Still a "Toys R Us" Kid

 I think most of us have a favorite store or restaurant we remember from childhood. Places we can map out from memory because our recollection is so vivid. For me it was Toys “R” Us, that famous franchise that went out of business earlier this year. 

Toys “R” Us was basically a third world arms bazaar for boys in the kindergarten to 4^th grade range. Sketchy salesman offering help as we gawked at the shelves stocked with the latest violent toys. “See anything you like?” they’d inquire. They had the best toy weapons, cowboy revolvers with ammo belts, automatic rifles, belt-fed troop guns, grenades, Rambo survival knives and handguns. Mercenaries could really stock up. At least that’s what I liked it.

We always got a warning speech from my mom in the parking lot before entering the toy mecca. She lined us up outside the store, with pointed finger and stern tones she blasted us with that mantra we knew so well.

 “If you touch anything on the shelves that’s an automatic spanking when we get home!” It wasn’t shouted so much as jabbed, with the help of the index finger, into our souls.

 It mostly worked, but common. Have you seen the glory that is a toy store through the eyes of an 8 year old boy? An entire building dedicated to the pursuit of happiness, aisle after aisle of joy wrapped in plastic. Shelves strategically arranged to capture the attention of children who’ve wandered away from their families in a daze.  Every action figure, bouncy ball, battery jeep, dinosaur set, race track, stuffed bear, machine gun and video game demanding attention. It’s war out there. Hence the pre-game talk my mom felt the need to deliver, expecting the troops to wander off along the way. 

My parents must have known the onslaught coming their way once the automatic doors pulled back and the displays came into view. 

The Cherry Valley Toys “R” Us was a free standing building away from everything but a few car lots, a Baker’s Square, and later a go cart track. This was 30 years ago so I am sure the area has changed quite a lot. Nothing could top the anticipation though of walking into the store, grabbing a shopping cart and marveling at the sheer amount of toys. I remember a long walk behind a cart wall when you came in and a slow turn before you entered the main floor. 

Stepping onto the main floor was like having everyone shout “Surprise!” before balloons and confetti fell from the sky. It was better than that even. I’d been here before. I expected the surprise. I knew right when the hanging car displays would come into sight and the giant ball stacks would became visible. I remember which section contained the guns and which one the video games. I remember where the bikes and battery cars just big enough for kids to ride 2 across were kept.

At some point video games took over larger chunks of the store. Always kept behind glass cases, they weren’t as memorable. We bought games as we got older. We had Nintendo, Super Nintendo and I guess 64. I was done with games after the Super. I just wasn’t a gamer.

I went to a Toys “R” Us a few years ago to buy a gift for my niece. It wasn’t the one I grew up with so my opinion might have been a little skewed. I reminded me of watching a movie I loved as a kid only to find out how bad it was when I became an adult. The shelves were a mess, the floors littered with scattered stuffed animals and bouncy balls. The ceilings were low, the lighting was bad, the employees were indifferent, the prices high. I can chalk up some of this to the season; it was Christmas shopping time after all. Some I can blame on the difference between being a kid and being an adult. Oddly it was the low ceilings that disappointed me the most. In my kid brain the place was so grand and stuffed with toys in every imaginable spot, practically bursting like a Thanksgiving turkey. I remember trying to work out how long it would take me to play with every toy there, my brain nearly seizing up from the infinite possibilities.  

But now here was this sad, small structure in need of repair and desperate for joy. What happened to my Shangri-La? When did the circus leave town? Was it ever really that great? The great toy destination had become a dumpy rental in a neighborhood with more graffiti on the buildings than original paint.

The whole spectacle was sad. Not because a grown man expected a toy store to be a happy place 30 years after he stopped playing with G.I. Joe. But because the idea that a single flagship store can house nothing but toys seems unlikely anymore. Walmart, Target, Amazon and other companies have gobbled up much of the toy business that it isn’t profitable to build anymore. Even the famed F.A.O Schwarz store (in Manhattan) where Tom Hanks did the piano dance in the movie BIG closed up two years ago. 

My criticism of their neglected storefronts notwithstanding, it isn’t hard to see what happened to the business. Bigger stores with more offerings made it impossible to compete; same as grocery, electronics and nearly every type of brick and mortar place. Toys took an extra beating from a consumer culture with a lot of electronic options. Toys across the country aren’t selling well anymore and smartphones are getting blamed.

