Quarantine Corner: Curated content for life on lockdown - Week 7

Written by Michael Worrall

Last week Emily said, “Every time you make, you gain a greater capacity to enjoy.” I wholeheartedly agree. Our making matters because it both reveals and reforms us. Our creative energy can both reveal and reform what we love most. It is both a signpost and shaper of our love.

We will think creatively about and work creatively towards what we love most. We ought to work creatively for the glory of God and the good of our neighbors in and through our family, job, intellect, status, and stuff; often we are working creatively for our own good in and through our family, job, intellect, status, and stuff, or even making those things ends in themselves. 

When we discover that what we are loving most is ourselves or the things we’ve been given, we can confess, change, and use that same creative thought and work to reform and reshape our love! Write a kind note to a friend, make a meal or bake something tasty for a busy coworker, help a neighbor with yard work, spend an evening in prayer for your community. The list could go on.

What is your creative energy revealing? 

Here is Week 7 of Quarantine Corner:

Listen - BibleProject podcast

The BibleProject helps people see that the Bible is a unified story that points to Jesus, and the podcast is no different. Hosted by Tim Mackie and Jon Collins, the BibleProject podcast discusses the Bible’s books, themes, key words, and ideas--plus much more! If you want to deepen your love for Jesus and his Word check out the BibleProject; it will help you marvel at God’s goodness, love, and creativity.

Read - Godric by Frederick Buechner  

Godric is a fictional retelling of the life of Saint Godric. The story is told as Godric recounts moments from his life to Reginald, the monk tasked with writing Godric’s saintly biography. The story is imaginative, whimsical, and comical. Godric will have you laughing out loud and wondering about natural and spiritual life. 

If you read and enjoy Godric consider picking up Brendan which is a similar saintly retelling.

Watch - Friday Night Lights (Amazon Prime or Hulu)

Dillon, Texas loves its high school football team. In many ways the life of the town revolves around the Dillon Panthers. Friday Night Lights follows high school football coach Eric Taylor and his family as he coaches the Dillon Panthers. You don’t have to like football to enjoy the show. The show spotlights marriage, family, friendship, community, and virtue as much as it does football. 

Bonus Watch - BibleProject videos 

If you listen to the BibleProject podcast you should check out the videos too! Most of the videos are less than 10 minutes and are creatively animated and illustrated to help you visualize the concepts that the videos present. If you want to dip your toes, watch the Tree of Life video. 

Quarantine Corner: Curated content for life on lockdown - Week 6

Written by Emily Worrall

Do you remember making your first meal? One of my earliest memories of cooking was proudly presenting my bowl of rice, beans and maybe-a-pepper to my college roommates. They didn’t return my excitement - it was just rice and beans. But, it was more than that, wasn’t it?

There’s something about making that increases our enjoyment. You carefully chop an onion. You smell as the spices dissolve into butter. You stir and wait for the sauce to come together. You taste along the way and anticipate the meal. 

This is what makes rice and beans more than just rice and beans. Your labor, attention and expectancy makes your meal more than a product to be consumed, but a creation to be enjoyed. Let me encourage you to make in this season of consuming: write a poem, start a garden, build a table, or make dinner. Every time you make, you gain a greater capacity to enjoy. 

Here is week 6 of Quarantine Corner:

Listen - Sing by Ellie Holcomb

If you’re looking for quality children’s songs that you will actually enjoy, look no further. Sing is filled with simple, singable truths that are fun for your kids and good for your soul. I got the CD to play in the car for my daughter (because I cannot tolerate Baby Shark), but really, I play it for me. 

Read - Unseen by Sara Hagerty

Our desire to be seen and praised by others is not inherently bad, but it is misplaced. In Unseen, Sara Hagerty draws readers in to the joy of a hidden life in Christ. She helps us learn that in the moments we feel unseen, we have an opportunity to rest in and enjoy God’s gaze upon us. Hagerty follows C.S. Lewis when he wonders, “...what may happen when the redeemed soul, beyond all hope and nearly beyond belief, learns at last that she has pleased Him who she was created to please.”

