The Easter message in “Life of Pi”

If you, like me, have seen and been blown away by the movie “Life of Pi”, I can recommend that you read the book! It reads beautifully and is, in many ways, even better – as you’d expect. The only time movies or stage plays exceed the original work on which they are based is when the original benefits from a haircut to get into two hours.

Full respect to Victor Hugo. He was an amazing writer. But the Schönberg/Boublil “Les Miserables” is one such rare example of a great book becoming a stunning stage show and now, in turn, movie.

But back to “Life of Pi”.

There is a scene in the movie where Pi discovers Christ while visiting a tea plantation. In the book, this is chapter 17.  If you haven’t seen/read “Life of Pi”, let me mention that Pi, a Hindu by birth and environment, has a full first name of Piscine, and his father runs a zoo. In this part of the story he is meeting with one Father Martin, a Catholic priest

That’s enough to explain the following extract.

Catholics have a reputation for severity, for judgment that comes down heavily. My experience with Father Martin was not at all like that. He was very kind. He served me tea and biscuits in a tea set that tinkled and rattled at every touch; he treated me like a grown-up; and he told me a story. Or rather, since Christians are so fond of capital letters, a Story.

And what a story. The first thing that drew me in was disbelief. What? Humanity sins but it’s God’s Son who pays the price? I tried to imagine Father saying to me, “Piscine, a lion slipped into the llama pen today and killed two llamas. Yesterday another one killed a black buck. Last week two of them ate the camel. The week before it was painted storks and grey herons. And who’s to say for sure who snacked on our golden agouti? The situation has become intolerable. Something must be done. I have decided that the only way the lions can atone for their sins is if I feed you to them.”

“Yes, Father, that would be the right and logical thing to do. Give me a moment to wash up.”

“Hallelujah, my son.”

“Hallelujah, Father.”

What a downright weird story. What peculiar psychology.

I asked for another story, one that I might find more satisfying. Surely this religion had more than one story in its bag–religions abound with stories. But Father Martin made me understand that the stories that came before it–and there were many–were simply prologue to the Christians. Their religion had one Story, and to it they came back again and again, over and over. It was story enough for them.

I was quiet that evening at the hotel.

That a god should put up with adversity, I could understand. The gods of Hinduism face their fair share of thieves, bullies, kidnappers and usurpers. What is the Ramayana but the account of one long, bad day for Rama? Adversity, yes. Reversals of fortune, yes. Treachery, yes. But humiliation ? Death ? I couldn’t imagine Lord Krishna consenting to be stripped naked, whipped, mocked, dragged through the streets and, to top it off, crucified–and at the hands of mere humans, to boot. I’d never heard of a Hindu god dying. Brahman Revealed did not go for death. Devils and monsters did, as did mortals, by the thousands and millions–that’s what they were there for. Matter, too, fell away. But divinity should not be blighted by death. It’s wrong. The world soul cannot die, even in one contained part of it. It was wrong of this Christian God to let His avatar die. That is tantamount to letting a part of Himself die. For if the Son is to die, it cannot be fake. If God on the Cross is God shamming a human tragedy, it turns the Passion of Christ into the Farce of Christ. The death of the Son must be real. Father Martin assured me that it was. But once a dead God, always a dead God, even resurrected. The Son must have the taste of death forever in His mouth. The Trinity must be tainted by it; there must be a certain stench at the right hand of God the Father. The horror must be real. Why would God wish that upon Himself? Why not leave death to the mortals? Why make dirty what is beautiful, spoil what is perfect?

Love. That was Father Martin’s answer.

That’s how insane Good Friday is!

That is how much our Father wants to save His errant “lions”.

It is too easy to take Calvary for granted. It’s just another event in the Church year. It’s commemorated in just another Communion service.

It is radical.

It is God loving abundantly