Coffee Theology

I'm still in the Christmas zone where it's okay to sit on the sofa, watch films and eat junk food all day.  Yesterday evening we sat down to watch one of our favourite films on the TV (even though we have the DVD and could watch it any time we wanted, and frequently do).  I saw The Bourne Identity for the first time only a couple of years ago and it became an instant favourite.  I like action films; I grew up with a brother who was better than I at wresting control of the remote.  But I'm discerning - I won't just watch anything with guns and car chases.  The  Bourne trilogy combines a very strong plot, script and soundtrack with fascinating psychological elements.  While the first film is probably a fail on the aforementioned Bechdel test, I'll forgive it that because Marie is a resourceful and less than stereotypical love interest, and the second and third films have Pamela Landy, my favourite example of a strong female character who is strongly femi...

So yes, I've been living under a rock for the last year and hadn't seen Frozen until we watched it as a family on Boxing Day.  It was great to find out what this movie phenomenon was all about.  I have to say, I was really impressed.  Quite apart from the fact that the script is funny, the characters loveable and the music really gets in your head, it sends lots of really good messages to young women. Their eyes might be huge and their waists impossibly tiny, but the heroines of the film, Anna and Elsa, are not your typical Disney princesses.  I particularly like the moment when Anna wakes up with her hair in a mess and dribble on her cheek.  She does fall in love (twice), but the love interests are not central to the plot of the film.  The central love relationship is between the two sisters who are estranged because of Elsa's magic powers. The most interesting moment occurs at the climax of the film when (SPOILER ALERT) Anna is trying to find the man sh...

The eternal Son  lives in loving union with the Father and the Spirit, one God in three persons in perfect unity.  God hears the cries of the people he loves, the ones he created, and his heart goes out to them in his Son.   The weather is bleak and cold; the wind is biting; snow has fallen.  The earth stands hard as iron, water has frozen in the puddles.  Or perhaps it all takes place in a warm Spring.  Whatever the weather, it was long ago.  The Son, the eternal Son, is born in a cramped room shared with animals, and placed in an animal’s feeding-trough.  Heavenly beings gather to see the marvellous sight, themselves unseen by the human mother lovingly kissing her tiny baby. The eternal Son becomes mortal. Almighty God becomes weak and vulnerable. The Son exchanges the riches of heaven for life in a humble Jewish family. The one who dwells in unapproachable light becomes ordinary. He empties himself of all but love and comes to his people. ...

A famous concert pianist travels the world giving magnificent performances which win her rapturous applause.  Tickets for her concerts sell out weeks in advance; critics fall over themselves with praise.  Sometimes she thunders away powerfully; at other times she plays quiet pieces with incredible gentleness and sensitivity.  One night she is playing at a grand venue in New York for the great and the good of American society.  Tickets have been going for four times the face value on ebay.  It is a sole performance; she needs no other name on the programme in order to fill the house. During a particularly quiet piece there is a strange noise in the auditorium.  A bizarre groaning sound, it seems.  At first, the concert-goers all think they are imagining it; but it persists.  Suddenly there is a loud shout, and another, followed by a desperate shushing.  People turn round, irritated, to see what the commotion is.  A young man with ...

A talented young man inherits the family building firm and doubles its annual gross profit within five years.  He has always been comfortably off; now he can live in unqualified luxury.  He buys a penthouse flat in Knightsbridge and a mansion in Cornwall; instead of battling through the London Underground he hires a chauffeur to drive him to business meetings and wait outside until he is finished.  He buys his suits in Savile Row and takes his girlfriends shopping in Harvey Nichols.  The 100 th anniversary of the founding of the family firm arrives and a lavish party is planned at a London hotel.  After a five-course meal, champagne and dancing, the young owner steps outside to get some fresh air and enjoy a cigar.  Comfortably full and pleasantly tired, he goes for a short walk around the block.  His stroll takes him under a bridge, where he sees piles of cardboard and bundles of cloth.  The cardboard moves and he realises there are men sle...

A successful model has made a career for herself with her immaculate physical perfection and ethereal beauty.  Her hair is long, dark and perfectly straight; whenever she is doing a photoshoot or due to appear in public her hairdresser trims, dries and styles her locks.  She has her nails done weekly and all excess hair is waxed off.  Rather than eating meals, she nibbles.  Daily trips to the gym are essential to ensure there is not an ounce of excess fat on her frame.  While all this takes effort, she has a tall and willowy figure she was born with, regular features and striking green eyes.     One day she is invited to a benefit dinner for a charity which works with young women with mental health issues.  Sitting opposite her at the table is one of the charity’s service users, a painfully thin young woman with skeletal hands and dark shadows under her eyes.  Her cheekbones and shoulder blades are sharply defined and her simple bla...

The CEO of a multinational fashion retailer is invited to take part in the TV show ‘Undercover Boss’.  He is a demanding employer, known throughout the industry for his efficiency, keeping down costs and firing anyone who puts a foot out of line. With a film crew, he travels to the Philippines where many of his company’s clothes are manufactured.  He works on the factory floor as a machinist, stitching jeans which retail at more than $100 for less than $1 per hour.  After a few days, the camera crew return to the UK but he stays on.  He obtains a permanent job in the factory, working 14 hour days.  Sometimes by the end of the day he is so tired he struggles to stand, his hands cramped from repetitive strain and his mouth dry from lack of refreshment.  Sometimes he gets up from his machine only to be told that there is a large shipment which must go out the next day and everyone must work overtime without pay. Gradually he picks up the local languag...