A storybook, usually referenced to children, has pictures or drawings.
Motion pictures are just that ...pictures in motion.
We mostly refer to them as movies.
And of course, both tell stories.
With children, fantasy and comedy are popular ...but we adults like to imagine and laugh too.
Movies add to the senses as there can be much action, and the words become sounds ...many sounds. And it goes way beyond animation and musicals.
Books and movies can teach ...biographical ...documentary ...
But, mostly they entertain ...and elicit emotions.
We don't always know what our favorite, or our strongest emotions are ...but, it can range from action, adventure, science fiction, mystery, suspense, drama, thriller, horror, tragedy, and romance.
I did not name them all, and there is often a mixture of the different genres ...but, I have named enough to have you guess which one usually involves the 'happily ever after' theme.
Yes, that would be 'romance'.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Let's take an example that many of you are familiar with ...
Let's look at the suspense, action, adventure, science fiction, romance combo ....something like that, or let's just look at 'Star Wars'.
Looking at the romance end of it (and there never seems to be an end to 'Star Wars', but I think it's a good enough example) ...
Many people began to fall in love with the Luke Skywalker character ...and then many of you may have wanted to see Luke fall in love with Leia. Such a nice sound to it ...Luke & Leia.
But, then we found out they were brother and sister ...and of course, they hadn't known it at first either.
And no, there was not going to be a Shakespearean tragedy twist of a disturbing nature. The conflict was as natural and innocent as it often is with us ...where we don't seem to like someone very much, then we find ourselves liking them very much. And this would be the Han Solo & Leia romance that began to develop.
And the moviegoers fell for it too ...as they quickly accepted the Han & Leia idea. And as they together successfully resisted that which stood in their way ...we celebrated with them in the end (of movie #6). And though it would be many years before the 7th movie came out, we held that 'happily ever after' thought for Han & Leia. And many of us wanted to hold a similar dream for ourselves ...that our heart may someday realize, and live to its fullest.
But, then years later ...the 7th movie finally came out, 'The Farce Awakens'.
Sorry, it was 'The Force Awakens' ...and we see that Han & Leia had married, had a son, but none of them were presently together. They've since then done backstories, but they will probably never do a movie that fills in that gap ...to show how the marriage fails. They had to move from the 'happily ever after' ...and fill it with much action and adventure, but they didn't want us to focus too much on the broken marriage and view it as a farce. No, that would not bring people to the Box Office. New dreams have to be created ...and we cannot focus on the 'what went wrong'. Yes, that works if we begin with disliking a character, like Darth Vader, and then feel a bit sorry for him as we see what went wrong. It works well with the tension woven throughout the movie ...but, keep some hopeful romance available to us. We don't want to think about what forces someone to love someone at one moment, then moves them to decide they no longer can. That destroys our 'happily ever after'.
And the moviegoers fell for it too ...as they quickly accepted the Han & Leia idea. And as they together successfully resisted that which stood in their way ...we celebrated with them in the end (of movie #6). And though it would be many years before the 7th movie came out, we held that 'happily ever after' thought for Han & Leia. And many of us wanted to hold a similar dream for ourselves ...that our heart may someday realize, and live to its fullest.
But, then years later ...the 7th movie finally came out, 'The Farce Awakens'.
Sorry, it was 'The Force Awakens' ...and we see that Han & Leia had married, had a son, but none of them were presently together. They've since then done backstories, but they will probably never do a movie that fills in that gap ...to show how the marriage fails. They had to move from the 'happily ever after' ...and fill it with much action and adventure, but they didn't want us to focus too much on the broken marriage and view it as a farce. No, that would not bring people to the Box Office. New dreams have to be created ...and we cannot focus on the 'what went wrong'. Yes, that works if we begin with disliking a character, like Darth Vader, and then feel a bit sorry for him as we see what went wrong. It works well with the tension woven throughout the movie ...but, keep some hopeful romance available to us. We don't want to think about what forces someone to love someone at one moment, then moves them to decide they no longer can. That destroys our 'happily ever after'.
Love is different than cherishing, or valuing something. Actually, love isn't like what we would feel love would be at all.
We can say we love, at times ...but, in reality, does our definition only suffice to express our present feelings??
And in all honesty, how can anyone honestly say they love at all times??
And if those loving times become less and less ...it may be that during the moments we are being the least loving, is the actual time we need love the most. Though, we are not really helping ourselves to this end, as it is more difficult to love someone when we find them seemingly striving for the opposite.
