Nadine and I just watched An Interview With God on Netflix. It’s also on Amazon Prime [3.8 of 5 stars]. I recommend it. I haven’t been a fan of “Christian” movies over the last few years. Most try hard but have seemed predictable and overly moralistic. But this film could be evidence (a “sign”?) that “The Greatest Story Ever Told” is being retold in impactful ways. Brenton Thwaites and the rest of the cast are believable as diverse modern day people with real joys and struggles. Most satisfyingly, David Strathairn is remarkable in his portrayal of God. [How does an omnipotent, all knowing Being interact with finite limited humans? I can think of another moment in time when this was pulled off. We’re read and reread that story many times.]
That’s why I’m posting this here. Stories are how human beings continue to make and discover meaning. Our relationships, conflicts, questions, and aspirations for redemption form the scenes and drive the plot. The books we read and the films we choose to view may not so much be how we escape unhappy or inconvenient lives — they could be deeper dives into real life as we see it and would want it to be.
When the credits rolled, we surfaced after 93 minutes and just soaked in the effervescence. We hugged each other grateful for how God has worked in the chapters we had lived together for 42 years. We were also more hopeful for the next ones. We have been plunged into things that we would never have chosen. We can’t control -what will – well, you’ll just have to watch the movie.
I think I’m better for having made this film part of today’s scene. May it show in my writing and in the nature of my living.