God Loves Movies

God Loves Movies. I know it. Certainly there are countless movies that God abhors because of the content. But He loves the medium and how it can awaken and enkindle so much within our spirit.

This is why sports movies are often so compelling and enjoyable. I love sports movies. Of course they can be cliche and sensationalized, but that's okay because it's part of the experience. Among the many great sports movies there's Major League, The Natural, Murderball, Chariots of Fire, Field of Dreams, The Rookie, Rudy, Rocky, Remember the Titans, A League of Their Own, Cinderella Man, Hoop Dreams, Team Hoyt on YouTube, Seabiscuit, Jerry Maguire and of course Hoosiers (the best sports movie of all time). Teen Wolf deserves an honorable mention because Michael J. Fox swishing the final free throw with no time remaining is close to a classic moment. When that movie came out, who didn't dream of being a werewolf and flying higher than Michael Jordan?

The common theme in all these films is the accomplishment of victory against a seemingly invincible opponent and insurmountable odds. That's why you never grow tired of watching Jimmy Chitwood sink the final field goal in Hoosiers. It's also why you feel like a million bucks after watching the US Olympic hockey team defeat the Soviets in Disney's Miracle. It causes our hearts and minds to look beyond what we can normally see to something far greater. It can be a fabulous inspiration.

Some might think that a film is something too flippant for God to really care about. I would disagree. Art has always been a powerful force to engage the soul and inspire the heart. Have you ever watched The Passion of the Christ? Think of the illiterate peasants in the 12th century who couldn't read the Bible, but they could see the amazing frescoes and stained glass adorning the churches of the time. God is the One who designed us to respond so viscerally to art, music and expression. There's a reason you want to vomit while watching the ignorance and violence of Schindler's List. Everyone I know cried when Ray Kinsella was finally able to reunite and reconcile with his long dead father at the end of Field of Dreams. It's how God created us. God is the original storyteller and moviemaker. Moses at the Red Sea anyone? Gideon anyone? David and Goliath anyone? There's not a more perfect movie script than the one found in 1 Samuel. It tells the story of the newly-anointed boy David killing the invincible giant Goliath, fleeing the insane and violent king Saul, hiding with his army among the enemies of Israel and overcoming unbelievable obstacles to become the greatest King of Israel. It was certainly messy, but it is an amazing story. God cares deeply about incredible stories of heroes and villains and faith and risk.

I'm anxiously waiting to see what movies we have awaiting us in heaven. Anxiously.

More later . . .

Stuff

Lately I've been thinking a lot about stuff. More specifically, I've been thinking about all the stuff we've purchased recently. Here is a list of the larger items that we've purchased within the last year: a new refrigerator, a used 40 gig iPod, new replacement windows in our entire house, a new window air conditioner for the office, a new tile floor in the breakfast room, a new smartphone for me, a BOSE Wave machine, bookshelves for the office, a new iMac, a new Dell laptop, a new washer and dryer, new bunk beds for the kids (which are surprisingly expensive) and Andrew Peterson concert tickets. If you go back more than a year, we've also purchased a new furnace and air conditioner, new living room couches, a new standing pantry and a minivan. And I'm not even mentioning the new ball caps, the DVDs, the CDs, the clothes, the books, or the songs off of iTunes.

Let me be very clear right up front that all these purchases have been made with money that we had on hand, and not on credit. We pay off our entire credit card balance every month. We save, we are good stewards of our resources and we do not overspend. Everything in this post has been paid for completely up front or was a gift. The BOSE Wave (an absolutely fabulous machine by the way) was part Christmas gift and part money I'd saved for 2 years giving piano and guitar lessons. The point of reflection here is the actual items themselves, and not how we pay for them.

Most of these purchases came as a result of unfortunate circumstances which brought about a supposed need. A new van was needed when the old one died. A new fridge was needed when the old one stopped working. New windows went in because the original wooden ones rattled in the frames when the wind blew, and a new iMac came along because the old PC desktop died. It's the way life works. By the way, as a recent Mac convert I have come out of the darkness and into the light.

