Sunday, March 07, 2010

Crazy and Mended Hearts


I will probably get sucked into the vortex of the Academy Awards show tonight. Every year I claim I won't and that the presentations don't really represent the best in films anyway because they are so Hollywood-focussed. But my curiosity gets the better of me every time.

I am rooting for Jeff Bridges as best actor in Crazy Heart. I saw George Clooney and Morgan Freeman in their roles and both were really good. I just liked Bad Blake, the grizzled character Bridges plays as though he has lived his life. This is really a story of redemption and grace, a tale that is told over and over again in films and books and we don't mind revisiting it.

This morning we heard the parable from Luke 15 of a father and two sons who struggle with grace, and the father who is more than willing to extend it to both his boys. The twist is that the reprobate accepts it, but we aren't sure about the "stand up" son. This too is a story of redemption and one of the best-loved of the parables.

Any thoughts on why this theme has such staying power? I'm not so sure we always want to do the hard work of living grace, but it sure seems popular. How has this played out in your life?

2 comments:

IanD said...

Like the Dude, redemption abides.

David Mundy said...

The opening to the Oscars was so lame I could pull myself away without much effort.