tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.comments2023-12-07T08:29:56.796-05:00Fumbling towards BeatitudeJohn D. O'Brien, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14718447464911984436noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-45580410289475124832021-09-09T11:22:41.056-04:002021-09-09T11:22:41.056-04:00Dear brother Father John, Thank you for this. You ...Dear brother Father John, Thank you for this. You managed to capture his largeness of spirit, his eccentricity, and his love all at once. MaryFlying Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02635867070248107938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-31198047875168510012021-09-07T20:01:59.648-04:002021-09-07T20:01:59.648-04:00Fr. John, this is a breathtakingly beautiful tribu...Fr. John, this is a breathtakingly beautiful tribute. I write this in tears though I did not know Will. Thank you for 'bringing him to life'. Rest in Peace, Will.Angiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08734219325863761312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-65117045027676545292021-09-07T18:20:16.096-04:002021-09-07T18:20:16.096-04:00Beautiful and powerful. Thank you Fr. John.
Beautiful and powerful. Thank you Fr. John.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17399531361130713701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-81334077085250035902021-08-23T19:35:51.456-04:002021-08-23T19:35:51.456-04:00Very beautifully said, Fr. John. Very beautifully said, Fr. John. Rachel.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00598026611293683571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-39865125204389827752021-08-23T16:24:56.088-04:002021-08-23T16:24:56.088-04:00Fr. John, I didn’t know Will, but what you have wr...Fr. John, I didn’t know Will, but what you have written gives me a beautiful glimpse into the amazing man he was. I knew that, of course - he was married to Mary after all - but you’ve brought him alive. And he is, of course, very much alive, more alive than you or me. He’s just left this world to enter the next. Indeed, May he Rest In Peace.Astrid Nordholtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-78316262472634334192021-01-01T01:08:32.491-05:002021-01-01T01:08:32.491-05:00Thank you for this blog section. I couldn't ag...Thank you for this blog section. I couldn't agree more to Dr. Borgman's assertions. As a visual artist and craftsman, as well as one who enjoys varietal reading, the device paradigm and focal practice are consistent in mind. I once worked a course taught by Borgman. By worked I mean studious redemption. And stood in his office seeking essay return. He is a man who lives his work. I'm sure at the end of 20 we all know someone who is locked in the simulation of social interaction and status. Someone displeased with a post or a like/ love strata, who will shift to voice communications with the offender in order that their disappointment not be read on e-media forum. C Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07899538952749482690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-78909574503966446032019-05-20T11:35:23.850-04:002019-05-20T11:35:23.850-04:00A Song called "Throwing Things" by an in...A Song called "Throwing Things" by an indie band called Superchunk sounds, to me, like a song about our relationship to God. My kids disagreed with me but a line from the lyrics is... "... the sky is orange, the trees bow down against it" and "...I see you up in the tallest tree, you're throwing things down at me. I'm starting to climb, I'm starting on my knees."Katherinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078959903425907934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-90969010665744321042017-07-20T03:09:05.905-04:002017-07-20T03:09:05.905-04:00I should also note that I have a follow-up blogpos...I should also note that I have a follow-up blogpost with more songs, here: http://johnobrien.blogspot.ca/2016/05/ten-popular-songs-pointing-to.htmlJohn D. O'Brien, SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14718447464911984436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-33310256653510262612017-07-20T03:08:29.132-04:002017-07-20T03:08:29.132-04:00Thanks for your incisive report and the sharing of...Thanks for your incisive report and the sharing of your personal set list. Lots of great songs to mine there, from the looks of it, and I look forward to that. John D. O'Brien, SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14718447464911984436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-25777029273526547392017-07-20T00:04:06.294-04:002017-07-20T00:04:06.294-04:00"Jesus: Bigger Than the Beatles" or &quo..."Jesus: Bigger Than the Beatles" or "Pop Go Songs of Faith" 1963-2016<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMUnB4vc6zhU9US_x6eoV9YaxYNS3Slny<br /><br />Thought you might be interested in my eclectic YouTube playlist of songs of faith, written and/or recorded by artists who appeal primarily to secular audiences. These songs comprise the spiritual soundtrack of my own faith journey during the past half century or so, and my choices undoubtedly betray my age (61) as well as my musical tastes.