slight chance of RAINN

I know I'm a little late to jump on this magazine's band-wagon, but after reading this Relevant Magazine article, you might have to count me in. The interview starts off slow when Rainn Wilson makes the obligatory plugs to his new show, The Farm, (a spin off for his character from the The Office), then the read starts getting really interesting. Wilson discusses his reasons for becoming an atheist at one point and his reconnection to the Bahá’í belief that he grew up in. I admire his insistency to wrestle with beliefs and to provoke important theological questions. In this interview, it's clear that Wilson also has mature grasp and deep respect for not just his craft, but art in general. His interest in theology and the human soul led him to create some really neat projects. Rainn Wilson co-created SoulPancake.com, a safe place for humorous creativity to combine with deep philosophical thoughts. I must say, his talk-show bit, The Metaphysical Milkshake is my favorite video segment from SoulPancake. I highly recommend watching a few videos from his channel, it might be a great Romans 12:2 exercise, exploring where most people are coming from. Anyway, the rest of the article goes on to talk about the importance of service and his reasons for founding Lide, a female empowerment program for young ladies trapped in Haitian poverty.

Although Rainn Wilson isn't a Christian (I'm pretty sure), it's clear that God is using Wilson's passion for questioning values and beliefs for the overall glory of God's kingdom. After all, Matthew 7:7-9 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

I would have never guessed that "Dwight Schrute" had such a incredible perspective on humanity, God and happiness. Below is a snip-it from the Relevant interview regarding Rainn Wilson's thoughts on "the pursuit happiness":

By all outward counts, Wilson should be the picture of happiness. “I’m an actor and an artist and a producer and a writer,” he says. “I’m really lucky that I get to work in my chosen field and be creative.” But “happy” is not a word Wilson would ever use to describe his life.
“I truly believe that happiness is not an if/then statement,” he says. “I think through most of our culture it’s, ‘If I get this, then I will be happy. If I get this job, I will be happy. If I make this much money, I will be happy. If I find my mate, I will be happy. If I have success in my career, I will be happy.’ Whatever it is, there’s this series of if/then relationships. I think that’s not how happiness works.”
“I don’t like the word ‘happiness,’” he clarifies. “I think we have it in the United States—‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ What is the pursuit of happiness? Happiness, to me, is like my son when you take him to Santa Monica pier and he goes on a roller coaster and eats cotton candy. He’s happy. And then eight minutes later, he’s not happy. He wants to do it again to get happy again. Or he wants to go on the merry-go-round so he can get happy. He wants to go swim in the ocean so he can be happy. Happiness is this thing that you’re chasing.”
“I think that the better word is ‘contentment,’” he says. “Contentment lies in living fully in your life’s purpose. Living in God’s purpose for you breeds a contentment that’s not contingent on achieving certain things or doing certain things ... The ancient Greeks believed in a concept called eudaimonia, which translates as ‘human flourishing.’ That was the highest ideal in the Greek world.”
He wonders aloud, “Can you imagine if our natural motto was, ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of human flourishing?’ It’s not happiness; it’s human flourishing—deep, soul-enriching stuff. It’s connection. It’s service. It’s work. It’s creativity. It’s beauty.”

"Tootsie, for me, was never a comedy"

This has blown up on my Facebook feed and I thought it was worth sharing for those who've missed it. I love this for many reasons. I love how truth reveals itself through art, in this case to the performer more so than the audience. While in an AFI interview, this generous man was humble enough to talk about an intimate conversation he had with his wife concerning a personal and dramatic change of heart. I'm reminded that our heart-revealing stories, our experiences, are not ours to hoard but rather ours to share. 

Also, I love that Captain Hook is a softy.

1 Peter 3:3-4

New International Version (NIV)

3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

Beauty Is Embarrassing

First off, (above) was just a trailer of Beauty Is Embarrassing. I couldn't find another source with an embed code that played the full film. However, I did stumble upon this link here, where you can watch the full documentary online. 

Several people had recommended this to me before I finally watched it on Netflix last night. The film focuses on multimedia artist, Wayne White and sweetly includes his artist wife and kids. I really like this guys honesty and discoveries through failure. He is very funny and entertaining, and true to form as any comedic genius, he has a very realistic outlook on death. I wont give the movie away but, Wayne White is hard working, very accomplished and has a lot to say. In fact, it's not until almost the very end of the movie where Wayne finally touches on his idea that "beauty is embarrassing." 

Of course, I, being a sucker for revealing documentaries and human truths, loved it. I obviously don't agree with what Wayne White says about most things, but I do whole heartedly agree that beauty is, in fact, embarrassing... from the worlds perspective. If you believe that God is the originator of true beauty, then as an artist, when you create it or come upon it, you see it with the eyes that you were created to see "true beauty" through, and every time it is humbling. Being humbled is not comfortable, but oh man, is it important. I think artists are blessed to see or interpret certain parts of the spirit more easily. We get captivated by the wonder and beauty of God's creation whether it's in ourselves or found in others or in nature, artists translate it or point in out to the world even when they don't intend to or exactly know the source. 

Just as the rest of God's children, Artists do have purpose. I don't think it's a coincidence that for centuries all artist's instinct is to fight the world's disapproval. It is the world who says that art is a waist of time. I think, that instinct, that feeling that art, that beauty is a necessity, comes from the Lord. I believe, only a divine creator could love us so much to equip our hearts with the tools necessary to not only glorify Him, but to also, design us to fight for what we were given, in order to glorify him more. So, take heart creative people who are like me, who continually feel inadequate or out of place, we were designed to be who we are. We were designed to share the beauty that we seek and the beauty that we find. It's important that we do.     

1 Corinthians 12 (NIV)

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.