Category: Spiritual Formation

Films Christians Should Watch: Sense and Sensibility (1995)

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment 
Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No.
It is immortal as immaculate Truth... - Hartley Coleridge

Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant star in this captivating romantic story based on Jane Austen’s classic novel, Sense and Sensibility. It tells of the Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor (Thompson) and passionate Marianne (Winslet), whose chances at marriage in a society where women are not allowed to earn their own living seem doomed by their family’s sudden loss of fortune.

***WARNING! This review contains spoilers.***

I shed tears every time I watch this film. It’s beautifully shot and masterfully performed and there are scenes of such incredible depth and power you cannot help but be moved by it all.

I am always impressed by the opening scenes. Thompson, who not only stared in the movie, but also wrote the screenplay, does a wonderful job of showing us the true nature of every character within seconds of their first appearance on the screen. It is a master class in writing.

The characters produce such strong feelings as you watch their actions and interactions. Fear, anger, disgust, love, pity, and contempt are all experienced. I love it when that happens and I think it’s important when that happens to ask ourselves why we are experiencing those feelings. The actors’ performances and the writing and directing and everything that goes into crafting the scene speaks to us on a deep level. It touches something in our souls and that is worthy of consideration.

To me, this movie is about love and suffering and how often those two coincide. And it begins with the very first scene as the rich Mister Dashwood lays dying in his bed, worrying about his second wife and daughters, making his son promise to help them. His love for them fills him with fear for their future and compels him to try and secure it through his son, who is too easily manipulated by his greedy wife, Fanny.

There is too much going on in this movie to do any kind of a “scene-by-scene” review, but there are some highlights that always stand out to me and that carry the strongest messages.

Highlight 1

When Fanny’s brother, Edward (Hugh Grant) visits the estate he is the exact opposite of his awful sister. He is kind and funny and gentle. This is one of those brilliant scenes I mentioned that tells you everything you need to know about a character in just moments.

Fanny has asked that the youngest Dashwood girl, Margaret, give up her room for her brother Edward during his visit because her views overlook the lake. When Edward arrives, Marianne, in a not-so-subtle jab asks Edward how he likes his view.

Edward says he likes it very much and then comments to Mrs. Dashwood that her stables are beautiful and handsomely kept. When Fanny is surprised and says that his room overlooks the lake. Edward replies, “An oversight, Fanny. I was mistakenly led to one of the family rooms. But you will be gratified to know that I have corrected the situation and am now happily installed in the guest quarters.”

Kindness and honor. And it is immediately evident in the choices he made. A choice, I would add, that he had no intention of even mentioning had he not been directly asked. Edward’s is a quiet dignity.

Highlight 2

The Dashwood’s are forced to move to the country where they take up residence in a cottage owned by a cousin, Sir John Middleton (delightfully played by Robert Hardy). It is in the country that they meet Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman).

For me, Brandon is a Cinematic Saint. He is a character that displays so many beautiful characteristics of Christlikeness. He is immediately taken with Marianne, who has no interest in him because he seems to old and reserved.

Brandon continually moves toward Marianne with love but without agenda or demands. He loves in the face of her rejection, her contempt, and her rudeness.

Marianne has no interest in the good man. She is looking for someone who matches her passion, which she assumes the Colonel does not have because he keeps his emotions in check so, as she does with her sister Elinor, Marianne assumes Brandon’s emotions to be shallow.

On a walk through the countryside, Marianne is caught in a rainstorm and twists her ankle. A dashing young man, John Willoughby (Greg Wise) comes to her rescue and appears to Marianne like one of the great heroes from the romantic stories and poetry she devours. Willoughby carries her back to the cottage and promises to visit her.

Willoughby is everything Marianne wants and nothing that she truly needs. As their romance develops, he exposes Marianne to rumor in the small village with the liberties he takes with her and acts as a bad influence on her. He consumes her affection and attention, while giving nothing in return. He makes no commitments, no true expressions of love, but always leaves it assumed.

Colonel Brandon watches the romance with deep pain and yet wants Marianne to be happy believing that she is completely innocent and that any rumors that may be flying about are untrue.

Highlight 3

Marianne is eventually rejected by Willoughby because it is discovered that he has impregnated a woman and then left her alone to deal with the pregnancy. He was cut off by his rich relatives when they found out, and therefore had to find a rich woman to marry. That would not be Marianne.

The woman happens to be the daughter of a woman Brandon loved as younger man, but whom he was torn away from because the woman was poor and Brandon was forbidden to marry her. Brandon discovers what Willoughby has done, but does not mention it at all until AFTER Marianne is rejected and left heart broken.

He then tells Elinor the news in the sincere hope that it will ease Marianne’s suffering. He also tells Elinor that he believed Willoughby did love Marianne but could not marry her because of his financial situation.

When Elinor tells Marianne she assures her that Willoughby did in fact love her. Marianne says, “But not enough.” Her romantic notions of passionate love are dashed.

Highlight 4

Brandon also offers Edward, again through Elinor, a parish at his estate. Edward had a secret engagement and when his mother finds out, she cuts him off without a penny.

