Staley lectures

Steven Harmon from Campbell University Divinity School, whose work on U2 has been linked here more than once, emailed to say that he delivered the Staley Lectures Mar 24-26 at Campbell, where he used U2's "One" to talk about ecumenism. The flyer doesn't seem to be available online, so I'll give you the titles:
"Here to Play Jesus: Why Ecumenism Isn't Dead (John 17:20-23)"
"One, But Not the Same: Ecumenism 101"
"One Life with Each Other: The Theology of Ecumenism (Ephesians 4:1-6)"
"Leaves You If You Don't Care for It: 10 Things Young Christians Can Do for the Unity of the Church"

Like a Song: Streets

Some perfect Triduum reading: @U2's latest installment of Like a Song, which reflects on death, new life, and community where the streets have no name.

The Testimony of the Stones

A Palm Sunday reflection from our contributor Brian Walsh, in which the stones along the roadway as Christ passes on his way into Jerusalem speak.

Image considers "singing a new song"

Keying off a recent Popmatters article on the decline of rebellion in rock, this post from the relatively new Image blog muses on "Redefining the Christian Musician," with, of course, a U2 reference or two along the way.

TASO

Readers of Get Up Off Your Knees may remember that all its royalties go to The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) in Uganda. The ONE Blog today has photos from TASO, along with a petition to the Senate to restore at least part of their recent cut of $4 billion that helps support TASO and organizations like it from the International Affairs 2009 budget. You can sign the petition here: http://www.one.org/2009budget.

YouTube - A Conversation with Eugene Peterson 2007

HT to Dave for this wonderful half-hour conversation with Eugene Peterson 2007 video from a writers' conference. Very interesting, and I can get away with putting it here because there is quite funny U2 content after about 11:50 (though I can't imagine anyone wanting to watch Peterson just for the U2 content.) At one point the interviewer is asking how he could possibly have turned down Jack Heaslip's invitation to come spend a few days with U2 during the Elevation Tour, and Peterson just gives the best answer imaginable to the exclamation, "Come on... it's Bono, for crying out loud!" (Whereupon the interviewer sort of turns into Chris Farley for a moment.)

U2 and Nietzsche battle it out on the big screen?

The relatively new IVP Academic book Faith, Film and Philosophy: Big Ideas on the Big Screen has an essay by Douglas K. Blount from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary called "Rattle and Film: U2, Nietzsche, and Salvation in the Blues." It looks as if the author also presented a version of the paper at the Evangelical Theological Society meeting in Nov 2007. Kind of pleased by Blount's notion that for U2, "all roads to the Gospel lead first through the blues... gospel without blues leads to self-deception."