A friend emailed me this morning. The leader of the camp he's running next week (Sunday through Friday) just bailed on him, and he wondered if I'd help him lead it. I'm going to.
He's sketched out a set of themes, one for each day, and our leadership will consist of providing content that stimulates people to share, converse, think, create. I'd love to come up with a film clip or two for each day.
The camp is a mix of Christians of all types and people who don't say they're Christians. Only adults attending the sessions. Pretty much wide open as far as content, style, whatever. They like to be challenged.
Here are the themes. Very broad, as you can see. Any ideas?
Living Questions
who are you?
what do you hope for?
who do you know?
do you live with scarcity or abundance? (what he's going after here is mindset: do people live as if there's never enough, or as if there's plenty)
Full Version: Film Clips for a Camp I'm Helping To Lead
QUOTE (Ron @ Jul 15 2008, 09:21 PM) 
do you live with scarcity or abundance? (what he's going after here is mindset: do people live as if there's never enough, or as if there's plenty)
Antwone Fisher has that opening scene of a dream of the abundant table. Not sure but that that film might have some stuff for at least 3 of the 4 questions. (Don't quite know what you're getting at with "Who do you know?") Mediocre quality film, but it came to mind immediately and if you're in a hurry...
Thanks, Darrel. Your suggestion makes me think that films or film clips that touch on various of these questions could be quite rich. I'll track down Antwone Fisher asap.
My friend sent me his jottings so far. I'll post those, which help give a better sense of what he's after, and make it more likely that films or scenes will come to mind.
Seems to me there's a lot of Ecclesiastes in there. Hmmm, I'm thinking there's a thread here someplace where we talked about Ecclesiastes movies. 13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING is always the first to come to my mind on that theme. And I can dig out Robert K. Johnston's book, "Useless Beauty," which puts a number of films in conversation with the book of Ecclesiastes; Ikiru, About Schmidt, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Magnolia, American Beauty, Run Lola Run, The Princess & The Warrior, Signs, etc. I'll also look through my notes from his course on Ecclesiastes and film.
In terms of "Who do I know?", I wonder if we could use Into The Wild without ruining the ending? I do know it's one of my buddy's favourite films.
*
Central theme: Living the Big Questions
There is a perceived comfort in certainty, in having figured it out. It makes things that much easier if we know the answers. Clearly there are some questions to which the answers don’t change, thus there’s no point to keep on asking. But being human is different. My belief is that we live with far less certainty than we know. Why does bad stuff happen to good people? What did I do to deserve this? Why me? Believers lean on faith trusting that God has things under his control – yet even then you can have two little boys leave their parents attention for just a couple of minutes and end up at the bottom of a pool. Both in ICU, both being prayed for around the clock by hundreds, if not thousands, yet one boy dies, the other lives – but with a very uncertain future. In that circumstance we may be able to say we trust God, but we really have no idea what He is up to and what his purpose is with the situation.
Questioning is the exercise of the soul. It can be an uncomfortable place to be in the land of questions. Our faith is full of mystery. The world is full of
uncertainty. As individuals we are in a constant state of change. The answers of yesterday don’t often fit today’s circumstances.
Questioning is also curiousity, a desire to know more, to wonder what is around the next bend, to dig deeper. Questioning is at the heart of the
explorer. Questioning is at the heart of the artist, and the poet.
Sometimes – David Whyte
Sometimes
If you move carefully
Through the forest
Breathing
Like the ones
In the old stories
Who could cross
A shimmering bed of dry leaves
Without a sound,
You come
To a place
Whose only task
Is to trouble you
With tiny
But frightening requests
Conceived out of nowhere
But in this place
Beginning to lead everywhere
Requests to stop what
You are doing right now
And
To stop what you
Are becoming
While you do it,
Questions
That can make
Or unmake
A life,
Questions
That have patiently
Waited for you,
Questions
That have no right
To go away.
Each day will begin with a question. I am not sure if there are answers to these questions, or if there are even meant to be. Maybe we are supposed to live simply with the question mark at the end of the sentence. To not have the answers seems to suggest that this life is bigger than we can perceive, there is way more than we can fit into our heads – that to me suggests possibility and that moves me forward.
*
Who Am I?
Rwanda story
At the heart of that question is the quest for authenticity – the desire to be ‘true’ to oneself. Our instinct as human beings is to fit in. Our society and culture creates an ideal ‘you’ that brings the promise of beauty, wealth, popularity, etc. We also belong to smaller societies – from churches to book clubs – all with their own unwritten code as to who we should be in order to fit in with the group.
