AM Leibowitz, Author at A.M. Leibowitz

Falling in Love with a Muppet

As 2011 winds down, and with it my vacation, I’m just relaxing and enjoying being with my family. We had a fantastic time away, and now we’re settling back in at home.

This week, we traveled to see family. We took the kids places, visited with friends, and went to the movies. While it may not sound like a big deal, it is for us. Going to see a film first-run is low on our list of priorities, so we don’t do it often. This time, we went with my in-laws to see The Muppets.

One thing you should know about me is that as a child, I had a massive, consuming crush on Kermit the Frog. I’m sure I didn’t see it exactly that way (I wasn’t plotting to run away so I could marry him), but that’s what it amounts to. I used to watch Sesame Street just for Kermit’s segments. I cried when the original Muppet Show ended and demanded to know what sort of horrible people would take it off the air. I think I watched The Muppet Movie almost enough times to recite the dialogue in its entirety.

By the time Jim Henson died, I had figured out that Kermit wasn’t real. But Henson himself was very real, and I remember feeling for the first time that the world had lost someone important—that nothing would ever be the same again. I remember being utterly, completely crushed.

Over the years, there have been some pretty good movies featuring Muppets. Muppet Christmas Carol is on my yearly must-watch list, of course. And the other movies haven’t been too bad. Not fabulous, but not bad. Going to see The Muppets this time around, I didn’t hold out much hope that it would be different. I figured it would be another cute outing with our loveable pals, and that the kids would have a good time.

I was wrong.

Nope, not for the reason you might be thinking.

As I sat there watching, I remembered everything I had ever loved about the Muppets. Funny, witty, just a touch of pique. Somehow, even with most of the original Muppet performers absent, they nailed it. My sister had said that she lost it when they sang “Rainbow Connection,” and after sitting through it myself, I understood why. It’s not that it was a sappy or sentimental movie or even moment. It’s not just because the song itself makes me teary. It’s because the movie was a celebration of all things Muppet. It honored all the things we grew up loving, somehow without being cheesy or coming off like a bad Academy Awards look-back. And there was just enough silly fun to keep our kids entertained so that we adults could relive our childhoods.

Kudos to Jason Segel (who is, ironically, too young to have appreciate the original Muppets first-run) for a top-notch script and for bringing back our favorite friends. If you haven’t yet seen this gem of a movie, be sure to go; it’s worth every penny. Oh, and bring some tissues with you. As for me, my husband may have some frog-shaped competition. (Just kidding, dear!)

Who Does Jesus Love?

Faith and Spirituality, Life, Religion

Sometimes, I think this is the refrain we secretly mean when we talk about God’s love:

Jesus tolerates the children
Some of the children of the world
If they’re straight and if they’re white,
If their religion is just right
Jesus tolerates the children of the world

We don’t get to decide which people God loves. We don’t even get to decide which ones He likes. It’s not up to us to figure out who is or isn’t saved, or remind anyone what will happen to them if they’re not. We don’t need to qualify that with statements like, “Maybe he had a deathbed conversion” in order to spare our friends (and ourselves) from facing what we’ve claimed as truth. We don’t need to accuse others of causing their brothers and sisters to sin just because we don’t agree with them.

We are sorely in need of a much more generous way of practicing our faith. We need to be able to come to the table with people who are not like ourselves. We need to let them have voices. And that includes those of us who fall closer to the “liberal” or “progressive” end. We need to be prepared for Christian brothers and sisters who have not, and likely will not, embrace what we have.

This is hard for me to remember. Although I lean toward being more progressive, I’m certainly not as liberal as many people I know. It’s hard not to think they’ve taken things too far. On the other hand, it’s hard not to be frustrated with those who are more conservative, believing they haven’t moved past spiritual childhood. I have to be very cautious to rein it in when spending time together that I don’t let myself look down on anyone who isn’t…well, me.

And isn’t that the problem for all of us, even outside matters of faith? We’re so quick to judge others for their taste in music, clothes, food, books, and so on, even when it has no deep spiritual or practical implications. We believe ourselves to have the market on what’s right or good.

I’m ready to work on moving beyond that as we enter a new year. How about you?

An Unconventional Faith

Books, Emergent Thought

I’m resuming my current series of posts on challenging our thinking. This time, I’m presenting you with some folks who hold a view of faith that falls outside of traditional, conservative Christianity.