Yet, doesn't it take more love at those times??
Yes, sometimes the greatest love is not accepted. When continuing to love someone who may have unloved you ...that certainly takes much love. And that's the kind of love that God offers us.
If we think there are things or occasions that have brought us to feel less loving towards another person ...certainly I am thankful that God has not felt less loving towards me.
Things ...can we value them as much as people??
It does vary ...the things we cherish and value.
Yet, to truly love ....there has to be an opportunity, and that allows for an avenue to reciprocate to a degree.
And it also involves hope ...in hoping or believing that an opportunity could, or will at some point become a reality.
No, it's not like Geppetto hoping for a real boy ...and then watching it happen with Pinocchio. Loving a wood carving will not be enough to produce that reality.
But, what is real ...is real.
We can believe in what is not real, and we can refuse to believe what is real ...so, do we just admit that we cannot really know??
Though it is interesting to think about some things. And we gather information, whether it is accurate, or not ...making it nevertheless intriguing.
Here's something else intriguing. I've read that the hottest temperature possible in our universe is Planck temperature ...over 1/4 million times hotter than the core of our sun, and gravity grows so strong that the laws of physics cease to exist as everything condenses into one force. Some would say it was a giant black hole, and that unimaginable intense heat was released for a split second after the Big Bang.
Don't ask me how they came up with that, or how they feel they know that ...that's just something some scientists say. I simply find it thoroughly impossible to think that any life could survive that ...or actually, come from that.
To me, life is not a robot or a computer. Nor is it random atoms vibrating around. It is conceivable that atoms could combine ...but, I don't think we can define that as life in the image of God.
You can say the life of a universe, and describe a process of continual change, growth, reproduction, and functional activity ...but that does not approach a human capacity, nor the ability to think. There is survival by bonding, combinations of atoms, and sharing of electrons. Many scientists say absolute zero is not achievable, a temperature at which atoms would stop moving ...so, as they move, potentially things can happen.
But, though atoms combine ...how do we imagine they combined in a way to create the human eye, to see, and also process in the human mind that which was seen??
Yes, a crystal has reproduction, and a fire metabolism. A fire is needed to assist that serotinous cone of the jack pine or the lodgepole pine ...and something we feel should be dead, can then reproduce. And something like a mule, which we agree is alive, cannot reproduce.
Is a jack pine's cone legally dead, and can the same be said of a person on life support?? And when a mule cannot reproduce, we never say the mule is not alive, but is that also said of a human in the process of reproducing ...when an abortion is being considered, and sadly debated??
We can discuss living and nonliving ...and we can disagree on the definition, and on the value of that which we do define. There are living viruses and cancers that we do not at all value. Understanding nanobacteria, and perhaps creating synthetic cells ...which could help to combat cancer cells. But, this in itself did not just randomly emerge as a driven force from evolution ...it came from the studies of a human, beyond the mere existence of chance intelligence.
Many of us do not like to discuss things we are not interested in. It has been difficult discussing with most of our children ...the workings of Mathematics. They don't seem to enjoy Math, and it does not seem to hold their interest for long. Some people enjoy discussing in detail things that other people are not interested in ...and I guess I often find myself in that group. I enjoy discussing the Bible, and I know many people would rather just say they believe it ...instead of spending time discussing the Bible.
And it also involves hope ...in hoping or believing that an opportunity could, or will at some point become a reality.
No, it's not like Geppetto hoping for a real boy ...and then watching it happen with Pinocchio. Loving a wood carving will not be enough to produce that reality.
But, what is real ...is real.
We can believe in what is not real, and we can refuse to believe what is real ...so, do we just admit that we cannot really know??
Though it is interesting to think about some things. And we gather information, whether it is accurate, or not ...making it nevertheless intriguing.
Here's something else intriguing. I've read that the hottest temperature possible in our universe is Planck temperature ...over 1/4 million times hotter than the core of our sun, and gravity grows so strong that the laws of physics cease to exist as everything condenses into one force. Some would say it was a giant black hole, and that unimaginable intense heat was released for a split second after the Big Bang.
Don't ask me how they came up with that, or how they feel they know that ...that's just something some scientists say. I simply find it thoroughly impossible to think that any life could survive that ...or actually, come from that.
To me, life is not a robot or a computer. Nor is it random atoms vibrating around. It is conceivable that atoms could combine ...but, I don't think we can define that as life in the image of God.
