Virtual Methodist

Following on from yesterday and  Peterson's   comments on the subversive power of parable, his comments on subversion itself are worth noting: "Three things are implicit in subversion. One, the status quo is wrong and must be overthrown if the world is going to be livable. It is so deeply wrong that repair work is futile. The world is, in the word insurance agents use to designate our wrecked cars, totaled.  Two, there is another world aborning that is livable. Its reality is no chimera. It is in existence, though not visible. Its character is known. The subversive does not operate out of a utopian dream but out of a conviction of the nature of the real world. Three, the usual means by which one kingdom is thrown out and another put in its place — military force or democratic elections — are not available. If we have neither a preponderance of power nor a majority of votes, we begin searching for other ways to effect change. We discover the methods of subversion...

For Holy week this year the BBC produced a version of "The Passion" which I will largely refrain from commenting on as I only saw the Good Friday "post watershed" episode through being otherwise engaged the rest of the time. If the rest of it was as good as that then I may get the DVD for future viewing. I would appreciate other people's refelctions if they saw more of it than I did. But it set me thinking about previous dramatic versions of Jesus' life and death. The obvious comparison is with Mel Gibson's "spiritual snuff movie" but it was Sally, my wife who reminded me of Dennis Potter's "Son of Man" , a decidedly sceptical view, but one with some interesting insights... and particularly of the following part of Act 2 Scene 3. Jesus and his disciples have been having a discussion in the shadow of a cross. Then, almost absent-mindedly Jesus wanders over to it and starts to caress it. JESUS: Good timber, this. Hewed with the grai...