So I am still thinking about Kingdom of Heaven. I have been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's letters from prison this week in preparation for next week, when I will be off in DC working on my doctor of ministry. Bonhoeffer is one of my favorite theologians. He was a Protestant pastor in Germany during the time of the Nazis, and actively plotted against Hitler - even to the point of being involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler. Bonhoeffer was not one lightly to undertake murder, because of his Christian beliefs - but he finally came to the conclusion it must be done to stop a very great evil.
I keep thinking about that from the perspective of this movie. At one point, the princess of Jerusalem asks the main hero, "Are you not willing to do a little evil for a much greater good, to save many people?" What a question to ask...
Anyone else read T.H. White's The Once and Future King? One of the main themes is that the end does not justify the means. I have always believed that to be the case. But yet - if I were asked to put my own soul in jeopardy, to commit some evil, to save many other innocents - would that justify my actions? Bonhoeffer has always been a hero for me - he was murdered in prison (after being there 2 years) just before the Allied Liberation - and he was my age. But we have seen so many people take this kind of justification and manipulate and warp it for their own ends - not for the greater good.
Back to the movie - How are we to be people of integrity? How does our faith inform the decisions we make?
Think I need to see the movie again and think some more on this...
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Where is Rio Running?
Thought I would offer a little explanation for Running Rio. Rio is my family name (hate to say maiden name - maiden only seems to remind me of Robin Hood or a really, really loud heavy metal band). Rio is actually French, however close enough to Spanish that it still means River. Yes, rivers do run - and as do most women in my shoes - I am running all the time. Run to work, run to the kids' school, run to the grocery store (can I make it there 4 times this week, or only 3?), run through the house trying to clean, etc., etc.
My last name has actually been hyphenated with my husband's these past 16 and 1/2 years - boy is that another story. My husband, who was the 3rd in the line of male names in his family, told me that he could never hyphenate while his father was alive. The clear implication was that he did not want to offend his dad (and I would not have wanted him to do so), but the dear man did join my husband's long departed mom a number of years ago - and the hyphen never came. It finally came out that darling Andy never had any intention of hyphenating - it was just an excuse to put me off the subject (hoping I would forget, I am sure). When I'm doing marriage counseling, I always tell the young women to do exactly what they want with their name, because they might find themselves complaining about it over 16 years later on the internet!
People in high school, and even college, used to call me Rio all the time. Of course, Duran Duran was quite the band then - and if they were singing about an incredibly sexy, alluring woman named Rio - I was not one to complain and insist on being called by my given name.
I still like being called Rio - even though no one really does it any more. It's more like Mom!, sweetie, preacher, or Amy. But you can call me Rio...
My last name has actually been hyphenated with my husband's these past 16 and 1/2 years - boy is that another story. My husband, who was the 3rd in the line of male names in his family, told me that he could never hyphenate while his father was alive. The clear implication was that he did not want to offend his dad (and I would not have wanted him to do so), but the dear man did join my husband's long departed mom a number of years ago - and the hyphen never came. It finally came out that darling Andy never had any intention of hyphenating - it was just an excuse to put me off the subject (hoping I would forget, I am sure). When I'm doing marriage counseling, I always tell the young women to do exactly what they want with their name, because they might find themselves complaining about it over 16 years later on the internet!
People in high school, and even college, used to call me Rio all the time. Of course, Duran Duran was quite the band then - and if they were singing about an incredibly sexy, alluring woman named Rio - I was not one to complain and insist on being called by my given name.
I still like being called Rio - even though no one really does it any more. It's more like Mom!, sweetie, preacher, or Amy. But you can call me Rio...
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