Toys “R” Us went out of business earlier this year and even though they had been overtaken by Walmart in sales, it still limits the number of places for kids. They got into debt and just never recovered. I still think a massive store dedicated to toys can work again. It needs to have full on displays where kids and grab and test though. It must be a destination store, not a bargain place where people look for deals. I don’t know if it makes economic sense anymore but I imagine with the right plan it could really take off. There are a lot of young kids out who need a place like that to remember. It could be there happy place, even if their moms won’t let them grab stuff off the shelf.   

Demon Hunter pulled me back in

I thought I outgrew it my heavy metal phase. I assumed, like action figures and baseball cards, it didn't appeal anymore--a passing interest from an earlier time. But some preset antenna in my brain clicked on this year and started receiving again.  

This summer I rediscovered metal. 

 I work in my yard a lot, perfect for mindless head banging tunes through earbuds on a hot day. I’m a Pandora guy so a lot of the suggested stuff that’s shuffled through is a mystery. Every once in a while a perfectly aggressive sound punctures the little film covering the ear piece and wakes me up. How many times has that sound been that of Demon Hunter? I can’t tell, but a pattern emerged after some time. All the good stuff is Demon Hunter.

Not content to just wait until the next mowing day, I got online and start searching for DH songs. I like to know what fans like, what are their best songs? Also, I suddenly wanted news about the group, tour dates and concert information and new song stuff. Google has lists for everything so I just start sampling their stuff. The internet is great. Remember borrowing CDs from friends or going to Best Buy for the new releases? No one misses those days. I discovered I have a bit of an obsessive side. I study things intensely for a short time and then never again. It’s ideal for research and writing though. Yesterday’s obsession was Demon Hunter, Tomorrow--maybe history’s great conspiracies or the best types of wood varnish for deck boards. Who knows?

I found this Demon Hunter live documentary called 45 days. First thing I noticed is the clean sound. This is a live show and the audio is surprisingly crisp. Video recordings rarely get full sound from a show; it's usually poor quality. It seems like one microphone was used, with uneven sound and muddy verses. 45 days is a quality film even if the cameras aren’t always in the perfect spot.

I assume when shooting a band you need to know the music and the timing of the chorus or when the lead singer is going to hit the low verses, high notes. If he is going to put his foot on the amplifier and lean menacingly into the crowd, filmmakers should want the best shot.  I could be wrong here. Maybe there is a standard format for shooting concerts that includes the crowd reaction and a full stage pyro demonstration.

For me, Demon Hunter songs break into 2 basic categories; Fast/aggressive and melodic/ballads. These are my terms and I am sure fans might see it differently. I guess they have a handful of slow, non-metal songs like “I am a Stone” but they mostly stay within the metalcore genre. I’m not an expert on the albums since I just listen to the songs as they pop up. I enjoy the fast stuff like on “Storm the Gates of Hell” and “Someone to Hate”. The drum pacing is very quick, the guitars sound like machine gun fire and the singing is aggressive. That’s pretty much a winning formula, fast drums, machine gun riffs and an intense singer.  There is almost no break between the verse and chorus, they intend to crunch as much thrash into a 5 minute song by quickening the pace.

 Regular ballads are emotional songs about loss (usually) heartbreak, sadness. “Godforsaken” is a little bit like this. I always think it’s a little jarring to go from sped up, yelling to slow and melodic but metal bands do it all the time. It feels weird at shows too. Groups usually come out with a neck snapping, energy laced throw down and 3 songs later slow it down to a crawl. It works though. We pull out the lighter and hum along with the band, swaying to the chorus and ‘feeling’ the lyrics. We clap enthusiastically with their heartfelt display of sensitivity. The very next song we ramp up and slam into each other, propelled by the crushing drums and beefy amplifiers.

Demon Hunter is a Christian band. A Christian Metal band is an interesting thing. I think most people don’t know what to make of it. Heavy Metal is known for occult symbolism, dark themes, death, anger and pain. The artwork covers are pretty honest, blood, skulls, death, violence. Christian music is the opposite of those things, light to darkness and truth to lies. Christians face a steep climb to respectability within metal. They struggle with being perceived as ‘soft’ or ‘talent-less’. When the music is good and group puts on a show, it doesn’t matter to the fans.

Demon Hunter doesn’t run from the label, they actually embrace it.

 “From the minute we started saying that [We are a Christian Band] we started getting more respect even from those other bands” video.

