When Newsweek editor-in-chief Tina Brown learned about the controversial Time cover, she tellingly declared, “Let the games begin.”  Judging by the poor quality of their journalism over the past decade or so, I’d say Time and Newsweek have both been playing games.  At least now it’s official.

Not only are these recent moves signs that these once honorable news organizations have gone the way of the celebrity tabloid, they are symptomatic of their desperation in the Internet age (and a poor economy).  But perhaps more significantly, it is dramatic evidence of how irrational our culture is becoming.  The expectation, of course, is that these controversial covers will drive up sales.  And this is an even sadder commentary on the rest of us.

It’s entitled Letting Go of Perfect, and its about the common struggle women face as they deal with the tension between cultural expectations on the one hand and the ideal of being truly authentic on the other.  Even after several close readings (in the process of editing it), I still love reading it.  Every page is full of both humor and theological insight, which as a writer myself would really make me struggle with envy if I wasn’t married to the author.  Well, okay, I do struggle with envy anyway.  But I’m working through that.

Anyway, check out the book.  And if you’d like to have Amy Spiegel speak at your church, school, women’s group, retreat or some other event, just let her know.

Finally, in conjunction with the book, Amy has started another blog, called Ah, Crabapples, which is about seeing God’s hand at work in everyday things.  But don’t worry, she’ll continue to post here at Wisdom and Folly as well.  What a multi-tasker.  She might have let go of perfect, but she seems pretty close to me!

1. The very idea of a website devoted to arranging adulterous relationships is a frightening commentary not only on the moral bankruptcy of those who run the site but also on our society.  The website boasts nearly 14 million “anonymous members.” But then again, the site also declares that they don’t encourage anyone to have an affair.  Uh huh.  I suppose we shouldn’t expect that such folks would care about truth either.
2. The website ignores how their service is impacting the children of those whom they are tempting into adultery.  If what they do for the adults involved is evil, what they are doing to “the least of these” is even worse.
3. And then there is the way this will impact Tim Tebow.  Here is guy who does nothing but good for his community, constantly reaching out to people in need (especially through the Tim Tebow Foundation).  Yet the AshleyMadison.com folks want to destroy him.  Not only is this a striking case of darkness hating the light, it’s blatant hypocrisy.  These are people who justify their sexual ethic (or lack thereof) in the name of freedom.  Well, what about Tim Tebow’s freedom to abstain?  They clearly don’t care about interfering with that.
4. Finally, a few psalmist prayers come to mind.  I suppose Tebow is now praying something like this:  “The arrogant have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path” (Ps. 140:5).  But he would also be warranted in praying this about his tempters: “May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap” (Ps. 69:22).  And may we all pray for Tim Tebow.

This also goes for whatever books they are reading. Silly me, I thought that once most of them were reading on their own, my time with books well below my reading level was over. So I have read books about the offspring of the Greek gods, books about the adventures of children in underground worlds, books about a world full of wizards and witches (okay, Harry Potter is awesome. I just didn’t need to read the series three times.) When I suggest books that I liked as a kid, all I get is blank stares and polite silence. But a few weeks ago, I caught a break when Bailey’s class was assigned Farmer Boy for book club. The Laura Ingalls Wilder books are everything I love rolled into one: farm life, history, moral lessons and amusing antidotes about childhood that magically capture life from a child’s perspective without a hint of condescension. I have tried for years to get the kids to read one of these books and now here was my chance. I loved the book so much I broke the cardinal rule of book club: No reading ahead. Sorry Bailey.

One can’t read Farmer Boy without being struck by how hard the Wilder family works to provide for themselves. Basically, the majority of the book is taken up with detailed descriptions of how they grew their food, how they made their clothes, etc. And I couldn’t get enough of it. They seemed so full of purpose and directions. I found myself longing to be transported into their world, a world in which there seemed little room for ambiguity.

While I still have dreams of owning chickens and livestock, the reality is that I am town folk, at least for now. But someday, even if I have to die to get there, I will get my little farmhouse. I will work all day and enjoy the fruits of my labor. Everything I do will have purpose and meaning. Only in this reality I won’t have to put up with the lack of indoor plumbing or stay up late worrying if the corn crop is going to freeze.

