Today we listen to stories told by strangers from New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles and we tell our stories to the police and psychiatrists.

~Wendell Berry, The Work of Local Culture

• 
  What Are People For?: Essays
  Author: Wendell Berry

Over the past 6 years I have had the good fortune of living in the same suburban neighborhood of Livonia Michigan; some call it Clements Circle, others “the hood”, and to a few its known as “the SuperHood”.

Looking back its hard to measure the value of living in a neighborhood where you can know your neighbors. I am especially fortunate seeing as a good handful of my neighborhood relationships trace their roots back to college, almost 10 years ago now.

Getting to know people takes time. The pace of today’s scattered life activity hardly encourages the slow process of becoming known and knowing your neighbors. Fortunately I have some very hospitable neighbors, and a dog that likes to get around the neighborhood… so I have been able to meet a few over the past 5 years.

Joe Chapp helped me (I watched mostly, note the difference in shirt soiling above) pull out a couple of especially stubborn bushes back in 2005 and since then I have been invited out to a regular evening bonfire complete with pizza and box wine. In these evenings of casual neighborhood discussion and story telling I have learned much about the Chapp family history, struggles, and whimsical life enjoyments. There is a strange sort of comfort that comes from this activity of simply sharing, life just makes a lot of sense when presented in this context.

And aside from the general feelings of comfortableness there are specific encouragements and challenges. I learned that the Chapp family prays for the neighborhood regularly, including the success of my business; what a humbling honor. I also learned that the bus comes at 7:50 and it would mean a lot to the Chapps’ if I would look out for their daughter and make sure she makes it onto the bus without incident. Talk about tangible community responsibility and a reason to get up on time.

People used to practice what they called “sitting till bedtime”, where neighbors used to walk across the fields to sit in someone else’s home until dark and then go home and they would tell stories about themselves and people who had died and the children would hear the stories.

~Ken Myers on “The Work of Local Culture”

• Mars Hill Audio Journal

Categories: Community, Encouragement, Prayer, Relationships, Compliments
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For all of us seemingly caught in-between life; wondering what the heck is going on, what went wrong, how did I end up here, where am I going next, and what am I doing with myself… I believe this little movie offers some real encouragement, and if not answers… perhaps some reminders that are even better.

Kabluey caught a hold of me while I was on the down side of smobing about something, well perhaps nothing, but I was doing my darnedest to feel sorry for myself anyway… In the first moments of the film I met a family in comedic disarray due to a father on military duty in Iraq. Then I met a wife who misses her husband, two little boys looking for their father, and all the typical issues of life thrown on top with financial insecurity for good measure. My woes could not compare to this fictional yet realistic predicament, and I was forced to let them go in exchange for a little bit of empathy.

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Whenever a film helps me do that, and step outside of my would be film maker critique, I pay attention. I gave in to the story and went along for the ride. Salman, the unassuming brother in law black sheep, arrives on the scene purely of his availability. A haphazard job search ends him in the role of corporate mascot donning a pathetic blue costume. It’s a ridiculous job, and I am sure many can relate to the strange disconnect between work exhaustion and any sense of cogent meaning or significance.

Salman, however, has something special that makes him a hero, he’s selfless. When trite truths are done proper justice, they always get new life.

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The cast is graced with a few names, but the overall production feels like the best of indipendent film. I am sure I am giving this film much more credit than it deserves in terms of pacing, editing style, and performances… but it delivers the message, and it ends strong. I am beginning to realize just how difficult it is to end a film well, and I think this one does. Commitment, pursuit, thoughtfulness, and a reunion come like a whirlwind as the film wraps up… and its a beautiful thing.

I think it is a mysterious gift when a completed film somehow becomes better than the sum of its technical achievement, plot ingenuity, and even acting performance would merit. Its inspiring to encounter that from time to time and be shown the good that is within the grasp of aspiring independent film makers…

• http://www.kabluey.com
• http://www.astateof.com
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816545/

• 
  Kabluey
  Director: Sony Pictures

Categories: Encouragement, Family, Movies
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