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

May 21

So what IS going to happen on Saturday?
We don't know. We cannot know.

We can do some clever maths, we can build in some stunning assumptions, we can create a hypothesis, but we cannot know.

Or can we?

When Jesus himself said that NO-ONE knows the day or the hour, but the Father alone, did he mean no-one at that time? Or did he mean no-one ever.

Because, when we start down the road of "well that is no longer true", where do we stop?
Those who are telling us that we are going Home on Saturday have already crossed the heresy line by saying that "the Church Age" is finished. Leaving aside the nonsense that is pedalled as "Dispensationalism", any idea that the Church is ever over is directly contrary to what Jesus taught. "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it".
Ever.
Period.

These folk (who Jesus loves enough to have died for, by the way - just before we deride them unnecessarily), they also tell us that we have in recent years been living in the Great Tribulation.
Really?

True, there have been more Christians martyred for their faith in the last hundred years than in the previous 19 centuries together. But can we really say that things are so bad that, were He not to cut the time short, none of us would survive?
No, we can't. Not yet.

And has there been persecution on a greater scale than we can imagine?
Happily not.

Sorry, Brother Camping. The Great Tribulation is coming, and probably soon. But, with mixed emotions, it is not yet.

Bottom line, we cannot, and will not know the day or the hour of Jesus' return, our departure or "Judgement Day".
But that does not mean it won't be on Saturday. And if it is, there are a good number of Christians who will find their joy mixed with a little embarassment when they are raptured.
"No, it's not May 21. It's... Er, um, Hello Lord, I wasn't expecting you just yet".
He told us to be ready, precisely because we do not know the day or the hour.

And as I contemplate if it is on Saturday, or tonight, what a wonderful excitement I feel. Tinged with pain, yes. I have so many good friends who I don't honestly believe are yet ready.

But I know that He is still Sovereign.
He is still in control.
He will set the timing perfectly.

And I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day.

Bouncing

Mikey's funnies are not always the sort the knock you out of your chair, but you will normally raise a wry smile at the very least.

And they come with a "today'sTHOT" which can be quite stirring.

Like today:

Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.

Remember the old DOS game "The Incredible Machine" where you had to make things bounce, blow, spin and roll to achieve certain results?  

Well one of the physics defying features was that, even without fiddling with the gravity, objects dropped on a trampoline could be made to bounce higher than the point from which they were dropped.  A cool trick!

And like life.

Your height of bounce may be higher than the point from which you fall.

It has to be Grace

A New Leaf

He came to my desk with a quivering lip,
     the lesson was done.
“Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher?
     I’ve spoiled this one.”
I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted
     and gave him a new one all unspotted.
And into his tired heart I cried,
     “Do better now, my child.”

I went came to the throne with a trembling heart;
     the day was done.
“Have you a new day for me, dear Master?
     I’ve spoiled this one.”
He took my day, all soiled and blotted
     and gave me a new one all unspotted.
And into my tired heart he cried,
     “Do better now, my child.”

Author anonymous, “A New Leaf,” James G. Lawson, compiler, The Best Loved Religious Poems (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1961).

In one sentence...

We had a Church Leaders' Weekend this weekend.
And, as this was a newly expanded crew, there was the obligatory "Introduce yourself" moment.

What do you say to introduce yourself without being, well, boring?

My contribution:

• I am Mike, and I can't be described in one sentence.

Later in the day, while driving home for the afternoon break, God challenged me on this.
Who am I to say that I can or can't be described in any way?
He alone knows all my paths and can decide on the limits of my existence.
And then I remembered that I can indeed be described in one sentence.

• I am Mike, and I'm a sinner, saved by Grace, and set apart for good works which He has prepared in advance for me to do.

That's better.
It feels a little pretentious, I know, but it's true.
Why He chose me is a wonder!

Inflation
Central Statistical Office says that, for the month of April 2003, Zimbabwe's inflation rate hit a new level.
269%.
We are into an arena of unimaginables. How does one plan for anything?
I remember growing up hearing of folk in (then) Israel going straight from the pay office to the shops to buy anything and everything. Making sure that all the pay was spent imeadiately. Stockpiling whatever they could find - from jam to Jaguars. Anything to get the capital as goods rather than cash.
It was a joke.
We pitied them in a distant, far off way.

Now I buy a month's supply of bread at a throw, and that twice a week.
It freezes, and it's going up.
It's no longer "them" - it's "us".

And ZCTU says that we need to stock up on food because the next strike will be the big one.
What food?
OK, I'm at the top of the food chain, but what proportion of the population feel in a position to stock up on anything?
What proportion can find the necesaries to stock up on?

Where will it end?

And still we know it is not as bad as it might have been. Do you remember that "one hit wonder" STEP team band "Voyce" who came through Zimbabwe in the late '80s? They had a song which included the words

If the Lord had not been on our side
We would have been the ones who died
That's easy to say. Many are dying anyway. It almost feels as if God has abandoned us. I don't believe He has. It's not His style!
It would be so much worse if He had.