The Passion
Some of you who know me know my feelings about movies. They have to have happy endings and entertainment value for me to consider going. I hate "real-life" endings because I think that life is often difficult enough. I don't want my "escape time" to be complicated and draining as well. So, I have to say that while we intended to go see The Passion of The Christ on opening night, a few weeks ago, we didn't make it there and I didn't push to see it. Honestly, I was worried. I kept hearing about all the violence in it and while I'm of the mind that the reality of it was probably no less violent, I was worried about being able to sit through it. I think I was also worried that the movie wouldn't be good enough. That good old Mel would try to squeeze in some Christian propaganda or cut corners to make it more "movie-like."

But we decided to go Thursday night, Maunday Thursday. I actually felt dread in my stomach about going. But the thing is I'd heard so many positive things about it, as well as negative, that I felt I needed to see it for myself to judge. As for the violence, well, my thought was that if someone could suffer through that actually happening to them on my behalf, I could at least summon the strength to watch it happen.

And while this is not specifically writing-related, I do want to share my thoughts on the movie. To do that, I want to say up front that I am Christian, Lutheran, in fact. Plus, I'm the daughter of a minister. So my view on this may be very different from some one who is not any of those things.

First, I have to say that for those who thought the movie was anti-semitic, I disagree. But I can see how that conclusion could be drawn. The high priests definitely wanted Jesus dead in Mel's telling of this story. They went to great lengths to make it happen. And Pilate, a governor of sorts put in place by Caesar, the one who actually gave the order to crucify Jesus (the priests were not allowed to condemn someone to death, per their religion) was portrayed as being the guy who was between a rock and a hard place. There would be an uprising if he let Jesus go and he was under warning from Caesar for the last uprising. So, even though he didn't agree with the priests, he was forced to kill Jesus.

Now, whether the priests were that adamant in real life or Pilate that wishy washy (he was reportedly quite the iron-fisted ruler), we don't know. And I can see why the claims of anti-semitism came about. But in fact, the majority of the violence was done by the Romans. And the Jewish high priests never laid a hand on him (from what I recall). And there were so many instances of positive images for the Jewish people. One of the priests asking where the rest of the council was and why the meeting to condemn Jesus was held at night and in secret. Simon Cyrene, the man pulled from the crowd to help Jesus carry the cross. He was not a follower of Jesus at all, but he was clearly shown as a good man. Plus, I think it's easy to forget that Jesus himself, his followers and his family were all Jewish. The last supper is Jesus and his followers celebrating Passover, not communion. His mother, Mary, gives the opening lines of a sedar (I'm not sure if that's how you spell it) at one point in the movie. It seems to me that Jesus was not trying to start a new religion, but reform the one he belonged to: Judaism.

All that aside, the movie was beautiful. It was a spectacular and moving experience, showing the life of one man, as a man and as more. The most emotional scenes were not those of the extreme violence, though those were difficult to handle, but the scenes in which you see how Jesus' destiny affected his life. His mother rushing to him while he falls, bloodied and beated on the road to Golgotha, and remembering how he fell as a little boy. Jesus, about to be whipped, seeing a man working with wood and remembering the pleasure he'd taken in building furniture. The depiction of evil, an actual separate figure, was both beautiful and terrifying all at the same time.

The real point of this movie, I think, was that no matter what or who Jesus was on a higher level, he was also a man. A man who loved his mother, enjoyed his life, his work and his friends. And he died for us. Whether you believe in Christ or not, that doesn't change the fact that he died to save you. He could have walked away, gone back to the life he loved. But he didn't. How many people do we know that would suffer through that for someone (or many someones) who might not even be appreciative of what that sacrifice meant?

I often think about what things I would miss from life. And they are usually the simple things. The feel and smell of clean sheets. A hot shower. Warm food. The feel of my dog's fur under my fingers. My family. My friends.

And someone walked away from all that, willingly gave all of that up for me. If nothing else, Mel Gibson's movie brought that home to me. I encourage everyone to see it. It is an amazing story, whether you believe or not. If nothing else, it shows you the dramatic sacrifices that are made when someone truly believes they are worth making.

: ) End Sermon
*hopping down off soap box*

Please feel free to agree or disagree, send me emails: sklemstein@msn.com. If you've got a different point of view, let's discuss!
Talk to you on Monday!