Inauguration Day, MLK, & America’s Golden Age

January 20, 2025 By Paul Louis Metzger

Inauguration Day: America’s Golden Age? President Trump claimed today that the “golden age of America begins right now.” No doubt, his supporters were ecstatic and celebrated his statement while other Americans were less enthusiastic, perhaps even greatly troubled. No matter who would have won the election, such claims on Inauguration Day would have received very mixed reactions in a deeply divided country. MLK’s Dream: Beyond Our Grasp Today also pays tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I don’t recall... Read more

Embracing Emotions’ Full Range: From Grief to Comfort & Joy

December 29, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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This post focuses on the importance of embracing the full range of emotions, from misery and grief to comfort and joy. St. Augustine on Mental Pain St. Augustine writes about mental pain associated with the great evils of life such as wars, including those deemed just. He argues, “Let every one, then, who thinks with pain on all these great evils, so horrible, so ruthless, acknowledge that this is misery. And if any one either endures or thinks of them... Read more

“Shawshank Redemption” & Contagious Hope

December 11, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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Introduction This post focuses on the contagious power of hope and how it helps us press forward amid incredible challenges in life. The film Shawshank Redemption and the Book of Revelation highlight hope’s importance amid the threat of hopelessness and despair. Before beginning, it is worth noting that this is the seventh post in a series that reflects upon theological themes in dialogue with pop culture in the form of films. The others in order of appearance were: first, “The Book... Read more

“Lars and the Real Girl” & the Real Church: Total Acceptance

November 14, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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This post reflects on the importance of being kind and accepting people whom many find strange, even messed up. Contrary to what we might think, kindness and care for the other are radical notions. They testify to the church’s realistic rather than cynical call to promote total acceptance. Radical Practices: Kindness and Total Acceptance It is vitally important for the church to reflect Christ’s heart and practice of being kind and accepting people many find strange, even messed up. Contrary... Read more

Jesus and The Matrix: Free Your Mind?

October 25, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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How Can We Free Our Minds? How can we free our minds when there is nothing we can do to liberate ourselves from the matrix of sin, death, and destruction? The realization of this perspective along with the accompanying perception that Jesus alone can free our minds, souls, and bodies is transformational to our well-being. In what follows, I will reflect upon this theme while also considering some of the themes in the film, The Matrix. This is the fifth... Read more

Reordering Time with Resilient Hope in a Disorienting World

October 14, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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This blog post focuses on the porous relation of time and eternity. Such re-enchantment of everyday life helps me overcome an eternal now of melancholy. Rather than reliving traumatic experiences repeatedly, you and I can move forward and grow in resilient hope. Hamlet: Time Out of Joint Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet said that “The time is out of joint” after the ghost of his father visited him. Shakespeare’s play Hamlet recounts how Hamlet’s father had been King of Denmark. The ghost informed... Read more

Moving from Victimization to Victorious Living

October 12, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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This post reflects on how we can move from enduring victimizing life circumstances to victorious living. On Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, I engage Rashi, Viktor Frankl, Charles Taylor, the resurrection stories of Jesus, and the account of Joseph with his brothers, to develop this claim. Jewish Suffering, Resilience, and Creativity The Jewish community has certainly endured incredible suffering and trauma throughout their history. Amid innumerable horrific ordeals, they have often demonstrated incredible resilience and creativity, and have... Read more

Blast Off with Interstellar: the Cosmic Force of God’s Love

October 10, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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This post reflects on the film, Interstellar, and how the God of all-powerful love promises to deliver and preserve us amid the crises of life. It is the fourth in a series of posts reflecting on the interface between biblical-theological themes and pop culture. Here are the first three posts in this series in the order of their appearance: “The Book of Eli: Taking the Bible Seriously in Dystopia“; “Prometheus Unbound: Finding Direction Home”; and “The Biblical Crisis & the Batman: Tragedy and... Read more

The “Dead Christ”: Jesus Assumed Our Humanity To Heal Us

October 5, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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This post reflects upon the ‘death of God’ and how various depictions in paint, poetry, and prose can either serve to extinguish or enhance faith. Those whose faith will be enhanced through encountering the “Dead Christ” will find that Jesus assumed the very worst of our human condition to bring holistic healing. Friedrich Nietzsche: “God Is Dead” Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in The Gay Science that God is dead and we have killed him: “God is dead. God remains dead. And... Read more

Celebrate Human Dignity through Lament in a Therapeutic Age

September 30, 2024 By Paul Louis Metzger

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This post reflects on how the therapeutic often overshadows or replaces orthodox Christian spirituality in everyday existence and ecclesial life. If and when that happens, we should seek to ask and answer what difference it will make for evaluating the human condition and human worth in our therapeutic age. I will argue that accounting for human depravity and individual responsibility involving lament leads to a deeper and more enriching form of happiness and celebration of human dignity in the long... Read more