Best this month
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
The Lego Movie Christopher Miller directs
this clever, creative and zany animated parable about the spiritual perception that everyone is special and deserving of respect, love and trust. Everyone in Bricksburg
works for a gigantic organi- zation that demands confor- mity. When Emmet, an ordi- nary construction worker, is deemed to be the “Special” by Vitruvius, a blind seer, he sets out on a quest to save the world. A large band of comic
Journey At one time or another, we all yearn to break free
of our day-by-day life and escape to a world of adven- ture. Writer and illustrator Aaron Becker has fash- ioned a magical tale with no words for ages 4 through 8 about a creative girl who is bored and can’t get her parents to do anything with her. So she uses her red marker to draw a door on her bedroom wall and begins a trip that is filled with strange sights and unfamiliar places.
She creates a boat and sails to a large and ornate Author bio:
city. Then she draws a balloon that takes her away. When the girl sees a bird in a cage, she liberates it out of kindness and empathy for its plight. Now all she has to do is find her way home. Here is a journey worth
The Brussats publish the website www.SpiritualityandPractice. com where you can find more information about the items reviewed in this column.
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www.thelutheran.org
taking with its themes of the value of art, empathy and heroism (Candlewick Press,
www.Candlewick.com).
book characters and super- heroes join him. There are many spiritual
messages in this family film. Every person is special. You can find creative ways to fol- low instructions. It’s cool to be part of a team and com-
munity. Even bad guys are capable of doing amazing things. “Everything Is Awe- some” (the movie’s theme song) in the world around us: objects, jobs, people, relationships (Warner Bros, PG—action, rude humor).
The Spiritual Practice of Remembering Margaret Bendroth is director of the Congrega-
tional Library in Boston and a historian of American religions. In this elegantly written book, she makes a good case for remembering as “an act with spiritual meaning, pushing us against the unknown.” Cultivating the past isn’t easy given the cultural
propensity to focus on the latest fad or phenomenon. Despite the variety of available pathways to the past, many people only focus on creating their own personal archives of experiences and memories with social media posts, scrapbooks and digital photo files. Bendroth challenges Christians to
begin a conversation about religious tradition and to revive connections with the communion of saints who are spread across time and space. Here memory becomes not just an isolated act of an individual but a cooperative
adventure uniting believers as they try to make sense of the past, present and future (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publish- ing Co.,
www.eerdmans.com).
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