2012 Year End Inventory

As 2012 comes to a close, it’s always fun to look back on what I partook in.  I keep a pretty thorough calendar, so the following is culled from glancing through my records of the past 12 months (this is what consumes time on a boring flight across the country).  Here’s a sampling of what I was involved with this year…

WORK (It’s not so much a job as it is “a calling”):

7,130 needy third world children sponsored through 32 radio campaigns our

                     Radio Department at Compassion International organized

Represents approximately $16.4 million over the next 5 years for good health, education,

                    nutrition, clothing, Spiritual encouragement, and opportunities for these kids

13 radio marathons hosted in different cities

4 additional radio interviews regarding Compassion’s outreach

5 conventions/retreats

4 overseas trips where I was group leader (Bangladesh, Haiti, Guatemala, and Colombia)

105 conference calls

TRAVEL:

78 (including my 1,800^th) flights going through 31 different airports covering 81,650

               miles.

45 cities in 18 states and 9 countries

4 new countries visited (Bangladesh, Palestine, Israel, Jordan), for a lifetime total of 54.

26 different rental vehicles

27 different hotels

4,055 road miles while on the job/vacation

107 days on the road

WRITING:

65% finished with manuscript of my second book, tentatively titled, Riff Rock:

                 Confessions of a Not-So-Holy Roller

54 blogs for MarkAHollingsworth.com, Blogger, Facebook, MySpace

Over 5,000 e-mails/social networking posts

READING:

I read 36 books this year.  Here are my faves…

Falling Upward, Richard Rohr

Blood Brothers, Elias Chacour

Israel/Palestine: A Christian Response, Craig Michael Nellsen

Which Jesus? Choosing Between Power and Love, Tony Campolo

Across the Wire, Luis Alberto Urrea

Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, Ross Douthat

Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris

It’s All About God: How Isam, Atheism, and Judaism Made Me a Better Christian, Samir

            Selmanovic

Into the Beautiful North, Luis Alberto Urrea

The Poverty and Justice Bible (at least 48 different authors) *

*re-read

Also read…

Over 300 newspapers

Over 100 magazines

Over 150 articles on-line (research for book)

Over 200 Facebook Profiles

Over 7,000 e-mails/social networking messages

FILM:

I saw 81 films in theaters and on DVD in ’12.  Here are my faves….

Tinker, Tailor, Sailor, Spy

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Artist

Blue Like Jazz

Prometheus

Looking for a Friend at the End of the World

Moonrise Kingdom

Bernie

The Dark Knight Rises

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Hellbound

Looper

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Life of Pi

Argo

Samsara

Searching for Sugarman

Celebration Day: Led Zeppelin

Lincoln

The Sessions

Les Miserables

Chasing Ice

With God on Our Side

MUSIC:

I purchased 26 CD’s and listened to hundreds more albums. Here are my new faves from ‘12

Flying Colors, Flying Colors

Ralston Bowles, Little Miracles

Ian Anderson, Thick as a Brick, Part 2

Phil Madeira and Friends, Mercyland: Hymns for the Rest of Us

Phil Keaggy, Live at Kegworth

Rush, Clockwork Angels

Neal Morse, Momentum

Hands, Hands

Keith Emerson Band, Live in Moscow

Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited II

I saw 67 concerts/speaking engagements…here are the most memorable:

Dave Perkins and Friends, 3^rd and Lindsley, Nashville, TN

Glass Harp, Two Old Hippies, Nashville, TN

Bob Roberts, Christ at Checkpoint Conference, Bethlehem, Palestine

Sami Awad, Christ at Checkpoint Conference, Bethlehem, Palestine

Gary Burge, Christ at Checkpoint Conference, Bethlehem, Palestine

Sang Bok David Kim, Christ at Checkpoint Conference, Bethlehem, Palestine

Stephen Sizer, Christ at Checkpoint Conference, Bethlehem, Palestine

Salim Munayer, Christ at Checkpoint Conference, Bethlehem, Palestine

David Crowder Band, Friend Fest, Nappanee, IN

Neal Morse Band, Rocketown, Nashville, TN

Tony Campolo, First Presbyterian Church, Nashville, TN

Ian Anderson Band. Ryman Aud., Nashville, TN

Shaun Groves, Life Church, Canton, MI

Phil Madeira and Friends, Downtown Presbyterian, Nashville, TN

Shane Claiborne, Massey Hall, Belmont Univ., Nashville, TN

SUNDRY:

17 Nashville Predator hockey games

31 gatherings of Curious Souls support group

88 business and/or friendship lunches

12^th year as member of Servant Leadership Council for The Village Chapel

9 days in hospital for urinary tract infection, heart palpitations, coronary ablation surgery

8 pieces of property researched in Guatemala

7 parties/picnics

2^nd year as member of the board for Touchstone Youth Services

1 new roof on house

1 new siding on house (and still red velvet paint)

1 new sewer line running under back yard

I  reseeding of back yard grass

"The Tree of Life" is Terrence Malick's Masterstroke

Terrance Malik’s films have always been difficult to describe, and yet much ink and binary code has been dispensed trying to do so. The Tree of Life is just the fifth movie of his thirty-eight year career, and it appears that it is the masterstroke for which he will be most remembered.

