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TeacherAide Common Unity SESSION 6
ILLUSTRATING THE POINT“Collateral”: Loneliness
Collateral is a high-drama action movie chronicling the life of a Los Angeles taxi driver who is taken hostage by a hit man for 18 hours. Max (Jamie Foxx) is a conscientious cabbie who takes pride in his knowledge of the nation's second largest city, a knowledge that allows him to get his fares to their destination in the shortest possible time. When Vincent (Tom Cruise) lures Max into chauffeuring him around town overnight as he attempts to earn his keep as a contracted gunman, the mild-mannered cabbie is put to the test. As the scene opens, Max is engaged in conversation with Vincent, who sits in his light gray suit in the backseat. He has just predicted it will take seven minutes to drive to the destination Vincent has indicated. Vincent speaks, "Ok, I'll time you." "Knock yourself out," Max says, looking straight through the windshield at the road ahead. "What do I get if you're wrong?" Vincent inquires. "A free ride?" "You get an apology. I already offered my free ride today." "To who?" "Some girl." "Did you get a date with her?" Max changes the subject. "First time in L.A.?" the cabbie asks. "No. Tell you the truth, whenever I'm here, I can't wait to leave. It's too sprawled out, disconnected. You know? But that's me. You like it? "It's my home!" Max says, gripping the wheel and still looking straight ahead. Vincent says, "17 million people. It's the fifth biggest economy in the world, and nobody knows each other. I read about this guy who gets on the MTA here and dies. Six hours he's riding the subway before anyone notices his corpse. Doing laps around L.A. People on and off, sitting next to him. Nobody notices." The cab is seen driving off into the blur of indistinguishable lights of the big city. Content: Rated R for violence Collateral (Dreamworks, 2004); written by Stuart Beattie and Frank Darabont, directed by Michael Mann
THE MORE YOU KNOW
Median net worth of American conservative Protestants: $26,200
Median net worth for Americans as a whole: $48,200
If the average North American congregation were to bill its community for the social services it provides, the tab would be about $184,000 per year.
According to a recent study, socially conservative churches that demand high commitment from their members grew faster than other religious denominations in the last decade. The denominations that recorded the highest growth were the conservative Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, with 18.6 percent; the Assemblies of God, with 18.5 percent; and the Roman Catholic Church, with 16.2 percent. The churches that lost the highest percentages of members were the Presbyterian Church (USA) (11.6 percent) and the United Church of Christ (14.8 percent). Ken Sanchagrin, director of the Glenmary Research Center and chairman of the department of sociology at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina, said, "When I looked at those that were declining, most were moderate or liberal churches. And the more liberal the denomination, by most people's definition, the more they were losing." Source: "Religious Congregations and Membership: 2000," a study conducted by Glenmary Research Center
According to a Barna Research survey, people consider the following important when looking for a church: 1. How
much the people seem to care about one another: Based on a national telephone survey of 1,015 people 18 or older; sampling error of plus/minus 3 percent.
THOUGHT I HEARD YOU SAY“Meaningful worship and meaningful meals are critical to any attempts at renewal, and one doesn't work well without the other. Never trust a Christian fellowship where Christians regularly worship together but don't like to eat together, or where they eat together but neglect worship.” Richard H. Bliese “The kamikaze pilot who flew 50 missions was involved—but never committed.” Lou Holtz “Unless and until we can live with ourselves, we cannot live with other people. But equally, unless and until we have learnt to live fully and creatively with others we cannot hope to live with ourselves.” Esther de Waal “No matter how much the church wants to reach out, growth will not happen if the building and the people fail to say “Welcome!” Gary Harrison
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