Non-conformists have a tough time finding a place as any deviation from the norm, calls the norm into question – thus can be seen as a threat to the rest.
So, little by little, we let go of who we are in deference to who we should be in order to fit in with the group, society, culture.
I believe that is why artists are often so tortured – being an artist means knowing yourself and being true to yourself – often at the expense of ‘fitting
in’. The tug of war between staying true and fitting in can be really hard.
The story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert shows the attempt by Satan to lure Jesus away from who he was. “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul?”
Authenticity is the connection we have with our deepest created self. In the end its all we really have.
*
Who do I know?
This is an odd question to ask, and on the surface the answer may simply seem like a list of people. Back to the quote on the wall, ‘if you knew me’ – what was the writer really saying – what does it mean to know someone – really know someone. Maybe with the answer to that, the list of who we know becomes considerably shorter.
It is important to know others. Without knowing its much easier to fall into assumptions, judgements, even prejudice. Without being known its easy to fall
into isolation and lonliness.
To seek to know someone means stepping out, and often outside of what we are normally comfortable with. We risk some of ourselves when we want to know others. Its curious how difficult it can be to reach out to even those who live next door to us. This, even when we know the pay off can be so great – and so essential to well being.
Community, at its best, is a group of individuals all in the mutual process of knowing each other and being known.
Movie – Crash, Lars and the Real Girl?
Story of Woman at the well.
*
What do I Hope For?
Children are often asked ‘what are you going to be when you grow up?’ I don’t think this question is meant to really discern a 6 year olds career aspirations as it is to learn what they are hoping for.
What is Hope?
Within hope there is anticipation – there are goals, dreams, visions. Hope suggests possibility and opportunity. At its best hope is limitless – like the 6 year old expressing a desire to be an astronaut.
Hope moves us forward, it builds, creates, motivates. Hopelessness doesn’t.
Feeling hopeless often comes when one feels they are trapped or have no choice.
Poverty has been defined as the absence of choice. At different times I am sure we have felt a sense of that poverty.
My friend sent me his jottings so far. I'll post those, which help give a better sense of what he's after, and make it more likely that films or scenes will come to mind.
Seems to me there's a lot of Ecclesiastes in there. Hmmm, I'm thinking there's a thread here someplace where we talked about Ecclesiastes movies. 13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING is always the first to come to my mind on that theme. And I can dig out Robert K. Johnston's book, "Useless Beauty," which puts a number of films in conversation with the book of Ecclesiastes; Ikiru, About Schmidt, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Magnolia, American Beauty, Run Lola Run, The Princess & The Warrior, Signs, etc. I'll also look through my notes from his course on Ecclesiastes and film.
In terms of "Who do I know?", I wonder if we could use Into The Wild without ruining the ending? I do know it's one of my buddy's favourite films.
*
Central theme: Living the Big Questions
There is a perceived comfort in certainty, in having figured it out. It makes things that much easier if we know the answers. Clearly there are some questions to which the answers don’t change, thus there’s no point to keep on asking. But being human is different. My belief is that we live with far less certainty than we know. Why does bad stuff happen to good people? What did I do to deserve this? Why me? Believers lean on faith trusting that God has things under his control – yet even then you can have two little boys leave their parents attention for just a couple of minutes and end up at the bottom of a pool. Both in ICU, both being prayed for around the clock by hundreds, if not thousands, yet one boy dies, the other lives – but with a very uncertain future. In that circumstance we may be able to say we trust God, but we really have no idea what He is up to and what his purpose is with the situation.
Questioning is the exercise of the soul. It can be an uncomfortable place to be in the land of questions. Our faith is full of mystery. The world is full of
uncertainty. As individuals we are in a constant state of change. The answers of yesterday don’t often fit today’s circumstances.
Questioning is also curiousity, a desire to know more, to wonder what is around the next bend, to dig deeper. Questioning is at the heart of the
explorer. Questioning is at the heart of the artist, and the poet.
Sometimes – David Whyte
Sometimes
If you move carefully
Through the forest
Breathing
Like the ones
In the old stories
Who could cross
A shimmering bed of dry leaves
Without a sound,
You come
To a place
Whose only task
Is to trouble you
With tiny
But frightening requests
Conceived out of nowhere
But in this place
Beginning to lead everywhere
Requests to stop what
You are doing right now
And
To stop what you
Are becoming
While you do it,
Questions
That can make
Or unmake
A life,
Questions
That have patiently
Waited for you,
Questions
That have no right
To go away.
