What does Proverbs say about "a soft answer"?

Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Dude Abides

Home
Progressive Christian

Last updated on: March 25, 2010 at 5:10 pm by Cathleen Falsani

2010-03-25T17:10:00-07:00 Cathleen Falsani

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

GODSTUFF

DISCOVER THE WONDER OF ‘LIFE’

Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life.

— John Muir

I hope the millions of viewers who stood in long lines, plunked down $15 and slapped on a pair of ridiculous, paper 3D glasses to watch the spectacle that was “Avatar” also will find themselves in front of a television some Sunday night in the coming weeks to soak up — sans disposable spectacles — the wonder that is LIFE, the 11-part series on the Discovery channel that debuted on March 21, the first full day of spring.

LIFE, which airs in two, one-hour episodes each Sunday night for five weeks, is a joint project of Discovery and the BBC and is the follow-up to the much-heralded, truly epic series Planet Earth. When our 10-year-old son, Vasco, arrived from Malawi last April with only a few English words in his vocabulary, the Planet Earth series, which we own on DVD, was one of the first things we watched with him. Even though he understood virtually nothing that the narrator (Sigourney Weaver) said, the sheer wonder evoked by the stunning visuals kept him (and us) riveted for many hours.

LIFE is narrated by the familiar voice of uberstar Oprah Winfrey — the ersatz guru to millions of men and women around the globe whom some have dubbed “America’s pastor.” Visually, LIFE is as striking as Planet Earth, and takes viewers into an even closer look at plants, animals, fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians than its predecessor.

Like Planet Earth, LIFE was an epic endeavor four years in the making, with more than 3,000 days of filming on every continent on Earth. Photographers in the air, under water, and wielding equipment from the biggest telephoto lens imaginable to the tiniest camera attached to a stick able to capture hyper-close-up footage of a Venus fly trap digesting a fly or the teensy stalk-eyed fly literally blowing up its own head like a balloon, captured breathtaking footage, much of it of sights never before seen by most humans.

The inaugural episode, “Challenges of Life,” did not begin with heartwarming images of sweet baby mammals or soaring vistas of the Himalayas. Instead, the episode began with three beautiful leopards stalking and killing — rather brutally — a female ostrich while her mate stood by wailing. Life is as difficult and horrifying as it is beautiful, the filmmakers seemed to be saying.

“Open your eyes to the beauty, the power and the wonder … of LIFE!” is the program’s slogan. It’s as much a spiritual call to attention as it is scientific, educational or commercial.

Be awake. Be aware. Pay attention to the world around you.

LIFE is complicated. Another scene — unbelievable footage taken in the mountains high above the Dead Sea in Israel — tracked a 10-day-old ibex kid as it fled for its life pursued by a red fox. Phew! It would have been hard to keep watching with high-spirited enthusiasm of the ibex baby had become lunch for the fox.

On the flip side, in the second episode aired, “Reptiles and Amphibians,” we sat gape mouthed and wincing as a water buffalo died a slow, horrible death over a three-week period, slowly poisoned by the bite of a Komodo dragon. As the buffalo writhed in pain, more and more dragons gathered, nipping at its hooves like demons. When the buffalo finally gives up the ghost, 10 Komodos strip its carcass clean in just a few hours.

This is not a Disney-fied version of nature. LIFE presents the natural world as complex and troubling as it really is. Therein, I believe, lies the peculiar power of this particular series.

Happily, there is a healthy dose of whimsy and delight in God’s creation and in LIFE. I could have stared for hours at the riotous colors of the panther chameleon with its sticky lasso-like tongue that could shoot out and capture a grasshopper more than a foot away. And I have a new appreciation for frogs after watching the inch-long strawberry frog load one tadpole at a time onto its back and haul them hundreds of feet up a rainforest tree so they would develop out of harm’s way.

We giggled joyously as we watched a basilisk , aka the “Jesus Christ lizard,” skittle upright across the surface of the water to escape a praying raptor, and marveled as baby brown-tufted capuchin learned — by trial and error — how to use just the right rock to crack open a palm nut.

LIFE is extraordinary. It’s full of colors and creatures and stories that are better (and truer) than anything James Cameron could have dreamed up on his fictitious Pandora.

L’Chaim! To LIFE!

Previous Post

March 23, 2010

Next Post

March 27, 2010

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A little happy ARCHIVED COLUMNS BECOMING FAMILY BelieberNess BREAKING NEWS! Disquiet Time DJ JEFF'S SPINTASMS falsani FILM from OCRegister From Sojo.net God Nods GODSTUFF I Take Requests incubatespirit LURKING IN THE NARTHEX On My Nightstand ONEMOMS Polling the Room PONTIFEXCELLENT Thru My Eyes TWO CENTS Uncategorized Upcoming Events VASCO VASCO'S HEART

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 May 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 October 2003 March 2003 December 2002 October 2002 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Proverbs say about "a soft answer"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

It brings riches It turns away wrath It makes a fool wise It brings rain