Dead Poets and the Gospel
A few months back my wife and I watched Dead Poet's Society. Surprisingly a first for me.
It is a well-known movie starring Robin Williams, Mr. Keating, as the iconic professor who stands up to a boy prep's schools "regime" and way of teaching - and he encourages the boys to think for themselves and to be poetic.
There is one scene in particular that I like and can tell us something about the Gospel. This is one of the early scenes of Mr. Keating introducing the boy's to poetry... really good stuff :)
When I saw this it struck me as a great analogy to relating the Gospel to today's generation.
It seems like the world and many of my peers have read about Christianity and the Church in a sort of a "J. Evans Pritchard, PhD" sort of a way. Either from the media or a detached religion teacher or bored parent. And they are left with a view of God that is distant, a behavior nazi, judge, boxed-in, narrow, etc.
Not the unspeakable and personal love of the Trinity many of us have experienced- loving Father, brilliant and compassionate and strong Savior, and fiery Spirit.
What we need are impassioned followers of Jesus - Christians, Catholics - ready and able to tell the Gospel in its fullness, beauty, and passion (better than Mr. Keating, cause poetry ain't that good :)
To take what could be explained very easily in a dry textbook on "Christianity 101" and squeeze the essense out of the Good News...
This is the beauty of being captivated by Jesus... Its more than encountering beauty and love... But it is overflowing to others in mission. One full of danger, romance, adventure, sacrifice, tears and joy!
What are your thoughts on this clip? What does it stir in you?
It seems like the world and many of my peers have read about Christianity and the Church in a sort of a "J. Evans Pritchard, PhD" sort of a way. Either from the media or a detached religion teacher or bored parent. And they are left with a view of God that is distant, a behavior nazi, judge, boxed-in, narrow, etc.
Not the unspeakable and personal love of the Trinity many of us have experienced- loving Father, brilliant and compassionate and strong Savior, and fiery Spirit.
What we need are impassioned followers of Jesus - Christians, Catholics - ready and able to tell the Gospel in its fullness, beauty, and passion (better than Mr. Keating, cause poetry ain't that good :)
To take what could be explained very easily in a dry textbook on "Christianity 101" and squeeze the essense out of the Good News...
"But poetry, beauty, romance, love -- these are what we stay alive for."
"That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."
"That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."
This is the beauty of being captivated by Jesus... Its more than encountering beauty and love... But it is overflowing to others in mission. One full of danger, romance, adventure, sacrifice, tears and joy!
What are your thoughts on this clip? What does it stir in you?
Labels: evangelization, Jesus, movie reviews, movies
posted by Pete Ascosi @ 10:13 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
I am all for tearing out pages in text books. A well esteemed professor told me that you should only believe 25% of what you read and that was pushing it. I went to 16 years of Catholic school and they never taught me about a personal relationship with Jesus. All the text books I bought and read are worthless to me now that I know the truth.
Robin williams wanted the students to think for themselves. The internet and the media is doing its best to shape our society. The hidden beauty behind all of this information is that the younger generation is starting to realize that it is all a scam to trick you out of your money and soul. The more we begin to think critically about all this overload of infortmation the clearer the path will be.
The past few weeks of Discovering Christ has really given me a more solid foundation on exactly who Jesus is. This is enabling me to speak more intelligently on the matter of this truth. Dave and Fr Erik are enabling critical thinking on the real matters of what life is really about.
I am so impressed by the teachings of this program because it gives you the real stuff. Don't be suprised if after the last talk I stand on the table and say "Oh Captain my captain."
just make sure your shoes are clean... The friar's tables are quite nice :) Good comments
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