When Edward finds out about the offer, he is astonished that Brandon, a man he doesn’t know, would do something like that for him. He says that Brandon “must be a man of great worth and respectability.” But this description does not do the the Colonel justice so Elinor replies, “He is the kindest and best of men.”

What a powerful comparison. The world sees Brandon as rich and respectable. Those who know him, see him as kind and good.

Highlight 5

Later, when Marianne becomes horribly ill and nearly dies, it is the Colonel who comes to her rescue. Instead of carrying her back like a dashing hero, he carries her and falls to his knees with her in his arms. His strength is spent for the one he loves.

As Marianne suffers in her illness, Brandon suffers outside her room, pacing and grieving. When he asks Elinor what he can do to help, she at first tells him there is nothing to be done. He says, “Give me an occupation or I shall run mad.” When she tells him that Marianne would rest easier if her mother were with her. Brandon is ignited with a sense of purpose and leaves at once to bring Mrs. Dashwood to her daughter.

Highlight 6

In the end, there is joy.

Those who have suffered leave their suffering and enter a season of joy in their lives and that joy is shared with others. There is a beautiful scene when Brandon is reading to Marianne as she recovers from her illness and she does not want him to leave her.

There is another beautiful scene when Edward is finally free to confess his love for Elinor and ask her to marry him and she is freed to confess her love for him.

It is only Willoughby, the one who was interested in only himself, the one who gave into every indulgence, who avoided all sacrifice, who was unwilling to suffer, who would cause the suffering of others if it meant shielding himself from it, only him who ends up alone and without love.

Why I Recommend It

There is so much to enjoy in this film and to think about. As I mentioned, it inspires some powerful emotions and those are worth exploring. But it is also just a truly excellent movie and it can be enjoyed as a work of art.

The messages in this film are powerful and varied, but there are the constant themes of love, sacrifice, suffering, dignity, and honor that will cause you to question how you love the people in your life.

There is a call to selflessness and kindness in this film. There is a call to sacrifice your own comfort for the sake of others.

In short, this film inspires us to be our best selves in the way we connect and relate to others. It inspires us to love without agenda and without selfishness and even in the face of rejection and suffering. It calls us to love even when the object of our love may never know or return it.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  • What is good, true, and beautiful in this film?
  • As Christians, what can we Receive in this film? What can be Redeemed? What must we Reject?
  • Read 1 Corinthians 13. What examples of this kind of love do you see in this film?
  • How do suffering and love often go hand-in-hand?
  • What emotions does this film stir in you? What do you think those feelings are telling you?
  • What inspires you in this film? What calls to you? How will you respond?
  • Where do you see echoes and shadows of God’s love for us in this film?

Next Time: Pan’s Labyrinth

Films Christians Should Watch: Hector and the Search for Happiness

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

Disillusioned and depressed with the tedium of his existence, psychiatrist Hector (Simon Pegg) spends his days dispensing advice to patients who never seem to get any happier. He feels like a luxury item for the wealthy who should be happy but aren’t and he feels like a fraud because he’s telling people how to be happy when he isn’t happy himself. He tells his girlfriend (Rosamund Pike) that he needs to get away and research what makes people happy. He embarks on an adventure in search for happiness and as the viewers, we get to go along with him. But does he discover the magic formula that makes people happy?

***WARNING: This review contains spoilers!***

This film opens with a strange dream. Hector is flying in an open cockpit plane with a dog in the seat behind him. As he loops the plane, the dog falls out and Hector doesn’t realize it at first. The dog, which will appear throughout the film along with Hector’s younger self, is symbolic of something Hector lost and cannot seem to recover. A loss than needs to be healed, though he does not know how to heal it.

When he awakes from his nightmare, it’s his girlfriend, Clara who is waking him to start his day. She’s more like a mother than a lover, really. She manages his clothes, she makes his breakfast, she packs his lunch, and you get the impression that she enjoys the ritual and that Hector takes it for granted.

Hector is a wealthy psychiatrist who half-listens to people complain all day about banal problems. He has a sincere desire to help but he doesn’t know how to guide people to happiness. And that’s mostly because he is unhappy himself.

It’s clear from the images we see around his office, that Hector has always dreamed of adventure and travel but it’s also clear that these dreams went dormant sometime in his childhood.

One day, he finally snaps at one of his clients. And the interaction leads him to an impulsive decision to go on a journey in search of what makes people happy. He announces his intentions to Clara who is surprised and a little worried, but chooses to be fully supportive. The truth is, Clara is a lovely person and you get the idea that Hector really doesn’t deserve her. Eventually, Hector will come to realize that as well.

Hector begins his journey, which is really a pilgrimage, in China. On the plane he meets a business man, Edward (Stellan Skarsgard) and shares his quest to find what makes people happy. Edward scoffs at the idea and decides he wants to show Hector what real happiness is. For Edward, happiness is having the money to do whatever you want whenever you want, especially indulging in whatever pleasures you desire.