By ‘respect’ he doesn’t mean they embraced his theology. He means, once they decided to ‘live for Christ’ it cleared up a lot of misconceptions among fans. They started to explain their faith and share with others. Their music isn’t preachy so their lives have to be. Staying on message is important to them and I'm glad they understand the significance of what they do.

Summer’s almost over for me so I’ll have to find time to slam around the house and pretend I’m on stage. Is that something we are supposed to grow out of too? I assumed I was done with heavy music altogether, but you can’t be too sure.

Like Michael Corleone from the Godfather III, “Just when I thought I was out. . . they pull me back in!”

Wernher Von Braun

Wernher Von Braun is linked forever with America’s space program.

 As a leading scientist working for the Nazi party during the war, he developed the V2 rocket which relies on liquid propulsion, a major breakthrough in the 1940’s. Germany tried to weaponized the missiles but killed more laborers in their camps than allied soldiers. It wasn’t an effective weapon but helped create a ‘genius’ myth around its creator Von Braun. Sensing a collapse of the Third Reich and the strong possibility of being captured by the Russians, he surrendered to the Americans instead.

Wernher Von Braun’s second act is either a miscarriage of justice or proof that noble patriots got sucked into supporting a dictator they didn’t like. His link to the Nazi party was too much for many Americans to get over. Why should he not be held responsible for the atrocities committed by the group to which he was a member? Naturally the Americans questioned him about his affiliation. I’ve read through some of his answers on the critical questions about his background. He mostly comes off reluctant about the German cause, an engineer concerned with building rockets and exploring the moon. 

Whether you believe him or not determines what you think of allowing him to become an American, and develop a space program in the U.S.

At first glance it doesn’t look good. The Americans essentially moved Von Braun and his crew over the Atlantic and set them up with a new purpose, to beat the Russians into space. Not only to beat the Soviets but also to test and develop rockets for military use.

From 1945 until his death in 1977 he worked on ballistic missiles for the Army and countless NASA programs like the Saturn launch rocket. They played catch-up to the Soviets after Sputnik (first satellite). Saturn was the first launch rocket to take Americans into space.

For some, Von Braun was nothing more than an opportunist. A reluctant Nazi perhaps, but one who oversaw the conditions in the research laboratory and did nothing to stop them. Slave labor was used to assemble and test the V2s under miserable conditions. Reports from soldiers who liberated the camp at Mittlebau-Dora described it the same way they described finding other camps around the country, dead bodies stacked in corners and horrific injuries, malnutrition, disease. War engenders callousness in those who experience it. But to not protest or walk out in protest suggests cruelty or indifference. The rest of the Nazi cadres that were captured faced a war tribunal at Nuremberg, including Von Braun’s ally Albert Speer.  

What should be the response toward scientists’ who worked with Nazis? I don’t mean the ones who conducted torture experiments on people, just the ones who developed bomb technology or rocket propulsion? Von Braun never believed had Germany won, that Allied scientists would have been treated the same as generals and commanders. Where military leaders get harsh punishment (imprisonment, death) scientific disciplines get lighter penalties like restrictions on future practice.

Apparently he expresses remorse for the treatment of prisoners in later interviews. Always with the aside that he couldn’t stop it if he wanted to, he was a scientist caught up in a war.

By all accounts he makes a genuine life change in America after he attends a Baptist church in Texas. One account tells of a pastor in his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama leading Wernher in a prayer of repentance. If anyone doubts his commitment to Christ, they need only read his observations on science and religion.

Through science man attempts to understand the laws of creation; through religious activities he attempts to understand the intentions of the Creator. Each approach is a search for ultimate truth.

If this was an attempt to be accepted in America as an engineer living in accordance with cultural norms, he wouldn’t have been so bold about the existence of God. Especially in the science community, agnosticism would have been a wiser choice. By promoting “Creationism” he basically becomes an outcast among an elite group. By the time of his death he is the most prominent Creationist in the country and sees no conflict between religion and science.

More scientists will get off their ivory towers and publicly say what I am saying here...with all the modern means at our disposal, with schools, churches, educational institutions, press, radio, and television, they should tell the world that religion and science are not incompatible; that, to the contrary; they belong together.

Another anecdote about the V2 rocket technician shows he wasn’t interested in making ballistic missiles for the Nazi’s. Supposedly Himmler had him arrested after he Von Braun showed a lack of interest in using his designs for the war effort. He was shortly released after Albert Speer convinced the Fuhrer of his utility. 