First up, and rather fitting, is Phyllis Tickle. I was first introduced to this new way of being Christian through her book The Great Emergence. It’s a fairly short work, and a quick read, but powerful in its message. Tickle describes the major periods of church history and the birth pains of each new movement that rocked the church. She declares us ready for another shift in our thinking, a new way of understanding and practicing our faith. One of the most helpful parts of the book is the graph highlighting the differences between orthodoxy (“right belief,” adherence to doctrine) and orthopraxy (“right practice,” emphasis on action). She explains the differences among Liturgical, Social Justice, Renewalist, and Conservative Christians. I had never understood what was actually behind some of the arguments among denominations, and this helped clarify. If you read one book to expand your thinking about the church this year, this is the one I recommend.

Second, in The Great Emergence, Tickle mentions several other voices of Emergent Christianity. One of those is Brian McLaren. I couldn’t possibly do him justice in this one blog post. For many years, he’s worked tirelessly to help us understand our faith in a new light. He’s taken us into his own journey of deconstruction, discovery, and growth. If you’re not quite ready to embrace emergent thought, then start with his 2011 book, Naked Spirituality. He offers very little of his most controversial ideas, instead focusing on the journey itself. When you’re ready, move on to A New Kind of Christian and its sequels. McLaren uses storytelling to convey the process of a maturing and expanding faith. If you’re ambitious, read as many of McLaren’s books as you can get your hands on. Those will be hours well spent.

In all of this, keep an open mind. I don’t mean in the sense that you are willing to embrace absolutely anything without discretion. I mean, try to read without judgment. Rather than jumping to the conclusion that emergent thinkers are “leading the flock” astray, remember that we are all on an expedition to understand God, faith, the Bible, and the message of Jesus.

Happy reading!

Confession Time

Odds 'n' Ends, Writing

It’s Monday Confession Time, so here it is: I am a fan fiction junkie. I know, I know, you don’t have to say it. But here’s the thing. I like the original works, but fanfic is fun because it takes you places the author never did. Minor characters get their own storylines, or you can re-write canon (original work) history. Now, I don’t write it myself, mind you. I just like to read what pops into the heads of other writers.

While there’s good stuff to be found in all sorts of fandom, I have a strong preference for Harry Potter fanfic. I particularly like ones with the tag EWE (Epilogue? What epilogue?). Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for fairy tale endings. And I recognize that after seven books of fighting evil, the characters all deserve some happiness. But I believe that epilogue is one of the cheesiest bits of writing I’ve ever read. I mean, poor Harry—by the end of the series, he’s seen every single adult who ever cared about him, save Ron’s parents, die a rather horrible death. Wouldn’t that mess a guy up quite a bit? He just seems too…I don’t know, well-adjusted. Of course, that hidden angst might be why his wife lets him name all their kids. Shouldn’t she have been allowed to name at least ONE of them? I’m imagining the convo going something like this:

After baby #1

Healer: Congratulations! It’s a boy!
Harry: I want to name him after my dead father and dead godfather.
Ginny: That’s beautiful. Sure.

After Baby #2

Healer: Congratulations! It’s another boy!
Harry: I want to name this one after two dead Hogwarts headmasters.
Ginny (warily): Which two?
Harry: Let’s call him Albus Severus.
Ginny: Albus I get, but do you really want to name him after Snape? We hated him!
Harry: He was really brave.
Ginny: But…seriously…Snape??
Harry: Angst, remember?
Ginny (grumbling): Fine.

After baby #3

Healer: Congratulations! It’s a girl this time!
Harry: I want to name her after my dead mother and…
Ginny: No freakin’ way. I get to name this one.
Harry: Fine. You pick the middle name.
Ginny: No! I want to name her after my dear friend Luna.
Harry: Why?
Ginny (muttering): It’s better than Albus Severus.
Harry: What’s that, dear?
Ginny: Nothing. Never mind. So can we call her Luna?
Harry: Angst!
Ginny: Fine. We’ll name her after your stupid dead mother.
Harry: We can keep Luna as her middle name. It has a nice ring to it. Kind of like her namesake.
Ginny: Wow, that’s so generous of you.

Okay, so I’ve strayed pretty far from my original point, which is that in fanfic, the writer can eliminate the epilogue, or pair off different characters, or end up with Harry and Malfoy as friends (Redeemed!Draco fics are my favorite). Or one can even have crossover from one world to another. I read a very well-done crossover between Harry Potter and Twilight. It was canon-compliant for both universes and fit both timelines. In it, Edward ends up in London (can’t remember how the writer explained it, but it made sense). He runs afoul of Harry and Ginny, who recognize him for what he is and wonder why he isn’t in the vampires-only section. It’s marvelously written and good fun, and the characters remain true to themselves. (Of course, along with that, you have to take the really weird. I saw one fic that had Gay!Harry paired with—wait for it—Jacob Black. Yeah. I didn’t read that one. The plot synopsis alone was squicky enough to make me want to Lysol my eyeballs.)

