Friday March 5, 2004

Trustworthy… Who/what can you really depend upon?

I recently got a friend mad at me. And being the usual “huh?”-clueless sort, I didn’t find out about it until rather recently. It got me thinking about friends and what friends are for. And what makes us trust one another… The cynic in me let loose and I couldn’t find one good reason. Unfortunately, the passage I picked reflects most of this… truth isn’t always pretty, I guess…

Do not trust a neighbor;
   put no confidence in a friend.
Even with her who lies in your embrace
   be careful of your words.
For a son disowns his father,
   a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –
   a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD,
   I wait for God my Savior;
   my God will hear me.

— Micah 7:5-7 (NIV) —

Part 1:
I see the words “Do not trust a neighbor” and this mixes with Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:39, “Love your neighbor” How do you love someone… and not trust them at the same time? @_@

and what about “put no confidence in a friend.” ? Aren’t there supposed to be “friends closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24) I can’t trust them either?

Take a flying leap closer. “Flesh of my flesh”… I must be “careful of my words” “with her who lies in” (my) “embrace” Whaa??? Dag, can’t trust my own spouse.

Part 2:
And then it gives some reasoning… “a son disowns his father” and “a daughter rises up against her mother”. This is definitely true. Honoring our father and mother doesn’t seem to be such an important priority any more. <sarcasm> It’s only ONE of the ten commandments. </sarcasm>

Summation of reasoning: “a man’s enemies are the members of his own household” It is very true, in my case anyway. Living in a non-christian household is very hard on living for God.

Part 3:
Then comes an interesting counterpoint: “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD” Micah places his hopes in God. And things start to fall in place.

I don’t think God means for us to not trust people at all. That would be kind of ridiculous. We have to have some level of trust in order to have any sort of real relationship at all. But we cannot fully depend on a person as if they are God. Humans can never attain that level… at least not in this life. Humans are basically imperfect and trying to depend on that is like standing on shifting sand. God is perfect, forever, and unchanging. What more of a rock can you ask for?

Conclusion:
Part 1 is to get us to acknowledge that we are all sinners (read: imperfect) and we all screw up. As such, it is thoughtless to put your hopes and dreams upon a person. We have to trust (read: depend) upon someone higher up.

Part 2 is just a repeat of part 1. When sin is in your life, this is what happens. The children to parent relationship that is so highly regarded as to need to be etched in stone along with ten others, becomes nothing but pain and hurt. A son disowning his father, a daughter going against the mother who took care of her. And a family which is supposed to be a reflection of God’s relationship with us becomes a distorted image, twisted by sin, till you can no longer tell which house is your home… and which house is the home of your enemies.

Part 3 tells you what to do since we are all such untrustworthy sorts that need God. Place your hopes in God. Don’t follow sinners to your doom. A man is just a man, no matter what our world says he is. But God… is God. ^_^

== Prayer ==

AB, is now looking for a job. Father, when you had him laid off, what was the plan?
N attempted to end her life. Father, be with her and teach her how precious life is.
J got less shady. Thank you, LORD. Keep working in my friend’s heart.
K is sick. Comfort her during this time and help her to rest.
BH is about to take the last midterm. Help my friend to persevere, give wisdom and the strength to finish this test.
E… What should I be doing now? I figured he was a he. He thought I was a she. He hit on me. I thought him gay. Gah, strangeness. Thanks for clearing things up, Lord.
H’s mom’s b-day is up again. Thanks, Lord, for another year.
Father, I need your guidance. What should I be doing? I know what I should do. But how should I go about it? I feel like I’m wasting my time, I know that’s probably wrong, but I don’t understand. So yes, back to square one. Father, I need your guidance. Please shed some light soon. I ask this in the Master’s name, Amen.

== RANDOMNESS ==

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/about/best/lax/23374604.html

== /END RANDOMNESS ==

I don’t know what makes you guys think I’d be a good person to ask about this movie, but ask and ye shall receive, so let it be so.

