New Church Life September/October 2016 | Page 43

   :   Creek. Their lives and ministries are fascinating to me, and their memoires are really fun to read.” His interests extend to local history as well. “Wherever I am, I like to know what it used to be like. I like especially the history of houses: when was it built, what happened here, who lived here, what was life like here? If a building no longer stands, I’m more likely to be interested in it and will lament its demolition. I tend to focus on what was rather than what is, and I enjoy that.” He also loves documentaries – especially the history of places, people and things. “It doesn’t matter what it is or how recent or distant in history it took place. I consume two to three documentaries a week. “I like old books, especially books that belonged to interesting people or played a significant role in history.” As for art, “I have a very active mind which mostly manifests in bizarre art. I have created many digital moving creations, some audio experiments and a few short videos. I also enjoy manipulating pictures in ways to create new and absurd items. I have recently tried my hand at colorizing old photos, and that’s really hard but very fun. I also dabble in painting and sketching. None of what I make is objectively good, but it is fun.” Chris has dreams of someday going back to school for art so he can better express the images that cross his mind. Among favorite books that have influenced him he lists: • Albert Camus’ The Stranger. “I read this book in high school in one sitting and have read it once a year ever since. I love the way this book probes the concept of purpose and intent. It calls to mind the questions, ‘are we always in control’ and ‘what is culpability’? These are very important questions in the Swedenborgian worldview.” • George Orwell’s 1984. “I first read this in high school and fell in love with the way it treats power and dominion. ‘The object of power is power.’ The value of history. ‘Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.’ The inarticulable value of language. Newspeak was a language designed to control how people could think. Very terrifying and powerful lessons in the Appendix to 1984. The questions that it raises regarding agency and autonomy.” • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. “I encountered this book a few years ago, and I’ve never felt the distancing nature of time so nullified. It felt like I knew him personally, like he was talking to me. I felt like he wrote what he did because he thought I’d find it interesting. I especially loved his treatment on the Virtues. I include segments of this in my Junior Religion course.” 449