I used to think that my loves for U2 and drag queens were doomed to be two disparate affections that only came together for a single, magical moment circa Achtung Baby: 

The Ethel Merman Experience has proven otherwise:

I think we can all sleep a little more soundly tonight knowing that we indeed live in a world where  drag queen cover bands with fierce moves and even fiercer wigs have come together with post-punk early U2 in a face-meltingly fabulous union of rock and roll and jazz hands.  I know I will.

AULAS DE GUITARRA

Led Zeppelin. U2. White Stripes. Influências: blues, pioneiros do rock. Teoria, dicas práticas, segredos, efeitos. Jam sessions.  Tratar com os senhores Jimmy Page, The Edge e Jack White, nas sessões da Mostra de Cinema de São Paulo que exibem o documentário A Todo Volume (It Might Get Loud, 12 anos ). Ou a partir de 6 de novembro, nos demais cinemas.

• Não é todo dia que a gente pode ver e ouvir o Led tocando “Stairway to Heaven” na tela do cinema! Mesmo que essa clássica balada seja superexposta, e aversão seja do filme “The Song Remains the Same”, vale! Muito!
• Também tem um trecho de Page no The Yardbirds, com “Heart Full of Soul”.
• No filme, The Edge mostra parte de seus segredos: os efeitos que dão aquele som maravilhoso à sua guitarra, ou melhor, à sua coleção de guitarras.
• O guitarrista do U2 praticamente disseca, canal a canal, a intro de “Where the Streets Have No Name”
• Jimmy Page volta a Headlye Grande, mansão onde foi gravada a maior parte do sensacional quarto disco do Led Zeppelin. Mostra como John Bonham tirou aquele sonzão de bateria em “Where the Levee Breaks”.
• No doc, Page, The Edge e Jack tocam juntos algumas músicas, como “I Will Follow”, do U2, “In My Time of Dying”, do Led, e “The Weight”, do guitarrista Robbie Robertson.
• Que pena! Faltou “Seven Nation Army”, maior hit do White Stripes!
• Vem aí um filme sobre os White Stripes. Under Great White Northern Lights. Estreou no festival de Toronto, em setembro de 2009.
• Na madrugada deste domingo pra segunda, o U2be transmite pro globo inteiro o show da turnê 360º, do U2, claro, no Rose Bowl, em Pasadena, CA.

• Site da Sony Classics dos EUA sobre It Might Get Loud.Com trailer e links.
• Site de It Might Get Loud, com o mesmo trailer, fotos, bios, entrevistas.
• Página da Sony Pictures no Brasil sobre o filme.
• Dá para ver A Todo Volume no site The Auteurs, mediante inscrição.
• The Dead Weather, nova banda de Jack White.
• Página da Mostra sobre o filme, com trailer e horários das sessões.

U2 should be my favorite band. But unlike Springsteen, Wilco, Dylan or even Radiohead, I’ve never been able to fully embrace them. When I took in their recent live show outside Washington, DC (in a circle of Hell known as FedEx field-More on that in a later post) I wondered if that finally might change.

I used to tell myself that I first noticed U2 when they performed at the first Live Aid. But I know now it had to have been sooner. In the year previous, the band had its first US hit with “Pride (In the Name of Love).” and Bono had appeared on the Band Aid song to benefit Ethiopian famine,  “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”.

From the start U2 has made little secret of their ambition. Early on, the band was known as The Hype. Their two lead members, quite pretentiously, are known by their single, self-appointed names. The collection of four very earnest Dubliners really seemed to think that rock and roll could change the world and thought they were just the group to do it. And in pursuit of this goal they would, undoubtedly,  become the world’s biggest rock band. What’s never really been clear is whether they preferred to save the world or rock it into perfect harmony. Thirty years after the band’s formation that’s still an open question.

In their infancy, U2 concerned itself with more parochial matters such as their Irish upbringing. Undoubtedly, this was one of the things that drew me to the band as I’m half-Irish, which really means that I care about all things Eire but not enough that I can call it the home country. I’ve only been there for a total of two days, one of which was spent in an old pub in Dublin whose name I’ve long since forgotten. I drank pint after pint and asked the locals about ancient traditions and James Joyce. I don’t remember what they said. 

