Christ Haunted

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before in my blog posts, but I host a book club at BookPeople on the last Monday of every month.

I mention this for a couple of reasons. First, to invite any of you Austinites who have ever wanted to be a part of an interesting and diverse book club group to come and join this one. We've gone from Phillip Roth to Cormac McCarthy to Margaret Atwood to Simon Winchester. It's always a ton of fun, some of the most fascinating conversation I have in any given month.

Secondly, because the topic of this last month's discussion is the basis for this blog.

Our selection for May was Flannery O'Connor's Wiseblood. It is a favorite of mine, one I've probably read 10 times, at least. O'Connor was almost as devout a southerner as she was a Christian and this combination made for some of the richest writing to come out of America in the 20th century.

Wiseblood's main character is a young man named Hazel Motes, who has decided to renounce his Christian upbringing and form the Church Without Christ. Motes is not simply an atheist, but one who stands in direct opposition to Christ, who believes the dead ought to stay dead, and resents this One who haunts and hunts him.

It is this "Jesus as stalker" that sparked most of the discussion at our book club. One of the members asked "How is it that an author who believes in a loving God would paint Him as such a predator?"

An excellent question. I guess it depends upon what your idea of love is. For O'Connor, the love of God isn't some weak and permissive thing, it is the love of one who will not give up His beloved without a fight.

In the hopes of offering up a helpful analogy, I described what my reaction would be if my wife tried to leave me. How I would hound her and pursue her and set up camp outside wherever she was staying. Unfortunately, I think I only succeeded in convincing my book club that I am a crazed lunatic and possessive husband.

What I meant to show was just how intense Christ's love for us is. As singer/songwriter Derek Webb once wrote of Jesus "some things I love easy, and some I love to death." O'Connor's description of the book and of Motes as "Christ-haunted" is apt.

It certainly isn't as pleasant a picture as the one we are often tempted to paint. The idea of God that most people prefer is one who expects nothing and allows for anything, when who reveals Himself to be is quite different. While we want a God who desires nothing from us but refuses to let us go, who we get is just the opposite. Christ does whatever he can to get us back, even if it means his own death, but he won't force us into following him against our will. He may hound us, but he will give us up if that is what we choose.

But not without a fight. He will throw those people and circumstances into our lives that scream out his presence, hoping that we won't deny it. He will get in our way and even cause us pain, if he knows it is what is best for us. He will die a humiliating death, if that's what it takes to save us.

That's what a loving God will do. Then the question becomes for us what it was for Hazel Motes, what will we do in return?

WWJK?

I have struggled for years with my stance on pacifism and whether it was practical or even Biblical, but I keep coming back to the fact that Jesus and his followers have plenty of reason to kill those who are out to kill them, and don't. Derek Webb (as he so often does) puts my thoughts into words better than I have been able to, on a track from his newest album that makes a case for pacifism. The final line says it all:

this may not work and I don’t guarantee that it will
but I’ve got no choice unless you tell me who Jesus would kill

Yeah. What he said.

Reading and Listening

Reading...

Yellow Jack by Josh Russell. A disturbing combination of Nabakov and Poe, Russell explores the seedy underbelly of New Orleans in the 1800s. Very well written.

Hobo by Eddy Joe Cotton. An autobiographical account of riding the rails from a Gen X hobo. Very funny and sad and raw and real.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. A first time read for me, and our selection for book club in June. Intensely well written. I can't seem to put it down. For fans of George Orwell. Not for fans of the Moral Majority.

Jim & Casper Go To Church by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper. Pastor Jim Henderson and his atheist friend, Matt Casper, visit churches together and discuss where these churches are succeeding or failing at being true representatives of the Body of Christ. Very readable. Lots of fun. Incredibly insightful.


Listening to...

So Real by Jeff Buckley. I'm not usually a fan of greatest hits collections, but this one succeeds on two counts. 1) Buckley didn't have much of a catalogue to work with, so trying to span an entire career wasn't as difficult. 2) Some version of every track of his defining work, Grace, is featured on this collection. Unless you simply must own every song Buckley ever recorded, this really should be enough.

Ships by Danielson. Daniel Smith's solo recording persona pulls off his best work to date. Joyful and strange, Spirited and jarring. Smith's work as Danielson, Brother Danielson, or with The Danielson Famile is always uplifting and rewarding. I can't stop listening to track four "Did I Step On Your Trumpet?"

All This Could Kill You by Ben + Vesper. Recorded under Daniel Smith's Sounds Familyre label, Ben + Vesper are just as whimsical, but calmer and drier. The vocal stylings of early Leonard Cohen or Nick Drake.

Strange Weirdos by Loudon Wainwright III. Songs contributed to, created for, or inspired by the Judd Apatow film Knocked Up. That may not be a big sell for all of you, but this works the same way that Aimee Mann and PT Anderson did on Magnolia. Even if you didn't enjoy the film, the songs stand alone as career highlights.

Sky Blue Sky by Wilco. You can't visit my house without being made to listen to, at least, one track from this album. I was initially unimpressed with the pre-release copy I received, but this album is fantastic. An incredible mix of influences ranging from Steely Dan to Television. "Impossible Germany" may become my favorite Wilco song ever, and this album is certainly in the running for one of my favorites of their career.

5 Months/Top 5

So, we're almost half way through 2007, and there have already been some serious contenders for album of the year. With excellent releases by Wilco, The Shins, Bill Callahan, Rosie Thomas, Half-Handed Cloud, Andrew Bird, Bright Eyes, Ted Leo, and The Apples In Stereo; it has already been an incredible year for music. However, if I had to pick half of my top 10 contenders for the first half of 2007, I'd pick...

