God is everywhere; even in rental cars.

My friend Yusuf recently pulled a ligament in his finger playing kickball - don't worry, I already throughly mocked him for it. He didn't want to see a doctor about it (who would?), so he did the next best thing to self-dagnosing via WebMD -- he asked a friend who is a doctor. This friend was apparently able to diagnose Yusuf's pulled finger without any X-ray or MRI technology (seems suspect, eh?), and determined that exactly what Yusuf needed was a little metal/foam splint to keep his finger straight. And not the whole finger mind you. No, only the last joint neede to be splinted.

I am unclear as to the details and timeline for this middle part of the story, but at some point soon after this diagnosis and prescription, Yusuf rented a car. And can you believe what he found in that car...? He found a finger splint that holds the last joint in a finger straight. He immediately put it on and has been wearing it ever since, despite our friend Ho-Sung's fears that it may have been salvaged from raw sewage and cleaned up (but not enough to remove the grossness) before it was placed in the side panel of that rental car. Yusuf paid no attention; instead he marveled at his good fortune to have saved the $2.68 it would have cost to buy this split from the drug store.

Most of use would certainly have considered it coincidential at the least, and fortuitous at the most. But, when he told the story to his parents, Yusuf's mom, who tries to get him to be more spiritual, promptly and expectedly declared - "You see how God works?" Indeed, God is mighty - He's saves our souls AND mends our [fake] injuries.

Warning: This post contains reference to a non-traditional, new age philosophy!!! (Shield you eyes if you don't want to go to hell!)

Its happened. I've become one of those people who try to convert their friends. But, its not what you think. Besides my incessantly trying to get Ziek to like Kanye West's "Jesus Walks", which he claims is me trying to convert him, I'm not actively proselytizing my friends to Christianity. Rather, my new mission is to get my friends to buy in to a new age philosophy.

A few years ago, before I had cable, I was fortunate enough to watch Dr. Wayne Dyer present ideas from his book "The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way" on PBS. I'm going to spare you (for the moment) the details of his philosophy, but let me assure you it is based on thousands of years of Eastern philosophy (so it has some credibility) and it has not supplanted my faith in Christianity.

Rather, what his ecumenical ideas do is give me a practical way to live out my faith and make my life and others more positive and God-like. Let's face it, most religions have the same ideas - good trumps bad, right trumps wrong; happy trumps sad; harmony trumps self. What really bothers me about certain portions and members of my chosen religion is that they believe that what they've been taught, in the exact way they've been taught it, is the only way. I disagree.

When people only listen to what they've been taught and don't listen to what their heart says, they miss out on religious "ah ha" moments that can ensue. Religious xenophobia and protectionism have caused some portions of the Christian community to shun books like Dyer's and the ideas within. I think this sort of spiritual censorship is tragic, because some of these "new age" philosophies can help to put our core beliefs in a new light - to think about how to love one another and God in a new way.

For me, Dyer's philosophies do just that. They help me to have a daily road map for doing the right thing. I purchased an extra copy of "The Power of Intention" a while back, because there were so many times that I felt like I wanted to give it to someone.

I recently did give that book away, to one of my close friends. Her parents are Buddhist, her brother is Christian, and for most of her life, she was agnostic. She used to ask me about my religion and I would tell her about it in a non-pushy manner. And informative manner, which I think is the best way to share God. She never took to Christianity, and that has always been fine by me.

Recently, she has been exploring Buddhism, and for some reason I felt compelled to give her this book. Who knows...maybe it will help her see God (or Zen) more clearly. Or maybe it will just help her lead her life more simply and happily. Either way, if it affects her, I think God's purpose in inspiring Dyer to write the book will have been fulfilled.

Batman is Jesus (spoiler altert!)

You heard it here first, folks. Batman, as portrayed in the Dark Knight, is a Christ figure. Admittedly this kind of operates under the assumption that everyone who makes a sacrifice in a movie is a Christ figure. In the same way that people say: if something seems like its about sex, then it probably is. If someone could be a Christ figure, they probably are.

But let us examine the evidence more closely: First, Batman makes a sacrifice. He takes the blame for the murders committed by Harvey Dent (as Two Face) so that people can continue to see Harvey Dent as a hero. Sacrifice = first big step to Christ figure-dom.

Second, Batman's sacrifice makes him an anti-hero, hero. Third, he does this for the redemption of Gotham. He realizes that the important string of mafioso prosecutions started by Harvey Dent will not continue if people learn that Harvey Dent became Two Face and tried to murder an innocent family. So Batman takes the blame for the murders, making himself an outcast so that Gotham can redeem itself. Similarly, Jesus underwent prosecution, i.e. Crucifixation by the Roman authorities (or Jews if you're talking to Mel Gibson, et al) in order to redeem humanity. Jesus was shunned and turned upon by his disciples and Judea generally. Batman, in similar form, convinces Gordon, his close ally, to make him into a pariah. Granted, Jesus perhaps did not specifically ask his disciples to betray him, but, in the Last Supper, he did acknowledge that the betrayal was a necessary step in achieving humanity's salvation.

Oh, and Gotham represents humanity. I think the movie pulls few punches about this. The mafiosos might represent the Pharisees, but that's a stretch, and it doesn't really pan out.

The Joker is the Devil. In the same way that Jesus is forced to stare Satan in the face and resist his temptation, remaining sinless, Batman is at times tempted by the Joker's id-filled lure. The Joker almost convinces Batman in the interrogation room that he should join the dark side because society views him as expendable. Then Batman, somewhat in contrast to Jesus, starts bashing the Joker's head against glass.

Parallel to Christ turning over the tables in the temple perhaps? Perhaps not.

That may be discussed in Batman is Jesus II: Cruise Control.

At the end of the day, Batman isn't just a Christ figure because he makes a sacrifice, but more specifically because he lets himself become a pariah for the redemption of humanity (as played by Gotham City).