Roundup: Fargo, “When We Love,” and more

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: June 2024 (Art & Theology): Here are thirty selections of good, true, and beautiful music for your listening this month, spanning genres but leaning heavily into folk and gospel. The first song is written by my friend and Daily Prayer Project colleague Joel Littlepage!

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TV SERIES: Fargo, season 5: The latest season of the dark comedy anthology series Fargo, written by Noah Hawley and streaming on Hulu, has been my favorite so far, in part because of its subversive (i.e., redemptive) ending. (I also recommend seasons 1 and 2!) Set in the American Midwest, the series is inspired by the 1996 Coen brothers’ film of the same name but has all-new characters and plots, and each season is self-contained (though those who watch all the seasons will find Easter eggs). Viewer beware: the show contains graphic violence, and season 5 centers on domestic violence.

Debt is a major theme in Fargo’s season 5. In the first episode, two men invade main character Dorothy “Dot” Lyon’s (Juno Temple) home, having been sent by someone in her past who is collecting a debt, revealing her to be a hardcore survivalist. (We gradually learn more of her backstory, especially through a fantastic puppet sequence in episode 7.) Dot is married to the kindest man, Wayne (David Rysdahl), whose billionaire mother, Lorraine (Jennifer Jason Leigh), is the CEO of a debt collection agency. Both women eventually come to heads with Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm), an extreme alt-right Christian nationalist running for the office of police chief. One of his lackies is Ole Munch (pronounced “oo-lah moonk”) (Sam Spruell), a mysterious man from Wales via Scandinavia who we learn is a “sin-eater” wandering the earth without hunger, rest, or hope, taking on himself the sins of the powerful and privileged.

Injuries are inflicted back and forth in a seemingly unending cycle of violence and retaliation. How can the cycle be broken? When should a debt be forgiven? In its final twenty minutes, which at first feels like a coda but actually moves the story someplace new, Hawley explores the power of love and empathy, of baking and breaking bread together. The last shot (which is not the one pictured here; I don’t want to spoil it) is perfect.

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After you watch season 5, read what Hawley had to say about the ending: to the Hollywood Reporter and Variety magazine.

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SONGS:

>> “When We Love,” performed by Laudate Mennonite Ensemble: This work for a cappella SATB choir is by Charles Anthony Silvestri (words) and Elaine Hagenberg (music). It looks to the natural world for lessons in love: the tree that provides shade, shelter, and rest, and the mother bird who builds a nest for the nurture of her young. “When we love, simply love, even as we are loved, our weary world can be transformed,” goes the refrain. You can preview and purchase the sheet music through GIA.

>> “Amazing Grace,” performed by Tori Kelly and Jon Batiste: Tori Kelly and Jon Batiste are both multiple-Grammy-winning artists who are unabashed Christians working in secular spaces. Here they perform a classic Christian hymn together on late-night television—unrehearsed!—with Kelly on vocals and Batiste on piano. The video was recorded live at Steinway Hall in New York City in August 2019 for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Kelly’s voice is gorgeous, and Batiste—my oh my, his talent blows me away. Listening to Kelly sing, he improvises a piano arrangement that follows and responds to her lead, weaving into and around those tones, providing ornamentation and support.

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ARTICLE: “12 Easy Ways to Improve Your Listening” by Blake Glosson: “True listening isn’t just hearing words but selflessly seeking understanding,” writes MDiv student Blake Glosson in this recent Gospel Coalition article. It’s not a fixed trait that you either have or you don’t, but rather a habit that can be formed with practice. He offers twelve tips for improving your listening so that those you converse with are heard and loved. These may seem obvious, but I found it helpful to have them listed all in one place, as I never really thought about listening in a systematic way. The “Ask engaging questions” and “Ask clarifying questions” is something I always appreciate when others do it for me and that I need to improve myself.

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VIDEO: “Art Break: Alma Thomas” with Jan Haugen: Jan Haugen is a docent at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, who also leads “art breaks” for the spiritual formation ministry Coracle as part of their “Space for God” video series. In this installment she guides us through a practice of gratitude using the story and artwork of the African American artist Alma Thomas, whom I profiled two years ago in a post that includes many photos of her paintings.

View more devotional content from Coracle on their Vimeo channel and on their website, https://inthecoracle.org/.