Well, after a dazzlingly lengthy hiatus, we’re back. This time I offer a few quotes from Baron Friedrich von Hugel, a writer whom I sense to be right in his views even when I don’t altogether understand them. About the family: Katie is doing well, is a very happy baby, is a joy to hang out with. Susan is getting an MRI tomorrow, so please pray about that. Nick has broken his foot, but is getting better. Sarah and Holly are busy with school. My wrestling match with OCD (and now depression) continues — so prayers are much appreciated. Some day I will be at a nice restful healthy place in life and will look back on these difficult times and barely remember them. Here are a couple more quotes from von Hugel:
“Religion has never made me happy; its no use shutting your eyes to the fact that the deeper you go, the more alone you will find yourself… Religion has never made me comfy. I have been in the deserts ten years. All deepened life is deepened suffering, deepened dreariness, deepened joy. Suffering and joy. The final note of religion is joy.”
“Christianity is a heroism. People seem sometimes to think it is a dear darling, not-to-be-grumpy, not-to-be-impatient, not-to-be-violent life; a sort of wishy-washy sentimental affair. Stuff and nonsense!”
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Ever felt like God stopped returning your calls? This very personal episode (and aren’t they all?) begins on location in a parking lot at Georgia College & State University where wifey Susan teaches a class while I wait in the car. There is much ado about spiritual growth, the “three ways”, intimacy with God and/or the lack thereof, negative spiritual experiences which may cause some to bail on the Faith, Christian apologetics, Mother Teresa, C. S. Lewis, and more. Then, Susan returns, climbs behind the steering wheel and we are off homeward again to Macon, Georgia by way of Gordon, Georgia — a small town with a big, big hunger for elaborate Christmas light decorations. The new weekly pace for excuse me, ghidorah continues!
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Posted in Uncategorized, horror lit, horror flik, monsters, apologetics, reasons to believe, Stephen King, humanism, Christianity, horror, movies on Sep 16th, 2008 1 Comment »
This episode perplexes me. My intention was to try and explore Christian perspectives on suffering using The Mist as a sounding board — The Mist being a recent film adaptation of a Stephen King novella. Instead, I end up unpacking the religious “spin” to be found in the film, given religious weirdo Mrs. Carmody and humanist everyman hero David Drayton. I guess it’s difficult for me to talk about suffering when my family is having a tough time. Sort of like a sick man talking about nausea, or a man on a sailboat expounding on seasickness. Hmmmmm…. Anyhow, I’ll keep trying. CORRECTION: I said Nick Andros, a leader among the good guys in The Stand, was deaf and blind. That is incorrect. He is deaf and mute. He is blinded in one eye in the revised version of the book. My apologies - poor research on my part.
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Hello, folks. It’s time for part two of our Stephen King retrospective — which is actually spreading out a bit this time to become a general autobiographical look at mid to late twentieth century literary horror of the sort that once haunted library shelves in such anthologies as Whispers and Shadows. Wow, that was quite a run-on sentence.
Anyhow, those of you who were introduced in the Seventies to writers like Manley Wade Wellman, Karl Edward Wagner, Hugh Cave, Frank Belknap Long, Russell Kirk, and artists like Steve Fabian and Lee Brown Coye will get a nostalgic kick out of this episode — while others will find new wonders to explore. I promise a more specifically King oriented finale next time with a bit of Flannery O’Connor thrown in the mix as well as specific reference to King’s recent film version of The Mist.
This episode is dedicated to Stuart David Schiff and Lee Brown Coye.
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A listener kindly requested an alternative to the current m4a download for part two of the kitsch survey. So here it is. Meanwhile, I am working on part one of a Stephen King tribute which will also serve as a survey of suffering. Now, say that three times fast.
Also, I am using this post to update some settings at iTunes — so that the website link will take you to linthatcher.podbean.com. This will involve changing the upload settings, so those of you who are longtime listeners should update your iTunes subscription.
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