placing him in a fellowship of honorees that includes the Rev. Dr. John C. Polkinghorne (the physicist who explores connections between faith and science), the Very Rev. Lord George MacLeod (founder of the Iona Community) and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (the Russian writer on faith and conscience).
    Like many of the other Templeton honorees, Novak’s new book is an important contribution to building bridges between believers and unbelievers. It’s also a great book for small-group study, especially for religious groups trying to grapple with the acidic waves of neo-atheist writing over the past year.
    Click on the book cover to learn more about it. (We’ve reviewed it for you — and you can pre-order a copy from Amazon while you’re at it. This book doesn’t hit bookstores until August 5.)

HERE ARE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR CONVERSATION:

    DAVID: Your book is an appeal both to atheists and to believers, essentially telling both sides that they’ve made mistakes in trying to talk to each other — or talk at each other, really. Deep in the book, you raise the question: “Why did ‘the new atheism’ suddenly arise, and why now?” Your answer is intriguing because, in part, you attribute this to the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
    That’s not the only reason for this rise in atheist voices, of course, but you say that 9/11 became “a rhetorical bonanza to atheists. Now they had a devastating symbol for ‘religion.’ The barbarism of September 11, some said, is typical of all religion.”
    MICHAEL: The new atheists make heavy use of this as an awful example of Islam. But even more than that, they point to it and say: “See? That’s what religion moves us to!” They use 9/11 as a club. They have found 9/11 of incalculable value in their attacks and I think it’s just terribly wrong. We shouldn’t speak of religion as univocal. Let’s not pretend that there’s only one religion in the world and it is this extreme. That’s terribly wrong to say.

    DAVID: In this new book, you’re telling both sides that we’ve made mistakes in the way we’ve talked about each other. At one point in your book, you put it this way: “My underlying thesis is a simple one; that unbelievers and believers need to learn a new habit of reasoned and mutually respectful conversation.“
    MICHAEL: It doesn’t make much sense for unbelievers to enter the discussion in this area by calling belief in God a poison, a delusion or an illusion as some of the new atheist writers are doing. That’s not even a new claim. That’s been common since at least Freud’s writing about religion as an illusion. These writers like Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins supposedly speak for the Enlightenment, but there’s nothing self questioning about their approach to these issues. There’s nothing respectful of rational conversation in their style. It’s just a series of put downs.
    And from the other side, the community of believers, people approach atheists as creatures from another planet — as if we have nothing that we could possibly share in conversation with atheists.
    My position is that most people, whether you are an atheist or a believer, go through periods of inner emptiness. God’s way of dealing with us is not to be touched or seen or felt or heard. God doesn’t appear to us. This is what we mean when we say God is spirit, and spirit is truth, and so on.

    DAVID: Let’s talk about that point for a little bit, because it’s going to come as a shock to some readers, especially evangelical or Pentecostal readers who talk regularly about touching, seeing, feeling and hearing God. What you’re describing here is an experience of faith that runs powerfully through the lives of a whole series of great saints and sages. You write in your book about Mother Teresa and the revelations in her writings about the silence she experienced from God for most of her life. Or from the Protestant ranks of writers, Frederick Buechner writes powerfully about how the truth of faith is realizing that we are standing at a great abyss of doubt and looking down into that abyss together.
    What you’re talking about is the truth of this distance that we feel from God sometimes — these doubts we experience — even in the heart of a life filled with faith. You’re reminding us of the passage from First Corinthians.
    MICHAEL: I’m talking about an adult experience of faith: “When I became an adult, I put away childish things.” That experience. And it’s often a very difficult thing. There are times when you just feel so beaten about by life that it’s impossible for us to think of a just God.
    Many writers describe these as adult experiences of faith, when the easy ways of thinking about God that you once had as a child have been taken away from you. But, in the pursuing of faith in these often dark experiences of faith — there is also a quiet joy in this.
    DAVID: It’s not that God abandons us, but that we discover God is far larger than we ever imagined.
    MICHAEL: I say: God is not on the same frequency that we are. God is so much larger. God is on a far greater frequency. We couldn’t live on that frequency without exploding.
    So what do we do with this darkness, when we experience it? There is a way through this darkness and it’s the path that Mother Teresa followed. The way is love.
    It’s right there in the letter of John (1John Chapter 4): “No one has seen God …” but “if any one says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
    So, if we find ourselves in this darkness, unable to see God, what do we do? In the darkness, we turn to love of our neighbor and we try to make life better and easier for all of us. This is the way we serve God in the darkness.
    You might feel like the bottom of a birdcage yourself, but begin to show someone else love — because they are worthy of love –- and, as you do that, you’ll find a sort of sweetness coming into your life. You’ll find something cool and fresh in the darkness.
    What I’m saying to believers is that most of us, even in the midst of our belief, also find ourselves in some of the most insecure, dark places. And I’m saying that is part of a proper relationship with God. It’s part of what the Bible describes as an adult experience of God.