You can say the life of a universe, and describe a process of continual change, growth, reproduction, and functional activity ...but that does not approach a human capacity, nor the ability to think. There is survival by bonding, combinations of atoms, and sharing of electrons. Many scientists say absolute zero is not achievable, a temperature at which atoms would stop moving ...so, as they move, potentially things can happen.
But, though atoms combine ...how do we imagine they combined in a way to create the human eye, to see, and also process in the human mind that which was seen??
Yes, a crystal has reproduction, and a fire metabolism. A fire is needed to assist that serotinous cone of the jack pine or the lodgepole pine ...and something we feel should be dead, can then reproduce. And something like a mule, which we agree is alive, cannot reproduce.
Is a jack pine's cone legally dead, and can the same be said of a person on life support?? And when a mule cannot reproduce, we never say the mule is not alive, but is that also said of a human in the process of reproducing ...when an abortion is being considered, and sadly debated??
We can discuss living and nonliving ...and we can disagree on the definition, and on the value of that which we do define. There are living viruses and cancers that we do not at all value. Understanding nanobacteria, and perhaps creating synthetic cells ...which could help to combat cancer cells. But, this in itself did not just randomly emerge as a driven force from evolution ...it came from the studies of a human, beyond the mere existence of chance intelligence.
Many of us do not like to discuss things we are not interested in. It has been difficult discussing with most of our children ...the workings of Mathematics. They don't seem to enjoy Math, and it does not seem to hold their interest for long. Some people enjoy discussing in detail things that other people are not interested in ...and I guess I often find myself in that group. I enjoy discussing the Bible, and I know many people would rather just say they believe it ...instead of spending time discussing the Bible.
The Bible says that "God is love."
When God created the heavens and the earth ...He said it was good.
Preparation is part of love ...and God was preparing the earth, at Creation, with all its details of plants, fish, birds, and animals. And it was very good.
But, love was really defined by a restriction; a clear, yet misunderstood condition; and the lack of a aforementioned provision. Perhaps the restriction in itself brought doubt to the love, but the provision more than compensated for any doubt of that love.
To back up a bit, not to the scientist's Big Bang ...but, somewhat before Creation, let's agree that the universe was in chaos. Our designation of sin, breaching the trust and restriction, was not yet a part of it all. This was of callosal proportions ...involving the angels. It is hard to imagine ...so, let's not.
Let us imagine our day.
We don't like it when we begin our day, and things aren't going as we feel we'd like them to go.
Today, communications are a bit different. Too many people let expectations, of the unhealthy version, to rule their lives. Perhaps we communicate too much, or not enough in the right way ...I don't know. It seems to begin with caution, but too quickly things become either careless, or are overwhelmed by protocol ...or by another's intolerance for one's failure to follow protocol.
(I admit that back before even my time, it could have been arguably worse ...as people sent letters. And if a person had much distance separating them, it may take some time for one to reply to those letters. Especially considering an eager awaiting reply, a delayed reply may allow the mind to wander, assume, and become a bit disappointed. A letter could be misunderstood if it was not clear, or if the recipient of the letter allowed themselves to entertain thoughts contrary to how things really were.)
So, I guess there's advantages also to today's 'texting' ...as there is the technology that provides rapid response.
Person #1: "Hey."
Person #2: "Hey."
Person #1: "What's up?"
Person #2: "Nothin' ...(awkward pause before adding to text) ...What's up with you?"
Person#1: "Oh, nothin' ...I'm just having sort of a chaotic day."
(And amid the chaotic day, they obviously wanted to connect with someone ...who wouldn't likely add to that chaotic designation. And that's all good. Person #1 wanted some relief from the chaotic day, and person #2 was willing to text back, as part of that friendly relief.)
The point is, who would want any version of what they view as chaotic to increase to maximum chaos, with no hope ...nor any effort put forth to help minimize the perceived chaos??
Yes, I believe the universe was in real chaos before the Creation ...and I don't just mean the physical dynamics of what most believe to be the 'Big Bang', with star systems being created after the implosion, as it exploded back out untold number of times. I'm talking about the massive rebellion of the angels ...which we are still feeling the repercussions from. The nature and scope of the actions of the angels changed, but it has left its mark on us ...in the form of a choice.
A division will take place ...one set apart for us by the loving act of the death of Jesus. Of course, He came back to life ...and He has made it possible for us to have eternal life, with Him.
Simply, if we don't choose to be with Him now ...how can we expect to be later??
And not being with Him now, or later ...that is not the way to go.
The way ...is Jesus.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life ...eternal. And the only 'happily ever after'.
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