These days most Americans have a fairly Romantic view of Ireland, fostered in no small part by notable authors and travel agents. But, when U2 took the stage that July day in 1985, before 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium (and millions more on TV-back when MTV was in the music business) for many  people, Ireland was looked at as a country perpetually torn apart by war, poverty and religious strife. U2 seemed like messengers from a Third World country. Bono’s songs chronicled personal and political tumult, and his booming voice was backed by soaring, percussive guitar chords and pounding drumbeats that suggested an imminent escape and a verdant optimism that something better was just around the corner.

In other words there was nothing small about U2. They were never too interested in telling stories, writing rueful love songs  or chirping about the good old days. Instead, they wrote universal songs that were both beautiful and inspiring with alarming ease. Their songs were inherently political while—and this is U2’s true gift—still being anthemic and stadium-ready.  In retrospect, their performance from Live Aid has an air of inevitability. They were ideally suited for the venue, the occasion and the cause. I suspect a lot of other people besides me also became U2 fans that day.

They had been together for eight years by the time of Live Aid, but having been properly introduced to the world they set their sights on the United States, which is a requisite for any band considering world domination. From early in their career America was a source of wonder. They wrote songs about Elvis and not one but two songs about Martin Luther King that were inspirational if not necessarily factual.  Their best album of the 80s, was named after a rather unremarkable tree native to the desert Southwest. It was hard to tell whether the obsession with all things American was genuine. They toured extensively in support of “The Joshua Tree” and released a live album and a documentary, both called “Rattle and Hum“, that was meant to pay tribute to musical ancestors like B.B. King and Billie Holiday. Rising out of the British post-punk movement, their connection to such artists, American artists, was tenuous at best. The fact that they were roundly criticized as being disingenuous or opportunistic by critics did nothing to deter their popularity.

They returned with “Achtung Baby!” an album filled with songs of existential sadness and loss. At the end of the subsequent tour in 1993 it could be fairly argued that U2 was, in fact, the best rock and roll band on the planet. At a minimum, they were a major force in popular music.

But, the band faltered in the rest of the 90s, struggling to find a message while singing about the trappings of fame, the media landscape and coping with pre-millennial madness. Their experiments with electronica, glam rock and club music were failures. They rarely include songs from this era in their live shows, which is a pretty solid indicator of the band’s own feelings about the “Pop” and “Zooropa” albums. But they still sold millions of records and performed sold-out shows. Perhaps, they felt, with peace in Ireland and prosperity in much of the industrialized world they had nothing worthy of their angst. Then again, other bands rocked better, or had a cooler message, or both. 

Chastened, (well, chastened as much as a band whose lead singer regularly wears tinted sunglasses can be) U2 released “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” in 2000. The fact that the band had endured critical, if not commercial, failure had humbled them and Bono admitted as much in interviews.  The record combined the rollicking anthems of their earlier work with solemn, reflective ballads.  I would argue that it is the band’s most complete album from start to finish. Its best songs might not hold up to earlier classics but it is a cohesive, cogent piece of work.  Whatever confidence that the band lost had been regained in spades. When U2 released “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” to wide praise in 2004 Bono and the boys were further emboldened. Indeed, Bono became even more voluble for causes near to his and the band’s heart. His platform was no longer limited to stadiums or concert venues. He wrote editorials in newspapers, met with high-ranking officials, spoke at the UN. All unchartered ground for a rock star.

Their newest album, “No Line on the Horizon” has garnered mostly positive reviews and yielded a pair of catchy singles, but it has neither the sustained quality of the last two albums nor the urgency of their finer songs. Receiving far more attention than their music was their massive tour. 

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The last time I saw U2 in concert was on the remarkable Elevation Tour which followed “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.” It’s one of the five best concerts I’ve ever attended.  Upon hearing a song with deep personal resonance I wept unashamedly.  It was only about six weeks after the terrorist attacks and emotions were particularly high and, to their credit, the band understood this. I was comforted by my companion but also by complete strangers who were undoubtedly still grieving about more recent loss. We sang and bounced along, drank Guinness, waved the Irish flag, and tried to smile a little. Somehow, Bono connected with over 20,000 people on a personal level. Just watch.

I could tell the moment I walked into FedEx Field that that feeling would not be replicated. I saw very few Irish flags. Although there were 90,000 or so on hand, it felt more like 20,000 groups of four or five. There was no sense of community. I thought everything, including the band, would be overshadowed by the Orwellian claw that was the stage and video screens. There would be no personal connection with the audience.

