I’m writing this mid-afternoon on Wednesday. The quarter and semester have officially come to an end. I’ve got a couple of students with minor missing assignments to take care of; beyond that, the grades are good. I’ve got the winter banquet to work through and one more mainland interview to conduct before being totally “officially” done with things. Friday is for Star Wars and HPU basketball. Saturday is mostly normal before heading to the airport for Tennessee.
This quarter’s end hasn’t been as stressful as those in years past (which is hopefully a good thing and not a sign that I’ve totally forgotten to do something important). I’m looking forward to a good trip away: family and friends, good food, lots of sleep. I’ve been trying to figure out what to take with me to read. At this point, I’ve settled on Buechner, Tolkien, and Chesterton for relaxing. More on my 2020 reading hopes tomorrow.
I definitely hope that part of what this break gives me is a quality, basic reset for things. While not as intense as this time last year, the balance of things at work has been tenuous, always a kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul. These times remind you how shallow the soil can be at times . . . and how hard nutrients can be to come by. So hopefully a resetting of some of the most basic habits: physical, spiritual, and mental. And then there’s definitely going to be some planning ahead to do.
Yesterday marked the beginning of the second week of Advent. Different churches mark the weeks differently, some leaning into themes like hope and love but in different orders, others revisiting key moments in the biblical story. I like the approach that roots the time in expectation not just of the Christmas season but of the second coming of Christ, the event that will bring this part of the biblical story to an end.
November started with 
The second week of November brought Taika Waititi’s latest satire to the silver screen. Jojo Rabbit is the awkwardly funny, ultimately heart-breaking story of a young boy in Nazi Germany who has a comedic version of Hitler as his imaginary best friend. The movie feels a lot like a Wes Anderson flick, as there’s something slightly magical and farcical about the proceedings. Waititi plays Hitler to much effect, which is part of what makes the experience awkward. But then, as needed, the movie turns dark and sobering. A number of well-known actors take part in the story, including Scarlet Johansson, Rebel Wilson, and Sam Rockwell. Thankfully, none of them “take you out of” the movie, which can easily happen in this kind of piece.
The third quality movie in the month of November for me was Ford v. Ferrari starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale. Racing isn’t really my form of entertainment, but the reviews were good and the actors and director had earned my trust, so I gave it a try. It was quite brilliant, a great picture of people who are passionate about things and who don’t quite know how to navigate the world between work and people all that well. I found myself tearing up a little at odd places, moments that weren’t particularly telegraphed to evoke emotion. And when you finally get to the moments that do want to evoke something? Yeah. Beyond that, FvF is a period piece of a kind, too, one that is just out of reach for many of us. Bale, as always, is brilliant. And Damon, as is often the case, plays someone you’re not sure you should feel much sympathy for, and yet he gets it out of you yet again.
While I was in Victoria for Thanksgiving break, I took at an afternoon to see Rian Johnson’s Knives Out at the local Odean theater. I’m so used to a certain kind of cinema seating that it’s always a little jarring to have nice seats that don’t shoot up steep like a mountainside. Still, the experience was good . . . mostly because the story is so well-told. It’s a who-dun-it story that is just enough Clue the Movie to keep it light while still treading in some heavy moments. It’s the kind of story that gives you just enough but doesn’t tell you what to do with it. Because even if you know the who, you’re still not quite sure about the dun-it. Knives Out is a great late autumn/early winter movie, as it evokes a kind of place and time that is both cozy and obviously dangerous.
We’re a few days into the Advent season. I think maybe it’s my favorite season of the church calendar, as it’s a kind of mellow, reflective time that looks forward to something amazing breaking into history not once but twice. I also love the Scripture read throughout the season.
While in England, we spent a couple of days in the Lake District, the stomping grounds of William Wordsworth. We spent some time at his house, Rydal Mount, and then walked the Coffin Trail down into Grasmere. We also spent some time in a little town with a big castle called Skipton. While there, I found a “Everyman’s Poetry” edition of Wordsworth’s poetry. I’ve not spent much time with Wordsworth since college (probably a survey class, maybe in my Romanticism class), so it’s been interesting to revisit some of his works. Here’s “Old Man Traveling,” the first poem from the collection, which has a nice but sobering turn at the end.
Yesterday I made note of my favorite “King John” moment from Shakespeare’s King John. There was one other scene in the first plays first half (as presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company) that has stuck with me. In the previously mentioned scene, King John tasks Hubert with dispatching Arthur, a rival to the throne. In this scene, Arthur’s mother Constance (played wonderfully by Charlotte Randle in the RSC production), is grieving the loss of her son. Earlier in the play, Constance’s presence is played to almost comic effect, which makes this scene that much more powerful, a real picture of grief and loss. It’s the kind of scene that would shock and surprise if done for a Shakespeare presentation.
While in Stratford over break, we had the opportunity to see the Royal Shakespeare Company’s version of King John. KJ is not that well-known a play, of course, and I can imagine that there are many reasons why. Where it shines, it burns. When it doesn’t shine, it’s dense and forgettable. The RSC made good work of the play, though, particularly the first half. They took two creative turns. First, they cast King John as a woman (played admirably by Rosie Sheehy). Second, they placed the play in what felt like a 1960s-era spy genre (think the British Avengers series). That turn was most effective in the first half of the play, where there were a number of creative flourishes (dance numbers, boxing scenes) that served as spoonfuls of sugar to help the medicine. By the beginning of the second half, that creative flourish was gone (and the overall play the lesser for it).
During my recent trip to England and Scotland with students, we had the opportunity to spend some time in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. While the main reason for going in is seeing the place where Shakespeare is buried, it’s also a beautiful church in and of itself. As I sat in the silence, I took out the pew-rack hymnal and came across this hymn:
Space Enough, and Time 