Media & Entertainment

(RNS) — There’s a moment near the beginning of the documentary film “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” where producer Margy Whitmer muses, “We had a director who once said to me, if you take all of the elements that make good television and do the exact opposite, you have ‘Mister Rogers' Neighborhood’: low production values, simple set, an unlikely star,” she said.

“Yet it worked, because it was saying something really important.”

It’s no secret: In most places, churches slow down for the summer. How can you continue to be engaged with your church and community? Here are some ideas.

About one-quarter of Americans report they did not read or listen to a book in the previous year. I suspect that many simply cannot find the time.

If this describes you, here are some ideas for success.

(RNS) — A group of Christian college students has released a survey that suggests censorship of student publications is not uncommon at American Christian schools, with student editors alleging faculty and administrators wield broad editorial control over campus newspapers and sometimes kill stories before publication.

You can learn a lot from traveling to other countries. Take Sweden. The folks there would really like for you to visit.

And perhaps the Swedish Tourism Association can teach us a thing or two about doing church.

“What’s that?” I asked, looking at the colorful glass containers my wife was holding.

“Wasp traps,” she said and then – noting the vacant look on my face – went on to explain that you add sugar water, hang them outside and entice wasps that fly in, get caught and die.

That’s an imperfect segue to the recent technology buzz over Facebook and information. (Except for that “die” part.)

Remember a while back when I thought I had developed the power of invisibility? It all started with my unsuccessful attempts to get my national newspaper delivered.

Nine months later, I’m convinced I really do have superpowers – just a different one.

For me to suggest you might want to use something else to goo—um, search the web doesn’t seem to make much sense. Even I’m starting to lose interest in this column.

I’d like to suggest a bucket list for this year. Not exactly random acts of kindness, my list focuses more specifically on kind words, random and deliberate, both spoken or written.

There are inspired ways to share the Good News, but there are other faith-based efforts that are less noteworthy and often head-scratching. I have a secret suspicion that the cause can be attributed to a bad burrito and a good case of indigestion, thus these annual Bad Burrito Awards from the past year.