Observations: “inspired by a true story”

Julie and I recently watched a movie with the claim, “Inspired by a true story.” What does this mean exactly? How close to the real story does it have to be to include the words “true story”, and how much fiction does it have to have to necessitate the words “inspired by”? Are there any kind of real guidelines here? Is this just saying that they met someone who had a slightly interesting story, but not interesting enough to hold their attention for more than a few minutes? Or is it saying that the screenplay writer is better at exaggerating someone else’s story than they are at being original or telling the truth?

My guess is that it’s like the trick that stores do where something costs $1.99 instead of $2.00 so that after you’ve gone away and forgotten a little bit, you remember it was “a dollar something”, which later turns into “only a dollar!” which then seems like a much better deal. In the same way, we’re meant to eventually believe that stories merely “inspired by a true story” are actually based on a true story and then be impressed by how amazing that story is.

Feline impatience

One of our cats (Remington) has taken to standing upright on the toilet whenever I am filling up his water bowl. I think it’s a mixture of curiosity about running water and impatience to receive his bowl which he then will not touch. Actually the only water he seems to drink is the rainwater that fills a bucket on our back porch. Every time we open the back door, he charges outside and immediately drinks as though we’ve been depriving him. Ingrate.

In any case, his standing trick amuses me, so I caught it on film and thought I’d share all 11 seconds of it. I showed it to Alma today, and she said it looks like he’s telling someone to come to him. This struck me as hilarious because she’s absolutely right in her own cultural context: the way to signal someone who’s far away to come to you is to do exactly what the cat does in the video (but with one arm). To gesture by swinging your palm up can be offensive here.

So without further ado, here’s some minor amusement for you.

The Quiet Room

Recently, Chase and I were able to attend a Kid’s Ministry conference in Chicago, where we were able to attend several helpful seminars on how to do children’s ministry better. One of the principles emphasized at the conference was that children have the ability, the desire, and the need to connect with God on a personal level. Our services tend to be fast-paced, fun, and energetic, but this past Saturday we started to incorporate changes that will enable kids to meet with God more intimately. We sang slower worship songs, allowed kids to spend time during the service silently praying to God, and created a separate room where kids can go to be quiet and pray during the play times before and after the service. We had several kids request to go to the prayer room on Saturday. One boy came up to ask where the prayer room was, but since we were about to dismiss the kids, we told him that he could go next week, and he was clearly disappointed. We were told at the conference that many churches give kids what they “want” (fast, energetic entertainment) and not want they “yearn for” (a connection with their Creator). We certainly witnessed this to be true as kids responded so well to the new changes this week!