And it is precisely this type of overkill that has kept me from fully committing to U2. As a person deeply concerned with preserving and conserving the natural environment attending the concert of a band that will lug 200 trucks worth of equipment around for the next two years presents more than a little bit of a conflict. Then there’s the fact that while Bono is talking about eradicating poverty and debt forgiveness he’s leading a tour that is more than a little ostentatious.  Furthermore, tickets were not cheap; some were as high as $250. Adding to the hypocrisy dilemma, is that this is standard operating procedure for the band. This level of extravagance is only marginally bigger than the last tour. What’s next, a performance in a rocket above the earth’s atmosphere that’s beamed to neighboring galaxies?

As enamored as U2 appears to be with the excesses of fame and fortune there are no tales of philandering, drunken rages, destroyed hotel rooms or drug abuse. Quite the opposite actually. Bono has been married for over 25 years. Larry Mullen, Jr. is similarly committed. The Edge is deeply religious and once thought of forming a Christian band.

So, U2 came out and for about two hours played several songs from the new album and many of their most popular hits. They should not be criticized for this because this is what established bands do; to play all of their favorites would require a concert of marathon proportions.

As always, politics was on the tip of Bono’s tongue. He made sure to acknowledge the presence (in a luxury box, no doubt) of the Speaker of the House, a Senator, a Bishop and a former Chief of Staff.  In contrast, on the Elevation Tour he made a point of calling out Dee Dee Ramone, whose bandmate Joey had recently passed away. On the video screens that created a huge silver beehive of multi-media, the crowd was implored by the Bishop Desmond Tutu and urged to support the emerging democratic movement in Iran. In the least subtle (and most obviously staged) sequence of the evening, Bono pulled a Sikh, who just happened to be sitting in the front row, and just happened to be waving a US flag, onto the stage to join him in song. Even if it was spontaneous and the man was the biggest U2 fan in the building, it seemed a bit much. It’s these sorts of demonstrations that make me and other people cringe.

The knee-jerk reaction is to tell Bono and his mates to just shut up and play. Indeed, there are times when watching U2 feels like you’re attending one of those 1/2 credit continuing education courses mandated by your employer. But, it’s not as though U2 are staking out particularly controversial positions. Who is against democracy? Or against Desmond Tutu? Really, who is against the poor? Ok, besides crazy right-wingers who are opposed to universal health care. Nobody. And Bono did, in fact, bring attention to a rather obscure issue like debt forgiveness for African nations. This is not a front page issue. Perhaps I should be grateful that Bono is so engaged with the world when so many other musicians are not. Try to imagine say, John Mayer, talking about say, the importance of providing healthy school lunches. Yeah. That ain’t happening.

Maybe Bono would be better served if he actually went to Tehran and marched in the streets. Or maybe if he had stood with the protestors in Bali to demand action on climate change. But he hasn’t. Maybe we should be thankful. He could turn into Ted Nugent.

It’s entirely possible that the Starbucks-drinking, Barnes and Noble book-clubbing, overwhelmingly white, upper middle class people that were in attendance in Washington cared only about seeing a good show. They, even in a recession, would gladly right out a check or two for their favorite progressive causes anyway, so why not allow Bono to give them a nudge? That’s all the vast majority of people can do because, really, there’s only so much time in a day. They have jobs and families.  And, yes, I too have fallen prey to this thinking on several occasions. It is a lot easier to just write the check than doing the day by day dirty work that is necessary to affect some sort of change. But I still feel guilty about it.

And yet, you know what? U2 delivered an energetic, often magical show. Just as they always do. The huge stage and giant video screens were awesome and trying to ignore them was a pointless exercise. They actually enhanced the experience rather than obscuring it as I initially feared. The songs were soul-stirring;  you don’t need to be Irish to get a chill hearing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” live. It strikes at something very basic to the human existence. And yet. And yet the experience left me feeling remote.

When they first arrived on the scene, nobody sounded like U2, now a lot of bands do. Because of their powerful music U2 is able to pull off stuff that no other band would even attempt. They know how to use the media and shape their image for a 24-hour news cycle. The quintessential 21st Century band, U2 gives us exactly what we want and deserve. Even their name is perfect for our shorthand, text-messaging culture. 

