Hm, hm, hm.
Feb. 16th, 2004 11:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brinshannaraSo I was up until a stupid hour last night and woke up around 3 today, whereupon I watched my tape of All My Children, found The L Word and then watched that. Got ham, grapes and bread from my grandmother (who lives upstairs and insists on foisting food upon me at least twice a month, along with all the toilet paper and paper towels and Kleenexes I could ever need), did some reading for Social Problems and managed to watch the Mel Gibson interview with Diane Sawyer about The Passion of the Christ.
Wow, man. Like... wow. I now want to see this movie, despite the brutality and violence. I may not be able to stand it in the theatre, though, because I have a sensitive stomach, which is what gave me pause in the first place. But I don't think it's enough to keep me from trying to see it, now, after hearing Gibson speak about his faith and his vision and how he believes God helped him to make the film.
I'm not a great Christian -- I don't always do what is right, or even what I know is right. I struggle with my own demons and I follow temptation too often. I think and say unkind things about people. I don't pray as much as I'd like to, telling myself I'll do it "later, when I have more time", when really, what time does it take to say a few words to God? What is so desperately important that keeps me from thinking I don't have a minute to give God my thanks? Nothing. Nothing prevents me from doing so, except my own laziness and my own small life. Tonight's interview intrigued me; seeing someone talk so openly about his faith, seeing work that his faith urged him to create, was awesome and inspiring. If this movie does nothing else, at least the talk surrounding it has made one person feel inspired to get more in touch with her own faith.
I also loved what Gibson had to say about nothing being left to chance, that it's all in God's design. He doesn't discuss the semantics of it (did God create the car, for instance) and so he didn't get into any silly arguments with Diane Sawyer, but this is, more and more, what I believe. Coincidences don't just happen, I don't think. If they did, everything we do every day would be entirely mind-boggling.
I mean, look. If my parents hadn't had sex sometime in August of 1976, if I hadn't been born in 1977, if I had gone to a French school instead of an English school, if I hadn't gotten the hang of computers as a kid, if I had repressed my sexuality (or, in fact, been born straight), if I hadn't found the Internet, if I hadn't discovered LiveJournal, if I had decided not to take a study break to watch the Gibson interview, I would not be writing this right now. That's a LOT of things that had to happen just so for me to be sitting here, writing this. Coincidence? I think not.
Okay, I've procrastinated enough and don't know nearly enough about the marginalization of the elderly in society, yet.
Wow, man. Like... wow. I now want to see this movie, despite the brutality and violence. I may not be able to stand it in the theatre, though, because I have a sensitive stomach, which is what gave me pause in the first place. But I don't think it's enough to keep me from trying to see it, now, after hearing Gibson speak about his faith and his vision and how he believes God helped him to make the film.
I'm not a great Christian -- I don't always do what is right, or even what I know is right. I struggle with my own demons and I follow temptation too often. I think and say unkind things about people. I don't pray as much as I'd like to, telling myself I'll do it "later, when I have more time", when really, what time does it take to say a few words to God? What is so desperately important that keeps me from thinking I don't have a minute to give God my thanks? Nothing. Nothing prevents me from doing so, except my own laziness and my own small life. Tonight's interview intrigued me; seeing someone talk so openly about his faith, seeing work that his faith urged him to create, was awesome and inspiring. If this movie does nothing else, at least the talk surrounding it has made one person feel inspired to get more in touch with her own faith.
I also loved what Gibson had to say about nothing being left to chance, that it's all in God's design. He doesn't discuss the semantics of it (did God create the car, for instance) and so he didn't get into any silly arguments with Diane Sawyer, but this is, more and more, what I believe. Coincidences don't just happen, I don't think. If they did, everything we do every day would be entirely mind-boggling.
I mean, look. If my parents hadn't had sex sometime in August of 1976, if I hadn't been born in 1977, if I had gone to a French school instead of an English school, if I hadn't gotten the hang of computers as a kid, if I had repressed my sexuality (or, in fact, been born straight), if I hadn't found the Internet, if I hadn't discovered LiveJournal, if I had decided not to take a study break to watch the Gibson interview, I would not be writing this right now. That's a LOT of things that had to happen just so for me to be sitting here, writing this. Coincidence? I think not.
Okay, I've procrastinated enough and don't know nearly enough about the marginalization of the elderly in society, yet.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-16 09:23 pm (UTC)Whereas I find the thought that all of those things, one leading into another, building from each other and resulting in your making a post tonight, that all of these things could and did happen in a random universe? I find that thought far more fascinating and scary and wonderful. It's hard for me to consider the notion that your sitting down to compose an LJ entry and my sitting down to respond are part of a divine plan, and not just the natural result of every moment in our lives that preceded them. That those moments, and the moments in our parents' lives that made them make us the way they did, and everything that came before them, happened just the way they did, with just the results they did, all because of physics and chance? That's what I see as amazing and special about them. That things *could* have changed, in just this way, or that, and that they didn't because everything that came before them in my life and yours made us make the decisions that made the moments, hell that that one tiny sperm was the one that got through out of the millions that could have, that's what blows my mind and puts a goofy grin on my face.
I'm fascinated by the idea of a Divine Plan, or at least a Basic Design. It's comforting (or was, when I held the same belief) to think that everything really is happening for a greater purpose, even if that purpose will never be revealed to me personally. But as far as I can tell, the argument ends with either denying the existence of such a plan because of a complete lack of any evidence, or accepting the entirety of creation (the universe and everything else) as that evidence. It begins, and ends, with faith. You have it, and while I can't say I'm envious of you, I am certainly glad for you because it makes you happy and fulfills you. Me, I'm Thomas all around, and while it doesn't always make me happy, it does fulfill me too. (Thomas was the only scientist among the Apostles: "Give me proof, and then I'll believe you." He missed the point of having faith, but gave a very good demonstration of the scientific method.)
Which is not the conversation you were looking for, I'm sure. :) Just felt like sharing back.