With each of these purchases the flesh gets a fresh jolt of euphoric excitement that anesthetizes. When you become dependent on that euphoria, your purchases increase and become more impulsive and unreasonable. You can make real problems for yourself in a quick hurry. But being a oniomaniac (shop-aholic) is not what I want to talk about either. I'm thinking about something much deeper, much more subtle, and more dangerous than that.

The temptation for me (it's practically genetic) is to seek to find my security and safety in my new stuff that works. For the first time in our married life we have two reliable vehicles at the same time, with enough money to maintain rather than fix them. It gives me peace of mind and I feel good about my life. I can fall asleep to the quiet whir of all the new, working appliances in my weather-tight, energy-efficient house. All is right with the world. It's all good.

What a load of crap.

This peace of mind that I think I have is a house of cards; a mirage. What happens when our possessions fail us? Our cars will eventually die. Our computers will eventually crash. Our new appliances will eventually wear out. Do we just go buy new? What happens when we don't have the money to buy new stuff? What then? Where is our security? Our peace of mind?

I am militant about getting rid of peripheral possessions. Growing up I was taught to keep everything because you might one day need it or use it again, or we might be able to sell it in a garage sale or on eBay. I have summarily rejected this philosophy, and have probably gotten rid of some things prematurely (to my wife's frustration). But what about the possessions that I do keep? Am I seeking peace and comfort in them? Am I fooling myself into thinking that they one day won't wear out or break? I don't know.

C.S. Lewis said, "He who has God plus many things has nothing more than he who has God alone." If God was all I had, would I have peace? If God was all I had, would I be secure? If God was all I had, would it be enough? At the end of things all my stuff will burn. Am I okay with that?

More later . . .

Dreams and Sleeping

My whole life I've had vivid dreams while I sleep. At least 6 nights a week the craziest dreams rip through my mind at a pace I can barely keep up with, and when I wake up I guess I'm rested. I get so little sleep anyway I'm not sure my body would even know real rest. I haven't slept well at all since our children arrived over six years ago. I might get 5-6 hours a night, and if I sleep longer I wake up feeling ucky.

The vivid dreams started early. When I was young I had a recurring dream that I had two moms: my evil mom and my real mom. The evil mom had a warped, demonic face and a cold, whispery voice. It was my mom, but a dark, twisted version of her. My real mom always seemed to be in the next room when the evil mom appeared, so they never actually met. I couldn't convince my real mom that there was a horrible woman lurking around the house terrorizing her son. I had that dream many times.

When I was in high school I started doing a lot of music and theater. The classic performer's nightmare became a regular in the queue. It's the typical dream where you're on stage and you're the lead, but you have no idea what show you're in or what you're lines are. The urgency and acute nature of the stress is breathtaking. Very recently though, I actually recognized while I was sleeping that I was having one of these dreams and I somehow woke myself up. What a feeling of empowerment that gave me.

Rarely are my dreams the kind that bring peace or a sense of fun. I've never had a dream that I was Superman and that I could fly. The closest I've gotten is The Greatest American Hero; I've got the suit and should be able to fly but I can't. That's frustrating. Or maybe in my dream I've got a Harley between my legs, but I just can't seem to get her going, or she's just really slow.

I also dream about losing one or more family members. This looks different every time. Sometimes I dream that I'm having an affair with some anonymous woman and my wife discovers us. She takes everything and leaves. Another time she takes our three kids up in a hot air balloon and it disappears without a trace. Another dream has my 4-yr.-old Nathan walking across the rafter beam in a huge barn. And of course I'm yelling at the top of my lungs and of course . . . he falls. These dreams are the worst.

My dreams of late have been of the CIA/NSA flavor, with a bit of the Bourne Identity thrown in. I'm being pursued by a large group of agents who are very sinister and powerful. I wake up running.

Another very weird aspect of my dreams is that anyone can show up as a major character. I might think of the most random person during the day, or see someone's image in a magazine or paper, and they will guest star in that night's dream. It might be someone from high school who I just reconnected with on Facebook, and they'll appear in my dream like we were never apart. Weird.

In the Bible God frequently uses dreams to communicate with people. I can't help but wonder what, if anything, He might be trying to show me. I won't speculate, but whatever it is, it's certainly coming to me in HD.

More later . . .