For TV Nerds Who Care Too Much: Danul's Golden Globes Breakdown

Just finished watching my DVRed Golden Globes. :D

For an award that used to be prestigious, some of the nominees this year made me think I was tuning in to watch the illegitimate child of Emmy and Oscar. Thank God it didn't pan out like that...for the most part.

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Let me start by saying Ricky Gervais started out strong with his patented brand of barbed zingers at easy targets (The Tourist, Tom Cruise, etc), but as the night bore on, I could tell how uncomfortable he was up there. His jokes got more offensive and less funny. His closing comment, "And thank you God...for making me an atheist," was a step too far for me. It just felt wholly unneeded.

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The Social Network deserved every single award it got last night. Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Score, and Best Director all had decent contenders, but the Fincher/Sorkin brainchild was easily the pick of the litter. If you haven't seen this movie, SEE IT. And then talk about it on Facebook.

The only Best Actress award I was interested in was the one for Lead in a Motion Picture (Drama). Natalie Portman is a vision and was uhhhh-mazing in Black Swan. As someone who had been notorious for staying out of the tabloids, her recent slew of new films and personal events have obviously got her flustered, but she proved herself capable enough to charmingly stumble through an acceptance speech.

Burlesque's win for Best Original Song was a frickin' joke. In my opinion, "I See the Light" from Tangled was robbed. But this was a category full of headscratchers, anyway. I thought Tangled had it in the bag. But apparently the HFPA liked listening to Cher's guttural chortle of a voice.

Toy Story 3 as Best Animated Feature? YES.

Jim Parsons' win for Best Actor in a TV Comedy was made perfect by his humble speech and his costar Kaley Cuoco's incredibly adorable reaction. Honestly, I rewound my DVR, like, three times to watch her bounce with glee.

How's that for a segue?

We have arrived at the inevitable. The Glee discussion:

Glee is not a comedy. Yes, it started out as such, but it's devolved into a preachy drama with zingers laced in between angst and musical performances. So it's win for Best Comedy was incredibly silly, especially up against much more consistent shows like Modern Family (Seriously, HFPA?).

Jane Lynch has the same problem as her show. She excels at the comedy, but not at much else...which left me baffled when she won Best Actress in a TV Comedy. Her acceptance speech was nice though. She seems like a very genuine person...unlike Lea Michele, who seemed like an attention whore.

Chris Colfer...oh, Chris Colfer. This kiddo is fantastic at playing Kurt Hummel. He really is. But since his was the Best Supporting Actor in a TV Comedy, and since I have no doubt the scenes that got him the nomination were anything but funny, I cannot honestly say he deserved it. Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family (SERIOUSLY, HFPA?!) was the one the award should have gone to. And since Chris won, I can't help but think his career has probably peaked now. What other role is he going to get that he didn't get typecasted into?

His speech was great, though. I imagine if I ever won one of those, I would want my speech to be like his.

One more Glee thing: Everyone last night was talking about the show's inspirational attitude. Really? Am I watching the wrong show? Last I checked Glee was anything but inspirational. Everyone in the show is incredibly toxic toward one another, which makes the episodes where the kids are supposed to love being in Glee club (last season's finale, this season's sectionals) totally unbelievable. In particular, Santana, Quinn, and Kurt are all characters whose attitudes, motives, allegiances, and friendships change week-to-week based on what will best serve the weak plot holding the episode together.

This all said, I will still be watching it when it returns after the Super Bowl. I am only human, after all.

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Stray observations:

• Angelina and Brad seemed entirely uninterested in the whole thing. Why didn't they just leave, then? Or did they really think The Tourist had a chance?
• Melissa Leo is an actress I never seen before, but her acceptance speech was great. I may go see The Fighter just because of her.
• Oh, Robert Downey, Jr. He stole the show with his introduction of the Best Actress award. It helped that all the women went along with it, too. Why hasn't he hosted one of these things before?
• With all its problems, Glee truly does seem to have a cast who sticks together. They all were so completely happy for Chris that it almost melted this cold heart of mine.
• Olivia Wilde looked like heaven. I'm no fashion expert, but if she's not on everyone's "best dressed" list, there's no justice in the world. That girl is quickly becoming a favorite of mine...
• Ricky Gervais needs to NOT host another show. He's mean.
• Self-deprecation is apparently the best form of modesty, for many people went down that route. Robert DeNiro had the best line, though: "I'm glad you were able to judge my list of films before Little Fockers came out." Gotta love an actor who knows when his movie sucks.
• Megan Fox was allowed in? Hmm. Interesting.

On the whole, the 2011 Golden Globes came and went with decent results. Oscar nominations will be announced in coming week, and hopefully that voting body won't fall into the rut that the HFPA did. Anne Hathaway and James Franco will be hosting, so it should be a good show.

Sorry this wasn't a usual post, but I really wanted to jump on the GG bandwagon. I'm going to Kansas City this weekend for the ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza, so hopefully I'll come back having learned a thing or two worthy of sharing on here.

We'll see.

-Danul

Sermonella: Catch the Feevah!

What follows is the story of my sermon from January 2, 2011. Apparently, God saw an opportunity for Danul to just go head first into the new year.

The morning of 1/2/2011 dawned cold. Seriously cold. As I waddled from my car to the sanctuary with five layers of clothing on, I decided to check the bulletin for any potential issues.

Depending on whether you see the glass as half-empty or half-full, this was either my first stupidly brilliant idea or my first brilliantly stupid decision of 2011.