He puts Hector up in a lavish hotel, takes him out for a delicious meal, takes him on a limo ride to a fancy club and there Hector meets a beautiful woman named Ying (Ming Zhao). All the while, Hector is jotting down ideas about happiness in a journal given to him as a gift from Clara. When he meets Ying and she returns with him to his hotel room, he writes that maybe happiness is loving two women at the same time. As the viewer, we see again and again how immature Hector is. We admire his quest, but it is difficult to admire him sometimes.

WARNING: There is some mild nudity and sexual content in this film and this is one of the places where that occurs. Nothing physical takes place between Hector and Ying, but she is nude in this scene and you do see part of her body. The film is Rated R, mostly for foul language.

Hector and Ying agree to meet the next day for lunch. When they do, it is revealed that Ying is a prostitute hired by Edward for Hector. Hector feels tricked by Ying and interestingly, Ying feels tricked by Hector.

From the lights and sounds of the city, Hector visits a Buddhist monastery, which seems to be a dead end without any satisfying answers to what makes people happy.

He decides to go to Africa, where one of his oldest friends is serving as a doctor. Meanwhile, things with Clara are not great. Hector’s search for happiness has given her room to think now that she is not having to take care of his every need and she’s beginning to ask some questions about him and their relationship. We see Hector’s immaturity on display again as he gets angry with Clara because she is going out for the evening instead of staying on a Skype call with him.

In Africa, Hector reconnects with an old friend who is running a clinic for the poor of the area. He also encounters a drug dealer named Diego (Jean Reno), whom he helps by recommending better medication for his depressed wife. Later, after drinking too much at a party, he is passed out in a taxi that gets stolen by two men. When they realize he is in the car, they take him to their boss, a local drug lord who is prepared to kill him. Hector’s life is spared when he shows the drug lord the pen of Diego which he had used to write the prescription for his wife. After being liberated, he runs through the darkness feeling fully alive for the first time in many years.

From Africa, he travels to Los Angeles to reconnect with an old flame, Agnes (Toni Collette) who is now married with two children and one on the way. There is a powerful scene between them in which Agnes confronts Hector with his immaturity and how he lives in a world of fantasy. It is that constant pursuit to make his life conform with his fantasy that keep him unhappy.

Agnes puts Hector in contact with a Professor Coreman (Christopher Plummer) who is studying the science of happiness. Hector is connected to a machine that measures emotional responses and he is asked to think about something happy, something sad, and something scary. As Coreman views the screen displaying the centers of the brain that “light up” when triggered by Hector’s memories, he reveals to Agnes that the responses show that Hector does not have the emotional responses of a full-grown man. They are shallow. Something is blocking him.

Clara calls Hector while he is connected to the machine and their conversation is one that is heartfelt and raw and emotional and in that conversation, Hector is able to break the fear of loss that has kept him bound for so long. He is able to accept the reality of his life and see that there is happiness in it. He no longer needs or wants the fantasy. And in doing so, he experiences the full range of human emotion all at once, which is what life is really like after all.

Why I Recommend It

I recommend this film as much for what it lacks as what it contains.

It is interesting that in Hector’s search for happiness he never once seeks God. It is assumed that happiness can only be found within yourself and in how you manage the circumstances of your life and indeed that is the ultimate conclusion and in that sense, it is an unsatisfying one for any Christian watching this movie.

Hector’s search for happiness leads him to encounter many kinds of people from all walks of life, each of whom are on the same search and have different ways of trying to find it. That may be money and comfort or family and friends or service to others. Some of them are truly happy and some of them only pretend to be. But in the end, one cannot help but think like Solomon, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

There are some funny moments in this film and some beautiful ones. It will definitely make you question your own search for happiness and where it might be found and that is good. But, as a Christian, it should also help you to think more deeply about your walk with Christ and where true JOY is found because happiness is a poor substitute for joy.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  • As Christians, what can we Receive from this film? What can we Redeem? What must we Reject?
  • What is good, true, and beautiful in this film?
  • What do you think is the underlying philosophy of this film? What conclusions do you think they are trying to “prove”?
  • How does the way this film defines happiness compare with what the Scripture says about happiness and joy?
  • How would you describe the difference between happiness and joy?
  • Where has your search for happiness taken you in your life?

Next week: Sense and Sensibility.

The Commonplace Book: Self-Optimization is Isolating

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

From David Zahl and Plough Magazine.

Self-optimization has become a go-to euphemism for what used to be known as self-help. The word’s evolution foregrounds the perfectionism that was always inherent in more rigorous forms of self-help while deftly leveraging the therapeutic elements of self-care, thereby lending the whole operation a moral sheen.

According to the school of self-optimization there exists an ideal version of you, and your main assignment in life, as an adult of substance and value, is to enflesh that apparition by whatever means necessary. It is time, in other words, to become the person you were always meant to be, the main difference being that you now have smart-tech to monitor your every step and ensure that you are taking the most well-informed and efficient route to the new you. Self-optimization is a data-drive approach to self-realization.

Self-optimization is almost always a solo act. Nearly everything we do to get our numbers up – of books read, of REM hours slept, of miles run, or meditation minutes logged – involves doing things on our own. The self-absorption isolates even further from one another at a time when loneliness reigns over every demographic of the population. The church of self-optimization imprisons us in our skull-sized kingdoms when what we need most is connection. It advocates a very narrow form of self-care, which is really not care for oneself (or others) at all.