As with everything surrounding the life of the most important man in space development, it depends on how convincing he is to us. His Christianity seems genuine to me since it was so unnecessary in his profession. Yet he becomes a leading voice for Creationism and exploration of the heavens until his death in 1977.

 It’s Wernher Von Braun’s usefulness to the United States’ ambitions in space that makes one cynical. Would the crew responsible for V2’s technology have been treated differently if they weren’t brilliant, if they hadn’t achieved scientific breakthroughs in rocket propulsion?

I keep coming across a lot of literature critical of Von Braun and his white glove treatment by the Americans after the war. Maybe his genius is what saved him, an indispensable piece in race to the moon. Maybe it was his very falling out with the Nazis and their plans to bomb civilians that separated him, just enough, from the monstrous regime. 

How he lived his life after the war speaks to a change of heart and a commitment to scientific inquiry. Despite his past, he made his future matter for good. 

This Week's Medley

 I didn’t write last night because I was tired after a triple cheeseburger and French fry food coma. I followed it with a handful of Hersey’s chocolate and a bag of very tasty pretzels. I chased it all with a vanilla shake. Of all the excuses not to write, that ranks pretty low. How much fat content can a person cram into one meal? I was determined to find out by embarking on a gluttonous course and passing out when the calorie overload hit DEFCON 1. I fell to the occasion and passed out at the first slow period of the evening. I dozed off reading a book like a senior citizen watching Jeopardy in the afternoon.

I had a long week, cut me some slack.

I've felt a general sluggishness in creativity lately, “Whataburger” notwithstanding. Every sentence, every word, every letter oozes out me like grease from that side of fries. It’s slow and laborious ensuring every effort to come up with a subject to write about will probably fail as I get frustrated with the pace. With writing I just plow through most times. The one common factor between writing interesting pieces and nonsense is the amount of time spend.

It’s a simple formula, allow as much time as needed to finish the thought, then edit. It might take two hours or maybe three, but it can’t be rushed and it shouldn’t be forced.

For me at least, honesty holds up well in print. It flows more naturally from the brain to the page. Mark Twain said “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” The same goes for writing and he probably had stories in mind when he said it.

So I thought I’d try something different, an overview of items I couldn’t get enough on by themselves.  

News:

Aretha Franklin died this week of cancer. A major force in recording and pop culture, she still gets credited with inspiring thousands of young musicians, not just ‘soul’ either. For me, her part in Blues Brothers stands out the most. A lot of blues and jazz artists had bit parts in that movie. Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway and yes Aretha Franklin as a Chicago restaurant owner. When Jake and Elwood show up to win back two members of their former band she tries stop them from leaving. In a short scene, she belts out a crushing chorus with the waiters dancing to a choreographed routine. I was surprised to read that she never appeared in another movie again.  Blues and soul aren’t really my kind of music but Franklin’s legacy surpasses particular genres. You might not like basketball but you definitely know who LeBron James is. She will be remembered more for her “R.E.S.P.E.C.T” song and the anthem of individuality it became.

TV:

I’ve been watching “The Crown” on Netflix. Although it covers historical events about the current occupants of Buckingham Palace, I imagine they take some liberties with their relationships’. As a private family with multiple layers of assistants, regents, officials and go-betweens it would difficult to get a genuine portrayal. But it is a fantastic show. John Lithgow dominates every scene as an aging Winston Churchill. It isn’t a flattering image of the revered Prime Minister. He is years past his World War II glory days but still clings to power, refusing to retire despite heated calls from parliament to stand aside. He’s mostly seen complaining about ‘socialists’, obsessing about his legacy and the future of the country without him. Lithgow’s Churchill is a sensitive but erratic leader who is, despite being a celebrity among the British people, out of step with the times. It’s a little heavier on emotion than I picture from great statesman, but with an abundance of moral clarity that’s probably just right.

 We know a lot more about Churchill than Queen Elizabeth, but events of the day bring out character in both. The contrast between aging legend and the young queen plays on the direction of a country recovering from war. Which ideas, values and institutions will survive? If there is a theme to the show it’s that choices demand consideration of a monarchy with entrenched rules and a very long history. The queen must learn to balance tradition with opinion.