Each day will begin with a question. I am not sure if there are answers to these questions, or if there are even meant to be. Maybe we are supposed to live simply with the question mark at the end of the sentence. To not have the answers seems to suggest that this life is bigger than we can perceive, there is way more than we can fit into our heads – that to me suggests possibility and that moves me forward.
*
Who Am I?
Rwanda story
At the heart of that question is the quest for authenticity – the desire to be ‘true’ to oneself. Our instinct as human beings is to fit in. Our society and culture creates an ideal ‘you’ that brings the promise of beauty, wealth, popularity, etc. We also belong to smaller societies – from churches to book clubs – all with their own unwritten code as to who we should be in order to fit in with the group.
Non-conformists have a tough time finding a place as any deviation from the norm, calls the norm into question – thus can be seen as a threat to the rest.
So, little by little, we let go of who we are in deference to who we should be in order to fit in with the group, society, culture.
I believe that is why artists are often so tortured – being an artist means knowing yourself and being true to yourself – often at the expense of ‘fitting
in’. The tug of war between staying true and fitting in can be really hard.
The story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert shows the attempt by Satan to lure Jesus away from who he was. “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul?”
Authenticity is the connection we have with our deepest created self. In the end its all we really have.
*
Who do I know?
This is an odd question to ask, and on the surface the answer may simply seem like a list of people. Back to the quote on the wall, ‘if you knew me’ – what was the writer really saying – what does it mean to know someone – really know someone. Maybe with the answer to that, the list of who we know becomes considerably shorter.
It is important to know others. Without knowing its much easier to fall into assumptions, judgements, even prejudice. Without being known its easy to fall
into isolation and lonliness.
To seek to know someone means stepping out, and often outside of what we are normally comfortable with. We risk some of ourselves when we want to know others. Its curious how difficult it can be to reach out to even those who live next door to us. This, even when we know the pay off can be so great – and so essential to well being.
Community, at its best, is a group of individuals all in the mutual process of knowing each other and being known.
Movie – Crash, Lars and the Real Girl?
Story of Woman at the well.
*
What do I Hope For?
Children are often asked ‘what are you going to be when you grow up?’ I don’t think this question is meant to really discern a 6 year olds career aspirations as it is to learn what they are hoping for.
What is Hope?
Within hope there is anticipation – there are goals, dreams, visions. Hope suggests possibility and opportunity. At its best hope is limitless – like the 6 year old expressing a desire to be an astronaut.
Hope moves us forward, it builds, creates, motivates. Hopelessness doesn’t.
Feeling hopeless often comes when one feels they are trapped or have no choice.
Poverty has been defined as the absence of choice. At different times I am sure we have felt a sense of that poverty.
OK, with that in mind:
Who Am I? Pick a superhero movie. Batman Begins, Spiderman, X-Men.
Who Do You Know? I think Saving Private Ryan should have something useful. I recall it took a long time before the Hanks character let it be known that his pre-war job was teacher. Or similarly, Band of Brothers, probably in training as the different people get to know each other and come together as unit.
What do you hope for? My favorite hope themed film is Shawshank Redemption. Useful for your purposes would be the discussion Andy and Red have about hope. (I think it's actually 2 separate scenes where Red says how bad hope is and later Andy sings hope's praises.) Or the scene where Andy plays the music over the PA and the glimpse of life that it provides
Who Am I? Pick a superhero movie. Batman Begins, Spiderman, X-Men.
Who Do You Know? I think Saving Private Ryan should have something useful. I recall it took a long time before the Hanks character let it be known that his pre-war job was teacher. Or similarly, Band of Brothers, probably in training as the different people get to know each other and come together as unit.
What do you hope for? My favorite hope themed film is Shawshank Redemption. Useful for your purposes would be the discussion Andy and Red have about hope. (I think it's actually 2 separate scenes where Red says how bad hope is and later Andy sings hope's praises.) Or the scene where Andy plays the music over the PA and the glimpse of life that it provides
QUOTE (Darrel Manson @ Jul 16 2008, 02:27 PM)
OK, with that in mind:
Who Am I? Pick a superhero movie. Batman Begins, Spiderman, X-Men.
