AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 1:00:00 PM ----- BODY:

the phantom
Originally uploaded by rdugall.
I'm as sick as a dog today...but that cannot stop me from entering the blogsphere! Nothing can keep me from making my posts...neither rain, nor sleet, nor...I know, I know, "get off it". OK! Just chalk it up to one of those Nyquil highs, if you know what I mean. Since I wasn't feeling too good, I laid around and spun one of my favorite musicals that just came out on DVD..."The Phantom of the Opera". Now, before you start thinking about anything else...like, why I have a girl's name, love musicals, am obsessive compulsive and appreciate a nice set of drapes just like the next guy...back off! This operetta is deep, tragic and full of real life. I was talking with my wife after we watched the movie together, sharing with her the fact that movies or plays with tragic or unhappy endings are usually the ones we remember the most. I went through a whole laundry list of things that we had seen together to prove my point...between Saving Private Ryan, Romeo and Juliet, Gladiator, and Braveheart (just to name a few), it is the same story. There is something about those types of artistic expressions that simply feel right. Have you ever wondered why? Here's my quick take - it feels right because that is the way life is...not everything and every human story has a happy ending. Unfortunately, the converse was the lie of modernity. If you had the right system, applicable principles, structures, laws, or technology, you could move progressively to something that was near perfect. Improvement, happiness, material blessings, progress...all results of moving toward the happy endings that every human being is entitled to. If you think about it, that is the reason why modernity is failing us...it is just NOT real. What is real is unpredictablity...struggle and pain...brokenness and desperation...sometimes joy and sometimes weariness. I watched the movie and said, "yep, that's what more of us need..to see stories that don't end up where all the characters are fixed, rich, happy, healthy, stable, famous and fulfilled. We don't need the discouragement. Complete and total victory is NOT something that is guarenteed this side of the eternal Kingdom. What is predictable? Jesus. As we journey through this life, Jesus is the only ONE whom we can surely bank on. He and His Kingdom provide the only hope that can transform the shattered dreams and broken lives that accompanies most of what we call living. Why doesn't someone start a church with the name, "Messy Lives Community Church"? You know, as I look at the community that shares my journey, that could be the story of our shared experience...messy. Messy but not alone. Messy but hopeful. Messy but touched by mercy. Messy and experiencing healing that will continue throughout the span of time. I'll close with this thought before I go upstairs for another nap (I've gotta get over this cold!): if someone is promising complete fulfillment and peace; ideal marriages and children; if someone is saying "just do the following and you'll have the abundant life that Jesus promised" as if the Word of God was some sort of secret key to giving US all we ever wanted in this life; if those things are happening to you, run the other way! Life isn't that simple...life isn't that predictable...life isn't that mechanistic. If it was, I think Jesus wouldn't have wasted his time on earth hanging out with people whose lives were a complete mess. He would have come to earth when He could have gone on TV and radio and pushed a simple product that gave a quick and painless way to experience all the life that we've ever wanted to experience. Wouldn't you think that God loves us enough to give us a formula if one existed? Think about that for a while...oh by the way, another swig of Nyquil is calling my name!
-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR:Blogger wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:9:57 PM COMMENT-BODY:"messy and experiencing healing" I love that picture. I'll be chewing on these thoughts for the next couple of days. Thanks! -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR:Blogger wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:9:57 PM COMMENT-BODY:This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR:Blogger H. West COMMENT-DATE:8:12 AM COMMENT-BODY:my youth pastor and his wife always say about themselves that God has turned their "mess into a message." I like that. Yesterday, my pastor was teaching about the Glory of God and he gave this quote that said, "the most profane thing we can say as Christians is "hopeless". To say a person or a situation is hopeless is to slam the door in God's face." thanks for you your thoughts and I hope you feel better soon.

Heidi --------