SPIRITUAL REALITIES: LESSONS FROM THE MOVIES... (with Vitumbiko Madhlopa)

Spiritual Realities: Lessons from the Movies...

(with Vitumbiko Madhlopa)

I know this may sound a bit selfish, but I try to get the best seat at the cinema. It always has to be somewhere at the back where I can see what everybody is doing during the movie, just in case someone decides to throw popcorn at me. Not that it happens often but I guess sitting at the back gives me a chance to have a chat while the movie is on.

However, there are some life lessons I gleaned from my experiences. Come with me on one trip that comes to mind… So here we go….

The first part of going to the cinema is really unnerving: the long queues and constant glares from the guards who just stand there (probably with no clue as to what the movie is about…) But it all pays off when I get past the guards and finally take my seat. As I take long glances at my fellow viewers sitting in the cinema room waiting for the movie to start, my mind begins to wander off…. Sitting comfortably in front of me is a young couple, probably on their first date.  On my right hand my friends are busy munching at their popcorn and helping themselves to the 2-litre drink bottle that we bought before going into the cinema. On the left I notice a little girl surrounded by at least ten other kids celebrating her birthday. The room is full of people all in different age categories and with totally different interests, yet purportedly ready to watch the movie. I ask myself what does a 60 year old man want to gain from watching high School musical? Well……….I guess this question appeals to everybody in the room. What do I gain from spending 2 hours of my valuable time glued to a big TV screen?

Suddenly the credits begin to pop up on the screen. The loud screech coming out of the gigantic speakers manages to get my thoughts back to the movie. The movie has started but they are still some people talking while others have their eyes focused on the movie. One of the children has started crying drawing the attention of all the kids sitting in the room. All this and more takes place while the movie continues to play, until the 2-hour long movie finally comes to end, leaving us yearning for more.

The emotions after the movie ends are very crucial. Sometimes I leave the movie theatre feeling like one of the main actors, fantasizing being the heroine and the impossible… I am taken up!

This all reminds me of Church. (I love sitting at the back as well, where I can throw in some conversations as the preacher presents his sermon. I guess everybody does that sometimes.)

Here are a few pointers:

• First is the young couple on their first date makes me think of new converts or those visiting Church for the very first time. They aren’t sure of what to expect but in their hearts, they hope for a great outcome.
• Some in the congregation are just like some of the cinema audience including my friends who were ready to settle down with the popcorn and the drink . These believers have their bibles ready in their hands, richly prepared to take in whatever God has prepared for them that Sabbath.
• Yet on the negative, the group of kids celebrating a birthday reminds me of those who go to church to catch up on what others have been up to during the week. They show up at church for their presence to be appreciated or maybe to socialize a little. As they talk about the wonderful and not so wonderful things that they have experienced during the week, they draw the attention of the other people away from the sermon all together! Misplaced priorities!
• In contrast, the old man reminds me of members who have endured with life: they have grown up in the Church listening to seemingly the same message, but they still attend Church every Sabbath, never tired and ever ready to listen to what God has to say to them. It is new for them all the time!
• Tragically, some “believers” are just like the security guards (and the janitors/cleaners, the ticket sellers) who never mind much about the movie until an emergency or a special thing occurs (a fire, cleaning up, enforcing order [as though they themselves are perfect] etc.). This class of people only need God when emergencies and special occasions crop up (sickness, weddings, christenings, and funerals [most likely not their own]). Other than this, they are always outside the community of believers for the rest of the time, doing their own bidding!

The silver screen has been decoratively made attractive to take the viewers on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Just like sermons are prepared to urge us on in our spiritual journey where we face the highs and lows a roller coaster ride, it is all up to us as to which group of churchgoing folk we choose to identify with. The next time you are in a cinema or watching a movie at home, think back to every Sabbath you attended Church. Are you able to watch a movie and remember what it was all about because you were paying attention? Or do you, like me, hardly remember any of the characters because you spent time talking? When in Church, will you be able to gain a lot from the sermon because you were paying attention or will you leave church in the same spiritual state that you arrived in (if not worse)? Aren’t sermons supposed to draw our minds to higher things? To seek eternal interests and hope for the better life of heaven?

It really is our power to choose whether we will be serious with the moment at hand or not. Such choices have eternally significant consequences, too, because ultimately, the question to be inevitably answered by each of us is: Are we living right?

Interestingly, Ellen G White in her book the ‘Great Controversy’ expounds on the drama that our lives on earth play as the actors*, participating in the conflict between darkness and light. The whole issue is indisputably a fight between good and evil that has played out non-stop, and everyone is involved, like it or not (thus dubbed “The Great Controversy”, visit http://thegreathope.org for a free download of the abridged version). It’s more than going to the movies, because whatever we choose to do while here on earth, we are in the thick of things throughout our lifetime!

Deep within everyone is a realisation that the human race needs hope outside of itself. Hope for an escape from the fantasy of life, cheating ourselves with elusive reality that does not seem to solve the problems and chaos around us. We need not disregard the efforts of the Divine Director (God) to catch our attention. HE wants us to choose our roles carefully in this drama, because HE knows best. Actually, HE knows the plot and has given us the ending that HE is the Hero after all (in the Bible, see Daniel 7:22 and 27; Revelation 20:12)! 

* Compare with this quote: "This world is a theatre. The actors, the inhabitants of the world, are preparing to act their part in the last great drama.” Ellen G White, Letter 141, 1902.

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