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A Summer of Movie-Discussion Nights[Part Five: Lectio Divina and "The Hurricane"]
By Steve Lansingh | I'm pleased as punch at how this series is evolving, and how well our group is rising to the occasion. My original intention was continue, as I did for the first four meetings (see parts one, two, three, four), presenting spiritual questions to the group based on the movies we'd chosen. But this time I decided to step it up a notch. After one in our group said he couldn't imagine how I came up with the questions, I decided that if the series was to have any lasting value, I should try to teach the group how they could translate a movie into spiritual food on their own.
Strangely, I realized, I'd never tried to do this before. Most of this site's readers who I talk with already have their own ideas about the relationship between art and Christianity, and while sharing our ideas helps sharpen each other's thinking, and we find solidarity with each other in an antagonistic world, I've never had anyone asking me to mentor them. (I've also had plenty of movie-going friends who say "It's just a movie" and don't want to hear my "too deep" commentary.) So within the context of small group, when we're already gathered to learn more about Christ and share our lives with each other, I found myself in an entirely new situation.
I started to brainstorm about how I might put into words something that I'd learned by trial and error, listening and seeking God. I find that a lot of my insights don't really come until I sit down to write a review; as I write I find new connections and I must clarify my thoughts so they make sense on paper. But I knew I couldn't tell people to write themselves a movie review; I remember in my Senior Seminar class at Wheaton I proposed that very idea: that to be an ethical movie viewer you had to journal ideas about them -- my professor correctly pointed out that "Be like me" is not valid ethical criteria, and to this day I consider that one of my greatest life lessons. (I'm wandering off subject here for a moment, but I believe the biggest reason there is so much division and strife within the church is because Christians take their individual experience of God -- that which they know with their whole being is true -- and then say that's the only experience of God that is valid. I was incredibly liberated when I found Gary Thomas' book "Sacred Pathways,"
So I realized I had to start with something far more basic, that spark of something that gets me thinking and writing in the first place. My first attempt to put it into words was: 1) identify a moment that touched you, 2) discover what subject or emotion is at the center of that moment, and 3) meditate on that subject and respond to God. Then, not a week later, I was reading a book called "A Tree Full of Angels"
What's truly wonderful about Divine Reading (don't worry -- I'll explain it in just a bit) is that it's not only a way of reading the Bible and praying, it can be used in everyday life to respond to God. It's just a way of talking and listening to God throughout the day. It's a way of life, a way to live. Wiederkehr uses examples from her journal of times that she responded to Bible verses, letters from friends, quotes from saints and teachers, childhood memories, shopping at the mall, a foggy morning, a storm, the newspaper, trees, the dinner table, and even a line from a movie. What truly excited me about teaching Divine Reading is that it truly fits the mission of JoyOfMovies.com. It was never my intention to imply that movies were somehow a clearer way to see into the heart of God; I just write about them because the subject attracts more readers than would my contemplations on trees. My true hope is to help people listen for the spirit of God in their daily lives. Divine Reading helps give me a handle, now, on how to teach it.
So, now that I've hyped Divine Reading beyond all reason, how do you do it? Although there are various steps outlined by monks throughout history, Wiederkehr uses as a guide this one from Abbot Marmion:
During our viewing of "The Hurricane," (we watched about 32 minutes of it, from the scene where Lezra starts writing Rubin his first letter until the scene where the Canadians to New Jersey), I simply asked our group to watch with a vulnerable heart and be aware of God.
The second step, "until your heart is touched," implies that you stop reading once God speaks to you. In the broader sense, this means to take notice when God appears in your daily life, rather than, say, waiting until the end of the day to look back try to recall the moments. It's instruction to be present in that moment. "A touched heart means that God has, in some way, come," says Wiederkehr. "Sink your heart into it as you would sink your teeth into food."
I tried to explain to the group what I would call a "touching," since in today's language it seems to connote a touchy-feely kind of moment. It doesn't necessarily mean a sentimental scene. I would describe it as something that jumps out to you, something that makes you take notice, or stirs you. It might be a particular character, a line of dialogue, or a climactic scene. It could be a moment of kindness that you long to emulate, or a moment of violence that convicts your own short temper. It might be breathtaking beauty, or a wise speech. It might be a false ideal, or a true one. I warned the group that not every movie will have such a moment (maybe half of what I see has such an event), so not to force it. Just be open and waiting for it.
The third step, "then give yourself up to love," is an offer to respond to God, to throw yourself into his arms. It's prayer, essentially, but not a formulaic one. If you consider the touching as a message from God, then the third step is an open-hearted response that may take many forms. "Sometimes in pure gratitude it simply stands in awe, rejoicing," says Wiederkehr. "And that is prayer! Sometimes it weeps. Sometimes it sings. There are times it tenderly talks to God. At other times my heart screams out in anger. Sometimes it looks upon the world with love, or rushes out to do good deeds. Sometimes it kneels with outstretched arms. It turns; it bends and bows. It takes a slow and careful walk. It begs for daily bread. It takes long and grateful looks at everything and everyone. Sometimes it simply yearns for God, or yearns to know itself. All this is prayer!"