     DAVID: And here in this place of darkness that you’re describing we share a mutual vantage point for a healthier, more constructive conversation with unbelievers.
    MICHAEL: Yes, we both end up in some pretty terrifying moments of darkness, when even the believers aren’t quite sure that we’re not deluding ourselves.
    This is hard for unbelievers, too! Jean Paul Sartre tried all his life to be an atheist, but he often failed. He would find himself just spontaneously thanking God for something. The journey is hard on both sides. This realization becomes a place where we can talk to each other.

    DAVID: One of the creative concepts you revive in your book is the idea of a “blik.” Now, the original version of this word, “blik,” was spelled without a “c.” And you’ve added a “c” to turn it into a slightly different version of the word.
    But here’s the idea in a nutshell: Decades ago, in one of the long-running debates over faith and atheism, this term “blik” was invented to describe a person’s basic approach to deciding what’s true in the world. Some people have a religious “blik” and the ways they accept truth through their faith will never completely fit with a person who has an entirely secular “blik.” It’s an odd little term — but it’s helpful in describing the conflicts we face when both sides in a debate think they’ve found the truth. A secular debater may feel he has unleashed devastating arguments against faith — but they bounce off another debater whose whole sense of truth comes in a different form. Their “bliks” are so different that they both think they’ve won the argument.
    But you add a “c” to spell the word “blick.” Why?

    MICHAEL: I added the “c” because I wanted to show that I’m using the term in a new way. I’m using it even more broadly. Here’s an example that just happened today:
    I was looking for a book and it wasn’t on the shelf where it should be, so I called my wife in and she found it — exactly where it should be. Now, it turned out, I was looking for the wrong thing. My mind was already focused on something different and she went to it more carefully and discovered the book right where it was. Why did this happen? I had a different blick than she did. I brought an entirely different expectation to my search than she did and I couldn’t find what I was expecting to see.
    What forms your blick? All the things you have experienced, imagined, felt, understood and questioned throughout your life to this point.
    DAVID: Here’s a good passage from your book about the way people’s blicks can lead them to see the underlying forces in the world quite differently. You write:
   ”In one blick, a person is inclined to see everything around her as at root random and absurd; while, even so, she turns her face against fiercely hostile winds, in the direction of an ever fuller justice she helps to prevail. In another blick, this same instinct for justice is seen as a sign of the divine life active in the poor stuff of this world.”
    MICHAEL: And remember, our blicks change over time. As you move around and grow older, even from the time you’re 20 to the time you’re 30, your horizon changes. You may learn a new language or you may travel and you don’t look at things the same way anymore. All of this shapes our blicks — our first expectations as we encounter things.

