Tom Brady and True Identity

In a little over a week Tom Brady of the New England Patriots will again be in the Super Bowl, already having won three in the past decade. I was reminded of the below clip from a 60 Minutes interview, which has been floating in cyberspace for a couple of years. I think Brady’s honesty about the illusion of monumental success is admirable and only reminds me again that identity is not primarily found in accomplishing but in receiving. (So says the guy striving to succeed…)

All is Grace

I ran into this quote in the front of a book, Devotional Cinema, recommended to me by Phil Morrison, the director of the film, Junebug, which I reviewed over on Mockingbird blog a year or so ago. I’m just beginning the book, but the opening quote is too beautiful not to share. And I think the interesting consideration is that the quote’s beauty is not found in the arrogance of big words but in the honesty and awareness of the moment.

“He did not seem to hear me. But a few moments later he put his hand on mine and his eyes clearly indicated that I should lean closer. He then said very slowly, but altogether distinctly, the following words, which I record here exactly: What does it matter? All is grace.

He died, I believe, just after.”

- Georges Bernanos
Diary of a Country Priest

Character

What if the fullest expression of character is not immaculate behavior but instead forgetfulness of it while considering God’s immaculate love for you and your neighbor.

Here is Love

“Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.”

- William Rees (1802-1883)

Self-Interest, Waiting for Superman, and The Help

The documentary, Waiting for Superman, is about the decline in American public education when compared to other countries, or even our own history of educational success. The film maker documents the failure of schools but also a handful of schools that are succeeding, including some educators who have started charter schools that are no longer bound by the restraints of teacher unions. Meaning, the schools can hire and fire teachers at will, pay different salaries, financially reward good teachers, and financially punish others, amongst other progressive rights and changes.

Now, according to the documentary, the teacher unions began decades ago when teachers needed to fight for some basic rights and systems to be put into place for their benefit, but today the unions are powerhouse political machines that protect the teachers’ self-interest at the detriment of the students. This self-interest is seen in the inability of educational leadership to create much of any change to the system and the teachers in the system. The unions simply don’t allow it, and they put political pressure on whomever they need to in order to make sure change that will create discomfort for teachers is not allowed. All of this is of course self-interest that eats away at the very good the teachers began teaching for, the unions were created for, and the education the students need. (This is all according to the documentary and not to my personal research so forgive me if I don’t give another opinion on the issue of unions and the cause for our education problem.)
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Eddie Vedder and Success

Below we see Pearl Jam win their 1996 Grammy. The most interesting, and shocking, comments come from Eddie Vedder, the first band member to speak.

Pearl Jam 20 just released, a documentary directed by Cameron Crowe over-viewing their rise to success. It’s a fascinating two hours of entertainment and education, but I found this clip of Vedder winning the Grammy the most. At first I dismissed his comments as rude — to want to create stellar music for people to hear, then to trivialize an award recognizing that seemed, well, ridiculous.

But I kept thinking about this — Why would he say this? What is he trying to say?

I think he’s saying the award, the pinnacle of the path is not all it’s cracked up to be. He’s saying the pinnacle is just another place. So, if this is true, and you’ve exalted the pinnacle — the Grammy, the money, the fame — you will be disillusioned as it ultimately doesn’t mean anything. There’s a secret only the rich and famous seem to know — that being rich and famous is not better, just different.

The Pearl Jam documentary is a fascinating study on fame and the way people react to it. Some do drugs, some kill themselves, and others say things like Vedder, degrading the award or the success, when really it is the over-exaltation of the pinnacle that deserves our criticism and sadness.

Darkness and Hearing the Music

We drove home from Orlando on New Year’s Eve. We packed the car and pulled out, heading north as the sun set. My wife and little girls fell asleep quickly, and then it was me, the road, and the darkness of north Florida and south Georgia. I had some snacks and my iPod in my lap.

My attention wasn’t caught by the passing cars, fields, or farms that tend to pull my eye and my mind. All I had to see was the one hundred lit yards that my headlights afforded me. I tuned my iPod to Sara Groves, Mumford and Sons, and The Avett Brothers. I listened to Tim McGraw and Coldplay, and in the dark the music ceased to just be background music but somehow became a real voice to an otherwise busy mind.

With the removal of distractions I was able to hear the music better, and I can’t help but wonder if this is why our vision for our lives is so restricted – that we might hear the music better.