<br /><br />The culture and social consciousness of my generation--the tail end of the Baby Boom, was profoundedly influenced by popular songs of faith. In my youth, Jesus was cool: I just assumed at the time that would always be the case.<br /><br />But times and attitudes were a-changin. For example, socially influential Beatle John Lennon would morph, from the activist who implored people of faith and goodwill to "give peace a chance," into a "dreamer" who wished us to "imagine" a world with "no religion."<br /><br />Thus, when his hero, Bob Dylan, embraced Christianity and declared his faith on his 1979 album "Slow Train Running," Lennon was horrified, and indignant. How could Dylan be so "stupid" as to declare each of us has a choice to "serve somebody ... whether that be the Devil or the Lord." Lennon's response: "Serve Yourself!"<br /><br />Dylan's song won a Grammy and would be widely covered by other artists (including the great Etta James on this playlist). Lennon's record stiffed, but his admonition to "Serve Yourself" would become THE pop culture ethos of 80s, and beyond.<br /><br />Dylan's "Slow Train Running" was, in retrospect, something of a high-water mark for faith-based popular music. During the '80s, pop radio stations ceased to add any "religious" songs to their playlists. Likewise, insular "Contemporary Christian Radio" programmers would only play songs from thoroughly vetted artists on approved "Christian" recording labels. Obviously faith-based songs by otherwise "worldly" pop artists were thus scorned by all radio formats.<br /><br />That's a shame, because some of the most compelling songs of faith have been those written and recorded by prodigal sons and daughters from the rock and pop world. Folks who had once blindly embraced Lennon's ethic, and found their way back home, to the Truth.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08228561566278881765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-84124578335586796672016-08-20T08:54:10.758-04:002016-08-20T08:54:10.758-04:00Happy Christmas Poems<a href="http://happychristmas.co.in/happy-christmas-poems/" rel="nofollow"><b>Happy Christmas Poems</b></a>Leonardo Dicapriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12478206058244427128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-25635437383682618092016-07-07T20:39:44.720-04:002016-07-07T20:39:44.720-04:00I enjoyed your take on Borgmann: beautifully writt...I enjoyed your take on Borgmann: beautifully written and helpful to anyone wishing to know how to deploy Heideggerian concelt without hurting themselves.Frank Miatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13308760250675158963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-86410628895022964102016-03-28T13:12:43.176-04:002016-03-28T13:12:43.176-04:00That's very articulate existential interpretat...That's very articulate existential interpretation of the film David. Thanks. I think the biblical element, such as the quotation from Job at the very beginning, also frames the story in a Creator/creature paradigm. Malick usually mixes Existentialism with Christian philosophy when he writes his cinematic discourses.John D. O'Brien, SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14718447464911984436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-76676469927806729842016-03-28T12:39:52.013-04:002016-03-28T12:39:52.013-04:00The final scene on the sandy seashore is the "...The final scene on the sandy seashore is the "other side" of the veil of death. It is a place we, some of us, those who need such a thing, find ourselves after the body dies and while we re-orient ourselves to this "new" reality, which is in fact the old reality of our true nature, our eternal, greater Self. The seashore is a transitional scene. It is a calm, familiar, peaceful context. It is a place to be met, if that is what you need, by someone to guide and reassure you as you make the transition. We arrive at that Far Shore in different ways. Some come from the sea itself. Others walk across the desert and the rocks, as we see Sean Penn doing. <br /><br />The colored flames we see throughout the film are a representation of the individual human Self, the Soul if you will, in a form that is appropriate to a non-corporeal state. That formless state is not yet a "true" image of the eternal Self because that Being has no form. But it is a consensus shape, sort of a universal form, that is useful for communion and or communication in a group context.