I worshipped at the false church of self-optimization for many years and always found it isolating and that it brought me nothing but death-dealing shame. There was no way to become my “optimized self” and I honestly wasn’t sure what that looked like anyway. The standards were constantly changing based on whomever was popular at the time as an “expert” on self-optimization.

It certainly didn’t look like Jesus.

A Prayer on Independence Day

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

My Anglican brothers and sisters are probably familiar with the form of prayer called the Collect. But it’s something new to me and I’ve been trying to add it to my devotions.

A Collect is a Christian literary form. It’s a brief prayer with a structured format.

Invocation: Usually addressed to God the Father.

Ground of Prayer: This is some attribute about God that serves as the basis for why we are praying to him.

Main Prayer: A single and focused request.

Secondary Prayer: A single supporting idea.

Doxology: A word of praise and thanks to God.

A Collect for Independence Day

Gracious and Almighty God.
You alone set the captives free and break the chains of slavery to sin.

As we celebrate our independence as a nation
let us remember that true freedom is found in Christ alone
and give us the grace to celebrate and live in that freedom every moment.

May our freedom make us salt and light to those still bound by sin.

For the glory and honor and praise of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the one who suffered, died, and rose again that we may walk in newness of life.

Amen.

Praying Just to Be With God

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

“When was the last time you prayed simply for the sake of enjoying time with God like the deer in Psalm 42?”

I read this question in Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite‘s book, Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls and I had to pause because I really didn’t have an answer.

The deer in Psalm 42 feels desperate and afraid and alone. His soul is “downcast” and “in turmoil” (v. 5). He is being taunted by his enemies (v. 10) and is reminding himself to hope in God (v. 11). He desperately wants to be in God’s presence because he feels forgotten by him (v.9). We often pull the first two verses out of the context of the rest of the Psalm, and imagine a nice little deer who is thirsty and finally getting to a take deep drink from a river or lake. I feel like the author’s have made that mistake here, but I also think the question itself is valid and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.

When was the last time I felt truly DESPERATE for God? For HIM. Not for what he can do for me or give me or change for me, but just for him.

Like many/most Christians my personal prayer life is filled with requests for myself and others.

Lord please do…
Lord please give…
Lord please heal…
Lord please provide…

There is nothing wrong with that. As Spurgeon said, “Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the kingdom.”

We are not God and we are utterly dependent on God. We do not take a breath without his allowing it to be taken. We must humble ourselves before him in prayer and ask for what we need and want and trust him to do what is best in answer to those prayers.

But is that all our prayer life is? Asking for things?

Exodus 33:11 is a beautiful verse and I love it.

Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. (emphasis mine)

Joshua did not have the incredible pleasure of God speaking to him “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” but even after Moses left the tent of meeting, Joshua wouldn’t leave. He wanted to stay right there where God had been speaking to Moses. He just wanted to be with God. God didn’t even have to speak to him, Joshua just desperately wanted to be in God’s presence. He didn’t ask for anything. He just stayed.

I also think about Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, hanging on his every word (Luke 10:38-42). She didn’t ask for anything. She just wanted to be in the presence of the Lord she loved.

What would this look like in our lives, I wonder? What would it look like to pray just to be with God? Without asking for anything at all?

I think it looks a lot like worship.

The Psalms are filled with prayers of supplication and intercession. There are also Psalms where the writer doesn’t ask for anything. He just writes a Psalm of worship. Many of these are the Psalms of Ascent, which were the songs the people of Israel would sing on their way to worship in Jerusalem. There are Psalms that are proclamations of God’s goodness and holiness and kindness and steadfast love. We can read these Psalms and meditate on who God is and all that is beautiful and wonderful about him.

When we go to church on Sundays and sing songs of worship and praise, we can enjoy God’s presence with our brothers and sisters in Christ just for the joy of being with God together.

Another verse I love is Mathew 13:1. “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.” Full stop. The next verse has great crowds gathering around him but the whole thing begins so simply and quietly. Jesus just went out of the house and sat by the sea. I wonder how long he sat there before people found him and wanted something from him. How long did he just sit by the sea in the presence of his Father?

We can go out of the house and sit in nature, quiet and still in the presence of God. I doubt great crowds will be looking for us, so we can just be in God’s presence in worship and fellowship.

There is nothing wrong with asking God for things. In fact there is something very RIGHT about that. But we have an anemic prayer life if that’s all we do.

God is incredible and worthy of worship because of who he is. He doesn’t have to do anything other than just exist. There is no end to God. There will be no point in all of eternity where we will stop being astonished by him. We can get a taste of that now.

Sometimes it is good to simply “be still and know that [he] is God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Going to Great Links: June 28, 2025

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

Here are 7 links I want to share with you this week.

First, I have discovered this excellent pocket notebook from Bookaroo. It’s affordable and excellent. I carry it with everywhere I go.

I love books and reading and books and articles about books and reading so here is an article about reading that I enjoyed.

Here is a helpful and encouraging article about why you don’t need another prayer technique.