Sports:

Late summer and early fall is the best time of year for sports. The playoff race makes watching baseball more interesting. The Cubs are 3 games ahead in the Central Division and winning games at the right time. In baseball it’s all about ‘getting hot’ at the right moment. Each team plays 162 regular season games which is rough on bodies and rough on arms, especially pitchers. By the playoffs a lot of teams run out of gas, the ones that make it to the series have deep benches and deep pocketbooks. Chris Bryant should be back from a rehab stint shortly, hopefully his hitting comes back with him. As long as we have a healthy Ben Zobrist I like the Cubs chances. Every team has a clutch player, ours is Ben.

Both college and NFL football games start in a few weeks, and the US Open (tennis not golf) gets underway. Working at a sporting goods store means having the TV on all day and keep track of matches in Flushing Meadows. I won’t pretend to know all the early-rounders who try their luck against Nadal and Djokovic, but live sports in the middle of the day (while working) is a convenient perk. Working Saturday means choosing which college football games to watch too. Networks do a better job of showing games at night than 20 years ago. There only used to be one Saturday night game on ESPN, now there are games in nearly every conference. 

College football has never been better. 

Classification and Personality

“There are two types of people in this world…” goes a famous line from Bill Murray’s What About Bob  “Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don’t. My ex-wife loves him.” 

Even though he is neurotic to a crippling degree, Bob does what most of us do when trying to understand others and himself, sort and segregate. 

It’s easier to understand others when we boil it down to A or B choices. The desire to classify along personality lines is more about figuring out “us” than learning about “them”.  

Buzzfeed and Facebook are awash in ‘this or that’ type quizzes that sort users based on personality. From “What Lord of the Rings character are you?” to “Which 80’s sitcom describes your life?” All suggest an interest in self-discovery. What is at the heart of it though? Why the need, mostly for fun, to separate and label? It has more to do with seeing ourselves a certain way than putting others in a box. By solving key components of self, we can map out life easier and find our tribe. A touch of laziness is to blame for an obsession with finding the perfect track. Who doesn’t want to find the path of least resistance? Who hasn’t thought “Give me the relationships and careers where I’m destined for awesomeness”? 

 Questionnaires give us the confidence of figuring out some missing piece of our own little puzzle.

The popular psych profile Myers-Briggs separates people into 16 groups but starts with 4 broad characteristics. I don’t think I’ve ever read through and thought about how to classify others though. I’m only interested in where I fall along the scale (ISFJ in case you wondered). Maybe it is just old fashioned selfishness to figure out ‘me’ first and consider others later. But if selfishness is the culprit it proves my point. We want to figure out ‘us’ in a larger ‘we’ picture.

The individuality I'm describing is closer to self-interest than vanity. There is some corner of the brain that lights up when we solve a tough math problem or find answers to a baffling question. It’s a confidence builder. Finding some hidden gem of information through diligent effort is its own reward, much more when we do it ourselves. Tests on personality force us to be honest by presenting scenarios and demanding responses. A full picture of our makeup is only possible when we tell the truth. Also, valid profiles aren’t based on right or wrong answers, the incentive to cheat is removed.

A lot of this depends on how serious you take personality profiles. At best, they are trait markers and at worst, silly time wasting fun.

 Discovering our type can be limiting. Tying personality strictly to trait prevents us from taking chances in areas of life we don’t feel qualified to engage in. This allows a that’s-not-my-job attitude to seep in keeping us from accepting challenges we might really need.  We play to type instead of working through a default mindset. 

My job requires me to help a lot of coaches and athletic directors. Most are highly organized and competitive. Occasionally they’re demanding and used to getting their own way. This is challenging when their deadlines aren’t met, which happens sometimes. Past success lays the groundwork for future disputes, so naturally they insist on being assertive. It’s worked before. Playing to type for them means holding ground and pushing demands. Losing an argument can be catastrophic and they’re likely to hold a grudge. By not moving on from a no-win situation they hurt themselves by personalizing the affair.

Most of the studies on personality show that people can change their type over the years. If there is one benefit to discovering how you interpret the world, information and personal relationships, it shows us where improvement is possible. Improvement is possible when we have all the information. People with naturally aggressive tendencies can learn to control anger and move on without hard feelings. The same goes for those with agreeable personalities. By sticking to their beliefs they can break out of the passive mold that allows others to push them around. Personality tests like Myers-Briggs can illuminate some of “whys” and “what fors” we drift toward instinctively. Change requires rigorous attention to improvement though. 

