End times... 2 movies

We returned this afternoon from the theatre where we saw Legion. This is about the end of world as we know it. But with the premise that God has given up on humanity. "The first time he gave up, he sent the flood, this time he sent the angels." But one of the angels disagrees. Archangel Michael decides there is hope for humanity. So he and a small group of people end up fighting the zombied people that show up to kill a pregnant woman. The baby was Michael's assignment -- he was supposed to kill the baby, ends up protecting the mother until her child is born. Instead he ends up fighting with the angel Gabriel.

This film was quite dark with a motley mix of characters. There are moments of hope throughout, but the film was still quite dark.






We went to see 2012 two weeks ago. It is also about the end of days but with a different spin and different feel. John Cusack is the protagonist of this film. Essentially the western American coast is about to fall into the sea. While Legion is a sci-fi thriller, 2012 is more of an action flick. 2012 is based on the premise that Mayan prediction is true. The world will end in 2012. This film is about about is our priorities in life, even in times of crisis, what would we do? Would it be every man/woman for them selves? or would we have compassion and help our fellow travelers in the journey?

oddities

So a nurse told me that a patient was saying that she may as well die because nothing seemed to be working. The patient stated to her that "the Pope also had Parkinson's disease and he prayed and it didn't do him any good." to which the nurse replied that "the pope hadn't been admitted to our hospital."

Some times, it is hard to think of what to do/say to some patients as the person is so set on what they think, that there is no point to try and persuade.

Then there are some people who have an interesting sense of logic. One patient told us that since his parents were Jehovah's Witness that he would feel guilty to take a blood transfusion. The patient did not idenify with any particular religious tradition. So it was interesting that he said this. So my staff asked me to go and talk to the man and give him "a dispensation" about this situation. (It didn't fly, in case you wondered, as he was set on his idea.)

It never ceases to amaze me about the odd items that come my way in this line of work.

Excerpt from book The Spiral Garden

There is an old story about a holy man who sequestered himself in a remote mountain cave and spent his nights and days in solitude, praying, far away from humankind. Many years, he spent there, living on a meagre diet of nuts and berries, praying day and night to God. At last, worn out by time, or the privation of the body, or simply by the burden of his solitude, the hermit realizd that he was near death.">As he sat staring into the fire on what he knew to be his last night alive, God spoke to the holy man, not in whispers as would often happen in prayer, or as the man foraged for sustenance or scoured the mountaintop for firewood, but in a clear, audible voice. God said that he was pleased; that the man had fulfilled God’s wishes for him in this life, and, in return, God wished to give him a gift before he died. Whatever the man might ask for. The holy man immediately said, “Tell me the truth about this existence. Why we must struggle and be alone, even in a crowd or with those we love the most. Tell me why we might weep and why we must die.” So God told him the answer.Immediately, the man began to search for a way to record God’s words.He charred a stick in the fire and carefully began writing on large flat stones, line after line pouring forth from his memory and soul, until the night had passed and the sun had begun to rise.And at that moment, the holy man’s energy was spent.He was about to die.He looked at the stones upon which he had written the Truth of God, the greatest gift that humankind could receive.Then, with his last wanning ounce of strength, the hermit dragged the stones to the fire and pushed them in so that the heat of the coals erased the writings.What the hermit realized was that the Truth, once written down, would be read by people with different experiences and expectations, who brought to the words their own desires, ambitions and fears.Every one would understand the truth differently. The result would only bring dissension and pain. Someone once told me that Truth is like mercury.It takes a different shape according to its vessel.If we try to hold on to it, it slips through our fingers.And yet, who among us, if God offered us any gift, would not ask for that very thing? I think, in the end, I would rather have courage than uncertainty.
Prologue from The Spiral Garden by Anne Hines.
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I read this book a few years ago when I was still adapting to ministry. I loved it. I also read "the Passion of Reverend Nash" around the same time. I liked this book, Spiral Garden, because it was full of tidbits like what is written above and the tidbits can be a line.. such the following: But they are all packed with interesting points to ponder.


Abraham Joshua Heschel:
“We do not leave the shore of the known in search of adventure or suspense or because of the failure of reason to answer our questions. We sail, because our mind is like a fantastic sea shell, and when applying our ear to its lips we hear a perpetual murmur from the waves beyond the shore.”

p.200 My hero of the Celtic Church, Palagius, had an idea that, better than a priest, we all needed a "soul friend". Not someone who tells us how to make our journey, but someone who travels beside us, sharing our learning, sharing our fear. You and I have not exactly appeared to travel in step ... but we do give each other this -- we witness each other's journey.

This is probably one of the closer definitions/analogies for what pastoral/spiritual care is.

p 212 Religion is founded on the feeling of being uncomfortable. Discomfort is a gift. It's what compels us to search.There's not a person on the face of the earth, who hasn't wondered, at least for a moment "Why am I?" Not even "why am I here?" I think, but "Why am I?" That is what makes us search. Possibly it is even what makes us human. It is also what tells us there is a God, because we are born into this world knowing from our first heartbeat that there is something missing.
The question speaks to our aloneness. As if, knowing purpose, we could feel connection. I know that aloneness. I know that other too. It's what I've seen occur.. people finding an answer for themselves, by letting the truth to them in the language they can hear best.