As strange as it might sound, I long for a Heaven of work, not rest. The white-cloud-and-harp Heaven is for the birds. I want a Heaven in which we can work but never tire, a heaven free of sickness and anxiety but full of chores to be done. So much of what wears me out in this world isn’t the work itself but rather my uncertainty regarding the meaningfulness of that work. I long to be in the presence of my Creator so that I might receive clearly and from His owns lips, my to-do list for the day, or possibly my to-do list for the next thousand years. Either way, when I pass through those pearly gates I will be ready to roll up my sleeves and dirty my hands with the soil of Heaven. Maybe that sounds more like Hell to you but to me it’s sounds like Paradise.

It is interesting to note that this passage confirms a popular idiom, namely that ignorance is bliss.  The suggestion seems to be that knowledge and wisdom are proportional to pain and sorrow, respectively.  If so, then the less knowledge/wisdom one has, the less grief/sorrow one experiences.  And a complete absence of knowledge/wisdom would therefore mean a complete absence of grief/sorrow.  In other words, ignorance is bliss.  Of course, there are other ways to ruin one’s bliss that don’t involve knowledge/wisdom, such as through brute physical pain.  One need not have any genuine knowledge/wisdom in order to suffer.

Now let’s reflect on some implications of this passage on the positive end, that is, for those who have an abundance of knowledge and wisdom.  Their lives would presumably be marked by grief and sorrow.  Jesus Christ, as God incarnate, would have a maximal amount of knowledge and wisdom.  Wouldn’t it follow, then, that he would be very sorrowful?  This is exactly what the Scriptures tell us, as Isaiah refers to the Messiah as the “man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3).

Another implication is that to follow Christ and strive for wisdom and understanding is to commit to a life of grief and sorrow.  That’s not exactly how the Gospel is pitched in our culture.  But, then again, that’s not really the whole truth of the matter, since the faithful Christian’s sorrow is actually accompanied by joy.  This is one of the existential paradoxes of Christian experience, as we actually experience joy in our troubles and trials (cf. 2 Cor. 7:4; James 1:2).  And this joy is grounded in knowledge, quite the opposite of the bliss of ignorance.

Maybe it’s the spring time sunshine, but I am pleased to present an almost entirely positive set of reviews to you this month. I have more negative things to say about the previews shown beforehand than the films themselves. What’s up with showing Footloose previews before Hugo, Mr. Movie-Preview-Approval Dude?!?

Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows — I am not much one for action-adventure films but the older boys have been bugging me to see this sequel since Christmas Day, when they returned from the theater with their dad. So over Spring Break, we lucked and found a discount theater that was showing it. Of course, one of my boys (Sam) decided he didn’t need to actually accompany me to the movie and went with his friends to see So We Bought a Zoo. Bailey went with me, but I am pretty sure that was because I almost cried. But I digress. Saw the movie, found it very entertaining. Definitely worthy of a discount theater viewing. As a side note, I may have mentioned before a Sherlock Holmes mystery series by Laurie R. King. Also very entertaining. A good beach read if you are in the market for one.

Hugo — I fear my experience of this one was a bit diminished by the fact that the kids watched it…twice, before I got a chance. So I had picked up bits and pieces while straightening the living room and emptying the dishwasher. Still, it was a beautiful film. Pure and beautiful.

The Hunger Games — So we have been waiting for this film…f..o..r..e..v..e..r! We have been making do by watching the trailers over and over. Jim even read the book in a day and half in order to go with the older boys and I to the theater. (That’s the Spiegel, or more to the point Mom Spiegel, rule—you don’t get to see the movie unless you have read the book first.) When people asked me if I liked the film, I kept saying “If you liked the book, you will like the film.” This maybe isn’t the ringing endorsement it might seem. The movie is good but it is regrettable when filmmakers cower so to book fans that they compromise the movie in order to stick with the book. Learn from Harry Potter and make a good movie that stands on its own. If you do, it will endless loop back and forth as fans of the movie are then drawn to the book and then to the movie, etc.

