Summa Mamas: a sign 'o our stinkin' times
“A new survey shows 48 percent of all couples have two or more checking accounts”

My wife and I had a discussion the other night as to what advice we would give people getting married … I compiled the notes and will post it later. We didn’t explicitly mention a single bank account but I, for one, cannot see it any other way.

LOCAL: Shaw Center Showcase


I must admit that I am excited about this development. Much effort has been poured into making downtown a place for the arts. The biggest problem, and I am sure this is the case in most places, is that the arts scene here is ripe with secularism. It seems that until the last 150 or so years, art, music and the like were heavily influenced if not entirely driven by faith. Now art is generally used to capture the sad state of humanity or to drive home a particular hollow political propaganda point masquerading as the greatest problem facing mankind. What else matters except Christ? Everything in life flows from that ...

Efforts like The Passion of the Christ and Therese are slight indications that the tide may be turning in the film industry. The popularity of The Lord of the Rings series and the Passion have to leave somebody out there wondering where the rest of the good films are? The world is yearning for more, yet Hollywood is patting themselves on the back with anti-culture tripe. The fact that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is due out soon is also a promising step in the right direction. Even further telling is the fact that Disney is making an effort to get Christians out to see the film, ala the marketing strategy for the Passion. This is a double-edged sword for Hollywood though and I think to some extent they know it. The money-making opportunity is tremendous but when you place a movie in a theatre like The Passion next to a movie glorifying euthanasia, abortion or gay marriage, the truth stands tall. Lives are changed. The Evangelizing power of beauty is one that cannot be dismissed. I venture to guess that in the future, more people will be brought to a true perseverant conversion to Christ through the arts than through just about any other means.

Still, the case remains to be seen if Christians are going to get off their rear and challenge the culture rather than being a far less effective reaction to secular culture. Many people see right through that and they want the original.

Music is really my passion in the arts. The problem is that we have a lot worth remembering but it is more for the fact that God bestowed these gifts upon these artists rather than the fact that they even remotely use them to glorify Him. Sadly, that tends to mean that the vast majority of the stuff I find interesting to listen to is likely to be lost to history in favor of the certain coming renewal of art infused by the proper search for beauty that is ordered towards a deep love of mystery and an intense seeking of God. The little nuggets of truth are there. How much more powerful wouldn't it be if it were backed by the unparalleled truth of the Gospel?

Time to lead folks ...

ONE BEEF: Why did local agencies including LSU hire a firm from Boston to do this? Is the in-state talent not up to the level required for such a project? If so, whose fault is that? Maybe it was a lowest bidder deal, which, I am sure ... the taxpayers approve of ...