I just joined Sunday Salon this week, and I’m planning to use it as an opportunity to think about what I’ve been reading and watching and studying for the week, maybe figuring how my “media intake” has influenced my thoughts and decisions and what I might want to do in response to what God is teaching me.

I watched a couple of movies this week: Becoming Jane, the fictional story of author Jane Austen’s doomed courtship with an entangled and ultimately unavailable young man, and Finding Neverland, the somewhat fictionalized story of author James Barrie’s doomed and irresponsible courtship of a widow and mother of four boys. I’ve seen the second movie before, and I reviewed it here. I was not quite as disturbed by Finding Neverland this second time as I was the first; I had more hope that J.M. Barrie would do the right thing and grow up for the sake of his young friends. There is a theme that runs through both movies of taking responsibility, self-sacrifice, and romantic dreams being subordinated to duty. Those are not easy lessons to make palatable on film in this day and age of self-actualization, irresponsibility, and romantic delusion. So I applaud both movies for the attempt.

I’ve also finished Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry, and I find that I want think about that book a bit more before I write much about it. I started reading The Deadliest Monster: An Introduction to Worldviews by J.F. Baldwin, an examination of currently popular worldviews and a comparison of those philosophies to the Christian view of life. Baldwin uses Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein monster and R.L. Stevenson’s Mr. Hyde as icons of two opposing worldviews: Mr. Hyde represents the Christian idea of original (innnate) sin and the necessity of God’s grace for salvation, and Frankenstein’s monster typifies the belief that men are only monsters because of their environment and influences and can perfect (save) themselves by their own efforts and good works.

Baldwin reminded me that none of us is truly able to perfect or redeem ourselves, that our own hearts are deceptive, and that we are all sinners in need of the mercy of God. And I have need of such reminders since I ruefully saw myself in these words from the book:

“As we grow in our faith, the little light bulb comes on that says, ‘Hey, Christ really meant it when he called himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Christianity really is true, and the rest of the world really is deceived!’ And then, unfortunately, a prideful voice whispers, ‘Aren’t I perceptive to see that Christianity is true and that every other worldview is bankrupt? I am one smart monkey.’ If we listen to this whisper, we allow ourselves to be deceived into thinking that we somehow rescued ourselves by being clever enough to see the truth.”

AH, yes, clever me, saved by grace and smart enough to do God a favor by recognizing His favor! If only that miserable tax collector were like me!

God, forgive us our pride and help us to see ourselves for the monsters we are apart from Him.