Four Good Things #2
Chance's comeback, movies, Japanese toilets, & why being a creature is very good
Greetings, y’all. This is relatively straightforward: four good things from me to you.
A podcast on Chance the Rapper and the art of the comeback:
Josh Larsen and I discussed Chance’s latest singles on the Think Christian Podcast. Chance the Rapper’s career arc has been a strange one. Coloring Book (2016) was ubiquitously beloved, and then The Big Day (2019) was universally panned. (I liked it, sorta.) Add some personal challenges, and you see why Chance is a fascinating touchpoint for what fans expect from artists, the permission (or lack thereof) for artists to try and fail, and what it means for artists to make a “comeback.”
A quote on being creatures:
“What marks us out as the creatures of God isn’t that we can do amazing things that other animals can’t do create language and culture and technology, make promises and break them, wage wars and forgive our enemies, and all the myriad other distinctively human activities. What marks us out is that we can glorify God, that we can glory in God’s glory. We alone of all creation are appointed by God to praise and celebrate him, to call on his name, to proclaim his deeds to the nations.”
— John Webster, Christ Our Salvation
A (silent) movie:
Sherlock, Jr. (1924), with Buster Keaton. This film's innovation, for its time, is remarkable. After lots of complaining when I said it was a silent movie, my kids (12, 9, 5) loved this one. Their only lasting complaint was its brevity, clocking in at 45 minutes.
A non-silent movie:
Looking for something poetic, contemplative, humane, and sure to make you smile? Try Perfect Days (2024), which follows a Japanese man who cleans toilets as part of the Tokyo Toliet Project. I won’t say more than that.
Peace,
Claude