By Carmen Andres

When a friend recommended Disturbia, I wasn’t so sure. I’d pegged it as a horror/slasher film and I don’t really watch those kinds of flicks. But I trusted him, so I decided to watch it anyway, and I’m glad I did. I found this film a good one—and it made me think about how I approach the people around me.

Disturbia centers on Kale (Shia LeBeouf), a teenager who’s been put under house arrest—complete with an ankle-monitoring device—for hitting his teacher. As he and his friends whittle away the summer, they begin to suspect that one of Kale’s next-door neighbors is a serial killer.

But the film isn’t exactly what you’d expect with that kind of plotline. First, it treats the plot with more thoughtfulness and suspense than I expected—paying homage in clever ways to Rear Window, a favorite Hitchcock film of mine that I’ve seen at least half-a-dozen times. And, like that film, this one gives us time to know the main characters instead of rushing the story. In fact, the film begins on a very poignant note. Kale is fishing with his father, but they get in a car accident on the way home and Kale tragically watches his father die. The film then skips a year ahead, where we see a depressed and burdened Kale who’s failing his high school classes. When a teacher callously asks him what his father would think of him now, Kale’s pain rises in anger and he hits the teacher. A lenient and sympathetic judge gives him house arrest instead of sending him to a juvenile detention center.

These first few scenes were rather affecting—and they’re a good opportunity to check our own attitudes and actions towards the people around us. Kale’s teacher, while perhaps well intentioned, wasn’t paying enough attention to Kale’s pain. Other characters also fail to look deeper than their first impressions, like the teacher’s policeman-cousin who gives Kale a hard time throughout the film. Far too often, I do the same—peg a person by what little I know about them and fail to take the time to hear that person’s story or take into account their struggles (or gifts). Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I had my semi-annual cardiology appointment. My cardiologist is in my former home town, but I didn’t want to lose him after moving–hence my 1.5 hour, bi-yearly drive to the doctor. I knew that I’d have lots of work to make up when I got back home, so I decided I’d hang out at a local coffee shop, one of my two “offices.” When I got there I bumped into two of my friends. Smiles and conversation. Warmth.

The conversation was nice.

A barista greeted me and worked on a coffee display near my table. She has warm green eyes and warmer personality. We conversed. A business networking friend of mine, dropped by too. He told me about his new financial venture.

A guy I know says, “Relationships are like Legos®. When you fill up all the connections on a block, there’s no room for any more.” I can’t imagine Jesus saying such a thing.  It makes me wonder if this guy has time for anyone beside his closest friends.

I think Jesus expects more from those of us who follow him. Expecting them to care. To take time for people. To actually be interested in others.

-Bruce

There’s something about the holidays that brings me to a point of evaluation–and sometimes exhaustion–every year. When I start reaching the end of the year, I start evaluating what I’ve done, going over the good and the bad of what went before and thinking about what is coming in the future. That’s the finite nature of we humans. There is a beginning and an ending for everything.

With these stops and starts and points of reflection, we often stand on a symbolic hillside looking over the contents of our lives and wonder about the meaning and the reasons. The reality is that we all have a beginning and an ending and we often think about them regularly, but we often forget the things that come in the middle. We tend to take that part for granted.

It’s here in the middle of our lives that the action takes place. What’s happening in the here and now is what we often have the most difficult time reflecting upon. Maybe we are just too busy, too involved, or too preoccupied to pay closer attention to what is presently happening. I think that DE offers a here and now approach to relationship that we should all pay attention to.

Read the rest of this entry »