This article on a man dealing with terminal cancer as a Christian really got me thinking about my own life and trials and sufferings (MINOR in comparison). Do I honor God? Do I face them with faith in him?

Okay, does it really surprise anyone that AI is making us dumber already? Not me! That is why this blog is and always will be a no AI zone.

I am a proponent of the daily morning Quiet Time (I grew up SBC in the 80’s) so I appreciate this article making the case for morning devotions.

I had the opportunity and honor to preach at my home church last Sunday. You can watch the sermon here. It begins at the 22 minute mark, but the whole service is worth watching.

That’s your 7!

Moon: A Film Christians Should Watch

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

Where are we now?

That’s the question that begins this film and it not only sets the tone for the movie, it runs throughout the story without ever being stated again. As you watch, there is that question in the background…Where are we now?

Astronaut Sam Bell’s (Sam Rockwell) three-year contract at a lunar mine, where his only companion is a robot named Gerty, is finally coming to an end and he’s longing for his reunion with his wife (Dominique McElligott) and their young daughter Eve. Strangely, Sam’s health takes a sudden downturn. He suffers painful headaches and hallucinations, and as a result, has a near fatal accident. When he is rescued by what looks like a slightly younger version of himself, it raises questions neither Sam has answers for. Can they solve the mystery before time runs out?

***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. – Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV)

Sam Bell is having a crisis. His circumstances are unique, but his crisis really isn’t. It’s one we all face over and over again in our short lives…

Where are we now?

And, WHO are we?

Sam thinks he’s the husband of a lovely woman and the father of a little girl. He thinks he’s a dedicated employee of a company that mines lunar rock they convert into energy back on earth that has helped create a kind of utopia.

But Sam is really a clone.

He just doesn’t know it yet.

The original Sam Bell has been back on earth for nearly fifteen years, his wife is dead, his daughter is a teenager, and he is living comfortably while his clones complete a continuous run of three year contracts at the end of which they get to “go home.” That means they are vaporized and a new clone is awakened thinking they have only just arrived and it’s time to begin their three year contract.

Why three years? Because that’s the lifespan of a clone. The genetic sequencing begins to break down and the clone gets sick, begins to fall apart and die.

This has been going on for years and only the AI robot Gerty and the company owners know the truth until the current Sam is rescued by his replacement.

Part of the breakdown of the clones is having hallucinations. When Sam has one in a rover as he is approaching a mining vehicle, he crashes and is knocked unconscious and the mining vehicle becomes inoperative. Gerty activates his replacement and notifies the company officials, who dispatch a rescue team.

The new Sam, ever the dedicated employee, wants to fix the mining equipment. That’s when he finds and rescues…himself.

There’s a wonderful scene when New Sam is looking at Old Sam as he lies in the sickbay recovering from his accident. New Sam is suspicious and angry and Old Sam, who thinks he’s hallucinating again, asks Gerty, “Is there someone else in this room with us?”

At first, the pair of Sam’s ignore one another. There is a sense of denial. If I don’t acknowledge this other me, then I don’t have to deal with the questions that inevitably follow. SO MANY QUESTIONS.

But there is something that overcomes Old Sam’s reluctance to engage…loneliness. Three years is a long time with no contact with another human being and only recorded messages from your wife back home. And loneliness changes people.

New Sam is brash, angry, focused, and disconnected. Old Sam has been tempered by time and loneliness. He’s gentler, kinder, and longs for connection, which New Sam will not provide. He won’t even shake Old Sam’s hand.

When they finally do begin speaking to each other, New Sam has already worked out that that they are both clones while Old Sam insists he is the original. When he discovers that New Sam is correct about who and what they are it is Gerty that confirms it.

In a beautiful performance by Rockwell, you see Old Sam’s entire sense of self come crashing down and the only one there to “comfort” him is Gerty, the machine. The sense of loneliness and now despair is intensified.

As the truth of their situation is realized and accepted, the Sam’s question everything, especially the live communications blackout the company keeps claiming they will fix. They go on the hunt and discover jamming towers. Old Sam drives a rover out past the jammers and uses a communication device to contact Original Sam’s home, where he sees his now 15-year old girl and learns of his wife’s death.

He shuts down the call, looks toward heaven and in lament says, or is it that he prays, “That’s enough. That’s enough. I just want to go home.”

Both Sam’s realize time is short because the rescue team sent by the company is really a kill squad. If they find two clones active at the same time, they both die. But there is something else besides loneliness and isolation that can temper and change a person and that is companionship and walking through pain and loss with another. New Sam is no longer the selfish and angry man he was when he was activated and he has a plan to send Old Sam home.

They activate a new clone, which they will kill and place in the crashed rover. Then Old Sam will make the three-day journey back to earth. He’s fulfilled his contract. It’s time to go home. Of course, they both realize there is no “home” not for them. That goes unspoken, though. It doesn’t seem to matter. The fact that they are clones does not diminish their feelings of significance and meaning.

As New Sam reminds Gerty when the robot says that he and the next clone will resume their “programming”, “We’re not programming. We’re people. Do you understand?” Gerty does not understand. But we do.