This is prayer as described in I Thessalonians: Prayer without ceasing. It is a constant dialogue between a person and God throughout the day. "Prayer is tasting life. Prayer is responding to life," says Wiederkehr. "The table of daily life becomes a banquet to which we are always invited."
After hearing me read from "A Tree Full of Angels" and relating some of my own experience, the group was ready to try it out for themselves. I had expected that some might be reluctant to try, or that perhaps they would all choose the same moment to discuss, but every single person participated, and a wide variety of moments had touched them. They graciously allowed me to reprint their comments here, which I cannot relate in full (I was trying to give eye contact and encouragement at the same time I was jotting down notes), but I will summarize:
Key moment: Rubin's quote about small doors opening up to large rooms
Key moment: Lezra's learning to read opened up new ideas and worlds to him
Key moment: When Lisa gave the $10 bill to Lezra; not only did she have the foresight to think that far ahead, but it showed that she believed in him
Key moment: Rubin's resistance to conforming to prison life by shutting down his need for people
Key moment: Lezra's innocence; having no inhibitions (especially in traveling to New Jersey to visit a prison)
Key moment: Rubin is suspicious of the three white Canadians who try to help him out
Key moment: Rubin's vulnerability in accepting help, and the joy that comes from that
Key moment: The contrast between the effectiveness of hard, anonymous work (the Canadians) versus writing songs and protesting (Bob Dylan & Ellen Burstyn)
Key moment: Lezra's willingness to continue with Rubin even though he tried to shut him out; give Rubin his diploma
Key moment: The Canadians gave up so much to move New Jersey and help
Key moment: Lezra's trust vs. Rubin's mistrust
Key moment: Lezra's kindheartedness to someone he didn't know
Key moment: The generosity of the Canadians in taking in Lezra
Key moment: The distinction between good and evil so clearly drawn
I'm sure we could have talked about each of these responses if we'd had a couple more hours together, but I was more concerned about each person having a turn this time. Next time we meet, I'd like to return it to more of a conversation like we had in the first couple meetings; I have a feeling that people will feel more confident about their comments if it's not just me saying it's a good answer but if it resonates with others in the group, too. Stay tuned.
Update 9/01: Due to a lot of scheduling conflicts, the last two meetings ("When Harry Met Sally" and "Cool Hand Luke") were sparsely attended, and so they were more just like rap sessions with friends than the other discussion nights in this series. I decided not to write up whole articles about them because we talked more about personal things than any sort of formal question list. For instance, with "When Harry Met Sally" we discussed the beginnings of our own marriage relationships, and whether we felt we were destined in any way for each other. With "Cool Hand Luke," we discussed relatives and friends who were hard cases like Luke, who were couldn't seem to get through to. The conversations took shape without my prompting, for the most part, as I'd hoped. I was very happy with our summer experiment, both for my chance to try out being a leader and for the way everyone was so eager to jump in and participate. I think God taught us all quite a deal.
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which counters that thinking and reveals nine different spiritual temperaments of Christians. My most vivid encounters with God had not been in the "Church-approved" fashion, and so until I read this book I had always doubted them.)
by Macrina Wiederkehr, which was written to make the Benedictine practice of Lectio Divina (Divine Reading) accessible to everyone. And I discovered that the process of Divine Reading was remarkably similar to the process I'd worked out on my own in the past eight years. I felt stunned, amazed, and loved by God. "Seek, and you will find," Jesus promises, and I know that to so true. Other Christians had told me that I couldn't find God in the movies, but I heard some small whisper there and went off in pursuit of it anyway. And now, after years of missteps, struggle, doubts, and rejection that went along with the joy of seeking, I found that my search has led me to Christ indeed. I had been following an ancient way without even knowing it. The gold I've found isn't more valuable than anyone else's, I realize, but I panned through a lot of silt to find it and so I know its value in a way that I wouldn't if you just handed me a brick of the refined stuff.
"Read under the eye of God
The first step, "read under the eye of God," is more or less saying to be on the lookout for God. Marmion's instruction is directly toward Bible reading in particular, and what he means is to not just cover the material for the day but to read slowly, digesting the words and keeping your heart open to being touched. Wiederkehr puts it this way: "Read with a vulnerable heart. Expect to be blessed in the reading. Read as one awake."
until your heart is touched
then give yourself up to love"
Response to God: To be open to things that seem small, because God has bigger plans that I can see; to be observant toward the doors before me
Response to God: Thankfulness; let me be open to new ideas and possibilities
Response to God: Let me be aware of opportunities to give
Response to God: How can I transcend the confines of American life while still being open to love?
Response to God: Awe; take away my inhibitions, God
Response to God: How do I treat black people?
Response to God: Let me be hospitable, have an open home, and seek community
Response to God: Let me not be afraid to go in for the long haul
Response to God: Thank you for affirming my call to talk to people who are in pain, and to write thank yous
Response to God: Let me also risk as much to do good deeds
Response to God: Help me to understand other's mistrust and the pain behind it
Response to God: weeping
Response to God: Teach me to be gracious when receiving things from others, rather than letting receiving be difficult
Response to God: Let me live remembering that the two mingle in each heart
READER RESPONSES
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