Life is like Coffee Movie. (click to watch the movie)
Do you know people that just seem to be happier in general? Do you say to yourself, "I want to be more like them"? Often, the happiest people in the world don’t have the best of everything...they just make the best of everything!
This is my niece, Turid, having a cup of coffee up in the mountains of Norway!
What just happened? What is the meaning of all this? One interfaith perspective on L O S T:
It's about letting go for one thing. If you watched the season finale of LOST on May 23, 2010, you may have noticed the multi-faith symbols embedded in the stained glass windows of the church, or sanctuary if you prefer, shown in plain view near the end of the program. I saw all the characters on Lost as the human race, people from different parts of the world, people with different views of the world, fighting with each other; but discovering they shared something deeper than what apparently divides them (borders and religion to name just two). Overcome at times by their hatred (the smoke monster represents hatred - which we sometimes manifest literally as destructive bombs, the results of our ego-emotions), they agreed to create this meeting place - this interfaith/multi-faith church/sanctuary - they knew they were different, but they also knew they were one - so they could remember the love and caring they shared, and then move on - into the white light where Jack's father went.
The interfaith symbols in the final LOST episode were put there to show us that God is not a Christian. God is God. God loves and accepts people of all faiths. The show tried to portray, I think, that all we need is a little faith. A little faith in God, and a little faith in each other. While it's not real, there are many stories and metaphors, much like the Bible and other sacred scriptures, that were used to try to explain the human condition.
Ben, the one who chose not to enter the sanctuary was probably planning to go back to the island to be in charge, something I think he'd been coveting for quite some time. His faith wasn't quite there yet. There's always one hold-out, isn't there? True in television - have to leave room for another series or movie; and true in life - some people want to hold on to their way of viewing the world - black & white - good & evil - right & wrong - love & war. This sort of ruins it for everyone else, doesn't it? Ah, but we are everyone else - we haven't moved on, have we?
This perspective will obviously fall short in covering all the bases, and it's just one perspective, but it's what I see. As founder of Interfaith Spirit Quest, I am totally thrilled with the ending, for I believe there are genuine, pursuit worthy core values in the great religions of the world, and that if we can incorporate these values into our collective way of thinking, we will make a difference - and we will begin to see less of differences in each other.
What do you think? Some questions to think about:
The 99 is a new superhero comic book with a Muslim twist and an interfaith, unifying goal. Created by Naif al-Mutawa, a funny Kuwaiti
psychologist with multiple degrees from American universities who says "Muslims need new heroes". See Naif al-Mutawa's intro video (#1) and The 99 preview trailer (#2) below. Very encouraging - great animation. Apparently even Superman is on board with this one. The two images are a couple of the characters from the comic, Rughal and Widad. Click on the images for more information about the characters. Heads up to Samir
Selmanovich, Founder of FaithHouse
Manhattan, for sharing this news.
Video #1: Intro by The 99's creator, Naif al-Mutawa
Video #2: Trailer - preview of The 99
From a review article at Interfaithing: Although The 99 was inspired by Islam and has an Islamic context,
religion is not the focus of the comic book. What Naif al-Mutawa and
his team are trying to communicate through the series are universal
values and morals that are found in Islam, as well as many other
religions and within humanity itself. In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Naif al-Mutawa explains
that the comic book is supposed to be for everyone, regardless of his or
her faith. "I told my animation writers that it is only when Jewish
kids think that the heroes are Jewish and Buddhist kids think they are
Buddhist and Christians think they are Christian and so on and so forth
that I will have achieved what I am trying to achieve."
Download a PDF copy of the first 99 Comic - Free Comic Book: The 99 - Origins
The 99 - Website
Spiritual Movie Recommendation: You'll sympathize, you'll empathize, you'll laugh and cry, and you will be moved.
When Madea (Tyler Perry) catches sixteen-year-old Jennifer and her two younger brothers looting her home, she decides to take matters into her own hands and delivers the young delinquents to the only relative they have: their aunt April. A heavy-drinking nightclub singer who lives off of Raymond, her married boyfriend, April wants nothing to do with the kids. But her attitude begins to change when Sandino, a handsome Mexican immigrant looking for work, moves into April's basement room. Making amends for his own troubled past, Sandino challenges April to open her heart. And April soon realizes she must make the biggest choice of her life: between her old ways with Raymond and the new possibilities of family, faith ... and even true love.
New DVD release:
Buy it now:
Mixing comedy and religion - is that OK? How about if you add some thick
Southern accents and a refrigerator?
Remember a while back when someone on eBay was selling a piece of Toast that appeared to have the image of the Virgin Mary burned into it? Or copycat toast-makers who claimed to have toasty images of the Last Supper and Elvis? They went too far with that Elvis thing.
But anyway, now we have the theater department at Jackson Community College of Jackson, Michigan presenting a play entitled "Messiah on the Frigidaire".
A small South Carolina town is thrust into the national spotlight when what seems to be the image of Jesus appears on a refrigerator in a trailer park. The comedy and drama that follows provides the storyline for Jackson Community College’s production of “Messiah on the Frigidaire" by John Culbertson, being presented the last two weekends of October.
The discovery of the image by Lou Ann Hightower, her husband Dwayne, and her best friend Betsy, sets into motion a frenzy of conflict, communion and good old fashioned commerce. When the National Investigator turns the appearance into front-page headlines, their trailer park becomes a mecca for miracle seekers, soul searchers and disciples with a decidedly political agenda. At the urging of the town’s business leaders, Betsy pretends to get messages from the appliance-based apparition, and the crowds multiply like loaves and fishes. Through the ordeal, the three undergo an evolution in their relationships with each other, and they are forced to come to grips with their lowly status in the caste system of the rural south. In a region where religion is as much a part of life as grits and cotton fields, God surely moves in mysterious ways. ....see full Press Release here
From a local news story:
For the cast, half the fun of the show has been speaking in a Southern drawl and learning to pronounce "police" as "PO-leece," but they also like that there's more to it than jokes about trailer parks.
"It makes you think after you're done watching it, it really does," said Jimi Bommarito, who plays city Councilman Larry Williamson.
Well that's good, I'm glad to see there's a method to their madness, a moral to the story. It sounds funny - if you're lucky enough to be near Jackson, MI (which I'm not), y'all check it out and then y'all come back now and tell us all about it, ya hear? Speaking of refrigerators, I think I need to see what's in or on mine.....oh my goodness, it's Elvis! Now I'm all shook up.
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