Corona, Corona, Gal, You're on My Mind | SL 1.7 (Apr 2020)
In this newsletter
- Corona, Corona, Gal You're on My Mind
- Launching an Online Study of Ecclesiastes
- Some Favorite Classic Films: A Lockdown List
- Praying the Lord's Prayer During the Plague
- Pray With Us
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Corona, Corona, Gal, You're on My Mind
It's Spring in England
On Monday March 9th the Kiels (Meghan's parents) flew in from Florida. Corona was in the news. They considered canceling their trip. But that seemed pretty crazy. That was less than a month ago. Now the whole world is singin':
Corona, Corona
Gal, you're on my mind
Corona, Corona
Gal, you're on my mind
I was sittin' down thinking of you
I just can't keep from crying
In the original version, however, the crying is for a different reason!
The Kiels escaped just in time on March 16th and we've been quarantined ever since. We've got it good. The girls are small, so, although they get whiny and wiggly, it's not as difficult as it might be with older kids. I've converted a teeny third-floor bedroom into a cozy office and am determined to keep moving forward on my dissertation. Reading and writing feels slow, but I've been at my desk everyday. Cal Newport is blogging his heart out about digital minimalism, pandemics, and productivity and if you're also working from home this blog from the YNAB staff has lots of practical advice. Robin Sloan wrote an impassioned newsletter—don't give up on creativity now.
We take a family walk every afternoon. England is gorgeous in the Spring. Meghan commented today that although Corona has shut everything down, God is still going about his business with the Spring. "A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever" (Eccl 1:4). Yesterday I read a profound reflection by J. Todd Billings about how God's unchanging character has encouraged him during his struggle with incurable blood cancer. Praise God that there is nothing new under the sun, least of all the LORD himself.
The view from my new office
I doubt there will ever be a "return to normal." I tend to think that this will be a generation-shaping moment for the Millennials. We're all waiting to see what world we will inherit and how all of our paths will be redirected. But we are not afraid. Dad preached a wonderful sermon on Psalm 46 on the first Sunday of Lockdown (a new liturgical season?). For further perspective and inspiration, read the story of the little village of Eyam. In 1666 two hundred-sixty people laid down their lives after "the entire village made the remarkable decision to quarantine itself in an heroic attempt to halt the spread of the Great Plague."
Through all of this there is an incredible opportunity for faithfulness. It is strange to be in the midst of a slow-motion disaster where—apparently—the best thing that most of us can do is nothing. Work from home as best as you can. There's a sermon that C. S. Lewis preached in Oxford in 1939 called "Learning in War Time." It's been shared a lot recently and I too have found it clarifying. Lewis argues that war (read pandemic) doesn't change the spiritual realities that are always present, but it does sharpen them into unignorable focus. Lewis writes:
We think of the streets of Warsaw and contrast the deaths there suffered with an abstraction called Life. But there is no question of death or life for any of us, only a question of this death or of that—of a machine gun bullet now or a cancer forty years later. What does war do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent; 100 percent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased. ... It forces us to remember it. The only reason why the cancer at sixty or the paralysis at seventy-five do not bother us is that we forget them. War makes death real to us, and that would have been regarded as one of its blessings by most of the great Christians of the past (61–62).
Certainly this is the perspective of the book of Ecclesiastes:
Eccl 3:18–19
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other.
In light of this, however, most of us simply press on with whatever work the LORD has given us to do. Lewis again:
Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment "as to the Lord." It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received (61).
Eccl 3:22
So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?
Here's to holding plans lightly, living faithfully, and following the LORD.
Gilesgate Anglican Church, which we tend to pass on our quarantine walks. The cemetery, which runs for blocks down the hill into completely unkempt woods, is filled with WWI graves.
Work & Ministry Happenings
- Shelter in place and write dissertation!
- I'm offering an online study on Ecclesiastes, see below...
- It seems that all plans for travel/teaching this year are up in the air.
As a way to join the war effort, I've decided to offer an online study of Ecclesiastes throughout April and May. You're all welcome to attend. Info is above and I've set up a page for the study at alexandertkirk.com/eccl—watch this space for notes/info on the study moving forward.
The first meeting is tomorrow. No prep or commitment expected. Here's the link to join us on Zoom.
Some Favorite Classic Films: A Lockdown List
Meghan and I have been watching a lot of old movies recently. The uncertainty and stress in the world make us want to fall back on classics with strong themes of character and community. Here are some of our favorites—not necessarily a top ten of all time but perhaps a top ten in these uncertain times.
Something of a catalyst for this list was a documentary on Netflix called Five Came Back. Featuring running interviews with the likes of Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola, it chronicles five of Hollywood's most masterful directors as they leverage their talents to combat Goebbels' propaganda machine during World War II and then navigate their ways back into the film industry as changed men. Highly recommended.
Frank Capra, John Huston, George Stevens, William Wyler, and John Ford all left Hollywood to serve with the military in WWII.
