On Friday nights, my usual routine has been to look up all the newly
released movies and go see the one with the highest ratings.
There's nothing better right now than going to get lost in a story that's not my own, and drifting away in a dark movie theater, captured by a plot that someone else created.
I knew going in that with movies like The Hobbit and The Hunger Games coming out, the one I was going to see wouldn't have a crowd. It turned out I was the only one, until a man and woman walked in as the movie was starting.
It had been a very long day. Work was crazy, I was dealing with an outstanding internet bill, and trying my best to stay sane after moving one of my friends in after he got evicted from his apartment. I needed this movie. I needed the peace and quiet, the storyline, something to think about other than my own chaotic life.
And as the movie started, the giggling couple walked in.
We weren't all the way through the previews before I started hearing a soft moan that went something like, "mmm . . . mmm . . . mmm . . . " Every few minutes the mmm-ing would repeat itself. It made it really hard to focus on the storyline happening on the screen.
I kept secretly looking back to see what the deal was, but it was too dark to see anything. I was torn between two storylines now - the giggling, mmm-ing woman, and the woman who'd lost her son through a forced adoption by the nuns she lived with in a convent.
I have to say I kind of enjoyed what was going on behind me more than what was going on in front of me. The story going on behind me was in real time and space. I saw a shiny high-heeled shoe pounce up on the back of a chair to my left, and it sent my mind reeling into possible narratives.
Though I don't know exactly what the couple behind me was doing, I had enough evidence to form an opinion. And, my opinion was that it was nice to see two human beings being bold enough to pleasure each other in a movie theater. I think I did that once when I was in high school.
By this time, the story on the screen was so distorted and lost that I completely turned my attention to the story behind me. What are they doing? Who are the characters? Why would they choose the movie theater of all places?
Sometimes, when I go looking for one story, I find another one. It's almost as if I was led or pulled to to the main event, only to find that the main event wasn't really the main event at all. The main event was a story I wasn't expecting.
Have you ever experienced this?
Where you go to see an old friend, or have this huge trip planned, or have this great occasion, only to find that there was an unexpected subplot that you would have never expected?
The table's set, the reservations are made, the gas tank's full, and then . . . bam!
The story you had planned for weeks all of a sudden takes a complete detour, one that you weren't expecting. One that wasn't anywhere on your radar. And then as you sink into this unexpected story you find something that you would have never expected to find on the original path you were going.
Like, the homeless man shows up while the kids are packed in the car at the gas station or the phone call comes just as people start arriving for dinner or your other friend shows up to the coffee shop unannounced to tell you something she's been trying to get off her chest for years.
My experience with God is like this. What I think is the big picture is actually the small picture. Why? Because everyone can see what I see. Everyone can see what's in the spotlight. It's the stuff lingering just underneath the surface that no one can script that paints the big picture. It's hidden away, waiting for some unsuspecting character to walk up and open the door, or get the flat tire, or take out the trash . . . only to find . . .
The God I believe in works on the fringes, behind the curtain, and out of the spotlight. This God loves inviting people away from the spotlight and into the subplots, the narratives that not everyone knows about.
There's nothing better right now than going to get lost in a story that's not my own, and drifting away in a dark movie theater, captured by a plot that someone else created.
I knew going in that with movies like The Hobbit and The Hunger Games coming out, the one I was going to see wouldn't have a crowd. It turned out I was the only one, until a man and woman walked in as the movie was starting.
It had been a very long day. Work was crazy, I was dealing with an outstanding internet bill, and trying my best to stay sane after moving one of my friends in after he got evicted from his apartment. I needed this movie. I needed the peace and quiet, the storyline, something to think about other than my own chaotic life.
And as the movie started, the giggling couple walked in.
We weren't all the way through the previews before I started hearing a soft moan that went something like, "mmm . . . mmm . . . mmm . . . " Every few minutes the mmm-ing would repeat itself. It made it really hard to focus on the storyline happening on the screen.
I kept secretly looking back to see what the deal was, but it was too dark to see anything. I was torn between two storylines now - the giggling, mmm-ing woman, and the woman who'd lost her son through a forced adoption by the nuns she lived with in a convent.
I have to say I kind of enjoyed what was going on behind me more than what was going on in front of me. The story going on behind me was in real time and space. I saw a shiny high-heeled shoe pounce up on the back of a chair to my left, and it sent my mind reeling into possible narratives.
Though I don't know exactly what the couple behind me was doing, I had enough evidence to form an opinion. And, my opinion was that it was nice to see two human beings being bold enough to pleasure each other in a movie theater. I think I did that once when I was in high school.
By this time, the story on the screen was so distorted and lost that I completely turned my attention to the story behind me. What are they doing? Who are the characters? Why would they choose the movie theater of all places?
Sometimes, when I go looking for one story, I find another one. It's almost as if I was led or pulled to to the main event, only to find that the main event wasn't really the main event at all. The main event was a story I wasn't expecting.
Have you ever experienced this?
Where you go to see an old friend, or have this huge trip planned, or have this great occasion, only to find that there was an unexpected subplot that you would have never expected?
The table's set, the reservations are made, the gas tank's full, and then . . . bam!
The story you had planned for weeks all of a sudden takes a complete detour, one that you weren't expecting. One that wasn't anywhere on your radar. And then as you sink into this unexpected story you find something that you would have never expected to find on the original path you were going.
Like, the homeless man shows up while the kids are packed in the car at the gas station or the phone call comes just as people start arriving for dinner or your other friend shows up to the coffee shop unannounced to tell you something she's been trying to get off her chest for years.
My experience with God is like this. What I think is the big picture is actually the small picture. Why? Because everyone can see what I see. Everyone can see what's in the spotlight. It's the stuff lingering just underneath the surface that no one can script that paints the big picture. It's hidden away, waiting for some unsuspecting character to walk up and open the door, or get the flat tire, or take out the trash . . . only to find . . .
The God I believe in works on the fringes, behind the curtain, and out of the spotlight. This God loves inviting people away from the spotlight and into the subplots, the narratives that not everyone knows about.
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