Crazy, Stupid, Love — Hated it and don’t really have much to say beyond that. I went in loving Steve Carell and still do, but hate, hate, hate it when as my friend said “There is a complete lack of character consistency.”

Honorable and Not So Honorable Mentions — Moneyball: Enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but what is going on with Brad Pitt’s face?  Downton Abbey: Season 2: The writers scared me a bit midway through the season but they pulled it off in the end. Jim is still desperately awaiting its arrival on Netflix. I told him PBS was pulling it off their website, but did he listen?  Pillars of the Earth: Fascinating history lesson but I could have done with so much cleavage. Somehow it takes away from the horror of the raping and pillaging when all those being raped and pillaged are suspiciously attractive. Awake and Up All Night: These are my two new favorite shows. One leaves my mind teetering on the brink of confusion, the other makes me laugh so hard I pee my pants. It’s a messy but satisfying combo.

1. Home Cookin’ — Amy is professional caliber cook with a knack for turning ordinary dishes into powerful culinary aesthetic experiences.  This is probably due in part to the fact that she’s a super-taster, which can be a burden for her sometimes.  But she handles her hypersensitivity well.

2. Home Schoolin’ — When it comes to our kids’ education, we’ve been rather eclectic, but homeschooling has always been a part of the learning buffet at the Spiegel household.  Amy has excelled at it, somehow staying organized and innovative despite the chaos that a home with four kids brings.

3. Bookeater — Amy can read a novel like most people devour a bag of chips—at one sitting and with a tasty beverage in hand.  Early in our marriage I tried to keep up with her book-a-week pace but quickly realized this was futile.

4. Great Writing Stylist — Here is another category where I know I can’t compete with my wife, as I’m sure this blog amply demonstrates.

5. Humorist — Christopher Hitchens once notoriously observed that, generally speaking, women aren’t funny.  Quite independently of Hitchens, Amy has often made the same observation.  Ironically, she is a clear exception to this rule.  On my list of funniest women ever, I rank my wife third (behind Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett).

6. Fierce Traditionalist — Amy is no feminist in the current sense of the term, but she is a strong “womanist,” you might say.  Like Sidney Callahan and some other critics of contemporary feminism, Amy affirms the old dictum that “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”  Before we married, I was as skeptical as anyone about that.  Fourteen years later I’m a true believer.

7. Fantastic Mom — Speaking of motherhood, my wife is good as they get.  Perhaps I should devote an entire post to this point, including quotes from the kids, but that could get a bit lengthy.

8. Superb Film Critic — The “Snapshots” posts that Amy does for this blog don’t do justice to the depth of insight she has when it comes to cinema.  This is one of two areas where I hate to debate her, because I usually lose.

9. Politically Astute — The other topic where I usually lose debates with Amy is politics.  But I try to resist the temptation to avoid debating her, because to lose is to win when it comes to debate (since it means discovering truth).  At least that’s what I tell myself.

10. Theologically Astute — Amy will balk at this when she reads it, but its true.  On many issues, she arrives instantly and intuitively where it has taken some of the greatest theologians years of contemplation to land.

11. Computer Tech Savvy — This was perhaps the single most surprising discovery for me in our marriage.  Amy has a gift for working with computers and fixing various bugs in our PC at home.  (Since I now use a Mac, I have no more computer problems—seriously.  But when I used to have a PC, she was always ready with a fix for any problem that I had.)

12. Lover of All Things Tennessee — My wife is an unrelenting apologist for the Volunteer State.  After all these years of spending lots of time there, now I’m just as devoted and dogmatic in calling Tennessee the greatest state in the country.

13. Loyal Friend — Amy has many great friends, because she is a great friend.  Her loyalty is one of her most outstanding virtues.

14. Loyal Wife — Being married to someone so intensely loyal is a blessing, of course, but its also humbling.  I’m quite sure I don’t deserve such stalwart commitment from her, but she always makes me feel like I do!

Another possible explanation is the fact that faithful worshippers are more likely to live temperate lives, particularly as regards eating, drinking, drugs, smoking, and promiscuous sex.  But the researchers said they corrected for such variations in their study.