As New Sam lays out the strategy for sending Old Sam home, there are a couple of problems. First, Old Sam is dying. He cannot make the trip. Secondly, neither one of them are killers. For the plan to work, the newly activated clone must be killed and placed in the rover. That is not going to be possible for either of them to do. The only solution is for Old Sam to go back into the crashed rover and die alone and for New Sam to make the journey back to earth.

There is a touching scene as the two of them sit in the rover and reminisce about meeting their wife and falling in love. They know the memories are implanted. They did not experience those things themselves, but again, there is no sense that this diminishes the memories of it for them or the power it had to shape their lives.

As the corporate kill squad arrives, New Sam is blasting off toward earth cheering and Old Sam watches his shuttle streak across the sky. He closes his eyes for the last time, they are both free.

Why I Recommend This Film

Artistically speaking, the film is powerful and beautiful in its simplicity. Sam Rockwell is one of the most underrated actors in show business, and, as always, he gives a wonderful performance. Not to mention the technical achievements of watching him interact with himself as another character.

But there are deeper things to consider here.

In Moon, we see the value and significance of people. We are not programs or employees or assets or tools. We are human beings and as Christians, we see ourselves and others as image bearers of our glorious and loving creator. There is dignity in that. This film connects us to the humanity of the two Sam’s and in that empathy we feel for them, we can question our own vision of others. Do we see the people in our lives as means to an end? Do we see them as servants to our agendas? Are they obstacles or tools in the accomplishment of our goals?

Where are we now?

There is also the question of how we respond to truths revealed about ourselves and our world. What happens when closely held truths turn out to be lies? What happens when our sense of self is shattered? How do we respond to it all? Who do we become after that? And what is it that changes us? Is it the event itself, or is something greater at work?

Where are we now?

This film also leads us to question the age-old refrain of the oppressors who justify their oppression with, “It’s for the greater good.” As Moon begins we see humans destroying the planet and the company’s clean energy solution from lunar rock mining providing clean and sustainable energy for 70% of the globe. Isn’t it noble? Isn’t it grand? We no longer treat the earth as a disposable product, we created disposable people instead. But it’s for the greater good.

Where are we now?

For Reflection and Discussion

  • What is true, good, and beautiful in this film?
  • As Christians, what can we Receive from this film? What can we Redeem? What must we Reject?
  • What does Moon tell us about what it means to be human? How does this compare or contrast to what Scripture teaches us it means to be human?
  • If you woke up tomorrow and discovered you were a clone, one of many, what do you think this would do to your sense of self? Does that tell you anything about where your sense of self is located?
  • As Christians, we believe that our sense of significance and value comes from Christ. How do you live out that belief in the way you treat yourself and others?
  • Are there any relationships in your life you view as “disposable”? What needs to change in your view and treatment of those people?

Next Week: HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS.

Be Quiet My Soul

~ Joseph McBee ~ Leave a comment

Be quiet my soul, you’re talking too much. – Guigo II, The Carthusian

I am quieter now than I was as a younger man. That may shock some people who know me, but it’s true. I used to talk way too much, dominating conversations, showing off, trying to be the center of attention, and keep everyone entertained and engaged…with me, of course.

My journey to keeping my mouth shut started when I was playing Bible Trivia with a group of friends in college. I regaled them all with my knowledge of the Bible, answering every question correctly. No one stood a chance.

The problem is that I had not been invited to join them. I just inserted myself into the group and started playing. Another problem was that I wasn’t giving anyone else a chance to play.

Yeah. I was THAT guy.

Finally, a girl in the group, clearly tired of my bombastic attitude shut me down hard. Glaring at me she said, “This would be a lot more fun if someone didn’t take over and we all had a chance to play!”

No one contradicted her and no one defended me. They just looked at me. Clearly, they all felt the same way.

I offered my apologies, and made a hasty exit, tail tucked between my legs, my face red from shame.

Could the young lady have handled the situation in a more gracious and kinder way? Of course. But she wasn’t wrong. I was an unwelcome guest, and worse, I was a rude guest.

The event caused me to think about how I came across to others and that I did not make room for them. Bottom line: I talked too much and listened too little. “[L]et every person be quick to listen, SLOW to speak” James reminds us. I was the opposite.

I wish I could say I learned the lesson once and never had to learn it again, but that would be a lie. I still have to remind myself to be still and quiet and to make room for others. To welcome others to open their hearts and let me truly HEAR them for a while. And in doing that, I am loving them.

A quiet soul helps us live a quieter life. A life that makes room for others. A quiet soul also makes room for God. It’s hard to hear the voice of God when our soul is talking too much.

I was on my way to church, where I was scheduled to preach as part of our Summer series, Saved: Stories of Redemption and Grace. I was wrestling with an illustration I included. I wasn’t sure it should be in there. It felt contrived to me but I couldn’t convince myself to cut it. I was beating myself up because I assumed I was being prideful (which is not a bad assumption to make, really) but I could not get a peace either way.

Finally, I quieted my soul and listened for a moment.

And that’s when I realized that the story was fine. It was just missing a piece. It was missing the part where I pointed back to Jesus. Once I realized that I gave thanks to God and used the story with a sense of purpose and peace.

I just had to be still and quiet enough to listen.