There’s something preposterous about thousands of people showing up at a particular place at a particular time to listen to a band play music and maybe, sing along. Most bands deal with this absurdity by being loud, ironic or eccentric. U2 approaches it with complete honesty. They want to be the greatest band in the world so they can spread their message of peace and love. Or is it the other way around? That’s the thing with U2, it’s never just about the music.

Because bouncing between whining about work and pining for travel seems monotonous and not exactly random, here’s a random post in the form of “I Will Follow” by U2. It’s a veritable tongue twister of a song and a definite earworm. Don’t just say it fast many times, sing it fast many times with an Irish accent. (Apparently it’s their first ever music video, too.)

If you can’t get enough of Young Bono, there’s a live version of the song here.

My brother Dan is one of the finest missionaries I know. I wrote of him a while back in a post entitled “My Brother, My Hero.” He’s served the Lord in a dangerous part of Brazil for over a decade, enduring life-threatening challenges, seeing a fellow laborer nearly assassinated, and fearing for the safety of his seven children. Yet, he has faithfully served the Lord, seen Brazilians saved and trained for the ministry, and participated in the planting of several churches.

Responding to my question about especially influential Bible texts, Dan cited the book of 1 Thessalonians:

“One of the greatest passages that keeps me on the field is 1 Thessalonians.  Paul writes of the struggles and false accusations but leaves very clear the motive for his service.  I Thessalonians 2:17-20 says, ‘But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.  Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.  For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?  For ye are our glory and joy.’ The separation and struggles are only worth it because of the souls of the lost.”

Dan mentioned several other factors that pushed him toward the mission field:

• He was impressed by the faithfulness of missionaries we knew in our home, including our Uncle Michael, a great man who is now with his Lord. He encouraged me to get missionaries into the homes of TCBC families.
• He was given a cheap xerox by our youth pastor, Dave Wood, reminding him to pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send for laborers. He did, every night, and ended up being the answer to his own prayer.
• He was forever changed by being asked as a teenager (again by Dave Wood) to disciple Tino, a young convert. Both of them grew tremendously.
• He was (and is) challenged by Mac Lynch’s song, I Will Follow:

“There is a song that I learned at the Wilds shortly after giving my life to the Lord.  I had surrendered to serving Him and following Him in anything He asked of me.  The song is I Will Follow.  I meant every word of the song when I sang it as a young person, but I didn’t understand all that each word meant.  The last time I sang this song at Grace Bible in Colorado Springs, I was unable to complete even the first verse and in fact tears come to my eyes as I think of it now.  The song is deep, but can only be thoroughly understood as the song is experienced.  But the tears were not because of loss, or the great cost, but they were tears of surrender.  I WILL STILL FOLLOW wherever He leads, and now I know through experience how difficult the path can be but more importantly how faithful my God always remains.  The storms at times have been more than I could have imagined, but in the midst of them He was with me.  He has taken us through some things that I wouldn’t wish on a dog.  But nothing that He didn’t intend for my good and His own glory.  I don’t mean to sound as if He was mistaken in His plan; He was sovereign.  I have seen my kids go through some things that I would never have planned for them, that I have sought to protect them from, but could not.  And once again, I must remind myself or be reminded through His Word that ‘when we walk through the water, He will be there…’”

When I asked a while back for favorite missionary biographies, Dan replied via a personal email that he’s found Acts to be a pretty good one. Typical Dan.

This last quote is my favorite. Being a missionary isn’t something exceptional, Dan says. It’s the result of knowing God. It makes perfect sense to do what our Creator and  Savior asks:

“I didn’t chose to be a missionary because I had counted the costs and believed it was worth it.  I am a missionary because God saved me, and called me, and I have no option but to obey Him.  I have no greater joy than to serve Him.  I have no other passion than to please Him.  I have no other plans for my life but to KNOW HIM and make Him KNOWN.  Missions is the natural outflow of knowing God and realizing that we do not deserve His grace, love and forgiveness.”

Again, reader, consider whether the Lord would have you take the gospel where it is unheard or unbelieved. And pastor, join me in praying and laboring more diligently to see more people from our churches go!

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Previous Missionary Motives post: David Hosafllook

Sem querer tornar esse blog só do U2, mas eu precisava falar que eu tenho um imenso  orgulho de essa ser a única música que eu sei tocar na guitarra.

O lugar é lindo, a música é ótima e eu tô muito emocionado pra falar qualquer coisa, mesmo porque eu sou fã incondicional do U2.