Wanting to improve areas of personality is universal, although there is probably a type that doesn’t believe they need to. I did some quick searching to find out what self-improvement actually means to people. Most agree on the basic “what’s”, happiness, health and relationships.  The “how’s” diverge a little. Trying new things and breaking type is good advice because it forces us to use skills that aren’t yet developed. Like trying out a new workout routine, it makes us uncomfortable at first but strengthens muscles we didn’t know we had. Teaching a class, joining a club and learning a language are some popular recommendations (from Quora at least).

These are self-focused ideas but it’s tough to help others without first challenging yourself. There is room for improvement everywhere, whether you like Neil Diamond, associate Family Ties with your upbringing or prefer reading books to watching movies. 

Shortcuts don’t exist for change; that includes personality tests.  

Community or Attendance

I attended a Wednesday night church service this week.

 My church only does one Wednesday service per week now. Somewhere along the way, a lot of churches put in multiple Sunday morning sessions and even one for Saturday night. Evangelicals who’ve grown up with the midweek option might find it strange to see it go. I can’t say how common it is around the country though.  I stopped going to the Wednesday service on consecutive weeks when I was in high school.  For some this is an awful break from tradition, an inexcusable move that proves America doesn’t care about God anymore.

 But is the lack of services really a trend toward laziness or a strategic move designed to reach the lost on their own turf?

The stated reason, for fewer church times, is to encourage small groups to take the place of large gatherings and invest in each other on a personal level. Small groups are an extension of a larger community within the church. With big churches it’s easy to ignore and be ignored by the people we see in service. The anonymity of big gatherings often leads to isolation, as contradictory as it seems. Small groups promote participation for those without strong support from friends and relatives. It also forces ‘lone wolf’ types to make connections. Lone wolfs would hardly get that type of community from just attending church once per week. They might not even get it attending 3 services weekly. 

If the shift to smaller groups works, than we can expect churches to grow across the country as people without a formal group structure become new regulars.   

The argument against killing the midweek service is that it promotes less Christian teaching overall. Cynical types think pastors just want time off. “Tell the people it’s about ‘community’ and we get to stay home.” First, most changes from religious officials get the conspiracy treatment, why should ‘community’ notions be different? Second, the church should reflect, in some ways, the culture around it. Without it, Christianity can seem foreign, something unreachable and unrelatable. Clothing is one example. It went from ties with slacks to flip flops and baseball caps in less than 20 years. The music too is faster paced, much louder and sounds closer to a concert than a choir led chorus. It’s probably a reflection changing music tastes within the church instead of some outreach effort. But it reflects the culture and isn’t contradictory to any core biblical beliefs.   

A culture that doesn’t attend church (largely) won’t hear the message of the gospel except on a one to one basis. Those interactions can happen anywhere and often do. This is the shift Christians need, from attendance to outreach. It could be that the national Church is trying to revive some of sense of community that is going away in large portions of the country. Civic groups and service clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis) so important 50 years ago are dying. Some of these groups lost over 50% of their members between 1975 and 2000. Americans don’t join like they used to. The ties of local organizations (religious and non) that once existed are barely effective anymore at building group dynamics. Some blame the digital space, internet groups that offer community without the pesky human interaction. Maybe so, but it could also be that we don’t have the same obligation to tradition anymore. Maybe there is a feeling of “What’s the big deal?” or “Why do I need that?” If it leads to searching for groups in different ways, that’s great. But it can also lead to isolation. Isolation is easier to achieve than ever and it’s having negative effects on human interaction across the country.

Community promotes individual growth, isolation retards it.

Churches are figuring this out in a time of slipping attendance across the country. What difference would an additional night of service make in a society that doesn’t bother going on the regular days? Isn’t that person more likely to attend a small gathering with friends than a church? It’s also forcing church officials to imagine a more disparate organization in the future, one central hub with dozens of small affiliates. A lot of megachurches use this model already by broadcasting services to a number of smaller gatherings. Other forms of gathering will develop too as communication of media increases. 

       

The willingness to provide support and build reliable communities reflects a two part goal for the national Church. Without changing with the times we lose alienating a generation that didn’t grow up in America attending services. The goal is the same, preach the gospel, make disciples and support the community through outreach. The shift in attitude is what's important, if you won't come to us, we'll com to you.

 I don’t think the traditional brick and mortar church buildings are going away. But they are seizing on an opportunity to reach those far removed from a tradition of church attendance. For those used to slipping in and out of services without obligations to outreach, this is a welcome change.

