Mel

     

The play Jekyll and Hyde is about a kind man,  Dr. Henry Jekyll, who becomes obsessed with man's nature of good and evil and questions whether they can be separated.  He creates a potion that splits them apart and injects himself with it.  His evil side - Mr. Edward Hyde - takes over his body and transforms Jekyll into a disheveled menace with extraordinary strength and energy.  He stalks the city, commits murders and relishes the power of unfettered evil.  In the end, the transformations begin happening spontaneously so Jekyll kills himself to end the terror.

The acting, singing, musical score, choreography and orchestra were stellar and made for a great evening.  It was staged in the old high school auditorium in Ludlow, MA by the Exit 7 Players, a regional theatre company.  Ben Ashley performed the role of Jekyll/Hyde and received a standing ovation.  Ben's day job is installing security systems.

The duality of the human personality is undeniable.  Christianity chalks it up to Satan who, depending on the church you belong to, is either a living presence or the name for the "Mr. Hyde" part of our psyche.  In either case, it crystallizes our struggle between good and evil.  Depending on personality, upbringing, stress, peer pressure, occupation and a million other factors Satan can - and does - cause even strong Christians to fall short of their ideals.

Actor Mel Gibson financed and directed the movie The Passion of the Christ. When Jesus is nailed to the cross, Gibson's hand holds the spike to signify his own sinful nature. Because of its huge success and Christian subject matter many felt others would seek to damage Gibson's career.

He was subsequently arrested for DUI, spewed anti-Semitic slurs, screamed insults and threats at his ex-girlfriend and was investigated for domestic violence.  As his image crumbled my wife thought the media was "making him look crazy."  I noted that Mel always looked crazy, in the best possible way, and it was part of his charm.  Maybe that wild glint in his eyes is a window into a monumental struggle with Satan.  It's possible he's been out of control all along but an adoring press and film industry quashed it.  Maybe making a Christian movie did go too far and he became a target.

Gibson could only have made The Passion of the Christ if he genuinely had faith.  This doesn't excuse his conduct.  As a Christian he can ask forgiveness, work to change his behavior, be forgiven and move on.  But he does seem to be in a turbulent struggle with evil and, like other Christians, sometimes darkness wins.

Mel's fall is a gift to a media that enjoys reporting hypocrisy as though it gives lie to Christianity.  They miss the point that our faith has ideals we aspire to but fall short of.  Gibson's failure to live up to them speaks to his humanity, not his faith's viability.  Mr. Hyde lives in all of us and Christians work to control him through Christ.  Fortunately, our transgressions aren't usually subject to eager public finger-pointing like Mel's are.

Photo credit:  hollywoodjesus.com

Miner Miracle



The Chilean Miners awaiting rescue



The 33 miners were hoisted up after being trapped 2,000 feet underground for 69 days.  They survived on a teaspoon of tuna per day and drank oil-tainted water for 17 days with no sign of rescue.  Then a small drill poked through the ceiling.  After 30 failures, the drill reached them because topographer Macarena Valdes acted on a hunch and adjusted the drill angle one degree, a significant difference in a hole that deep.  Ms. Valdes calls it "75% science, 25% miracle."

It was "like being in a filthy sauna where the air is full of dirt" that caused burning eyes, coughing and "athlete's foot from hell" according to one miner.  The only light came from their helmets and truck headlights.  It was a spooky and scary environment, especially with new cave-ins continuing.

The miners, all wearing donated Oakley sunglasses, were met by a medical team with gurneys ready to whisk them into a makeshift hospital staffed by doctors and psychologists.  But once released from the rescue capsule they were alert, happy and active.  The second guy out, Mario Sepulveda, was ebullient as he strode among the crowd, hugged everybody in sight, led a cheer and passed out souvenir rocks. They practically needed tranquilizer darts to settle him down.  In an understatement, Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich said, "I have to humbly admit that the miners health is more than satisfactory."