Anyway, if you like to write, try your hand at fanfic. Trust me, someone will read it. Heck, it will probably be me.

Happy Holidays, from Our Family to Yours

Family, Life, Odds 'n' Ends

We didn’t send out Christmas cards this year. With new responsibilities for many of us, it wasn’t high priority. I suppose that has a lot to do with being able to keep in touch with people all year. It used to be that the only time we heard from some of our friends was at Christmas time, via newsletters and cards. Now, we chat, message each other, and share the events of our lives (and the mundane details, too). It hardly seems necessary to pass on holiday greetings through the mail when we can share it in real time online. While some may lament this as the passing of an era, I celebrate it. How wonderful that we can come together like this!

That said, I’m saving paper this year. I’m offering my holiday greetings in this blog post. I don’t need to share what’s happened in our lives over the last year, most of you have seen it unfold online. You’ve seen my status updates, tweets, and blog posts. Besides, it’s been a relatively uneventful year for us. Small changes, not big ones. We continue to feel the love and blessings of friendship and kinship and we are thankful that you are all part of that.

For all our wonderful family and friends, we wish you the happiest of holidays in your many different traditions. May your new year be full of promise and hope.

Much love,

The Mitchells

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDGf2Hs05R4&w=420&h=315]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv9uRFvvn-Y&w=420&h=315]

Have a Historically Accurate and Politically Correct Christmas

Bible, Faith and Spirituality, Religion

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m a Scrooge at heart. (Actually, that might very well be; I haven’t even wanted to send out cards this year.) Or maybe it’s all the talk about the “war on Christmas.” Maybe it’s seeing all those Facebook posts with the arrows declaring, “This person is a real, true Christian who believes the real meaning of Christmas is making sure that you give your family stuff in JESUS NAME! Amen!!!!!” Maybe it’s seeing all the holiday lights, the decorations, the jingly Christmas ads, and knowing that for a lot of people, this isn’t a happy holiday. Whatever the reason, I’m noticing things I’ve never picked up on before about the way we retell the Christmas story.

In the midst of all the annual holiday angst over how we greet one another in honor of the season, it strikes me that we’ve sort of fetishized the Christmas story. We fixate on the minutiae. How many times have I heard people go on about Mary’s age, or the exact date and time of year, or how there weren’t actually three wise men, or how dirty and disgusting the stable was or any number of other details? It’s not that those things don’t matter. It’s just that they matter a lot less than we’d like them to.

I think I understand. We don’t want to lose sight of Jesus’ humanity when honoring his divinity. We want to make it clear that he was fully human, enough to be born into humble circumstances. And I certainly don’t believe we’ve missed the mark on giving God glory and worshiping the child who will one day redeem humankind. But there’s something a little bit unhealthy about the way we concentrate on the least important parts of the Christmas story.

It’s almost like we’re trying to build the most historically accurate version of the story. So we research the finer points, making sure that Mary is appropriately teenaged, the shepherds are appropriately scruffy, and the barn is appropriately manure-laden. It’s as if we believe it matters whether we have an artist’s rendering or a photograph, and we want the photo. In so doing, we miss the point entirely.

The whole point is that God didn’t flash to earth in the form of a cosmic lightning bolt. His birth was only celebrated by scraggly shepherds (Luke 2:8-18), foreigners (Matthew 2:1-12), and a couple of potentially crazy people (Luke 2:22-38). (All right, that last one is a stretch. There’s no evidence Simeon or Anna were actually insane. But what would you think if someone at church started prophesying like that over your kid?) The point is not, “My living nativity is more accurate than thine.” It’s God, coming down and living among us clothed in flesh, in such a way that he could even be overlooked. Instead of entering our world in a way that would surely make it clear that HE WAS GOD, He chose to come without anything at all.

This year, let’s stop worrying about how we give our holiday greetings. Let’s not stress about the exact details of the story. Instead, let’s fix in our hearts the words of Simeon:

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.

Falling in Love with a Muppet

Who Does Jesus Love?

An Unconventional Faith

Confession Time

Happy Holidays, from Our Family to Yours

Have a Historically Accurate and Politically Correct Christmas

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