     DAVID: You write about Anthony Flew’s life, describing the powerful change in his blick in the course of his life. He moved from atheism to a kind of “deism.”
    MICHAEL: Anthony Flew wrote one of the great books on atheism. He eviscerated all the traditional arguments for God. Then, in later years he had some experiences that made him think that his way of thinking about the world was too narrow. He was a very self-critical man. In particular, he had a near-death experience. He talked about this experience as much larger than his earlier expectations and that he needed to revise his sense of what human existence is. He revised his thinking to the point that he could no longer call himself an atheist. He didn’t call himself a Christian or a Jew, but he came to think that he could no longer call himself an atheist.
    DAVID: I like the way you put it in the middle of your book: “Unbelief and belief are not two rival theories about phenomena in the universe. They are alternative ‘horizons.’”
    You know, as a journalist for many years, I reported on the Catholic church and even reported from Rome on occasion and, so often, the stories we published involved conflict with American Catholics over various church rules and teachings. So often, that’s how we saw the story involving the Vatican. But, in recent years, I’ve come to see a lot of timeless wisdom especially in the later writings of John Paul II. I’m especially drawn to his letter on “Third Millennium.”
    That letter is so specific to the year 2000 that perhaps people overlook it now, but there are some powerful prophetic appeals in that letter to dialogue — what you’re pointing toward in your book.

    MICHAEL: I’m so glad you’re interested in that letter and are telling people about it. Yes, there’s a lot in that letter.
    Think about this: It was a scandal that East was divided against West by the Berlin Wall for so many years, but analogously we’ve got the Christian world divided from the Islamic world by centuries of conflict — and we’ve divided ourselves from Asia, too. We know almost nothing about Asia.
    Benedict XVI has picked up on this problem. He’s talking about how little the different cultures around the world know about each other. He’s saying that’s the job of the 21st Century — bringing about a great international conversation.
    Aquinas said: Civilization is conversation. Barbarians club one another.
    If we are civilized, we must be constituted on conversation.

CARE TO READ MORE?
    READ MICHAEL NOVAK ON VALUES, today! With the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, we are cosponsoring another landing page within ReadTheSpirit, called OurValues.org. This week, UofM’s Dr. Wayne Baker raised an intriguing question among OurValues readers: Is religion a value? During our Conversation With Michael Novak, we asked if he would take a crack at that question — and he did. Read Michael’s “take” on the question: Is religion a value? It appears today at OurValues.

AND, PLEASE, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Leave a Comment by clicking at the end of our online stories — or you can Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm directly.

It’s Tuesday, time for a ReadTheSpirit Pop Quiz, and today we’re going to add a twist in our week-long theme on “heros.”
    First, we’re going to share two quizzes with you on superheroes.
Then, many of our readers like to carry ideas from ReadTheSpirit into small groups or maybe share them with friends, relatives and co-workers. So, we’re also going to give you an open-ended quiz on: “What kind of hero am I?”
    Finally — don’t miss the end of today’s story because we’re going to slip in a mini-review of an important PBS documentary this evening about a very different kind of heroism — the heroism of the homeless who, despite terrible conditions in daily life, often manage to toggle together communities even in the midst of what we might consider a heap of trash.

QUIZ NO. 1:
IF YOU’RE ALREADY A SUPER HERO — WHO IS YOUR GOD?
    Here’s a link to a very popular quiz about the religious affiliations of superheroes. We devised this quiz as part of a series on the spiritual side of comic books — and we’ve found readers coming back, again and again, to this particular online quiz.
    We welcome you to share our quizzes with others. You can cut-and-paste our quizzes, print them, Email them, share them with friends. We ask that you credit us in these copies and include a link to our site, please. That helps to fuel our project and allows us to continue sending you material like this.
    The point is: Please, take the quiz yourself and, please, share it.

QUIZ NO. 2:
WHERE DO HEROES COME FROM? AN “ORIGINS” QUIZ
    There’s so much creative energy in comics and graphic novels these days that we’ve returned to this theme regularly at ReadTheSpirit.
    In April, we devised a quiz on the origins of superheroes. It’s amazing how much religious tradition and mythology are woven into the mystic creation stories of these global celebrities.
    If you’re not a fan of comics — and haven’t visited a movie theater this summer — you may be wondering about the cultural significance in this rising tide of comics and superheroes. Are they really that influential?
    Well, consider that the No. 1, top-grossing movie around the world, so far in 2008, is “Iron Man.” And, based on the fact that Batman racked up an all-time-record of $158 million in revenues in his opening weekend — the “Dark Knight” may be headed toward toppling the “Iron Man” total for the year. Eventually, we could close out 2008 with a couple of superheroes standing atop the annual list of highest-grossing movies around the world.