10. Sullivan's Travels (1941, dir. Preston Sturges)
Staring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake. A road movie about Hollywood toward the end of the Great Depression. An idealistic young director wants to make a passion project about the suffering of the poor, but learns through his journey that only the rich and healthy are interested in dwelling on the suffering of others. Its a bit slapstick, but the ending is majestic. A major source of influence on films like Cool Hand Luke and the Coen brothers' Oh Brother Where Art Thou.
9. City Lights (1931, dir. Charlie Chaplin)
And staring Charlie Chaplin. Have you ever watched a whole Chaplin film? This endearing story follows a big-city tramp who falls in love with a blind flower girl and applies himself to help her out despite his own low estate. Slapstick and poignant all at once. An essential slice of Americana.
8. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, dir. John Ford)
Staring Henry Fonda, this fictionalized biopic is the best kind of pure American mythology. John Ford, better known for westerns and war films, nails a pitch-perfect courtroom drama amid the ambiance of rural, frontier Springfield, IL. Fonda embodies our collective ideal of Lincoln.
7. Adam's Rib (1949, dir. George Cukor)
This tightly scripted and non-traditional romantic comedy pits husband and wife Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn against each other as lawyers representing two different sides of a high-profile case. In the context of a marriage, the film tackles gender roles in the workplace with panache ahead of its time. When Tracy and Hepburn are on the outs, intensely disagreeing, they still somehow manage to treat each other with warmth and dignity as husband and wife.
6. The Searchers (1956, dir. John Ford)
Staring John Wayne and Natalie Wood, directed by the great John Ford. Considered by many to be the greatest western ever made. This narrative of loss, dedication, and prejudice has incredible human depth. It's iconic, its grand, its beautiful, and I love it.
5. Casablanca (1942, dir. Michael Curtiz)
Staring Humphrey Bogart & Ingrid Bergman in Morocco during WWII. If it's been a while, or—heaven forbid—you've never seen it, you should rectify things straight away. Truly an incredibly executed noir-esc story of conflicted sacrifice. What do you do when someone you love leaves you and then walks back into your gin-joint in a desperate situation? Meghan has long claimed this as her favorite film.
4. The Philadelphia Story (1940, dir. George Cukor)
Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and most of all Katherine Hepburn slay in this romantic merry-go round of a character drama. Hepburn plays a divorced-and-about-to-be-remarried New England heiress who goes on an unexpected journey of self-discovery as men she likes (and doesn't like!) confront her with the best and worst of herself. Whip smart and profound.
3. It Happened One Night (1934, dir. Frank Capra)
Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are a crack reporter and a spoiled heiress on a road trip together. Gable seems to be something of a living, breathing Bugs Bunny—he's pretending to help but actually just out for the scoop. This "talkie" will transport you to another time. Some genuinely hilarious moments.
2. The Apartment (1960, dir. Billy Wilder)
Jack Lemmon stars with Shirley MacLaine as a hard luck company man who tries to make it with his bosses by letting them use his apartment to stage their affairs. Works like a charm until Lemmon finds himself in a romance of his own. Lemmon and MacLaine are perfect. Its zanny and complex. You fall hard for these fools and root for them despite their foibles. A deeply human story.
1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946, dir. Frank Capra)
Staring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. The first film that Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra made after both of them came home from serving in WWII. Did you know this was one of the first ever indy films, and that it was a critical and commercial failure when it first came out? It was only as it played on TV each Christmas that it became an American classic. Truly, it is a treasure. Jimmy Stewart embodies the sacrifices of the greatest generation, and the film is determined to hang on to hope and goodness no matter what.
Jimmy Stewart has got to be the most likeable leading man of all time.
Praying the Lord's Prayer During the Plague
I've been thinking a lot about prayer recently—about how desperately needed it is and how poorly I practice it. In times of crisis, whether personal or global, many people—even non-religious people—feel compelled to pray. But this creates a new set of struggles for me. What should I pray for and how should I pray?
As the news darkens from red to black, I start to feel my prayers shift toward the selfish—Lord, keep me healthy! Lord, protect my family! Lord, preserve my job!—and yet, we know full well that people are dying, that some jobs will never come back, that the global poor will likely suffer the most from the pandemic if only indirectly. What gives me the right to pray for these things, seemingly at the expense of others?
On the other hand, most of us are incredibly powerless to influence this pandemic through action. In fact, what the authorities are telling us to do is to embrace inaction—a sort of imposed monasticy. What can we do but devote ourselves to prayer? How can we do this faithfully?
As I reflect on all this, I keep coming back to the Lord's Prayer as a pattern for spiritual discipline (Matt 6:9–13). A pattern that disciplines our prayer by structuring it and keeping it faithful.