A quiet soul, the one that hears God’s voice, is one that is still.

Tyler Staton writes:

Stillness is the quiet space where God migrates from the periphery back to the center, and prayer pours forth from the life that has God at the center.

Prayer, that conversation between us and the one who created us and loves us.

A still and quiet soul is hard. It has always been hard, but it seems even more difficult in our cultural context. As R. Kent Hughes writes.

Americans seem obsessed with the need for unending sound…But silence slows the frantic pace and gives time for reflection and individual dialogue with God.

When was the last time you sat in stillness and silence? No screens, no people, no projects or books or journals or music. Just still and silent?

A dear friend of mine said he tried that recently for just two minutes and he felt overwhelmed by the experience.

It’s harder than you think. But everything worth doing is.

Of course, being still and silent does not magically make God show up and speak to your heart and mind. He is God. He cannot be coerced or manipulated or forced. He will do what pleases him and what pleases him is always right and perfect and loving. What we are doing in stillness and silence, is making room for him. We are making him the priority. We are letting him set the agenda.

Brennan Manning was telling his friend Larry Crabb about a silent retreat he had coming up. One that he did every year. Crabb questioned him about the retreat.

“What does God show you on these retreats? What has he said to you in your silence?”

“You know…I don’t think God has ever spoken to me during one of these retreats.” Brennan said.

“Then why do you go?”

“I think God just likes it when I show up.”

Perfect Days: A Film Christians Should Watch

~ Joseph McBee ~ 2 Comments

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God. (Ecclesiastes 2:24)

I’m not sure how to begin writing about PERFECT DAYS. It is currently my favorite movie and I honestly think about it almost daily.

Maybe it landed in my life at a time when I was most open to its message.

Maybe it represents something I long for.

Maybe it’s the simplicity and beauty of the film itself.

I don’t know. I just know I love it and I recommend it to everyone I can.

***WARNING: This Review Contains Spoilers***

Hirayama’s Perfect Days

Hirayama (played masterfully by Koji Yakusho) feels content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He has a cherished and structured routine to his life, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, he reads books and snaps photos of a specific tree near a shrine where he takes his lunch everyday. Through unexpected encounters with the people in his life, he reflects on beauty and relationships and the stress of change.

Each of his days begin with the sound of a woman sweeping the streets in the early morning just outside his small apartment. As soon as he awakes, he folds up his bed, goes downstairs to brush his teeth, trim his moustache, and wash his face. He brings a spray bottle of water back upstairs to water his collection of trees he is growing in a small room. Once he sprays each one, he sits back to admire them for a moment. It is clear they make him happy.

We see him get dressed in his work uniform. “The Tokyo Toilet” is on his coveralls. He walks out the front door, looks up at the sky, smiles, and takes a breath that he lets out in a contended sigh. He is greeting the new day.

He gets a cold can of coffee from a vending machine, climbs into his van, selects a cassette to listen to, and starts off on his way to work, while the sun is just barely up.

Hirayama spends his days cleaning public toilets. And he does his work with care and excellence. We see him picking up trash and wiping down mirrors and counters. We see him scrubbing toilet bowls and even taking a small mirror so he can see underneath the bowl and clean any spots he may have missed.

We are ten minutes into the film before we hear one line of dialogue and that doesn’t come from Hirayama, it is from his young assistant, Takashi (Tokio Emoto), who spends most of his time complaining and whining. A complete opposite to Hirayama who’s sense of peace becomes even more apparent in contrast to Takashi’s frantic nature. Takashi is not a “bad” person, he’s just dissatisfied with work, his love life, his finances, and just life in general.

We follow Hirayama throughout his entire day as he cleans bathrooms, bathes, has his evening meal, returns to his home and reads and then falls contentedly asleep and dreams simply of the things he saw and did that day and all the while the only sound track is the wind and the noise of the city, which is a constant presence throughout the film.

One of the regular features of his perfect days is eating his lunch beneath the same tree. He looks up at the tree and smiles and watches the dappled light shining through the crown and branches. The Japanese term for this effect is komorebi. He pulls out an old film camera and snaps a picture in black and white of the light dancing in the trees.

We see this theme throughout the film, the moments of beauty that are completely unique and ephemeral. They are things we tend to miss because we are too busy with other things, but Hirayama does not miss them. He is present and aware. Wherever he is, THAT is where he is.

On his day off his routine changes, but it is still routine. And that is not even the right word. His life is not routine, it is ritual. There is a deeper meaning to his habits.

He takes his clothes from the week to a local laundromat. He drops off a roll of film to be developed, picks up a new roll, and picks up the pictures from his last one. He sorts through the photographs and stores them. He goes to a small bookstore and purchases a new book, always from the $1 per book section. And he ends the day at a small restaurant where he is a beloved regular by the owner, a woman his age, who clearly enjoys his company.

One evening, when he returns to his home, he finds his young niece Niko (Arisa Nakano) waiting for him. It is clear to us that he has not seen her in quite some time. She stays with him overnight and goes to work with him the next morning. There is a tender scene Nakano plays with beautiful depth, where she is watching him clean a toilet and you can see that she feels shame for her beloved uncle. A young girl, probably not much older than Niko, shows up at the bathroom door and sees the man cleaning it and looks disgusted. Hirayama immediately leaves so the young woman can use the facilities and stands patiently outside.