   This movie is as the title suggests a portrayal of the Passion of Christ. The burning inside of Christ to do God’s will.However, this movie only provides adequate coverage to the time between Christ’s time in Gethsemane till the point of resurrection. There are attempts to give insight into what the character was thinking at the time, but this is not something that can be seen as biblical accurate, althrough the scenes contained in them are mostly biblical teachings drawn straight from the Word. As such, the emphasis within this movie is less upon the resurrection and more upon Christ suffering for what He believes is true.

   As a presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, this movie utterly fails. If you are going to this movie to try and grasp the good news, I would insist that you NOT go. This is an artist’s portrayal of Jesus suffering. There are lots of tidbits of biblical truths firmly embedded throughout this flick, but not enough to constitute the Gospel. Jesus is portrayed more as a martyr than a victor. Besides for small bits and pieces, Jesus’ divinity is overshadowed by his humanity. Jesus is more like a victim than a victor.

   There are also some concerns about the influence of catholism (sp?) within this movie. If there were any, I didn’t notice them. I come from a Protestant background, so perhaps the reason why I didn’t notice is because it would take a catholic to recognize these influences. This movie emphasizes the death and suffering of Christ, I only caught bits and pieces about life and salvation.

   RATED R. This movie is rated R. No guns. And given that the only scenes that can be deemed even vaguely sexual are a glance and the grabbing of an ankle. Anyone even vaguely aware of what Christ went through will KNOW why this movie is rated R. There is blood, blood, and more blood. Christ’s blood is all over the place. The violence may seem over the top, but the violence seems to be reasonable keeping consideration for the time, the culture, and given that “cruel and unusual punishment” wasn’t a coin-phrase at that time. This movie is not for the faint of heart. I have heard that someone actually died of a heartattack watching this. After seeing it myself, I don’t doubt it. (Not sure if it’s true, but it is definitely possible.) There is a lot of suffering in this movie and some may question the need for it, but in order for this story to be accurate, it is not an element that can “toned down” Highly empathic people, beware.

   Like any other movie, this movie has a plot. Good plot? Bad plot? I don’t think I’d be the best person to ask. I am very unforgiving of movies with a lack of plot. This movie however is one of the few that combines faith and art. The other movie I saw that attempted this doesn’t merit attention. There are no real plot twists in this movie. How can anyone do this while staying biblical accurate? Not possible. The story of Jesus is about two thousand years old. Add on top of that the BIBLE is the best selling book of all time. XX millions of copies sold. Anyway, I digress. 😛 This movie because of its subject makes for a very tense and dramatic environment. The movie deals with it nicely by breaking the tension throughout. No comedian for a sidekick though. Sorry to disappoint. ^.^

   Within the limited scope of this movie, there is pretty good character development and we see mostly realistic people with multiple dimensions instead of flat characters. There are some quibbles over some characters, but then again, any point of view will have its critics. Anti-Semitic? I’ll warrant that this movie does put Jews in a bad light. The head priest is portrayed as a major baddie, but then again, in light of the bible, any other portrayal would be contradictory. For each point made, there are counterpoints. If you watch this movie, you can see and decide for yourself. Jews have seen an increase in anti-Semitism in Europe, so I don’t really blame them for crying fire where there (seems to me…) is fog.

My advice:
   Read up on the word. I would advise a through dose of 1 to 4 of the gospels before watching this. The whole movie is in Aramaic, so unless you happen to be one of the few to be fluent in that or happen to speed-read, the subtitles may be a little too quick for you to catch all the detail and intent within this 205 min flick. There is alot to get confused over in this movie and this is definitely a movie that would be better enjoyed after reading the book. If you can’t handle suffering, blood, and visuals of such, DON’T GO. If you are very empathic to suffering, CONSIDER CAREFULLY. Non-christians and others not very familiar with the gospels will have a hard time keeping track of the characters and the plot. A bible study may be in order. ^_^ This is not a movie for regular movie go-ers. Consider yourself warned.

Summing up:
A beautifully-made, viceral, and wrenching artist’s portrayal of Jesus’ struggle to do God’s will in His life from Gethsemane to Resurrection.