Why Going To The Cinema Is Still So Popular

I listened to an interesting article this morning on the radio about the future of the cinema and whether or not films were still popular.

 

There has been a lot of talk lately around this topic, especially with the latest James Bond film breaking box office records.

 

Films, it would seem, are still a very popular form of entertainment.

 

It reminded me of a talk I heard recently about the spirituality of the cinema experience: we sit in silence and whisper in hushed and reverent tones as pictures are played out before our eyes.  We sit back and watch as a story unfolds.  A story of the battle between good and evil. 

 

And we find ourselves caught up in the story. 

 

I find it really interesting as well how popular 3D films are becoming: not content with simply watching these stories and feeling caught up in them as we watch, we now seem to want to be surrounded by them.  Immersed in them.

 

We want to be part of these stories.  We want them to be our stories.

 

Perhaps there is something in our cinema-going which speaks, not just of our love of stories, but of our desire to enter into these grand narratives, of our hope and desire for good to win out over evil. 

 

These are themes and stories and patterns which are repeated and played out in the Bible, and which culminate, ultimately, in the birth and death and resurrection of Jesus.

 

In His story, we find a grand narrative.  We find a fierce battle between good and evil.  And we find that good wins out over evil.

 

Describing the resurrection, Paul writes,

 

       “Death is swallowed up in victory.
       O death, where is your victory?
       O death, where is your sting?"

 

       [1 Corinthians 15:55 NLT]

 

 

What is more, in Jesus' story, we find an invitation to enter in, to fully immerse ourselves in the plot.  To become a part of the story. 

 

If we want to.

 

 

 

 

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

Are you sitting comfortably?  Then I'll begin ...

 

And so begins any good story.

 

I have been sitting very uncomfortably in a remarkably uncomfortable chair for the last four hours and am now enjoying the luxury of a soft, cushioned, squidgy sofa.

 

When we're listening to, or reading stories, we want to be comfortable.  We want to snuggle down and lose ourselves in the stories.

 

I love stories.  I love hearing them, I love reading them, I love re-telling them, I love writing them.

 

I love (almost) nothing more than completely losing myself for a few hours in a good book.

 

I recently heard someone say,

 

Story is the essential human language and the earliest art form.

 

There is something about stories which draws us in and invites us into the tale.  A good story will stay with us long after the happily ever after.  Good stories get beneath the skin.  They sink into our hearts and become a part of us.  Stories resonate within us and connect us with others.  They draw us into a grand narrative.

 

Jesus was forever telling stories.  He told stories which drew people in and which stayed in their minds, long after the stories ended.

 

But we don't always listen to His stories.  In the Bible, Luke recalls how two sisters reacted differently to his stories:

"Mary [...] sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said.  But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do."

 

[Luke 10:39 MSG]

 

We have the same choice when it comes to Jesus' words and stories.  We can sit down and make ourselves comfortable and hang on every word He says, or we can get pulled away by all we have to do.  Too often I know that I am pulled away by my never-ending to-do list.  But how refreshing and relaxing it is to sink down into His words and make myself comfortable in His stories.

 

His story invites me and draws me in.  For He has the words of life.

 

 

 

 

 

Full stops

"I've never really used full stops, Miss.  I've never needed them."

Such was the highlight of a recent conversation with a Year 7.  Instead of correctly separating his sentences with full stops, each page was a never-ending sentence, littered with commas, for which the reader needed one huge breath to complete.

 

Rather than providing useful pauses and breathers to divide up the information, everything ran into itself and tripped over itself.  There was too much information and not enough time or space to process it.

 

In writing, full stops are essential for the reader.  But sometimes in life, we can focus too much on the 'full stops'.  We get distracted by the next pause, the next break, the next significant marker in our lives  - If I could just make it to the weekend. This time next year, things will be better. When I get a better-paid job, I'll be happier.  When I meet someone.  When I get married.  When we have kids. etc.  We think that our lives will be complete and we will find significance and meaning when we reach these milestones.

 

We look to the horizon and wait for our fulfilment.

 

But as Connie says in Mona Lisa Smile -

"The horizon is an imaginary line that recedes as you approach it."

 

If we are always looking to the next 'full stop', we will miss what is happening in our lives right now.

 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says,

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

 

[Matthew 6:34 MSG, emphasis mine] 

 

We need to stop looking to the 'full stops' in our lives as markers of success and achievement, and instead make the decision to live right now and take on the attitude of Paul:

"As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do."

[Philippians 1:22 MSG]

 

Our lives are ever-evolving stories, not just a collection of full stops.  We are meant to live between the punctuation marks.