"I watch it so I can start conversations"

I was watching The Book of Eli, an apocalyptic movie that just hit my Netflix new release list. It was hard to watch, and in fact I only made it past the first few scenes. After the first woman was raped, I couldn't imagine watching two full hours of similar occurrences. I started asking, "What was the purpose of this movie again?" If I was placed in the time of Judges, I'm sure reality would have been similar to this movie, and I bet critics will try to align The Book of Eli with the same purpose of the Old Testament. However, I think you would have to be very creative to convince me they were parallel. The Old Testament is a collection of many accounts of man's journey through disobedience, judgment, and redemption. Does the Book Of Eli have that same purpose? I think it would be a stretch, because The Book Of Eli only cycles through man's disobedience, one painful scene after the other. I'm guessing this film on it's own could not support a redemptive conclusion.

When you watch a film that's purpose is to show you reality with no limits (by "no limits" I mean uncensored language, scenes, content) - like The Book Of Eli, Crash, or Requiem for a Dream, we continue watching because we're astonished that the people can act so cruelly or fall so hard. We're so shocked that there is some reality to it. We just can't believe someone would make a movie about this! So we keep watching. These movies make our stomachs knot, our hearts ache, and sometimes we're caught thinking like the criminals. And I think we sometimes explain to ourselves - well if I watch these actors having sex, killing people, snorting drugs, hitting their kids, then I can appreciate how much better my situation is - or it will make me never try those sins -or I can reach people with this good conversation starter - or it will help me understand the struggles of this generation. Well, I would beg to say the the gravity of entertaining our minds with these kind of scenes is much more destructive than your conversations afterward will be redemptive. You don't have to sink yourself deeper in the mud to appreciate God's cleansing. I think we too often justify our harsh words, our filthy movies, and are dirty music with the claim of it being "honest." We proudly defend this entertainment claiming it's true to reality - and that anyone willing to admit that reality sucks has guts. But I think we tend to dwell on the wrong reality. There is a reality that says our world is fallen and imperfect, but we are called to live in the reality to come, God's reality.

Here is a sampling of my most recent photos from my photo blog. I share the blog with my best friend and artist, Haley Manning. Check it out sometime!


Ducks
By Robin Holtom



Baby Ducks
By Robin Holtom




Perched
By Robin Holtom


Turtles Attacking Tortillas
By Robin Holtom

A Beautiful Dance

You should watch this video. It made me cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SdYuTSbDFg

A Big Adjustment

Aside from discovering that I am lactose intolerant, I have also discovered I have an intolerance for products with gluten in them (wheat, barley, rye). My symptoms where becoming more aggressive, so I've just started cutting bread-products out. What's funny is that one of my friends mentioned that we often crave what we're allergic to - and I can definitely say that I almost always craved pasta and bread. But who knows the validity of that?

Hudson has been such a champ putting up with my lamenting the past few weeks - cake balls, french bread, chocolate chip cookies, muffins, pastries - no more for me. He's started trying gluten free products with me...and I even managed to find some good (but expensive) all-purpose flour that has no gluten. I celebrated by making my first gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies. They tasted normal too! I've heard that some people cut out gluten just because it's supposedly healthier - but I don't know why they'd go to all the hassle. It's not easy changing your diet in such a dramatic way. But at least I can eat rice.

Saturday evening Hudson took me out to a delicious restaurant called Ruggles Green. When possible, they use organic products, and we came to discover that almost all of their meals where gluten-free! We enjoyed a delicious chicken pizza. The waiters were very conversational, and our meal together only cost about $16 - and that included drinks! If you're in Houston, make the trip, it's worth it.

I'm suprised I didn't crash.

The storm was silent and brilliant. Driving down Beamer from Frankie Carter Randolph Park, I was fronted with a dazzling lightning show. I think what makes Texas sunsets and skies so beautiful is that the land is so flat, you can see more of the expanse above. And I can assure you, this storm would not have been the same any where else but Houston, TX. I was in the right place at the right time. My first thought was that I felt like I was thrown into Disney's Fantasia (which forever has been a secret fantasy for me). I turned my radio station to the classical music station, which enhanced my Disney dream into perfection, and prayed that my drive down Beamer would never end. The storm didn't make any noise, but the lightning still quivered and rumbled before shooting a silvery streak into the somber sky. It was an exciting display of God's terrifying beauty. I wish you could have been there. I recorded a short video clip on my cell phone, but I'm afraid it does so little justice to the actual event, that I'd rather just leave you to your imagination.

What a great night.

The Falsity of Photography

Today I was browsing through some photos on Facebook. Smiles, sunsets, new places, old places, familiar places. My heart started aching to experience the same feelings and emotions those friendly photos seemed to capture. I caught myself comparing my life now to how glorious it seemed to be in previous years.

But then I remembered what happened right before that perfect photo, and what happened in between the albums of June and August. I just didn't have a photo for it. Thank goodness those photos did not have sound clips, because I remember less than godly conversations going on while I pressed the capture button. Well, some of those photos were honestly "golden moments," but in reality, it was the one "golden moment" of the day, or week, or month. All those other moments just weren't accounted for.

It's interesting how we can choose to edit our lives through our pictures. It's as if we choose to water down or completely wash out those mundane days or dry spells in our life. It is like we choose to paint those ugly moments with light pastels, but dip our brush in permanent black ink to paint the glorious moments. I think we all might have a hidden motive behind our profile pictures. We'd like to be remembered a certain way, and we'd like others to think we have our life perfectly wrapped and tied with a ribbon.

I am ashamed to think I carry a perfect facade with a rotten heart underneath. I hope that when people encounter my story, it will not be reflective of my perfect Facebook albums. I pray that they will understand my humanity which is never captured in my photos.

It is good to know that one day I will be living a spotless life. That my record will be wiped clean, and Jesus will show others my photo albums and it won't be a falsity. That will be the best day.

Knitta Please

My first sighting of Knitta Please was here in Houston! Knitta Please is a bunch of knitters who create costume-sized sleeves of fabric and stitch them on objects, handles, sculptures, etc in public areas. Bringing art to the city?

Their blog: http://www.knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/