So how else might one account for this correlation between church attendance and greater longevity?  Here are some factors that come to (my) mind as potentially relevant factors.

1. Regular church-goers are less likely to suffer what I might be called moral stress, that is, the psychological pressures created by shame, grudges, and resentment.   A burdened conscience can cause a lot of psychological havoc and, in turn, one would suspect, health problems.  As for forgiveness, those who experience divine forgiveness are presumably more likely to extend grace to others.  Those who forgive others often report a sense of relief and other emotional benefits.  And it is well documented that forgiveness contributes to the reduction of anxiety and generally better mental and physical health.

2. Perhaps the greater longevity is partly attributable in the fact (if it is a fact) that those who attend church regularly are more likely to be disciplined people overall.  It does, after all, take some discipline to attend church at least once weekly.  And such discipline is a transferable life skill, or virtue, that can increase one’s chances at a longer life.

3. We can’t forget the supernatural dimension here, recalling that God often rewards the obedient with a long life (e.g. 1 Kings 3:14; Eph. 6:2-4).  Obviously, sometimes righteous people die young, and sometimes the wicked live long lives.  However, as this divine blessing works out across a population, perhaps it accounts for the statistical differences found in this study.

I don’t mean to suggest that these explanations are mutually exclusive.  Perhaps, as I suspect, the latter factor pertaining to divine blessing actually supervenes over the various other “natural” factors.  After all, divine providence works through secondary causes.  In any case, these findings provide much food for thought  . . . and yet another reason to make it to church this Sunday.

The lack of Macy’s bags and fingernail polish weren’t the only non-traditional elements of our weekend. Our relationships are a bit unique due to the differences in our ages. Two of the “girls” are college students and two of us are, well, not. I will even admit to being older than my fellow non-college student friend Michelle, whose kids are still in that no-one-ties-their-own-shoes-or-independently-buckles-into-the-carseat phase. But our relationships aren’t those of mentor and mentee. Sure, we have given them some insights into marriage and motherhood, probably more insights than they ever wished to have. But these insights are part of a bigger conversation. The conversation of friendship, of equality. Certainly we are aware of the age differential and I must confess to having held my breath once or twice, fearing that someone was going to make a comment about my “daughters.” More than once, I commented to the “girls” how much I appreciated them taking time away from friends and classes in order to hang out with us older folk. They laughed me off and said they felt the same way about us.

While it feels as though the differences in age and stage of life should be a gap to bridge, I have found the diversity refreshing and sweet. By seeing things from different perspectives, our view is broadened and stretched. I think it is a crime that modern evangelical churches seem determined to categorize and separate their congregations by age group. Something is lost in the homogenous nature of “Sunday School for the Older People” and “Small Group for the Not Fully Developed.” Intergenerational relationships seem to be relegated to more artificial settings rather occurring naturally.

Rocky Road is my all-time favorite ice cream. I love the mixture of crunchy almonds, squishy marshmallows, and creamy chocolate. All the different flavors and textures taste so much better together. Just like my weekend away, its sweeter for the contrast.

Since the passing of Christopher Hitchens, my favorite living atheist is probably Michael Ruse, philosopher of biology at Florida State University.  For a taste of Ruse’s interesting perspective, check out his recent Chronicle of Higher Education piece on attending church this past Christmas.

2. Lawsuit Abuse Website

Ridiculously frivolous lawsuits have now become so commonplace that there is a website devoted to them.  Its called Faces of Lawsuit Abuse.  Here you can learn about various bizarre cases (including a confessed killer suing his victim and a 400 lb. prison inmate suing because his clothes don’t fit) as well as the devastating effects of our society’s hyper-litigiousness.

3. Jonathan Cahn on 9/11

Jonathan Cahn is a messianic rabbi at the Beth Israel Worship Center in Wayne, New Jersey and president of Hope of the World ministries.  His teachings are broadcast daily around the world, but until recently I had never heard this remarkable sermon on 9/11.  Judge for yourself whether the connections he traces between Isaiah 9 and the events on that day and its aftermath are mere coincidence or fulfillment of prophecy.