As Niko looks at her uncle, feeling embarrassed for him, he looks at her and smiles. There is no shame on his face. He is not concerned with how other’s view him or the work he does. And then the shame on the face of his niece melts into a smile of admiration.

Later, as they ride bikes together through the city Niko speaks of her mother, Hirayama’s sister, and wonders why she and her uncle do not get along. “The world is made up of many worlds.” Her uncle explains. “Some are connected. Some are not.”

“Which world am I in?” Niko asks him. But he does not answer. That is her journey, not his.

As they stare out at the river, which runs to the ocean, Niko asks if they can follow it to the ocean. “Next time.” Her Uncle says. “When is next time?” Asks Niko. “Next time is next time. Now is now.” Is Hirayama’s answer. And Niko understands what we see over and over again. Be present. Be here. Right now. Be where you are. As they ride away, they sing it together, “Next time is next time. Now is now.”

Hirayama’s Not-So-Perfect Days

When they return to his home, Niko’s mother is there waiting for her daughter. She has arrived in a chauffer driven car and is smartly dressed. This scene is the only information we ever get about his history and it is obviously one filled with suffering.

As Niko goes inside to collect her things. Hirayama’s sister asks him to visit their father in the nursing home. She explains that he does not remember anything now so maybe he will be different. Hirayama refuses. His sister leans in and in a whisper asks, “Are you really cleaning toilets?” There is a pained expression on her face. Shame. Hirayama smiles and nods. Again, without shame.

When it is time for them to leave, his sister stands paralyzed. It is Hirayama that moves toward her for an embrace. And as they drive away, he weeps. But you get the impression that he weeps for his family more than for himself.

The next day, things seem to come unraveled. His assistant quits suddenly, blowing up Hirayama’s ritualistic day. Then, on his day off, he arrives at the restaurant to see the owner in an embrace with a man. He flees the scene and we see him purchasing beer and smokes, which he takes down to the river.

The man from the restaurant appears beside him and there is a beautiful conversation between them. The man is the ex-husband of the woman who owns the restaurant and he is dying of cancer. He just wanted to see her again before the end.

As they look together out at the shadows and light on the water the man wonders out loud if shadows get darker when they overlap. Hirayama does not know, but is delighted by the question.

“So many things I still don’t know.” The man says. “That’s how life ends I guess.”

Hirayama invites the man to figure it out with him. They stand together trying to see if their overlapping shadows get darker. Hirayama insists that they must get darker, but the man says he sees no difference. Hirayama comes to a realization. “So nothing is changing after all. It is all just nonsense.”

I don’t think he means life is nonsense. It’s that when the shadows begin to fall on our lives and they pile up, life does not become darker. To think it does is nonsense. Rather than trying to figure it out, the two men start to play shadow tag.

The final scene in this film is one of the best I have ever seen. Our hero drives off into the sunrise, not the sunset, and as Nina Simone’s soulful rendition of “Feeling Good” plays, we are treated to a two minute view of Hirayama as all of the pain and joy and sorrow and happiness of his life plays across his face. Each moment an ephemeral beauty. Like komorebi of the heart.

Why I Recommend It

There is something beautiful and peaceful about Hirayama’s life. It may seem a little dull. It’s certainly simple. It’s routine. And yet, when you watch him go about his days, you feel like taking a deep breath. Or maybe, it’s that you feel like you CAN take a deep breath because the pace of his life gives you room to breathe. And in that, you feel an ache in your heart for room to breathe in your own life.

Hirayama is not a hero on a journey. He is a hero who has arrived at his destination and can now enjoy that peace. He is satisfied and happy in life. It is not stagnant. Like the river that runs through his city, the changes and impacts of the world run through his life and he enjoys them or suffers as they come.

The movie is filled with moments of beauty and joy and I seem to see a new one every time I watch it. How like the life we all live. It is filled with moments of unique and ephemeral beauty, they will never come again, but we are all so busy and hurried and harassed that we fail to notice them. This movie will encourage you to slow down and remember that “next time is next time. Now is now.”

Perfect Days also reminds us that there is no such thing as ONLY perfect days. There are always shadows that fall in our lives but let us not get caught up in the darkness. Let us remember that “weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

For Reflection and Discussion

  • What is good, true, and beautiful in this film?
  • As Christians what can we receive from this film? What can we redeem? What must we reject?
  • Take a day and try to notice the moments of komorebi, both literal and figurative. Write about the moments of unique beauty. How do they point to a loving and sovereign Creator?
  • Reflect/Discuss the ritual of routine. How do rituals in even small, every day things, enrich your life and worship?
  • Reflect/Discuss “Next time is next time. Now is now.” How does this help you live with awareness of God’s sovereignty and love and care for you?
  • What shadows have fallen in your life right now? How can you play in the darkness?
  • Where do you experience shame in your work and life? What is the source of that shame? How does our relationship with God through Christ deliver us from shame?

Next time: MOON