Thoughts on the Hunger Games

So I went and the saw the Hunger Games. If you don't want anything spoiled for you I'd advise you not read any further. I don't intend to summarize the movie but my thoughts toward it but I will be talking about the movie so spoiler alert.

I enjoyed it overall (although perhaps I should regret that reaction.) It was amazing to me the similarities I felt between sport events and reality TV. The Hunger Games is a mix of both. However, millions (and even billions) of people participate in these past-times, so the commentary it provides on us as a people is worth examining.

It seems like there is a blood lust in us and one that can't be explained. I tried at one of our Thursday AM sessions with Jason to say we've grown beyond that. We don't throw Christians to the lions or have Gladiators fight to the death. Father Jason was like, "What about our love of football and torture movies like Saw?" That comment gave me pause. Maybe we haven't gone as far as I'd like to think.

Reality TV has a huge following but one that when you talk to people about it they frequently apologize. "I know I shouldn't like it or watch it but I love it." It's a phrase I hear often to describe shows like Survivor, the Bachelor/Bachelorette, and the list goes on. In college a dear friend of mine (named Rachel) was always quick to say, "Campus TVs aren't tracked for ratings. Whatever I watch has no impact on a networks willingness to continue programing because they don't look at what we watch the way they do an average American household." I've been meaning to ask her if she avoids Reality TV now that she lives in her own house and what she watches is being tracked.


Gale says to Katness, "What if no one watched the Hunger Games?"

What if we stopped watching our sporting events and reality TV? The power that they possess exists solely because people watch. If no one watched the loss of money and the loss of advertisers and sponsors would make these institutions collapse. They have power because each of us gives them power.

A co-worker of mine (a devout follower of Christ) said, "Sometimes I wish half of the money that gets spent on football went to actually helping people. I think it can make a big difference in feeding the hungry, treating the sick, etc." There is a lot of money in this world.


It begs the question though that every American should ask themselves: "How do I spend my time?" and "How do I spend my money?"


I honestly spend the majority of my time sleeping. I work 40 - 45 hours a week. I sleep on average 8 hours a night so that works out to 56. That leaves around 67 hours unaccounted for. 5 - 7 of those hours is spent cleaning up (showering, brushing teeth, shaving etc.). Another 7 to 10 hours is spent eating. So 50 hours unaccounted for at this point. Where does the time go? I spend probably another 5 hours reading (most of it for work but some for pleasure), I spend another 5 hours a week drive placings (work, store, etc.)


The last 40 hours I most likely spend on leisure. TV, computer, going to the movies/watching a DVD, talking on the phone. These things are important to me but certainly aren't necessary for my existence (except maybe the phone thing because there are some people in my life if I couldn't talk to them I may actually go crazy.)


My money - right now a lot of it goes to bills, food or gasoline (I don't make that much). But I'd be lying if I said I only used my money for healthy food. Sometimes I stop and get a burger (and I don't need a burger in so many ways.) Sometimes I buy a bottle of wine (and I don't need alcohol). I love going to the movies and it's something I do more frequently in Omaha than in Lawrenceville. So some of my money is being wasted (just like some of my time.)



Distopian ideas are becoming more and more popular. Utopia has stopped seeming improbable and seems to have become impossible. Movies and books offer up some ideas of what we will evolve into and how we will keep ourselves going. Will we become Children of Men (no reproduction) or will it look like Brave New World (reproduction via assembly/line or machine)? Will it be like Book of Eli or The Road (food becomes so scare in these books/movies that some people start eating other people to survive)?

I think if we take God out of the equation then the likelihood of us getting there goes up - a lot. I believe our Heavenly Creator is looking out for us and trying to help us get back on track. Like most children though we are more interested in doing our own thing and having our own way. We rebel and it makes us feel powerful, independent, and strong. It is only after-the-fact that we realize that maybe our way wasn't the best way. When we realize this most people try to make amends, try to fix what's been wronged and move back to where they are supposed to be.


What I liked most about the Hunger Games is how real it was. Katness thinks Gale is foolish for believing that people wouldn't watch the Hunger Games. She does however refuse to kill Peter (a great name for a hero) from her own district and instead talks him into killing himself just as she kills herself. Katness knows she can't get the districts to stop watching but she knows she can control herself.


It's a powerful statement and in many ways a challenge to each of us. Ghandi issued the challenge in his own way by saying, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Michael Jackson sang a song about changing the "Man in the Mirror." These ideas stretch back in time (to even before Christ). It isn't about changing anyone else - it's about changing yourself and then inviting those around you to join in to change themselves.


What are some changes I need to make? I think the biggest one is to spend more time reading. Reading anything and everything I can. I should certainly spend more time reading scripture but also any books that could provide insight into faith or into people. I really should find something to read that would help me learn Spanish. (Maybe I'll go out and buy Spanish for Dummies.)  (The other big change is of course health/self-care which I'm working on).



If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about the Hunger Games please feel free to share them (via email or on the phone if posting here isn't something you want to do.) We'll be having a Youth Event to go see the movie and then a discussion afterwards and I'll have to make sure the kids learn something from this. That they grow either in knowledge of themselves or (hopefully) in their understanding of God or Christ.

Lenten Bible Study: "The Good Life"

The First Sunday of Lent has past, and we are in the deep, in the thick of Lent, there is no turning back (in case you wondered). The First Sunday of Lent marked many things to many people I am sure, but for me it marked the beginning of the Lenten Bible Study that I am leading for the next six weeks. The Bible Study is titled “The Last Days of Jesus.” It is composed of a Gospel verse that relates to Jesus’ last days, and a complementary video series that includes a scene in the Holy Land, and a theological scholar’s reflections and insights on the passage. The theological scholars change from week to week and are set in different and interesting locations

throughout America.

            This week we studied Matthew 16:13-28, and heard our theological reflection from Dr. Matt Williams in Vulture City, AZ. Dr. Williams makes many wonderful points about this passage. But, the one that impacted me most was his discussion of “the good life.” “The good life,” these were words that welcomed me into my new home in Omaha, NE six months ago, as I crossed the state line between Iowa and Nebraska.

            Dr. Williams points out that in Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus reveals to his disciples, and us, a new, radical way to live to truly live the “good life.” “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” In Christ we give up our lives, and our selves, daily to follow and serve Him. Denying ourselves and taking up our own cross is not an easy charge, nor does it seem like the “good life” that our consumerist culture advertises to us everywhere we turn. But, Christ’s way is the only way, to a true, untarnished, pure happiness, and this is where we will find the one and only “good life,” which God had intended for us to live.

            This was the “good life” which I came to find upon entering the Resurrection House program, here in Omaha, NE. As, I denied my old ways of life, to take on a new one, trying to put Christ at the center of all I do and all I am. It is not easy, but I am finding everyday that I work to deny myself and take on Christ I find the “good life,” and it continues to get a little better.