Espero que gostem:

APROVEITEM!

I Will Follow James Taylor music video clip

Video Clip : I Will Follow

Singer : James Taylor

I Will Follow James Taylor music video clip

Video Clip : I Will Follow

Singer : James Taylor

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O filme do U2 em três dimensões chega finalmente ao Brasil em 29 de agosto, mas apenas em sete salas. No Rio será no Cinemark do Downtown na Barra, onde assisti na quinta de manhã, no UCI do Norte Shopping e no UCI do New York City Center. É uma experiência de tirar o fôlego em termos de imagem e só não foi em termos de som porque tinha uma caixa do lado esquerdo totalmente bichada. Como o principal atrativo no caso era a imagem passou. O som é igual ao do show, só falta mais volume, mas a clareza do 5.1 é excepcional e a mixagem joga os instrumentos para os diversos lados da sala conforme os músicos se movimentam.

Vi os dois shows dessa turnê “Vertigo” em  São Paulo e vê-lo na tela com altura-largura-profundidade é uma experiência superior a ver ao vivo. As 18 câmeras de 3D utilizadas pelos diretores Catherine Owens e Mark Pellington nos levam para dentro do estádio e do palco com uma clareza de detalhes que não se tem no local e muito menos com o filme em duas dimensões. No começo quando a grua vem de trás rumo à bateria de Larry Mullen Jr. tem-se a sensação de que a bateria está na nossa frente. A banda entra, estamos no palco, Bono conta “uno, dos três, catorze” para desencadear ”Vertigo” e a sensação é de estar a um metro dele. Em muitos momentos sua imagem é destacada bem na frente e bem grande, quando ele estende a mão tem-se a sensação de que se pode estender a nossa e cumprimentá-lo.

Quando as câmeras acompanham os músicos pela passarela vemos a platéia com grande detalhamento, as expressões de encantamento pela proximidade dos ídolos. Há tomadas feitas do meio da platéia em que as pessoas levantam os braços na nossa frente, teve uma vez que dois dedos em “V” surgiram de repente na minha cara. Nas tomadas de longe a sensação de profundidade é muito realista.

As gruas permitem que a gente veja os músicos em planos únicos, sem cortes, com grande efeito, especialmente quando Edge está ao piano em “Miss Sarajevo” e sobre a bateria de Larry. O mesmo acontece com Adam Clayton, projetado em nossa direção várias vezes como se a ponta do baixo fosse bater na nossa cara e as imagens de The Edge permitem ver em detalhes como ele trabalha as músicas.

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A maior parte do filme é o show da Argentina. Na parte em que Bono fala os nomes dos países da América Latina, a citação do Brasil merece uma ruidosa gritaria de aprovação, ao contrário do que aconteceu em São Paulo, quando a menção da Argentina provocou uma imensa vaia que deixou o vocalista sem entender nada.

São 84 minutos que passam muito rápido. Oito concertos foram filmados na América Latina com tomadas específicas em cada um: planos médios no México, planos abertos em São Paulo, o show todo em Buenos Aires. E algumas tomadas de platéia na Austrália. O longa usa a tecnologia da empresa 3ality Digital que usa nove pares de câmeras, uma para o olho direito, outra para o olho esquerdo e a montagem permite que o cérebro processe a imagem como faz com qualquer coisa que a gente vê.

U2 3D é o primeiro filme de um show em três dimensões e muitos certamente virão. Me ocorreu logo que ”Shine a light”, dos Rolling Stones, em 3D seria o máximo pelos super closes que Martin Scorsese registrou. Hollywood também está investindo no 3D. “Shrek 4” será neste formato e George Lucas lança em 2009 o primeiro “Guerra nas Estrelas” em 3D e promete um por ano na seqüência. A única coisa que pode retardar a disseminação do 3D é a escassez de salas, só 1.200 no mundo, apenas nove no Brasil (duas no Rio, seis em São Paulo, capital e interior, e uma em Florianópolis e outras a caminho). Em cartaz atualmente, “Viagem ao centro da Terra”, que a crítica do Globo Online, Bianca Kleinpaul, diz que só vale pela experiência em 3D. Em duas dimensões nem pensar.