How could this be?  Dr. Sheryl Bishop, a social psychologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, is an expert in survival in extreme conditions.  She theorized that clearing away debris to allow the rescue shaft to be drilled was key to their psychological well-being.  She said, "It gave them something concrete to do, and that gave them the psychological stamina to endure the wait."  It's also thought the emergence of leaders helped create cohesiveness that gave the miners hope.

Or maybe Christian faith had something to do with it.

Early on the miners requested 33 bibles.  Typical comments included, "There were moments when we thought we would not get out.  But there was always faith in God, that with His help we could be rescued," "We prayed and prayed.  It was a dark, black hole.  We were buried alive. We were all so scared.  We begged God to help us," "The devil was down there and so was God.  I didn't see either but I felt both.  They were in a battle for our souls.  And God won," and "We 33 miners are walking hand in hand with God."

Secular experts can theorize that hope came from leadership and shoveling rocks, but this makes little sense.  Try this:  the next time you're in a fix find a leader, move a pile of debris and see where it gets you.  Or keep in touch with God like the miners.  They don't have fancy degrees but they've got common sense and can tell you exactly where their hope and strength came from.

To see "Super Mario" Sepulveda's rescue please click on http://www.nowpublic.com/world/chile-miners-rescue-live-second-miner-mario-sepulveda

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American Exceptionalism

Plimouth Plantation recreates the Pilgrims' settlement.  A wood stockade surrounds dwellings inhabited by historically knowledgeable actors pretending to be Puritans.  Modern dress and devices fascinate them and you can find yourself struggling to explain how your camera works.  In my experience they never, ever come out of character.

They landed in Plymouth on December 26th at the start of a brutal winter that killed half of them. Those remaining drew on their faith, learned to survive and celebrated the first Thanksgiving the next fall.

Survival took bravery, resilience, determination, endurance, ingenuity and unremitting faith in God.  Other qualities sprang from their faith, including a work ethic, fairness, honesty, reliability, equality and personal responsibility.  These became traits of a nation built by generations of people who shared the same values.

Christianity was woven into the American character.  Patrick Henry said, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly, nor too often, that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."  Thomas Jefferson concurred:  "I have little doubt that the whole country will soon be rallied to the unity of our Creator, and, I hope, to the pure doctrines of Jesus also."  This mindset was codified in the U.S. Constitution.

Americans have the right to worship as they choose.  But whatever their faith, there's a Puritan ethic in the American psyche that crosses religious boundaries and it's been there from the beginning.  All presidents have paid homage to it, including Roman Catholic John F. Kennedy who said "God's work on earth must truly be our own."

It's called American Exceptionalism and faith in God is a primary component.  It's central to our national identity, but it's been under siege for decades.  Lawsuits seek to ban crosses from hilltops, Christian flags from cemeteries  and Christ from Christmas.

Why?

America has grown an entitlement culture that violates exceptionalist principles.  In order to justify this system its advocates challenge the very idea of exceptionalism, and this effort requires discrediting the Christian faith that provides its moral underpinnings.  The antagonism spawned in the universities, bled into politics and infected the press.  The apparent goal  is to delegitimize exceptionalism and Christian faith to enable secularists to supercede God as the ultimate authority.

A godless system has already been tried:  it's called communism.  The result is an elite that prospers while the rest of the population loses its freedom and becomes impoverished.  Stalin killed millions trying to create a master class; Mao's Cultural Revolution did the same.  This is less likely to happen when nations are tethered to God and not the whims of men.  Christians, for whom God is the ultimate authority, are inconvenient for secularists who wish to usurp God's position for themselves.

Ever since that winter in Plymouth generations of exceptional people have passed down faith in God, freedom  and an ethic that made America special.  But these are being whittled away by intelligent people who are either clueless about the ramifications of what they're doing or they're deliberately trying to install humans and their ideas in the place of God.

Either way, no good can come of it.

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