Links and quotes below
Gotta love so much about this film..like Eugene calling Rolling Stone Magazine "Rolling Stones"..
and a mosh pit a "mash pit." (;
If you like the hilarious story (excerpted above) about how EP first turned Bono down, there's a whole video of EP on that and more here.
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EP:
"At twelve years old , [the psalms] showed me that imagination was a way to get inside the truth.
....translating a psalm...To try to get them to realize that praying wasn't being nice before God.. The psalms are not pretty; they're not nice...just pray this psalm.. It's not smooth; it's not nice, it's not pretty; but it's honest. And I think we're trying for honesty..which is very, very hard in our culture.
We need to find a way to cuss...without cussing. And the imprecatory psalms surely do that.
We've got to some way in context; and the context is the whole Bible; whole psalter...to tell people how mad we are.
...We have crosses in every room in this house. But when I look at those, I don't think of decoration; I think 'This is the world we live in..and it's a world with a lot of crosses . ' And I would just like to spend my life in doing something about that through Scripture, through preaching, through friendship. My years are getting shorter, and I don't have many left; but I don't want to escape the violence..."
Bono:
"The only way we can approach God..if we're honest..is through metaphor; through symbol. So art becomes essential; not decorative.
..The psalmist is brutally honest about the explosive joy that he's feeling and the deep sorrow or confusion, and it's that that sets the psalms apart for me.And I often think,
'Why isn't church music more like that'? ..
...I'm talking about dishonesty. I find in a lot of Christian art ..a lot of dishonesty. I think it's a shame because these people are vulnerable to God (in a good way)...porous; open.. I would love if this conversation would inspire people who are writing these beautiful.., gospel songs: write a song about their bad marriage; write a song about how they're pissed off at the government. Because that's what God wants from you: the truth... The truth will set you free; it will blow things apart. Why I'm suspicious of Christians is because of this lack of realism..and I'd love to see more of that in art and life and music."
(answering "What is the work of the artist..in acknowledging the intensity; the reality of the feeling without indulging the feeling?").
Having feelings is perfectly normal. ...David danced naked in front of the troops; that's one reason I like him .. abandonment... very important... understanding our bodies as well as our minds and ourspirits. The Three-Personed God --The Trinity--is reflected in our body, mind and spirit..,We really do ignore this.
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EP prays:
"Be with us as we continue our lives of serving You with poetry, with the arts, with psalm, finding ways to enter into what You're already doing: not calculating the chances, but doing what's right there, what You've already started doing..."
Listen for the prophetic summary in the last two words of the film
...from Mrs. Peterson.
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See:
- Story of the film, along related quotes with resources
- Behind the scenes
Bono audio: God at the 9" Nails Gig
atu2:"The Message Author Says U2's Message is Refreshing, Faithful, and Honest
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