The process is fairly simple. Each line of the Lord's prayer is treated as a prayer prompt so that the whole becomes a pattern or outline to structure our prayer. After all, Jesus begins, "Pray then like this:"
1. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
The Lord's Prayer begins with adoration. We acknowledge our father and sing his praises. This centers us. It reminds us who God is and who we are in light of Him. In your own practice you might pray through a favorite psalm of praise, or perhaps meditate on God's perfections or the ways that you have experienced the Lord's faithfulness in your life. Give thanks.
2. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The second petition focuses on prayer for God's will and God's purposes. This is your chance to pray for the Lord to make all things new, for people and initiatives that are working to alleviate human suffering and spread the gospel, for world leaders to exercise wisdom. I find that this petition gets me out of myself to pray unselfishly for the needs of the world, the purposes of God, and those people I know who are working to further those things.
3. Give us this day our daily bread
The third petition is where we take our personal needs to God. Here it is fitting and right to be "selfish"—you're being invited to. Slot in any and all petitions that might pertain to us personally, whether these are necessities or hopes. This is your chance to be an open book before the Lord, to cast all your anxiety on Him (Ps 55:22; 1 Pet 5:7).
4. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
The fourth petition turns to confession and forgiveness. I once heard someone reflect that by praying the Lord's prayer, you pray yourself into the Lord's plan. You take some measure of responsibility for it—for seeing his kingdom come and his will done. Practicing self-examination and confession is a spiritually concrete way that we can embrace the Lord's kingdom. If you're praying daily, this petition is an opportunity to examine your heart and actions for the last day or so and then release all failures and weaknesses to the Lord. Coming to terms with our own weakness—with the assurance that the Lord will, indeed already has, forgiven us (1 John 1:9; Rom 5:8)—frees us to forgive others.
5. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
The fifth petition safeguards your relationship with the Lord and with others. The biggest problem with sin is that it destroys relationships. This petition is where we own weakness and pray for the Lord's protection from temptation that threatens to lead us into sin, destroying our relationships with God and one another (Prov 30:7–9). Likewise, we pray against evil, those enemies of God's purposes who would seek to do us physical or spiritual harm.
These are not fresh ideas. I doubt this approach to prayer will sound revolutionary to any of you, but perhaps it will prove timely. For me, praying this pattern frees me from the sense that I am praying selfishly or haphazardly and frames my own prayers for those close to me and for myself within a broader set of commitments to God and to his kingdom. It helps me to pray well during stressful times.
So here's your spiritual challenge: How could incorporating the Lord's Prayer into your spiritual habits strengthen your prayer life during this season of uncertainty?
You can pray the Lord's prayer in five minutes or thirty. If pressed for time and lost for words, you can do far worse than reciting it in faith and trust. For a few months I was starting each day by praying through the pattern first thing in the morning. This was a wonderful practice, although I admit I have fallen off the wagon recently. Perhaps you could work it into a daily work-form-home rhythm for the remainder of the pandemic? Maybe the habit will stick. You'd have at least one gift from Corona.
If you want to think about this more, J. I. Packer has a clear but rich discussion in Growing in Christ. It's a great place to start.
There's also a new book by a brilliant, young theologian named Wesley Hill on the Lord's Prayer. Wesley's book is not really "practical" in the sense of teaching you how to pray, but the book is wonderful for expounding the prayer—for opening up the meaning of each petition. It's quite short and each chapter is just a few pages so it's perfect for slow, devotional reading.
The Lord's Prayer: A Guide to Praying to Our Father by Wesley Hill
I'll leave you with Wesley's closing reflection on petition 5b: "deliver us from evil."
Somehow, by dying, Jesus has rendered the Devil impotent, denuding him of his ability to win the war he wages against human beings. There are different ways of thinking about how Jesus achieved this, and the New Testament uses a variety of different pictures or metaphors to help us see the full scope of His triumph over the Evil One. But the point all the images are seeking to drive home is that a decisive victory was secured in and through the events of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection—a victory that sealed evil's fate once and for all, guaranteeing its final demise.
When we pray "Deliver us from evil," we are asking to be able to see, enjoy, and live in accord with what is true but still largely unseen in the present. We know that Jesus has already secured our final release from the Evil One, but we still sense evil's nearness and taste its effects. The victory of Jesus is real but not currently as visible as it one day will be. And so, in confidence but also in trembling and with tears, we pray for the final, public, irreversible experience of celebrating the defeat of the regime of our Enemy (86).
LORD, teach us to pray so that anxiety and inactivity drive us toward you rather than into ourselves or up the wall. Shape our prayers according to your purposes and teach us to cast our burdens on you.
Pray With Us
- Pray for our leaders in the church and the world, who are not at all "bored at home" but are under an incredible amount of stress, bearing incredible responsibility for humaity. Pray for wisdom.
- Pray for physical and economic provision for those most vulnerable around the world.
- Pray for spiritual renewal amidst the pandemic.
- Pray for faithfulness as lives are disrupted, goals blocked, and plans changed. May we follow the LORD.