On opening night in Nashville last Friday, the packed-out Belcourt Theater was buzzing with anticipation. After all, Malick is sixty-seven now, and this could very well be his final effort. For those who appreciate artistic expression and philosophical breadth therein, The Tree of Life is bursting with the ever-evolving complexities that make up our lives…and Life itself.

I’ve always described Malick’s style as “visual tone poems.” Hard to define, yet full of perception. Abstract, ponderous, and even audacious in its scope. You know when a film opens with portions of the 38th chapter of Job where God asks of the man’s ability (or lack thereof) to comprehend His ways, that substantive weight will ensue.

There are basically two story lines interchanging throughout The Tree of Life. First is the somewhat biographical story of filmmaker’s upbringing in Waco, TX during the 1950s and how it has haunted him into his adulthood. Simultaneously, there is much representation in stunning special effect and visual manipulation of deep space images showing the very beginnings of the universe. The wow factor is high as we see the progressive development of galaxies, then into our solar system, our planet, and the epochs that brought life here in its various stages. And even though the seventh day was set aside for rest and reflection, it apparently is not just in the past, but a still unfolding present that can cause continual awe. As the interwoven themes reach their end, it would seem clear that we are, indeed, all made up of star dust and mutually share much in common.

That is where the Everyman themes of the formation of a family anchor the piece; “hitting home,” as it were. The scenes of infancy within the Texan family are some of the most innocent yet captured on celluloid. The closest I can think of would be the excellent documentary, Babies, which came out a year ago. These waifs are completely unaware of a camera as they sleep, explore, and interact with others.

As the family grows from just Mr. and Mrs. O’Brian (played with intensity and lovely restraint by Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain, respectively), to three sons, it settles in around the time that the kids are aged nine, eleven, and thirteen. The eldest, Jack, begins exploring the boundaries of his will vs. his father’s, and much tension ensues. There are scenes of cruelty, overbearing discipline, and deep rage that bring forth long-lasting fear and insecurity. But there are also times of unfettered joy, camaraderie, and familial bonding that we can all recognize in the unpredictable relationships of our upbringings.

It is when death is introduced on several occasions, and the subsequent grappling with grief that is rendered over many decades that I was most moved. The bewilderment and depression generates many brief prayers—mostly in the form of questions—that are whispered over these contemplative scenes. Having lost my Father and fourteen friends over the past several years, I found myself fighting back tears at various moments that resonated deeply.

And even God can grieve. That is shown as the series of images play out. We all long for that coming back together, a unity beyond the splintered status quo.

When we see Jack as an adult (played quite pensively with very little dialogue by Sean Penn), he has developed into an even more regimented version of his dad. Equally creative, yet living in a very linear, hard-edged world of sharp angles, glass, steel, structure, and meticulous order of an architect. He has tried to control his life, and yet he is overwhelmed with a sense that there is something profound, even transcendent that must be in play for it all to make sense. He is grappling with the meaning of it all, and simultaneously trying to “break on through to the other side,” as Jim Morrison once wailed. He is longing to be free of these entanglements, and perhaps even more so, to be forgiven. There is much imagery of open windows and doorways beckoning the viewer to depart from the past, see beyond the present, and perhaps enter-in to a new perspective.

The characters tell us that there are basically two ways of understanding life: either through the lens of harsh Nature, or through the eyes of Grace. The first is represented with clutching, domination, grabbing, bitterness, confrontation, demand, uncertainty, jealousy, fighting, revenge, and arbitrary violence. The second is shown via more feminine qualities like patience, kindness, play, creativity, laughter, compassion, embraces, warm touch, reassuring forgiveness, open skies, dancing flocks of birds, light in the midst of darkness, and the wide expanse of the constantly birthing universe. Some have commented that, in essence, the father represents the Old Testament, and the mother the New Testament.

Only a few other films have been as visually evocative as this one for me: 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Koyanisqqatsi: Life Out of Balance. Both were heavy on imagery of how mankind has missed the point of the glory of creation, that our humanness is very much imbued with something much more eternal beyond the scope of our own machinations. Likewise, those masterpieces, as with The Tree of Life, do wonders with evocative scores that include music from symphonic geniuses, as well as searing stretches where no sound is proffered at all. The silence makes some of the images all the more is reverential; the moments more profound. We live in that silence, that pause between breathing-in and exhaling.

It is those contrasts that make this such an exhilarating piece of art. We are prompted--maybe even reminded--that science and religion are inextricably connected, just like doubt and faith, conflict and resolution, life and death.

In the end, the essence of The Tree of Life seems to come down to the same themes told in the oldest story known in recorded history, that of Job. Ultimately we have to release what we are holding onto that is painful and surrender to God who put everything, including us, in play.

For anyone who is ponders things beyond the stuff of earth, I highly recommend The Tree of Life to encourage your steps along the curious way.