Watch - Cooked (Netflix)

I like to think of this four-part docuseries as the food version of Planet Earth. Each time I watch, I am re-enchanted by the magic of everyday cooking. Fire fills raw meat with flavor. Sourdough starter is born out of thin air. Earthy beans become complex coffees and chocolates. If you bake bread, don’t start Episode 3 without a loaf in the oven.

Bonus Watch - A Hidden Life (Available for rent on Amazon)

I hesitate to recommend this movie because it gutted me and I couldn’t talk about it until the next day. Following the theme above, A Hidden Life is the story of a rural Austrian family during the Nazi regime who commit to a life of integrity and honesty, despite the great cost. It forces you to think how you would act under the circumstances and consider the goodness of a hidden life before God. 

Quarantine Corner: Curated content for life on lockdown - Week 5

Written by Michael Worrall

There is a right way to eat bacon. It has been handed down through generations by John Edwards who taught his sons who will teach their sons…It is the way of savoring - you close your eyes, chew slowly without swallowing, hum, and sway side-to-side. 

Not everyone knows the way of savoring. 
Some of us devour our food like Fantastic Mr. Fox - barely tasting it on our tongues. 
Some of us disinterestedly push our food around the plate until dinner is done.

How we consume matters as much as what and why.
We shouldn’t come to the table to thoughtlessly glut ourselves. 
We shouldn’t come to the table to numbly pass the time.
We should come to the table intending to attend - to savor, enjoy, and give thanks.
And when we taste something good we should close our eyes, hum, and sway side to side.

Here is week 5 of Quarantine Corner:

Listen: Jess Ray & Mission House

Jess Ray is a singer-songwriter and half of the band Mission House. She writes well-crafted, folksy, indie-pop songs about life and faith. If you want to dip your toes I’d recommend Runaway, Gallows (especially the Christ Church Cathedral version), and I Don’t Have Much.

Read: Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 
(Available on Hoopla)

I waited 5 weeks before recommending Bonhoeffer on the Bonhoeffer Haus Journal! Life Together is Bonhoeffer’s classic work on community and the Christian life. This short book is filled with exhortation and encouragement towards Christ-centered community and faith. “He who looks upon his brother should know that he will be eternally united with him in Jesus Christ.” I cannot recommend Life Together highly enough.

Watch: A Quiet Place (Amazon Prime)

A Quiet Place is not a horror movie (message me if you want my reasoning). It is a movie about holding onto life, hope, and family amidst real and present fear. It is a movie about guilt and shame overcome by a Father’s love. Last week I said that ‘Til We Have Faces left lasting images in my imagination and the same is true of A Quiet Place. You will not find many more compelling, well-crafted narratives.

*Disclaimer* This movie is suspenseful and scary. 

Bonus Read: The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Tim Keller 
(Available on Hoopla)

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness is a short (45 page) booklet on the life-giving effect of humility. Keller shows from 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7 how peace and flourishing don’t come through self-focus or self-help but self-forgetfulness. This little book produced large and lasting changes in my own soul.

Quarantine Corner: Curated content for life on lockdown - Week 3

Written by Michael Worrall

“So is Tiger King spoiled meat?” My buddy Andrew sent me that text in reference to the meat and bones conversation from last week’s article. Though I haven't watched the wildly popular new Netflix docu-series, I think the question draws attention to a fascinating phenomenon - we live in a time of viral media. 

Viral means quickly and widely spread (an ironic term in our current moment)--media that seemingly pop up out of nowhere and shout for our attention. Tiger King is the newest in a lineup of Serial, Making a Murderer, and Birdbox. Viral media (or at least the conversation surrounding it) is often gone as quickly as it arrives, but while it lasts it is demanding - like a waiter insisting you try a certain dish. 

How do you know whether or not to indulge? You could do a tasting (watch 20 minutes and then stop and review) but often unhealthy choices are sweet & alluring. Let me propose that you ask good waiters, connoisseurs, men and women who have palates developed through years of tasting & seeing that the Lord is good. In humility ask, “What would you recommend?”