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O setlist de U2 3D é:

“Vertigo”
“Beautiful day”

“New year’s day”

“Sometimes you can’t make it on your own”

“Love and peace or else”

“Sunday bloody sunday”

“Bullet the blue sky”

“Miss Sarajevo”  – Leitura da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos

“Pride (In the name of love)”

“Where the streets have no name”

“One”

Bis
“The fly”

“With or without You”

Nos créditos

“Yahweh”

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P.S. As outras salas são no Market Place, Eldorado e UCI Jardim Sul em São Paulo e no Floripa Shopping em Florianópolis.

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Criança 44

We Must Worship Him….

“I Will Follow” was a big radio hit for U2. As number 19 on the Red Rocks set list (2nd last song) it is another high energy crowd favorite. Here it is, live from Red Rocks, June 5, 1983.

Tomorrow, the last song from Red Rocks, “40″.

Actually, WordPress. 

Looking at it soberly now. 

This ain’t so bad.

WordPress.

You are twats.

Thank you for managing my blog and all that.

And, ok. I understand. You have to keep up with Blogspot. 

And modernise.

Coz, you are miles behind.

Blogspot.

But for crying out loud. I mean, basic consumer principles.

Inform your clients.

Tell them that something is about to change.

Tell them how to change.

I still don’t know how.

How to get my previous style and font and whatnot back.

This is really bad, WordPress. You looked so stylish compared to the others.

Not so sure anymore.

Assista ao clipe de ”I Will Follow” do U2 e depois, por favor, me ajude a responder às seguintes perguntas: 

- Alguém acreditou naquele olhar bravo do Bono na hora do “your eeeeeyes…”?

- Estaria o The Edge treinando para a dança do maxixe?

- Teria Bono “modernizado” para os anos 80 o penteado precursor de Ronnie Von, hoje também conhecido como cabelinho-emo?

- Como Larry Mullen e Adam Clayton conseguiram passar incólumes durante este clipe? Será pelo fato do primeiro ser baterista [e consequentemente estar escondido atrás da bateria] e o segundo ser o baixista [espécime tradicionalmente amorfa dentro do mundo musical]?

- E por fim: QUE RAIO DE DANÇA É AQUELA QUE O BONO FAZ? Podia jurar que a qualquer momento ele iria fazer um polichinelo…

1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

“But a Christian is not supposed to need an escape – alcohol, drugs, constant noise and entertainment or whatever… In fact, we should want to face reality: the glory of the world God has created and the wonder of being human – yes, and even the awful reality of the Fall and the tragedy of marred men and women, even our own flawed character.  We are not to be people of escape.” – Francis Schaeffer

Notice how all those escapes are lumped together.  I don’t struggle with drugs or alcohol replacing my dependence on God or my focused pursuit of life in reality.  But I do know the tug of “just put in a movie and forget about it,” or “Wake me when it’s all over.”  Those reactions are wrong. 

The mediums are not all wrong.  Sleep is good.  Alcohol when not abused is permissible.  Movies and books can be stimulating. 

Tolkien was accused of writing escapist fantasy.  His cultic followers just wanted to immerse themselves in another world and forget about the problems of theirs.  When I was younger, already an avid Tolkien fan as evidenced by my defensiveness, I argued to myself that life was bad, and to live at all we need to be able to escape sometimes.  The argument isn’t all bad.  Our chosen medium may be.  Jesus exemplified a balance between escape and pursuit.  He got away, but not to a theater.  Not to a wineskin.  Not to gluttony.  When He escaped He ran to His Father.  He went away and prayed.  I’m always foolishly surprised when I pray at how refreshing and satisfying it is. 

I still read.  I even read Lord of the Rings and other fantasies.  What I discovered is that even as I made my point defending escapism, my hyper-active brain was not just escaping when I read.  It was drawing comparisons.  In my books I find encouragement.  If Frodo and Sam endured Mordor, I can endure the flu.  The sisterly affection in I Will Follow makes me yearn for close relationships with my family.  I think of the fire curtain in Arena every time I ponder sin and repentance and the dilemma expressed in Romans 7.  Molly teaches me to love selflessly and unconditionally.  Fiona to wait for m’dearie as long as it takes.  God’s and Generals says to trust God fearlessly.  Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Finding Neverland, and Miss Potter push me towards beauty (by the sole point that withersoever thou pausest those movies, thou hast discovered a transporting, frame-worthy depiction of the sublime). 

The solution to this paradox is the verse quoted at the beginning: 

1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

To God be all glory. 

Och så kommer det lite fredagsmusik som vanligt.