THEN, QUIZ NO. 3:
“WHAT KIND OF HERO AM I?”
AN EXERCISE THAT’S GREAT FOR YOURSELF — AND YOUR GROUP
    Here’s a spiritually reflective “quiz” that you can try yourself or with friends. And, please, if you’re not too modest about this — send us a Comment or an Email and let us know how you responded to this challenge.
    Get out a sheet of paper and sit down with a pen to reflectively consider the overall query: “What kind of hero am I?” On a deeper level, this is a challenge involving discernment and vocation — pondering both our talents and our sense of calling in life. So, there is a serious sub-text to this challenge.
    Generally, though, I think the best spiritual exercises involve creativity — and even a warm smile as we look up into the skies and meditate. So, you’ve got paper and pen. Get going. Get smiling. Answer the following 10 questions:

1.) Heroes have powers, whether they’re supernatural or, like Batman, they’re fine-tuned skills coupled perhaps with technology. So, what are your powers?

2.) Heroes are color themed. What are your colors?

3.) What’s the name of your superhero?

4.) What’s the design of your hero’s uniform?

5.) What’s your basic mission?

6.) Nearly all heroes have weaknesses. Remember the ancient Achilles and his heel? So, what’s your weakness?

7.) Who’s your main enemy? Or do you have several?

8.) Of course, you’ve got to have a sidekick. Superman has Jimmy Olsen. Batman has his butler. Peter Pan has Tinkerbell. Who’s your sidekick?

9.) What about accessories? A few heroes like The Hulk strip down to the bare essentials, but most heroes have something extra — a cape, a hat, wrist bands, a shield, a utility belt.

10.) Finally, who do you protect? Your city? Your “people”? The whole world?

FOR AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT KIND OF HEROISM:
CATCH PBS-POV’S DOCUMENTARY, “9 STAR HOTEL”

    Remember the wonderfully challenging POV documentary we recommended last month about contemporary responses to slavery? “Traces of the Trade” touched off quite a few reader connections and led to further coverage of the modern abolition movement with Dr. David Batstone.

    Well, POV is full of thought-provoking films this summer. Tonight (check TV listings for times and local channels) “9 Story Hotel” by Israeli filmmaker Ido Haar explores the lives of some very different heroes: homeless heroes, refugees, struggling young men who live in what amounts to a community built in a trash heap.
    At first glance, this hour-long documentary may appear to be about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict –- but the story actually floats on a far different plane. To create this unusual film, Haar set out with a hand-held camera to spend time with illegal Palestinian laborers working on an Israeli construction project by day — and living as homeless refugees by night. He focused on their lives around campfires and their tiny, makeshift shelters hidden high in the rocky hills around the building site.
    At first, it seems to be a story specific to the Middle East. But, this really is a story about millions of poor refugees around the world who live in precarious homes often toggled together of debris discarded by the rest of us. Although we never leave the construction site and the hillside hovels throughout this riveting hour, the truth is that it’s a haunting slice of life that reminds us of John Steinbeck and Woodie Guthrie –- and should remind us of the countless families who live atop our vast trash heaps in slums in Africa and Latin America at this very moment.
    These guys aren’t heroes to any political cause — we don’t even hear them talk about politics. They’re everyday heroes to each other, because despite terrible conditions they manage to help each other feel like they’re part of a family.
    We don’t even realize how much we’re warming to these workers’ lives until a fire breaks out, destroying the little heap of trash that they call home –- and we understand what one of the young men means, when he weeps over the ashes of their community, telling a friend sadly, “Those days are gone.”
    The film already has been honored both at film festivals and with a nomination as best documentary by the Israeli Film Academy — the Israeli version of the Oscars. See it and ponder the multiple levels on which this snapshot from a far shore will touch you.

