Reel Spirituality

The show goes through great lengths to keep you from expecting anything good to happen, so when it does there is a very real sense of joy involved – at least for me. This episode finally gives us such a victory, and our heroes exult in their accomplishment. As the music swells, it’s hard not to feel that joy…

Do any of us fully understand God’s plan for our lives? Is there such a thing? Is it general or specific? By that I mean does it include my every step or just the direction I’m going? Leoben, a captured Cylon prisoner, offers his answers to these very questions.

I can’t help but think about Baltar in this episode as a version of Job – a man who once had everything and who finds himself in danger of losing it all. Of course, the difference between Baltar and Job is that Baltar is actually guilty of treason (even if it’s not the particular charge that has been brought to the Commander’s attention).

But let us forget about terrorists and communists for the moment and look at this issue from the lens of a pilgrim people who place their identity and faith in the personage of Jesus Christ and the community of fellow believers. Can the Church function properly if we are constantly trying to separate our enemies from our allies?

As I watched these two characters torn apart by the past, I couldn’t help but think about the necessity of the Church to confess our sins to one another, especially when those sins affect others…

In examining this episode for what it has to say to a pilgrim people seeking a new home, I think we have to ask ourselves what this new home looks like and how we envision people being treated in it – especially the people that the society we come from would consider to be of lowly status or perhaps even dangerous…

Exhaustion makes us vulnerable. Dr. Baltar begins muttering to himself (or his invisible Cylon friend) about the very real limits that every human has. Listening to him talk about these limits, I couldn’t help but think about the way that I am subject to the very same weaknesses. I, too, can become as weary and frazzled as the crew of the Galactica. And so can you.

I’m a part of the protestant tradition, which holds to the idea that there is no singular human leader who is in charge of the church on this earth. This gets especially complicated. Different voices say, “Fight against culture,” others say, “Hide from it,” still some say, “Dialogue with it,” and even a few insist that we should surrender to it. What voice should we listen to?

Until recently, I’ve been a little intimidated to tackle this show, afraid that I wouldn’t be able to do it justice, since this particular show is rather loaded with ideas of what happens when we play God, the inclination of creatures to rebel against their creator, or even the show’s blatant dialogue about polytheism vs. monotheism. However, none of these motifs will be my primary focus…

I’m a part of the protestant tradition, which holds to the idea that there is no singular human leader who is in charge of the church on this earth. This gets especially complicated. Different voices say, “Fight against culture,” others say, “Hide from it,” still some say, “Dialogue with it,” and even a few insist that we should surrender to it. What voice should we listen to?

The biggest impact of the movement was in the spirit of what they represented – a challenge to the status quo, a wake-up call to look at the world differently. That challenge is available to all, not just African Americans looking to reverse stereotypes…

Guest host Richard Goodwin and Reel Spirituality Co-Director Elijah Davidson discuss the 1921 horror classic The Phantom Carriage.

Until recently, I’ve been a little intimidated to tackle this show, afraid that I wouldn’t be able to do it justice, since this particular show is rather loaded with ideas of what happens when we play God, the inclination of creatures to rebel against their creator, or even the show’s blatant dialogue about polytheism vs. monotheism. However, none of these motifs will be my primary focus…

Beasts raises two very powerful questions: “How will I be sure that the agency with which I join my life is an ethical agency?” and, “Is adoption the form of help that this family needs right now, or would family maintenance or financial support be more in line with what they need?”

After I returned from Sundance Film Festival this year, a friend asked me what it is about the festival that draws me in. She was expecting me to say something about seeing celebrities or watching movies before anyone else gets to, but as I thought for a moment, something far more narcissistic, self-centered, and important to me came to mind: Pilgrimage…

It is not usual to have Catholic characters and themes in British films. However, they are a staple of adaptations of Graham Greene novels. There is no shirking of them here…