Month: February 2007

If you are interested in a blog that blends biblical theology and worship, check out Eucatastrophe.  Josh Otte offers some great resource links on his blog.

I don’t write or reflect enough on women’s issues, but Brit K.T. Tunstall has lyrically provoked my thinking on the feminine appeal and beauty. In “Suddenly I See” (a great song), Tunstall sings:

And she’s taller than most
And she’s looking at me
I can see her eyes looking from a page in a magazine
Oh she makes me feel like I could be a tower
A big strong tower
She got the power to be
The power to give
The power to see

Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)
This is what I wanna be
Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)
Why the hell it means so much to me

These lyrics are, I take it, are satirical. They construct feminine identity upon airbrushed beauty and success of a magazine model, who promises the self-esteem power of self-reliant significance, sufficiency, and benevolence (to be, to give, and to see). Living with a very fine yet fallen woman for almost seven years, I would conclude that Tunstall has seen what many women want to be, a strong tower–beautiful, successful, benevolent.

Do such images possess such power? A penetrating gaze, that defines what feminity should be? Is there a modicum of truth and virture in these things or are they all cosmetic and of no substance? What might a woman with Christ as her strong tower look like compared to Tunstall’s satirical diva?

Friday at The Parish, Austin Texas

As an anthropology student in undergrad, the Yanomamo people served as one of the our tribal case studies. Their use of narcotics and the annual pig feast were of particular interest. I can recall my professor lamenting the Christian missionary impact on their culture (he was, of course, a hardcore cultural relativist).

According to the filmmakers, The Enemy God film came about as a result of a request from a group of Yanomamö indians. They asked if we would help them to tell their version of the history of their particular communities in the Amazon. It is not the story of all Yanomamö, but it is the true story of a significant group, led by a respected headman whose spanish name is Bautista…more