Who Do You Know? I think Saving Private Ryan should have something useful. I recall it took a long time before the Hanks character let it be known that his pre-war job was teacher. Or similarly, Band of Brothers, probably in training as the different people get to know each other and come together as unit.
What do you hope for? My favorite hope themed film is Shawshank Redemption. Useful for your purposes would be the discussion Andy and Red have about hope. (I think it's actually 2 separate scenes where Red says how bad hope is and later Andy sings hope's praises.) Or the scene where Andy plays the music over the PA and the glimpse of life that it provides
Who Am I? Pick a superhero movie. Batman Begins, Spiderman, X-Men.
Who Do You Know? I think Saving Private Ryan should have something useful. I recall it took a long time before the Hanks character let it be known that his pre-war job was teacher. Or similarly, Band of Brothers, probably in training as the different people get to know each other and come together as unit.
What do you hope for? My favorite hope themed film is Shawshank Redemption. Useful for your purposes would be the discussion Andy and Red have about hope. (I think it's actually 2 separate scenes where Red says how bad hope is and later Andy sings hope's praises.) Or the scene where Andy plays the music over the PA and the glimpse of life that it provides
Shawshank, of course! All about hope. Perfect.
I'm not catching the connection with the superhero movies. Are you thinking of the "secret identity" themes?
A couple off the top of my head...
Who do you know? -- A History of Violence, from the point of view of Tom Stall's wife and children.
Who am I? -- Kagemusha, the peasant thief asked to impersonate a dead warlord, and discovering the warrrior in himself.
What do I hope for? -- Don't ask me why, but my first thought was Jerry Maguire, whose mission statement defines his hope for a change in the way his profession regaurds their clients, and the effort it takes to live up to that hope.
Who do you know? -- A History of Violence, from the point of view of Tom Stall's wife and children.
Who am I? -- Kagemusha, the peasant thief asked to impersonate a dead warlord, and discovering the warrrior in himself.
What do I hope for? -- Don't ask me why, but my first thought was Jerry Maguire, whose mission statement defines his hope for a change in the way his profession regaurds their clients, and the effort it takes to live up to that hope.
Baal T'shuvah's recommendation of A History of Violence could also work with who am I? focusing on Tom Stall.
Not just secret identity but discovering their nature: maybe hero, maybe villain, use these skills for self or for world?. Perhaps it's really a who will I be? than who am I? -- or are those the same question? Peter Parker has to grow into Spiderman. The younger X-men like Rogue and Bobby or Nightcrawler.
I think the TV series Heroes could be useful across the board as well:
Who are you? -- Niki
Who do you know? - the Petrellis
Hope - Hiro
but really all of the Heroes go through the questions as the seasons unfold.
QUOTE (Ron @ Jul 16 2008, 04:44 PM)
I'm not catching the connection with the superhero movies. Are you thinking of the "secret identity" themes?
Not just secret identity but discovering their nature: maybe hero, maybe villain, use these skills for self or for world?. Perhaps it's really a who will I be? than who am I? -- or are those the same question? Peter Parker has to grow into Spiderman. The younger X-men like Rogue and Bobby or Nightcrawler.
I think the TV series Heroes could be useful across the board as well:
Who are you? -- Niki
Who do you know? - the Petrellis
Hope - Hiro
but really all of the Heroes go through the questions as the seasons unfold.
QUOTE (Darrel Manson @ Jul 16 2008, 05:46 PM)
I think the TV series Heroes could be useful across the board as well...
You didn't mention Colonel Klink!
Darrel's SHAWSHANK suggestion carried the day. Showed the opera clip, and the following scene where Andy and Red talk about hope. Perfect.
On the community / connectedness theme, as well as picking up on themes about the tension/balance/dialectic between "following one's dreams" and sacrifice / service / community, I showed three scenes from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: George Bailey's bad Christmas Eve where he yells at the kids and smashes his engineering models, his prayer at the bar, and the scene where he returns home and everyone brings the money. Worked beautifully.
We also watched INTO THE WILD in its entirety, and it provided an ongoing theme for the week. Very effective.
Thanks!
R
On the community / connectedness theme, as well as picking up on themes about the tension/balance/dialectic between "following one's dreams" and sacrifice / service / community, I showed three scenes from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: George Bailey's bad Christmas Eve where he yells at the kids and smashes his engineering models, his prayer at the bar, and the scene where he returns home and everyone brings the money. Worked beautifully.
We also watched INTO THE WILD in its entirety, and it provided an ongoing theme for the week. Very effective.
Thanks!
R
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