<br />Tree of Life is about identity, and the identities we assume in our human form, while we are alive on the planet interacting. It is this context, this shared reality, that is the source of grief, of fear, of loss, and of its cousins joy and wonder. The pain comes from the limitations we adopt as we play our parts, and as we struggle against those limits, the very limits we chose for ourselves. The suffering we inflict on each other is the suffering of children expressing themselves among each other, working out their emotions, their agency in a strange world. We ask ourselves always the same question: "Who Am I?" We push against each other, seeking out the response in the "other" that tells us we are alive and real in this realm of Maya, of Illusion that is not "Life" but its mirror.<br />From this perspective Tree of Life is an obvious telling. It is a literal story and not metaphor. It is a close-up in the way looking at ants through a magnifying glass is a closeup.<br />Beautiful.David Steadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03605669401975307729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-9700019679432391102016-02-02T23:32:26.720-05:002016-02-02T23:32:26.720-05:00Thanks Roshan. Have you seen this movie yet? I hop...Thanks Roshan. Have you seen this movie yet? I hope you can sometime -- maybe next Feb 2!John D. O'Brien, SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14718447464911984436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-52520494396437636472016-02-02T23:05:08.465-05:002016-02-02T23:05:08.465-05:00Good job...Good job...Be A Lighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14779051963233412972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-61870392257989904682016-02-02T23:03:44.687-05:002016-02-02T23:03:44.687-05:00Good work John...Good work John...Be A Lighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14779051963233412972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-2646913905521184812015-10-09T08:46:08.904-04:002015-10-09T08:46:08.904-04:00I love how well this film goes with the Contemplat...I love how well this film goes with the Contemplatio. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-76706685581155766142015-03-28T17:52:10.628-04:002015-03-28T17:52:10.628-04:00Best movie quote ever: I could have been a contend...Best movie quote ever: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z66hw6q-zY" rel="nofollow">I could have been a contender!</a>Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02086957146284442735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-56097954182063053562015-03-05T16:06:32.164-05:002015-03-05T16:06:32.164-05:00I found an inexpensive DVD at amazon.ca. That migh...I found an inexpensive DVD at amazon.ca. That might be your best bet.John D. O'Brien, SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14718447464911984436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-33863845685695590412015-03-05T00:23:27.338-05:002015-03-05T00:23:27.338-05:00How do we obtain a copy of the film, John?How do we obtain a copy of the film, John?Hughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02319741897700695346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-62671074820935155462014-08-16T03:31:35.871-04:002014-08-16T03:31:35.871-04:00Nice blog you got here. I love that christmas poem...Nice blog you got here. I love that christmas poems, thank you for sharing them and more power to your blog. <br /><br />Sasha<br /><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/kumar65/christmas-poems/" rel="nofollow">http://www.pinterest.com/kumar65/christmas-poems/</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02873206861172114382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-9533580534024536412014-08-16T03:31:32.932-04:002014-08-16T03:31:32.932-04:00Nice blog you got here. I love that christmas poem...Nice blog you got here. I love that christmas poems, thank you for sharing them and more power to your blog. <br /><br />Sasha<br /><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/kumar65/christmas-poems/" rel="nofollow">http://www.pinterest.com/kumar65/christmas-poems/</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02873206861172114382noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-41222688653918224032014-06-18T02:42:17.700-04:002014-06-18T02:42:17.700-04:00Do you know what happened to that footage of Bl. M...Do you know what happened to that footage of Bl. Miguel? It isn't on the Netflix version of the film and it seems to not be on the internet at all.Melissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14992592375802811819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3672246.post-76168155057764535612013-11-21T13:09:30.632-05:002013-11-21T13:09:30.632-05:00Hey, I love this set of short Christmas poems and ...Hey, I love this set of <a href="http://christmas.365greetings.com/christmas-poems/short-christmas-poems.html" rel="nofollow">short Christmas poems</a> and they are really interesting. So love them! Thanks for sharing.annewalkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01810978584352321468noreply@blogger.com