My wee fam is away for a couple of days, so I'm enjoying a bit of my favourite pastime: reading good stuff, listening to good stuff, and watching weird artsy movies I don't usually get away with when the man is home. Here's just a few of my weekend tidbits:

READING:

The Slow & Inefficient Work of God, by Anne Jackson (via Relevant)
This article is a beautiful and poignant reflection on the slow, hard, gracious work of God in our hearts and lives:

He illustrated it with waves of the ocean, moment by moment moving in from the vast sea to land. In one wave, this motion does nothing. But slowly and inefficiently, whatever is in the ocean’s way becomes worn smooth... 

I thought about the pew in front of me, worn and glassy from those who had rubbed past the gloss, through the stain, and worn the wood down to satin in their desperate fingers.

The slow and inefficient work of God.

LISTENING TO:

The Jesus Record, by Rich Mullins

When I need spiritual recalibration and some good Jesus music, I listen to Rich Mullins. He was killed in a car accident 15 years ago this month, an event I remember vividly even though I was just discovering his music. This record features original demos and some of my favourite lyrics: 

See the scars and touch His wounds
He's risen flesh and bone
Now the sinners have become the saints
And the lost have all come home

WATCHING:

The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick

Um, wow. Just wow. I think I get it... maybe. A quote from Job brilliantly sets up the movie, perfectly illustrating the majestic duality of nature and grace as displayed in God's creation. Yeah. I don't know. But I think we are the dinosaurs and heaven is an unending, undulating ocean. Right? Maybe? 

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?...When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 

Job 38:4,7

What do you indulge in on a quiet weekend? Have you seen The Tree of Life? Can you tell me what it's about?

what I read this week

Spent an inordinate amount of time this week catching up on blogs, film and book reviews, and other pop culture things. A wee list of the good stuff:

Her.meneutics : Why 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' hurts women (a misnomer of a title, but an interesting discussion)

I’m not saying Salander (or the book or the movie) should be boycotted, rallied against, or tarred and feathered. As Christians, we too often fall into the twin traps of demonization or idolization.

Books & Culture : Talking about REAL marriage

Men are to be tough in business (there will be no questioning of American economic norms in this book) and tender with women and children, who are weak. Wives are "crystal goblets," beautiful and fragile; men are "thermoses," strong and protective.

Emerging Mummy : In which [love looks like] a real marriage

You follow when I step out to a new place and I know when to slide into your new turn as a shadow and you lead us both through but usually, it's just us...

Urban Faith : Forgiving Kim Jong-Il

When we asked him why he prayed in this particular way, he replied, “He’s a bad, bad man. I don’t love him. I hate him.”

Tall Skinny Kiwi : 9 reasons NOT to plant a church in 2012

The people most likely to join a new church plant are usually those with some kind of church background - the de-churched, pre-churched, ex-churched, which means ignoring really lost people and duplicating the ministries of existing churches.

(in)courage : Goals make us available, not perfect

But practical goals should never be the measuring stick that determines our worth.

Her.meneutics : Grieving a lost child

It connected us a thousand years into our past and a thousand years into our future, like a blueprint for a person—one who will never be repeated, never recreated.