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There are moments when I’m reading and one particular word or phrase will cause me to pause. Where my mind wanders from there will likely have nothing to do with the context in which I read the word in the first place, but it sends me on a journey of thought nonetheless.
I was just reading an article called, “The Changing Chaplaincy” from the October edition of University Business. While quoting Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen, the writer, Ron Schachter, tells us that they “authored The American University in the Postsecular Age.”
Pause.
Rewind.
Postsecular Age.
Pause.
Rewind.
Postsecular Age?
I guess for us religious folk, this is a good thing to know. We have now moved into the postsecular age. Whatever that means.
Perhaps it means that just as we saw more talk of religious views during the most recent presidential election, it is no longer bad form to discuss our religious views in secular circles.
Bill Maher comes to mind as I continue to pause, rewind, and ponder “postsecular age.” Maher’s recent documentary Religulous may very well be his reaction to our moving into a more religious world rather than evidence that we are moving away from religion.
I should be clear. I have not yet seen the movie. This is not because of any moral reasoning, but only because I NEVER GET TO GO TO THE MOVIES ANYMORE. That is a frustration of parenthood that I will leave for another post. When my Netflix list works down to it, I will watch Maher’s critique of all things religious. Being a huge fan of Politically Incorrect and his HBO show, I know enough about Maher’s views to have a sense of the points made in the film. Heck, the title says it all!
So, if scholars are right and we are moving into (or have already arrived) in the postsecular age, will we begin to hear more and more from our atheist brothers and sisters as a natural reaction? And, more importantly for me, will this mean that those on the religious right (really far right), will be quiet? That really would be a new age.
And, that brings another phrase to my mind.
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”
Just got in from watching the movie, “Mama Mia!” What incredible fun it was. Meryl Streep once again proves why she is the most talented actress in Hollywood. There are lots of things I could say about the movie – how the music is so much fun that it is impossible to sit still, how the scenery of a Greek Isle was soothing to look at, how hilarious it was to see the chorus pop up from all kinds of places singing and dancing – but the one thing that impressed me most was that three older women and three older men had so much face (and butt) time on the big screen.
Oh, it is still a Hollywood movie. There were plenty of beautiful people (insert Cosmo’s version of beauty here). And, of course, the three older men and women weren’t fat slobs either. But they did at least seem real.
Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, and Stellan Skarsgard opposite Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep, and Julie Walters brought a refreshing dose of vitality that has depth no twenty year old can pull off. I’ve mentioned the “butt” above and I know this will sound incredibly weird. As the credits rolled, I watched Meryl Streep singing Dancing Queen wearing mile high glittering boots. She made this one turn and shook her booty at us in the theatre. All I could think was, “Wow, that butt is pretty big. (Not compared to mine! But, compared to what we usually see on film.) Isn’t it wonderful to see such a beautiful thing in a movie?!”
Okay, I told you that it was going to sound weird, but isn’t it about time we started appreciating the reality of beauty rather than some airbrushed version that some advertising executive tells us we must strive for? In fact, Christine Baranski plays a woman who had had plastic surgery and spends thousands of dollars on beauty products and she looked the worst of any of them (still looking good, but not as good as Meryl or even “the dumpy one,” Julie Walters). Could it be that the makers of this film were trying to tell us something?
What about you? We talk the talk. It is fashionable these days to say that we don’t care about fashion. It is beautiful these days to say that we don’t care if we don’t match the faces and bodies we see on the billboards we pass on our way to work. But, do we really believe it? Do we really see the beautiful creation that God sees? I am created in the image of God. For one, that means that I am beautiful – regardless of height or weight or wrinkles. But, for another thing, it means that I am creative. That leads me back to the fact that God is creative. When we try to narrow down what beauty means, we are attempting to limit a God that is limitless.
Meryl Streep has a big butt. I, for one, find that to be a beautiful thing.