5. Elliott Smith/New Moon. Had this collection of rarities and covers been released as two posthumous solo discs, they'd have been two of the best of his career. Nothing about this collection feels scattered. The brilliance isn't simply in the song, but in the way they hang together as a collection of songs.

4. The Good, The Bad, and The Queen/The Good, The Bad, and The Queen. This eponymous debut is a joining together of artists from Blur, The Clash, Africa 70 and more and is produced by Danger Mouse. It is as amazing a collaboration as you would expect. As brilliant as anything Damon Albarn has ever been a part of.

3. The Arcade Fire/Neon Bible. It was going to take a lot to top their debut, Funeral, and I'm not sure I could say they did. However, the fact that I'm also not sure they didn't should tell you something. It manages to be all you would hope for from The Arcade Fire without just being more of the same.

2. Ola Podrida/Ola Podrida. This band should tour with the Undertow Orchestra. They remind me of American Music Club, Pedro the Lion, and Will Johnson. The guitar hints at Iron & Wine or Sufjan Stevens, the musicality and vocals of Will Oldham. I'm forced to name drop other bands and artists, simply because I can't seem to nail these guys down. It's what happens when folksy hangs out at the bar too long, but in a good way.

1. Rock Plaza Central/Are We Not Horses? The most obvious comparison is to Neutral Milk Hotel, followed closely by Palace Music. Again, both comparisons fail to capture the full spirit of this band. The album is high concept and strange, the songs move from folksy to epic, the overall feel is of train whistles and tent revivals.

Craziness and Catching Up

Mark the last two weeks as two of the most trying of the past two years. Really and truly. I have been a wreck. If ever anyone needed a vacation, it is Rachel and I. Those of you who pray, we'd certainly appreciate the prayers.


But things are looking up and I am catching up. This post will serve as my Reading and Listening for this week.

Reading...

Dead Souls by Gogol. Still amazing.

Yellow Jack by Josh Russell. Caleb Carr meets Flannery O'Connor meets Poe and Nabakov. How's that for intriguing. A fine piece of historical fiction, centered on New Orleans in the 1800s.

Hobo by Eddie Joe Cotton. The memoir of an honest to goodness real life 21st century hobo. Up there with You Can't Win by Jack Black (the rail rider, not the actor).

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Unreal. Unnerving. Unapologetic.


Listening to...

Today! by Mississippi John Hurt. This was a good week for the blues.

New Moon by Elliott Smith. A 2 disc collection of rarities that could easily have been released as two separate and complete posthumous albums.

"What In The Hell Are You Doing?"

That's the question that "Man In Bathroom" asks in the Jim Carrey flick, "Liar, Liar". It's his only line, and he asks it in response to watching Jim Carrey's character beat himself up in a public restroom.

When Carrey does it, it's amusing, but when the church does it, it just looks stupid.

Right before he was arrested, Jesus took time to pray for those who would become the church. He prayed that "they may all be one." He prayed for unity among them, for love among them "so that the world may believe". Jesus prays that his people, his followers, his church, those that he would call his body, would be unified, as an example of Jesus unity with God and with us.

So, when we are not, when we fight among ourselves, when we preach love and hate the guy that shares the pew with us, the world looks on in horror.

Like "Man In Bathroom". And their question is the same; "what in the hell are you doing?" Because it looks like hell. Because it is.

As followers of Jesus, we aren't commanded to look alike, dress alike, or even always think alike or act alike. But we are called to agree and disagree in love, as brothers and sisters. They will know we are Christians by our love. They will know Jesus is real, because his body will testify to that fact. But the body can't be Christ revealed unless it honors Christ as the head. Unless it behaves as he would behave and functions in sync with his will. We can only be pictures of Jesus when we live as he lived. Then we can bring a glimpse of heaven on earth, instead of a glimpse of hell.

Reading and Listening

Reading...

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. Excellent book. Broken up as short vinettes about various people living in the same small town. The characters are richly colored, even as they are simply drawn. They are grotesque, even as they are banal and benign and brave. They are us.

Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. This month's BookPeople book club pick and one of my favorite novels of the 20th century. Speaking of grotesque. O'Connor writes freaks from a foundation of faith, and treats them with the humor, love, and frankness they deserve.

No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke. A book by a seasoned church planter, living here in Austin. It's nice to learn from someone who has been there.

Tomorrow by Graham Swift. Isn't out in stores yet. Not as good as Waterland (his best) or Last Orders, but better than all the rest. Start here and you won't be disappointed, and you'll still have someplace else to go. Written as a letter from a mother to her children, revealing to them a 16 year family secret. Swift does family secrets better than anyone writing today.


Listening to...

Preludes by Warren Zevon. Posthumous release of unreleased material. Includes recorded interviews by Austin's own Jody Denberg. A must for any Zevon fan.

North Pole by The Primary 5. Teenage Fanclub's drummer's own pet project. Imagine Fanclub if they had listened to less Big Star and more Byrds. Pure pop. Great stuff.

There's No Home by Jana Hunter. Jolie Holland doing freak folk instead of straight folk/blues. If Jolie Holland was a man.

Still wearing out Rock Plaza Central. I really can't say enough about it. If you love Will Oldham and Neutral Milk Hotel and still don't own this...well, shame on you.