    Want to TIVO “9 Story Hotel”? Here’s the Web link to set your Tivo. If this link was helpful to you, or if you simply watch the movie at its regular time tonight — tell us what you think. Add a “comment” at the end of any of our stories — or Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm directly.

This week, we’re focusing on heroes. Follow us through the week and you’ll learn a whole lot more than you might imagine. Oh, the places we’ll take you this week! We’ll rove from America’s heartland to China, from the tale of a young hero to a conversation with a noble old prophet on Wednesday who still is jousting with giants about the meaning of faith.
    All I can say this week is: Stay tuned!
    TODAY, I’m pleased to introduce a young hero. At least, in my book, Matthew Streib “had” me with these lines in the introduction to his brand-new Web site, American Pilgrimage:
    “Everyone always leaves America to find spirituality. From Delhi and Jerusalem to Guadeloupe and Lourdes, there are guides and travelogues and voyagers who have found themselves, found their ancestors, or found God.
    “But what about our country?”

    Well, in each new age, we need new heroes like Matthew, who at 26 has set off on his bicycle to chronicle America’s spiritual nooks and crannies.
    Such a voyage launched my own career in journalism. More than 30 years ago, during America’s bi-centennial, I set off around North America for months of travel by bus (and occasionally by boat and by thumb) and, since the Web hadn’t been developed in 1976, I chronicled my adventures as a series of weekly columns for the Flint Journal.
    There have been other similar pilgrims. When writing in this mode, we’re actually part of a wonderfully rich genre in American letters. In fact, if you’ve got a favorite roving hero from America’s past — send me an Email. I’d love to hear from you on this theme. We’re assembling another Reader Roundup page for Friday, so get me your note in the next couple of days.
    But, let’s jump into our week right now with a letter specially written from the road by this young hero for ReadTheSpirit …

An Epistle from Matthew
on his American Pilgrimage

    As a child, I never had a faith of my own. My parents were agnostic and incurious about religion. God was never discussed. When I first looked for any religious text, all I could find was an old Oxford Annotated Bible in the basement that my mother had used for a class in college.
   But I’ve always felt called to faith, and since I was 13, I’ve been on a journey to find a tradition that I can call home. From attending Jewish Shabbat and Catholic Mass with high school friends to eventual degrees in religion and its history, I am on a path of constant learning about interpretations of God. And because of my upbringing, I feel like a blank slate that is being filled.
    This has brought me to my present pilgrimage, a seven-month exploration of American faith with nothing but a bicycle, a backpack and my essential equipment. I am visiting religious sites that are vibrant, compelling, and show the unique complexities of Americans’ connection with the divine.

    When many people think of pilgrimages to find God, they think of travel to the Old World, to Mecca and Jerusalem, Tibet and Lourdes, the foundations of faith. But America has so much to offer that is often overlooked.
    Few other countries can rival the amount of faiths that have arisen and thrived in America, from the Church of Latter Day Saints to Shambhala Buddhism to the Shakers. The United States, a melting pot without a state church, has been host to constant questioning, restructuring and revelations, with periodic Great Awakenings adding new ideas and perspectives to the mix.
    I seek to find out why America is so special and unique, and remains a dynamic incubator of religious innovation. Granted, polls from places such as the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life show that increasingly, Americans are choosing categories such as “no religion” to describe their faith. While many interpret that as stagnation and atheism, it’s really just a symptom of a greater change.