Here is week 3 of Quarantine Corner from an amateur connoisseur. Might I suggest you try…

Listen: Fall & Winter by Jon Foreman 

These six song EPs are half of a four-part project called Seasons. Though spring is in bloom, Fall & Winter seemed the more fitting choices on the eve of Good Friday. With lyrics like, “Thought I was learning...how to live not how to cry, but really I’ve been learning how to die” and “O my Lord, to suffer like you do...it would be a lie to run away” Fall & Winter are a beautiful, thoughtful, folksy lament to lead into your Easter celebration.

Read: Untangling Emotions by J. Alisdair Groves & Winston Smith 

Speaking of lament, Untangling Emotions is a fantastic practical theology of emotion. Whether you tend towards stoicism or emotionalism you will benefit from this read. Groves & Smith help readers to see that emotions (even “negative” emotions) are good and needed while giving tools to help readers engage and understand emotions rather than being ruled by them. This was one of my favorite reads of 2019. I’d recommend reading it alongside the Psalms.

Watch: Inside Out (Disney+ or Rental on Amazon)

Keeping this train on the emotion and lament tracks, Inside Out is a Pixar movie about the mixed emotions of a young girl who moves to a new city. Though Inside Out paints human beings as primarily “feeling things” that are ruled and run by our emotions, it is nonetheless a creative, thoughtful story that helps us see the beauty and value of our emotions - even sadness and lament.

If you watch with your kids here is an article with some helpful conversation points at the end.

Quarantine Corner: Curated content for life on lockdown - Week 2

Written by Michael Worrall

Last week I said we want to be choosy eaters, not gluttonous consumers. Being a choosy eater doesn’t only involve choosing which foods, but also portions and parts. When having fried chicken (or fresh fish), a choosy eater will eat the meat and leave the bones. If you’re vegan - eat the pistachio and leave the shell. 

Many things we consume in our listening, reading, and watching will contain some bones, shells, gristle, or stems - that doesn’t necessarily mean we shouldn’t consume them. It means we should make sure what we chew and digest is nourishing. 

With that, here is week 2 of Quarantine Corner - eat the meat, spit out the bones. 

Listen: This Cultural Moment - by John Mark Comer & Mark Sayers
(Available on any podcast platform - Spotify, iTunes, etc…)

This Cultural Moment is a podcast about following Jesus in the post-Christian world. If you are curious about how to wholeheartedly follow Jesus amidst the shifting sands of our social, political, and cultural landscape you will find this podcast engaging and enlightening. Make sure you begin with episode 1 entitled - “What is Post-Christian Culture.”

Read or Listen: The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr. 
(Audiobook available on Hoopla)

The Book of the Dun Cow is technically young adult fiction, but don’t let the genre dissuade you. Walter Wangerin Jr. portrays the battle between good and evil in a vivid and heart-wrenching story. There are few stories that better depict the corrosive and corrupting effect of sin, pride, guilt, and shame. Likewise, there are few stories that better depict the beauty and power of compassion, sacrifice, and love. Read or listen and be swept up into longing for the restoration and reconciliation of all things.

Watch: Dunkirk (for Rent on Amazon)

Sticking with the “Dun” theme. Dunkirk tells the story of Allied troops trapped on the French beaches of Dunkirk awaiting rescue by sea as the German army closes in. The film creatively follows key characters to give you a full picture of the rising tension between hope and fear, sacrifice and safety. Will rescue come? Can the Allied troops hold onto hope while they wait? Watch to find out and to be formed in your own longing & waiting.

Bonus Read or Listen: “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace 
(Listen here)

“This is Water” is David Foster Wallace’s 2005 commencement speech to Kenyon College. Wallace reflects on much of life and culture in this speech, but he powerfully addresses the importance of thinking with compassion and charity in a world that breeds self-centeredness. While Wallace ultimately concludes that life and truth are subjective, his speech is nonetheless worth your time and consideration.