(Un)Redemptive Flicks

A few months ago my wife and I went to the movies and saw Revolutionary Road, picking it over another Kate Winslet movie, The Reader. Last week, we rented The Reader. Both films won over the critics; neither film is worth your time, much less your money. Perhaps we missed something important in The Reader when we fast-forwarded through the porn scenes, but the movie lacked any sense of a redeeming message. The best that can be said of it was that it made you think about the choices we make in life, but it had no message of hope, no lessons from the sad, sad story about people who hurt people and then either died or lived on in misery. Revolutionary Road was even worse. It didn't even make you think. It just made you walk away feeling a bit uneasy, almost sick. Perhaps it's no surprise that as our culture loses sight of anything that's greater than ourselves, we produce "art" that only reflects the darkness of humanity and shower it with awards.

The Apple

I'd like to say our youngest apple didn't fall far from the tree, and in some ways I'm sure that's true (good and bad), but Lauren's parents are pretty sure God looked down about 18 years ago and said, "Check it out, I'm gonna give this one some mad softball skills." And He did. She's always fun to watch, and over the weekend she hit four home runs in six games. Ironically, this photo is of an out -- a line drive right at the first baseman. That's the thing: Good as she is, she still makes outs. Sometimes she even strikes out and makes errors in the field. That's life. All of our apples are blessed with "mad" skills of several different varieties -- athletics, academics, compassion, etc. -- and we love them no more and no less whether they strike out or hit home runs. Each brings its own set of blessings and challenges. Sometimes, though, the point isn't so much to figure out if it's a blessing or a challenge, but simply to sit back, soak at in and whisper back to God, "Thanks. Them's some good apples."