crispy bacon

tonight we watched love is the devil, which is a movie about the artist francis bacon. he does a lot of art that could be considered gruesome or nightmarish, and i get the impression that he was in effect facing mortality through his work. it seems to me that he was trying to come to terms with love and beauty being always under the inescapable shadow of death and despair. one out of every one person dies (ok, except elijah and enoch)and suffering is all around us. the majority of people in this world are abused in some way and carry the physical and/or emotional scars with them for the rest of their lives. but for some reason the church is completely unequipped to talk about and actually deal with death, suffering, and abuse. why is that? why are pastors only able to help people to a point, but if their situation is really severe they have to be referred to "professional counselors?" this is in no way meant to criticize the world of therapy - rather it is to criticize the church, of which i am a part. this question (as well as bacon's art) raises the very terrifying question of where God is in the midst of all the horror, and why isn't He and his church doing something about it?

what is art? what is theology?

the art of jackson pollock is characterized as abstract expressionism. we were talking in class about how in expressionsim there is no longer one fixed point from which all art begins. there is no particular view or philosophy that drives artists, and they all start from their own point of reference, and seek their own goals. technology (specifically photography) has allowed us to see the world as it "really is" and realism in painting is no longer necessary. artists are now free to express reality in whatever form they see fit. the same is becoming true in theology. theologians now start from their own points of view, and move toward their own particular goals. the only problem i can see is that in theology, we have not been given the gift of "photography." we do not have a technology (or philosophy) that allows us to see God as he "really is," or at least on His terms. therefore i wonder if we are justified in constructing theology in ways that suit our own goals. i believe that objective truth exists (at least in the mind of God) and that we should construct theology in an attempt to describe God and creation as they "really are," rather than according to our own goals. yet i realize that we always see God and creation from our own subjective point of view. it is these two seeming opposites that help me understand why pollock went crazy and drove his car off the road!

marching to petoria

i've been seeing ads on the cartoon network for the family guy marathon that is taking place on super bowl sunday. cartoon network says that since we will all be on the couch anyway, they don't want to do anything to break that vibe. since the chargers lost in the playoffs, i'm more excited about family guy than i am about the game.