    In the month that I’ve traveled so far, I’ve found Jews at a Quaker gathering, Methodists at a Mormon pageant, and Church of Christ members at a Buddhist retreat. Even at diners, campsites and rest stops, I rarely encounter someone who doesn’t have a story about their faith, even if they don’t subscribe to a religion. Americans aren’t losing their faith, they’re rediscovering it in new ways and they don’t know how to categorize it.
    During my pilgrimage, I visit at least one new site every week, and plan to see most of the country and almost every faith I can think of by the time I’m done. And on my blog and in my podcasts, I’m trying to package my journey in such a way that others can experience the richness that this country offers.
    Every week, be it acting out a scene with Mormon actors, chanting Buddhist mantras to gong accompaniment, or exploring Catholic crypts, I am constantly questioning and reexamining what it means to be close to God.
    I may never find the tradition that suits me perfectly, but I take comfort in the fact that I am trying. And, as many religions say, the path is just as important as the destination.

CARE TO READ MORE?

• Visit American Pilgrimage yourself to follow Matthew’s journeys and stories.
• You might enjoy jumping back and challenging yourself to our Quiz on Pilgrimage.
• One of our more popular reader-participation stories was about taking a Pilgrimage to IKEA.
• And, among our more ambitious series at ReadTheSpirit is our five-part Pilgrimage to Iona.
• Please — tell us about pilgrim stories that have touched your life — or about your own pilgrimages. We love to hear from you here at the Home Office, and more importantly than that — other readers love to hear from you.
• COME BACK TOMORROW for Hero quizzes — plural.
• AND, TIVO A GREAT FILM: We’re recommending a PBS “POV” documentary Tuesday night, “9 Story Hotel,” and if you’re using a Tivo to record it — here’s the Web link to set your Tivo for “9 Story Hotel.” We’ll tell you more about the film on Tuesday.

SO, please — tell us what you think. Click on the “Comment” link below — or you can always Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm directly.

 
Once again, we’ve received so
many creative and helpful notes from readers this week that we’re going
to share some of your best comments and ideas … Today, it’s your
page! And, please, we love to hear from readers!

WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THIS BATMAN?

   “When are you going to see Batman?” I don’t know how many times I was asked this question by readers this week — in Emails and phone calls and even in casual conversations in coffee shops. The answer: immediately. Who could miss it?
   I caught Batman at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning in a suburban cineplex that overflowed beyond its own vast parking lots into nearby businesses. The film was shown in multiple theaters, nearly all of them sold out to thousands of teens and 20-somethings.
   And I can tell you this without spoiling any surprises: It is appropriately called “The Dark Knight” for scenes so horrifyingly suspenseful that no one so much as budged to refill popcorn for two and a half hours. Yes, there are spiritual issues raised in the drama — but the tale has too many disturbing twists to unpack easily. Not the least of the bizarre turns was watching the late Heath Ledger in grotesquely scarred makeup playing the Joker, appearing to re-emerge from the grave as a sociopath bent on unleashing anarchy in Gotham. He is such a creature of death, painted in a death’s mask of white and blood red that laughter was heard in the theater at some of the Joker’s most disturbing crimes more than a few times. That made the experience even eerier.
   I’ll be fascinated to see what readers tell us.

PERHAPS THIS DARK MIRROR REFLECTS OUR WORST DEMONS

We’ll be following reactions to “Batman” for at least a week or two — sprinkling updates from you into our occasional Reader Roundup stories, like today’s collection of items.
    But here’s another fascinating voice that just weighed in on Friday morning. New York Times readers got Manohla Dargis’ fascinating analysis of the film — right down to acknowledging the eerie laughter in theaters, although the review puts it this way: “Your nervous laughter will die in your throat.” Dargis calls the film: “Pitched at the divide between art and industry, poetry and entertainment, it goes darker and deeper than any Hollywood movie of its comic-book kind.”
    And here’s what’s especially intriguing about Dargis’ analysis: It suggests that this new dark-as-night tale is really a topsy-turvy mirror that asks us to confront our fascination with demons. Part of the discomfort in the pit of your stomach comes from the fact that you’ve paid money to watch this spectacle that director and co-author Christopher Nolan points out is intended to explore our addictions to violence.
    Dargis reminds us that we’re really in James Ellroy territory here with reminders of Ellroy’s most terrifying muse, the murdered Black Dahlia. (Ellroy is the novelist who explores America’s crimes and obsessions in the mid 20th Century so earnestly and honestly that you can’t stop reading his novels until you’re finished and, when you are, you need to rush out into sunlight and fresh air just to recover.)
    There’s so much in the film, Dargis argues, that’s poking sharp sticks into the shadowy corners of our 20th Century culture. The new Joker, Dargis writes, “Is just a clown painted on black velvet, but he’s also some kind of masterpiece.”

