Over the past two days, I've been home from work in order to care for my wife who became unexpectedly ill during the wee hours of Tuesday morning. She truly couldn't do anything but sleep, so I had to function as Mother Pro Tempore for all things domestic. In between some light duty chores, fetching drinks and hot packs for my wife and getting the kids to and from school (Thanks again to the family who helped with this!), I had a couple of hours collectively to watch some television (I've taken an eclectic approach to the programming I choose to view, thanks to Netflix streaming and the DirecTV DVR).
Although a bit radical, I wanted to share a few things with you:
When watching "Pee Wee's Big Adventure", you learn a few things: First, the movie was a whole lot funnier to my teenage self, as compared to my adult self (although I did enjoy some parts this last go 'round). Secondly, the acting was terrible and the plot was ridiculous, however prepubescent boys have a tendency to overlook such things in the theater. When the title character departed on a journey to find his stolen bicycle, he quickly became stripped of his meager resources and often found himself wandering into (or being delivered from) hopeless situations without adequate provision or any form of backup plan. Pee Wee simply operated in faith (work with me here) that his actions would eventually reunite him with his beloved bike. It's corny, but it was enlightening to watch with that perspective in mind.
Luke 9:1-6 (New International Version)
1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
"Expelled: No intelligence Allowed" was a sobering flick. I literally had no idea that professors, journalists and other professionals from all over this great country of ours have been effectively "blacklisted" from their lines of work and in academia, simply because they posed the question that perhaps life as we know it could have come from Intelligent Design, rather than non-directed Evolution. Although I hate to admit
that this problem exists, I'm not surprised at all. You should really watch this for yourself to fully understand what I'm talking about- Ben Stein is great.
1 Timothy 1:3-4 (New International Version)
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.
2 Timothy 3:12-13 (New International Version)
12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
However, what gripped me the most was an old "Family Ties" rerun from 1987. The plot of this particular episode was based on the death of a young friend of Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox). As the opening scene alludes to the events at the funeral service, Alex begins to grieve and quickly unravel. The remainder of the show was centered around Alex' interaction with vivid, often painful memories and an off-screen psychiatrist. I've taken the liberty of posting the portion of the script which touched my heart. If you'll remember, the character Alex is very much a left-brained analytic, whose core values are typically centered around self and money. Knowing this, the script carried some heft.
PSYCHIATRIST: Do you believe in God, Alex?
ALEX: That's what this all comes down to, right? Doesn't it?
That's what I'm trying to figure out here.
[Alex walks to OFFICE]
ALEX: Because if there is a God, somehow this all makes sense
I mean, there's gotta be a reason. Some master plan
in which Greg's dying and my living makes sense.
PSYCHIATRIST: What do you think?
ALEX: The analytical side of me says no. On a straight
cost-efficiency basis you can't prove it. There's no
annual report. There's no pictures of the board of
directors. I mean recent ones. And, ah, there are a
lot of things that just cannot be accounted for.
[KITCHEN lights up]
[Alex walks to KITCHEN]
ALEX: But then there are these miraculous things. Phenomena
of nature like, uh, like mountains and oceans and
Skippy getting dressed by himself.
[CLASS lights up]
[Alex walks to CLASS]
[Kitchen goes dark]
ALEX: And you gotta think that somebody's helping out with
that. ...The answer is yes...I do believe in God.
[JENNIFER'S ROOM lights up]
[Alex walks to JENNIFER'S ROOM]
[CLASS goes dark]
ALEX: But not a mean, not a mean, angry God, like the God
you see on TV, with the preachers, and, and, and always
asking to send them money.
[MALLORY'S ROOM lights up]
[Alex walks to MALLORY'S ROOM]
[JENNIFER'S ROOM goes dark]
ALEX: And, um, and not a groovy God, like Mallory's God.
Matching sweat-pants and headband.
[Alex walks to CENTER]
[MALLORY'S ROOM goes dark]
ALEX: And not a God like Brother Timothy's God either, 'cause
I just can't believe that God meant me to stay away
from girls. If He did He wouldn't have made me so cute
I think God is gentle and forgiving and not one
special form, you know? One day He's a dolphin, the
next day He's trading shares on Wall Street. It would
be funny if one day He got mixed up and went to Wall
Street as a dolphin.
PSYCHIATRIST: You surprise me, Alex, I didn't think you really would
believe, a bottom-line guy like yourself.
ALEX: Yeah, well, well, part of me is a little nervous about
it. I mean, I like to know what I know. See it. Be
able to prove it on a test. To know it, learn it, and
be done, and I just got a feeling I keep getting
tested on this one.
John 20:25-29 (New International Version)
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
In summary, the collective message I've gathered from this media collection is that God is very real. He's warm and loving and although we can't physically see him, we can see his fingerprints on everything He's created. We also have to learn to "unplug" and trust that His ways are the best ways to live out our lives, one day at a time. We don't need to amass things, or come up with a "Plan B" in case He doesn't show up. All we really need is Jesus. And, when things take a turn for the worst, we need to remember that God is present and cling to Him.
Without the Lord, there is no hope at all. And that's a very dark and depressing existence.
Good Night
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