Quarantine Corner: Curated content for life on lockdown - Week 9

Written by Michael Worrall

Stories have great power to shape the way we think, feel, and imagine. They place us in circumstances in which we may never find ourselves otherwise. They play out the effects of decisions that we may never have to face. 

Saving Private Ryan made me imagine the horrors of war.
Blood Diamond showed me the relentless love of a father.
Whiplash warned me of the dangers of boundless ambition
Lion moved me with the sorrow of relational loss & the joys of reunion. 

Those are only the movies that came to mind. There are many more stories that have formed my imagination. In her book On Reading Well, Karen Swallow Prior says, “The stories in which we are immersed project onto our imaginations visions of the good life—as well as the means of obtaining it. We must imagine what virtue looks like in order to act virtuously.”

What stories are you immersed in? 
What vision of the good life do they project?
How are they helping you imagine virtue and vice?

Here is week 9 of Quarantine Corner:

Listen: Liz Vice 

Liz Vice makes music that fits somewhere between Gospel, R&B, and Soul. She has a voice that is effortlessly strong and a knack for writing thoughtful lyrics over catchy melodies. I would give a few noteworthy songs to start with but, truthfully, you can’t go wrong. 

Read: “George Floyd and Me” by Shai Linne

In this article, Shai honestly and vulnerably answers an email he received from a white sister in Christ after George Floyd’s death. Shai allows the reader into his thoughts, emotions, pains, fears, and hopes. In the process, he opens the door for readers to understand and respond in compassion and empathy. I would urge you not to miss the open door, but to enter in and listen.

Watch: Knives Out (Amazon Prime)

Knives Out is a twisted and whimsical “whodunnit” that will draw you in as you try to put the pieces together. Along the way it vividly reveals the corrosive effects of greed and self-interest.

Bonus Listen: Jude 3 Project podcast

The Jude 3 Project exists to help the Christian community know what they believe and why they believe it. Podcast host and Jude 3 Project founder, Lisa Fields, interviews guests on a wide range of topics such as: leadership, friendship, mental health, apologetics, and many more. Find a topic that sounds interesting or just pick an episode and jump in!

Quarantine Corner: Curated content for life on lockdown - Week 8

Written by Michael Worrall

The news of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Christian Cooper, and George Floyd has plunged our country into an important conversation about race and justice. While listening, reading, and watching alone can’t remove the poison of our prejudices they can show us we need curing. While they can’t educate us fully about the pains of injustice, they can help us to listen, learn, and empathize.

These mediums allow us to displace ourselves from our primary cultural and ethnic contexts and put ourselves in the shoes of those who are different from us. They recruit our imaginations so that we can hear, see, and perceive the world through someone else’s eyes. 

I am by no means an expert in this conversation, but here are some of the albums, books, and movies that have helped me to imagine life through the eyes of my black brothers and sisters.

Here is week 8 of Quarantine Corner:

Listen - The Narrative by Sho Baraka

The Narrative is a beautiful and brilliant hip-hop album following the life of the metaphorical black everyman, James Portier. The album weaves through different moments of history and explores the impact they had on black life in America. “Foreword, 1619” “Here, 2016” and “Maybe Both, 1865” are all noteworthy tracks.

Read - Let Justice Roll Down by John Perkins
(Audiobook available on Hoopla)

Let Justice Roll Down tells the story of John Perkins’ life. Reading this book will bring you face to face with the injustice and evils of racism as experienced by a leader in the civil rights movement. Dr. Perkins has committed his life to forgiveness and reconciliation despite the pain and trauma he has experienced at the hands of white men. 

Watch - Selma (for rent on Amazon)

Selma is the story of Martin Luther King Jr. and fellow civil rights protestors marching from Selma to Montgomery in a fight for voting rights. The story displays the violence and vitriol of racism in the desegregated south. It is frustrating and difficult to watch, but is a powerful portrait of suffering for the sake of justice. 

Bonus Read - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing is a fictional story beginning with the lives of two sisters born in an African village that take very different paths. One sister marries a British colonial governor who oversees a slave trading post in Africa, while the other is held captive in the same facility. The chapters follow their children and the following generations.

Bonus Watch - Just Mercy (Available on all platforms)

Just Mercy is the true story of Walter McMillian appealing his murder conviction with the help of defense attorney Bryan Stevenson. Though I haven’t yet read or watched Just Mercy I have had it recommended by multiple people. I wanted to include it on this list is because the movie is free to watch on all online platforms for the month of June.

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.