BUT THERE’S LIGHT HERE, TOO!

   No, all is not dark, even in Gotham. In his twisted tale, even Nolan drags us back into the light gasping for air after more than two hours.
    AND — I think there’s something very interesting unfolding this summer at the movies. I’m seeing it reflected in notes from readers — like an Email from Lou Wilson in Florida, who asked: “Remember back when we thought Batman was going to be the summer’s Holy Grail?”
   Here’s what Lou is talking about:
   Do you recall how the summer movie season started? Well, a couple of months ago (way back in the pre-“Iron Man” spring) a lot of readers were anticipating this weekend’s debut of, “The Dark Knight,” as the big opportunity for spiritual reflection in this summer season. Now, not only has “Iron Man,” which is closing in on $600 million in worldwide revenue this weekend, been a bigger source of spiritual buzz — but, most recently, there’s this lovable little robot we just can’t stop talking about who already has racked up more than $200 million in revenue in just a couple of weeks.

   Heck, on Monday we published photos and reflections from a spiritual pilgrimage by a group of college students and the final photo was pure “Waaaaaaall-Eeeeee.” If you missed it, go back and check out the photos.
   I’m sorry if the movie revenues don’t sound all that spiritual — but those dollars represent movie-going pilgrims. Remember “Speed Racer,” which opened about the same time as “Iron Man” and turned out to be as empty as the pop-bottle colors that blared from its animated race courses? As of this weekend, “Speed” hadn’t even hit the $100 million mark. No, most Americans thankfully don’t remember that film at all. They didn’t see it and don’t plan to race back.
   This is remarkable: I think there’s actually a relationship between the (broadly speaking) spiritual “heart” of movies this summer — and their success with viewers. Maybe I’m wrong.
   But Sue Shelton, a teacher from Chicago, emailed, “I’m usually good for one movie a season and I’ve seen three this summer because of your recommendations. … Wouldn’t have missed them for the world.” She had seen “Iron Man,” “Wall.E” and “Zohan.” She’ll probably catch “Batman” this weekend, she said. What a movie-saturated summer for Sue!
   Judge for yourself: As of the start of this weekend, here are the top 15 movies — in order of their year-to-date revenue in 2008 in the U.S., starting with No. 1 “Iron Man,” then “Indiana Jones,” “Kung Fu Panda,” “Hancock,” “Wall.E,” “Horton Hears a Who,” “Sex and the City,” “Narnia,” “Hulk,” “Wanted,” “Get Smart,” “Juno,” “Zohan,” “10000 B.C.” and “Bucket List.”
   I’ve seen all 15. With the exception of “Sex,” “Wanted” and “B.C.,” I can make a pretty good argument that there’s a pattern here demonstrating our desire for films with a spiritual soul to them. But, what do you think?
   And, this weekend, we’d especially love to hear what you see in the faces of Batman and the Joker.

THANKS FOR THIS CREATIVE SHOT FROM THE WEST COAST

    Here’s what’s so terrific about a creative community like ReadTheSpirit!
    Friday morning, as I was updating this story to add Manohla Dargis’ comments — Pastor Doug Bursch of Evergreen Church popped into my “inbox” from Auburn, Washington, with a link to a cool reflection on the summer’s films that he wrote recently. And what I love about Doug’s reflection is that he went in a fresh direction in pointing our eyes toward the light. Doug proposed some new superheroes that moviemakers ought to feature.
    I love this one, because it certainly nails me and my own Starbucks obsession. Doug says there should be a new: “Captain Starbucks. Saves the world with a shaky hand — at least the world within 60 feet of a Starbucks. His arch nemesis is a close friend who perpetually tries to convince him that his calling is a ruse to justify his caffeine addiction.”
     Take a look at Doug’s entire article — and, hey, this could be the thread of a new discussion:
    What new superheroes would you like to see?
    Or — think about this: If you suddenly became a super hero, what kind of super hero would you become?
    Note to small-group leaders in congregations, perhaps scrambling for a program for this weekend: There’s a good hour-long program in those 2 questions. Thanks Doug!!