Fictional Reading, Non-Fictional Writing

When it comes to writing I prefer non-fiction and easy to compile stuff, like this blog. In reading I go the other way, towards fiction. I find writing stories very challenging, unlike personal stuff and observational content. Current events and opinion always feel like a natural fit for me. I seem to gravitate toward news and politics. This weird FOMO instinct kicks in every time someone says “Hey did you hear about…?” and of course I didn’t. I really hate that. 

When it comes to books though I like novels, mostly. Not sure why. It probably has to do with the adventure or mystery. No one reads a chapter in James Patterson book and goes “Well, that’s enough for today”  With non-fiction I always feel like I need to take notes. I guess it’s a lingering effect of hours spent in the classroom. Like I’m afraid someone might ask me to summarize what I just read. But learning happens in stories as well as with fiction. I make distinctions between non-fiction in story form and the traditional biography or self-help variety. 

 There is a misconception among those who read non-fiction, that it’s the choice of 'learners'. One of my favorite lines from the movie Sideways is from Thomas Haden Church’s father in law, “I think you read something, someone just invented it--waste of time.” It sums up the feeling people have about stories.

The lines get blurred in memoirs, since most of the details are accurate but include a lot of filler to round out the best remembered parts. I read a book called Back to Moscow from a European student getting his Master’s in Russian Literature. He lived in Moscow for a few years while reading the classics (Tolstoy, Pushkin, Dostoyevsky). He mostly just went to night clubs and hooked up with women while ‘trying’ to get work done. His project probably needed a year or less but he lived there for three, partying and boozing hard. He details the city and summarizes the literature throughout, sprinkling the story with digressions on famous characters like “Ana Karenina” and “Natasha Rostova”.

He also covers events in Moscow during the early 2000s, including the Theater hostage crisis which he was there for. I won’t ruin the ending but it ties in perfectly with the tragic lives’ of the heroines he studies. It isn’t traditional fiction where the story is completely whole cloth, he probably embellishes a bit but it reads like a fiction. It isn’t a textbook or a classic (hardly) but I learned enough.

John Grisham novels are pure fiction. He does courtroom and legal dramas better than anyone. He creates rich characters and his stories reflect time and place better than most; he doesn’t overwhelm readers with countless people and unbelievable plot twists. We probably don’t realize we’re learning about the people and culture while also guessing where the story will lead. It’s the best kind of learning too, heavy on personal story and light on facts. In this way his books are fun and engaging. There’s probably a bit of truth in most of his stories despite being technically a fictional account. Scenes from his childhood, nasty behavior from strangers and courtroom experiences all round out his novels.

The most common distinction between fiction and non-fiction is whether something really happened. But this isn’t a great distinction either. Ernest Hemingway supposedly wrote fictional accounts of American expats in France, Italy, and Spain but as a reporter living abroad he must have taken some of it from his own experience. Nearly all of his characters drink excessively, something he was known for. In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway shows Parisian friends attending the annual bullfighting celebration in Pamplona. His interest in the tradition is obvious by the way he describes the fiesta in the pages. Bullfighting as art is the theme, a pure craft set apart from drunk, partying foreigners. The story is set in the 1920’s and even though the Paris group is hedonistic and out for fun, bullfighting is described technically. There is some criticism that Ernest Hemingway didn’t get it just right, but this is probably where the fictional aspects kick in.

Everyone who loves to read has asked themselves “What’s the point? What do you hope to get from this?” If the answer is enjoyment, entertainment, adventure, than read fictional stories. If the answer is to get better at X, or learn about Abe Lincoln, than read non-fiction. Better yet, surprise yourself, pick up something completely random and see what you think. Same goes for writing. I try to do short stories on occasion for the practice. The dialogue is painful, the tale meanders and the characters are a little wooden, but I try.

So many books are perfect combinations of both genres that distinctions aren’t helpful anymore. Authors or subjects are better ways to break down particulars. A lot of us prefer films to books. Shows based on characters might be a way to explore books for those allergic to reading. Amazon Prime has a series called “Bosch” based on Michael Connelly’s famous Harry Bosch detective crime books. Amazon’s Bosch is a little too clean and fit for what I imagined the middle aged cop to be. That’s a risk we all take when going from film to page though. Images don’t always meet expectations. 

In any case we could all probably read more.