Amigos, Kites, Passion and Precious

I watched four movies in the last week or so. Weird for me, because sometimes I go weeks at a time without watching any. Combined with spending some time at home with friends, and relaxing with new ones, I watched the following: Kite Runner, Passion of the Christ, Three Amigos and Precious.

Three overwhelmingly heavy movies and one absolutely absurd one (Three Amigos...in case you didn't know). It was my first time watching The Three Amigos, and it has now won over as one of my favorite comedies. Silly movies like this, the Ace Ventura movies and Dumb and Dumber, and even a classic Adam Sandler are my go-to comedic relief films. I love a good laugh.

The other three movies included rape, incest, crucifixion, beating, HIV, other physical and sexual abuse, treachery, manipulation, lies, and...redemption. Although it would be good to do a breakdown of each of these films in their entirety, I don't have the energy to do so. Precious and Kite Runner both had me feeling compassion and anger, strongly mixed throughout the entire film. Pain is written into each storyline, nothing good comes without a painful beginning, or somewhere in the thread of the story. Through pain, comes the beauty. Through suffering, comes the hope we all desperately wait for when we watch movies like these heart-wrenching tales of abuse, poverty and, in reality, truth.

I hadn't watched the Passion of the Christ since I was 13. On purpose. No one needs to see me cry that much. Friday night, though, some more witnesses got to see my ugly cry. Oh well. Speaking of redemption, hope and beauty, this story displays the ultimate suffering and the ultimate redemptive moment in history. When Jesus spoke the words "I make all things new", I broke. His life for mine. Was it worth it? Yes. Every bit of it. And He lives, now, and we with Him.

Two thoughts on the Passion: As a friend pointed out to me, the movie does an excellent job at showing the Supernatural in the film. Whenever there is evil lurking, you see a flash of the actual evil spirit present. Reminding us all that our battle is not with flesh and blood. Our battle is with evil.
Second thought, how do we fight this battle? Jesus calls us to take up our cross. Well, after watching this film, I was reminded that taking up my cross isn't a walk in the park. It isn't a hike up Mt. Everest, either. It is a painful, torturous event, leading to sacrifice and suffering. Wait, that's what Christianity is all about?

Sounds pretty rough. Life is rough. We must fight for more than ourselves, we must love others more than ourselves, we must sacrifice all for others, and stop living only in our own autobiography.

Sorry for all of the unconnected/unrelated thoughts tied together by my choice in movies. I can say that I would suggest watching any, and all of these movies at some point.

Lucky Day: Dusty how do you like your bat?
Dusty Bottoms: Medium rare.