AND SPEAKING OF MOVIE FACES …

   
Reader Kevin Gale is very involved in multimedia work at his church in Portage, Indiana. He produces video, online multimedia, writes fiction, modifies images for various church programs — and for his own personal projects. He’s been working on some “Loyal to the King” graphics that reference “Narnia” themes.
   Kevin’s church is a Pentecostal congregation. I’m suggesting you check out a link Kevin provided to a portion of his virtual studio, because this is a good example of the kind of grassroots work that’s spreading through congregations all around the world. I’ve seen amazing multimedia projects in southeast Asia this year related to various religious communities in Singapore particularly, but also in Thailand and Taiwan.
   Kevin is a good example of a creative, active layperson who is digging into this mix of media as ministry. Here’s a sample from an Email Kevin sent me, talking about his work:
   “All the Adobe products are extremely intuitive, and if you have the
mind for what’s happening, then you’re only limited by your creativity.
No doubt they are expensive, yet if you work in media — then they are
worth the investment. This is especially true with Adobe Photoshop,
which I seem to be using on a day in and day out basis. After you’ve
opened all your artwork, photography and imagery then you can get
right down to business. Particularly with Adobe Photoshop CS3, there are
a bunch of new features that streamline and really deliver on the
investment.”
   I’m sharing this example with you today — and thanking Kevin sincerely for his occasional notes to us — because this is the kind of grassroots creativity congregations can channel into ministry.

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AN ENDANGERED RELIGIOUS GROUP CELEBRATES THIS WEEK

   One of our popular features here at ReadTheSpirit is our Monday-morning Planner newsletter that we send out to start your week. It provides an overview of the spiritual milestones in the week ahead, including quite a diverse array of religious backgrounds.
   On Monday, our Planner included this item:
   This week, one of the world’s most-endangered faiths marks its New Year. These are the Mandaeans,
who now are among refugees from Iraq and it is unclear at the moment
where most of them have settled. At least a few thousand are in the
United States. Some fledgling Mandaean Web sites established just a few
years ago now are either down or are inactive.

   Well, early this week we heard from reader Cheryl Berzanskis, who wrote: “I am a feature writer for the Amarillo Globe-News and wrote
about the Mandaeans last year.”
   This is rare in American media — and, since a number of the blossoming Mandaean Web sites seem to be dormant, perhaps due to the refugee situation, it’s great to find journalists who are reporting on this group.
   In her Email, Cheryl said: “A couple hundred Mandaeans settled in Amarillo, Texas
under the auspices of Catholic Family Service and the Conference of Catholic
Bishops. Some have been here a few years, others brand new, still learning the
language and getting accustomed to new ways. Catholic Family Service has a very
busy refugee resettlement program.”
   I tracked down the current link to Cheryl’s story, because we got notes from a number of readers this week who had never heard of this religious group until they saw them mentioned in Monday’s Planner. Well, check out Cheryl’s story and you’ll learn more about this endangered religious group. Thanks Cheryl!

AND, THANKS to all the readers we’ve quoted today!

  If you didn’t see your comment or suggestion show up today — keep
reading, because we’ll have more news, reviews, quizzes and inspiring
interviews next week.

AND PLEASE, as these readers have done — Tell Us What You Think.
    There’s still time to sign up for our Monday morning ReadTheSpirit Planner by Email — it’s free and you can cancel it any time you’d like to do so.

    Not only do we welcome your notes, ideas, suggestions and personal
reflections — but our readers enjoy them as well. You can do this
anytime by clicking on the “Comment” links at the end of each story.
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