Jung said that religion is a defense against a religious experience.

I don't know exactly what this quote means. In the context of the book, I do, but I think that this refers to the fact that some people hide behind the rituals of religion but don't really go deep into what the "religion" teaches. Religion for me, is different from faith. Faith is what you believe and how you live it out in your life. Religion is the label that people use to define what they believe. I will likely think about that one some more later.
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A rabbi, passing by a farmer’s field, heard a farmer singing as he worked. “Dearest God,” the man bellowed joyously, “if I could give you a radish, I’d give you the biggest radish in my garden.” The rabbi was shocked, and going over to the farmer, he admonished him, “that’s no way to address our King! Let me teach you a proper prayer so your words may be accepted by God’s ears.” So the rabbi taught the man a very formal and ancient prayer. The next week, the rabbi was passing the farmer’s field and saw the man was hard at work, but this time no sound escaped his lips.The same thing happened the next week, and the next. The farmer never sang again. Finally, the rabbi died. He arrived at the gates of heaven and was greeted by the sound of angels singing loudly, proclaiming their love and devotion to God. The angels sang, “Dearest God, if we could give you a radish, we’d give you the biggest radish in the garden.”

Praying for a Miracle... waht we want vs. what we need

Every so often, in my work, I am asked by a patient to pray for them/with them. Some times, the requests bother me because they are asking for something that can't be done. I'm not saying that miracles don't happen. Miracles exist every day. It seems to me that most people associate "miracle" with unexplained physical healing. I have heard stories from the news, and from people that I know about the unexplained disappearance of physical illness or cancer cells, and things of this nature, but I have never seen it myself.

It bothers me with some people seem to have what can be deemed , by some to be, "unrealistic hope". I have been asked to pray that God will do a miracle and restore sight, allow paralyzed people to walk, asked if someone went to heaven. I have had conversations with people who want their diseased organs to be restored, or who believe that a transplant will allow every thing to go back to how life was before they were sick...
It is hard to know what to say to some of these things. Part of the dilemma is about my understanding of prayer and the request. When I am asked to pray for healing, I do. I may not pray explicitly as the person as indicated.

My understanding about prayer is this: you don't need to pray formally, as in a formula. Prayer is like having a conversation with a good friend. Someone who cares for us, who loves us, ... in more ways than we can fathom. The second part about my understanding of prayer comes from the Lord's Prayer, the "our Father who art in heaven.... thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". Specifically, the phrase about "thy Will". People seem to put conditions on their requests. "if you do this, I'll never ask you for anything again.. " (until another crisis hits.) or the unspoken condition which is "if you really love me, you'll do this thing for me." As I often have to remind myself, that what we want is not the same as what we need. What we want is also not the same as what God wants, or wills, for us. This line from the prayer says that it is "God's will to be done on earth as in heaven." This can only be done when our will is in line with God's will for this world. He wants us to be happy and healthy. He wants us to use what he has given, like our brain, and think about what we are doing and why.

So this is where my dilemma comes from.. when we ask for what we want and think it is something that they need. I need a car for graduation. I need that toy. Need that designer outfit, need that shiny thing. Hubby and I went to the movie "The Princess and the Frog". This is a story that didn't go as one would think. Usually in a fairy tale, boy meets girl, falls in love, woos her and they live happily ever after. Typically, the princess kisses the frog, he turns back in to a prince, and they get married and live happily ever after. In this movie, the girl kissed the prince but turned into a frog instead of getting her human-formed prince. In one scene of the movie, they are seeking a magical potion to return to human form from a shaman who lives in the middle of the New Orleans bayou. The woman instead explains that there is a difference between what you need and what you want. "Dig deep down inside and discover what you need." She kept emphasizing that they were to think about what they need. In the end, the girl realized that she was ok with not being human and focused on what she needed from her life as it was. This was her key to happiness. (This is the only way I can say it without spoiling the plot.)

So back to praying for a miracle. I believe that a miracle is found even in simple events, the mystery of life, birth is a miracle! the advances in technology, the advances in research, the good that has been done for health, longevity of our population and how it has grown in the past century.... so I asked one of my colleagues about his opinion and insight for when asked to pray for a miracle. His answer was that there are 3 answers to prayer: 1. Yes. 2. No. 3. Not yet.
Who is to say that a miracle won't happen in this person's lifetime? It may be that the persons gets the new heart or lungs in heaven? or in the next 3 years? but in the meantime, for the next three years, what is the person's plan of action to function with the illness until the miracle happens.
I prefer this approach/answer to the "unrealistic hope" situation. Rather than telling the person that their faith that God will heal them is stupid or unfounded, there are ways to guide them to accept what is. It is a fine line between nurturing faith, finding meaning in this awful place where they find themselves, and conveying the message of the medical team.
One doctor mentioned this about a patient of mine. I met the patient at her last admission, which was a long one. She is hoping for recovery of her organs. The doctor said that they will never recover and that she needs to accept this so that she can move on. What do you say to a woman who has faith that has gotten through these awful months of hell that doesn't squash her belief in God's love for us, or her faith in people? or the person who believes that their transplant is like a cure for the illness....

I prefer to say well in the meantime, what will you do to function while you are waiting for the miracle to occur. That is a better approach. This can help to address the "need" vs. "want" issue as well.