WALL-E‘s Biblical Themes

After watching WALL-E with my daughter’s family on Friday, we agreed that several of the plot lines had ties back to the Bible. (WARNING – possible plot spoilers ahead….)

First, there are ties to the Genesis account of the flood: Mankind is saved by escaping a flood (of garbage) on a large (space) ship. Those on the ship send out a (robotic) dove, which brings back evidence of earth’s renewed plant life, initiating the process of re-populating the earth.

Then there is the obviously feminine character (robot) E.V.E., whose determination to follow “the directive” falters only once, happily with fewer consequences than in the Genesis account. And mankind, who has been lulled into over-consumption by all the technology provided by the “Buy-N-Large” corporation, is gently-but-prophetically interrupted back to reality, and back into action, by WALL-E.

Perhaps I’ve been influenced by the thirteen chapters of Wright’s Surprised by Hope I have finished so far, but I also saw elements of Revelation 21’s new earth in the film’s closing scene and the images of rebuilding that appeared with the final credits.

So, did we see everything? Did we read too much into it? Go see the movie yourself and let me know what you think.

N. T. Wright

If you missed seeing N.T. Wright on the Colbert Report, here is the link:

http://www.spike.com/video/2995361?cmpnid=716&pt=sr&refsite=7103

Check it out!

Next Meeting - June 26, 2008

Our next meeting will be June 26th at 7:00 PM at It's a Grind, 4152 W. Spring Creek Pkwy in Plano. That's just west of Coit Road on Spring Creek Pkwy.

What we are reading - May meeting recap

Ron made some of us a bit envious by telling of his recent trip to Lake Livingston where he enjoyed some time to read and relax. With that inspiration, we went around the circle and here is what cohort members say they have been reading:
The Shack by William Young
The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
The Power of Now by Tolle
Reinventing the Sacred by Stuart Kauffman
Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder
The Spirituality of Imperfection by Kurtz and Ketcham
Women's Way of Knowing by Belenky, et.al.
Sex God by Rob Bell
The New Christians by Tony Jones
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
A Christianity Worth Believing by Doug Pagitt
Hearing God by Dallas Willard
Finding Our Way Again by Brian McLaren

That led to an interesting discussion of where we see emergence appearing in our culture.

Kasey suggested that we keep reading and sharing and see where that discussion takes us for our next meeting on June 26. Her suggestion sounded great, so keep reading and bring your thoughts to the next meeting. Thanks, Kasey!

Church Basement Roadshow comes to Texas

Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, and Mark Scandrette are bringing their new project, the Church Basement Roadshow, to Texas in July. Here is the schedule:

Wednesday July 16 in Fort Worth at eucatastrophe
Friday July 18 in Dallas at Journey
Saturday July 19 in Austin at Journey Imperfect Faith Community
Sunday July 20 in Houston at Ecclesia

For more information see http://churchbasementroadshow.com/

May 2008 Meeting & Time Change

Our next meeting will be May 29th at 7:00 PM at It's a Grind, 4152 W. Spring Creek Pkwy in Plano. That's just west of Coit Road on Spring Creek Pkwy.

Several mentioned to me that we might try an earlier start time. So we'll start about 7:00 and plan to go until about 8:30 and of course anyone can stay as late as they want.

If you can't arrive until 7:45 or so, that's okay. You can jump in or out of the conversation as your schedule requires.

The Journey Begins

We had a great start on Thursday, May 1, 2008. A total of ten were able to show up for all or part of the night. We spent some time getting to know each other and exploring why each of us is interested in emergent. We just barely scratched the surface in talking about what topics, books, and theological viewpoints we'd like to discuss in future meetings, so that will be the emphasis of our next meeting on Thursday, May 29.

I'd like to invite those who were there to post a comment about what they thought about the meeting. And if you couldn't come, post a comment about what topics you'd like to discuss in the months to come.

Hope to see you on the 29th.