The gospel text printed in the bulletin was completely and utterly NOT the text I had been working with for the past week. Faaaaaaaantastic. (I guess I'm more of a half-empty person for this story)

As I cursed my iPhone Lectionary App, I started pacing up and down the main aisle in the sanctuary, trying to figure out a way for my prepared sermon to reflect the printed gospel text. It didn't happen.

Suffice it to say, it turned out that it wasn't as big a deal as I was blowing it up to be, which is too often the case. The presiding minister (a jolly ol' retired pastor within our congregation) eased my nerves as he said, "we'll just liberally assume people will be able to get over it," a phrase that ironically fit very well into my message.

So, first, here is the text upon which my sermon is based: Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’

And here is what you've been reading this overlong blog post for in the first place:

(Disclaimer: this borrows some points from my Christmas blog...but hey, what would ministry be if we didn't recycle ideas?)

Let me start by saying that I have a certain…naivety when it comes to Christmas. I love this time of year. I love everything that comes with it. I love the music (I've been playing Christmas music in the office since late October). I love the decorations (a special thank you to our lovely secretary Tina, who gave me my tree). I love the commercials. I love the TV specials. And of course, I love love love the birth of Baby Jesus.

And I cannot comprehend it when people tell me they hate Christmas. What’s to hate? The cheery attitudes?The sale prices?The tinsel and twinkly lights?The shortened church services? What, pray tell, is so awful about Christmas that people cannot simply enjoy it?

Some say it’s become too commercial. Some say people don’t celebrate for the right reasons. Even pastors say it’s become a time when their roles as spiritual leaders are shrunk into roles as entertainers. I get all that. I really do.

After the weeks of stress that went into our Christmas Program, I can definitely sympathize. With all the complications our little pageant was confronted with, there were times when I wanted to throw up my hands at the impossibility of celebrating Christ’s birth with 20 kids who I had to bribe with confirmation credit (it’s a very funny thing how kids will do so much work just to get out of having to actively listen to a sermon that they have to sit through anyway). But when that first musical cue on that Sunday night began, that impossibility was unfolding very possibly in front of me.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that Christmas will most likely always be a commercial smorgasbord. It will likely always be celebrated by Christians and seculars alike. There will always be things that make you want to run over a snowman or smack an overly-cheerful bellringer.

So get over it. Stop second-guessing Christmas. Better yet, stop second-guessing the simple truth of the baby Jesus.

Our gospel today features Joseph. He’s a guy who we don’t hear from after the nativity story, so it’s a good thing his supporting role in the gospels can be used to no end for sermons at Christmastime.

The angel told Joseph, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt.” And what did Joseph do?

He immediately GOT UP and took his family to Egypt. He did not stop to complain. He gave no “ifs,” “ands,” or “buts”. He did not second-guess the message from God.

There were probably a million reasons Joseph could have given to not go to Egypt. I’ll bet he wasn’t looking forward to dragging an infant along on a cross-country road trip. I’m almost positive he wasn’t looking forward to Mary badgeringhim to ask for directions every two hours. I’m sure he could’ve justified not going.

But like I said, he went. He GOT UP and went. No second-guessing about it. Some could even call his unwavering obedience naïve. And this is an example we today should follow.

Being naïve about Christmas, in my ever-so-humble opinion, is the only way to approach this time of year. With all the secularization of Christmas, it boggles my mind that so many Christians opt to turn up their nose at the holiday instead of choosing to instill its true meaning. We cannot afford to let that stand in our way of celebrating the “most wonderful time of the year”.

We can even see this naivety reflected in other nativity characters. Do you think the shepherds thought themselves better than others because they saw Jesus? Do you think Mary and Joseph even began to grasp the weight of the events of that night long ago? No way. Instead they unabashedly, almost foolishly, celebrated the birth of Jesus, without regard for anything else.

Because really, what else matters? Too often people try to dissect Christmas to find some hidden “true” meaning. But the truth is that Jesus was born. That is the purest way I can say it. It’s awfully simple, isn’t it? And we didn’t even have to get our hands dirty. No second-guessing required.

By now, you’re probably thinking two things:

1. Daniel is really trying to get us think about “second-guessing God”.

2. Christmas is over, so why has he been rambling on about it?

You probably can see where I’m going with this, but I’ll say it anyway.

We as imperfect humans tend to second-guess God a lot. We do it throughout the year.

There will always be reasons not to do things. We might say no to teaching Sunday School because we think we have no time. We might refuse to be a leader in worship because we think we wouldn’t know how. We might back out of being a youth sponsor because of horror stories we’ve heard from the youth director.

But if Joseph has taught us anything, it is to just GET UP and answer God’s call.

God has brought us together as First Lutheran Church for a reason. He has given each one of us tools and talents that fill precise needs. And he wants us to be unashamed in using them.

Sure, this sounds silly. In any other area of life, we would be encouraged to considering all our options and choices. We are told to weight the pros and the cons against each other and see which is best. I do my share of that. When I was searching for jobs at this time last year, I had a list of all possibilities, with columns for the options I liked and one for those I didn't. But much like the naivety with which we should approach Christmas, we should approach doing things in the church with a similar attitude.

2011 is here. Whether we like it or not, whether we are young, old, or undecided, time has brought us to this point. As the director of youth and family ministries, a position that all have you have graciously chosen me to fill for almost a year now, I extend to you all a challenge.

I challenge you to GET UP. There will be ample opportunities for involvement this year. And no aspect of our ministry- not the youth/family, not the education, not the worship, not the music- will be possible if no one in the congregation answers God’s call.

He’s calling all of us in special, specific ways. You just need to GET UP and listen.

It really is that simple.

AMEN.