Sunday Snippets II

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Mid-life Crisis

I saw a movie this week with my husband. Gosh! We haven't been to see a movie together in a very long time. Our taste in movies isn't always the same, but we both liked this one. "Larry Crowne" is a film about a man with a mid-life crisis. He is tossed out of his comfort zone into a sink or swim situation that will test his ability to succeed. This 8-time employee of the month at a local store is fired and decides that the road to success is education. He enrolls at a local community college, taking a public speaking course and economics. He aces both courses. Building on his previous experience - 20 years of cooking in the Navy and retail work - his new experience in education expands his horizons and changes not only his life, but also those who know him. The highlight of the film is Larry Crowne's final exam in his public speaking class. Larry ties topics given to the other students (pasta, potatoes, Australia, and Disraeli) with his own - "geography show" - his mis-read of "George Bernard Shaw". Larry concludes his speech with a quote from Shaw in education that may be interpreted as the message of the film.

A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.

"Larry Crowne" is rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language. A minor character is shown looking at pornography on the internet. There are also kissing scenes between the two main characters, one of whom is married.

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A Princess Remembered

Princess Diana would have been 50 years old this week. I don't know how I remembered that she died in 1997, but I did. It isn't one of those experiences that you remember where you were when you heard the news - like I remember the announcement of the assassination of JFK or the events of 911 - but I still remember this year as the year of her death. So why this one detail? I think it is because, like so many women, we somehow identified with this dysfunctional woman who dreamed of becoming a princess but whose life took one tragic turn after another. There is only 7 years difference in our age. My sons are almost the same age as hers. She was a tragic woman with dreams. It is the story that appeals to the heart. Happy birthday, Princess Diana!

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Fair doesn't mean equal

I learned a long time ago that fair doesn't always mean equal. As much as we may try to make things equal, it doesn't make life fair. In thinking about children of divorce, life will rarely be fair. Equal custody can never take the place of having two parents together. Equal custody is much like the story of two women fighting over a child in the story that depicts the wisdom of King Solomon. To determine who the real mother is, King Solomon decides that the child should be divided in half. Thankfully, the true mother makes the decision to let her child live by refusing to allow the child to be cut in two. 


The difference in divorce with equal custody is that the child is always divided because the parents are divided. They may not be cut in two, but their lives are split in two - going back and forth between parents and two places to live. The love of each parent for the child added up is somehow less than if they also experience the love of each parent for one another. Divorce is never fair to the kids - even in the best situation. 

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Tweet! Tweet!

Pope Benedict XVI, this week, sent out his first twitter, "The medium is the message." Although the use of modern forms of media is a great thing, how the Church uses the media is what is important. Improperly delivered, the message has little impact. That has been a problem with the Church whose delivery has often buried the message. Will twittering appeal to young people? Absolutely! But how much Truth can you deliver in a tweet? "Jesus Christ is Lord!" is a start.

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The Fingerprint of God?

I was browsing on Facebook and came across an interesting post - actually a post with a YouTube video that shows math in nature. I enjoyed it so much I thought I would post it here. Beauty always points to the Creator of all things Who turns chaos into cosmos

It reminded me of another YouTube video I came across some time back that talked about the Fibonacci sequence.

How people cannot see from this fingerprint that there is a God is quite beyond me. "For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. . ."

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Gabriel's Figs

Named after the child of a friend, Gabriel produces very sweet figs. I picked and ate my second fig this week. I was in fig heaven. 

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Remaining Neutral

I never realized how important it is for our body to be neutral. I've been in PT for my lower back because of pain when I just stand or walk. The therapist this week taught me how to stand with my body in a neutral position. It is essential to stabilizing the lumbar spine. Then exercises that strengthen weak muscles are added to teach the body how to remain in the neutral position while moving. Evidently, from some things I read on the internet, Pilates is a good way of exercising to get the body stabilized. Gives a whole new meaning to remaining neutral. Maybe this is a sign that I should get into a Pilates class.

Making a Difference in Hollywood

Recently, I talked about my experience of the story of Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. I also thought at the time what an inspiring story this would be on film. Well, as it happens, there is a film in the works and it should be coming out in 2011. 

Steve McEveety produced the movie "The Stoning of Soraya M" in 2008, but is working on the production of two other films - one about Our Lady of Guadalupe and the other based on the book Left to Tell, by Immaculee Ilibagiza. He decided that he wanted to work on this film because he was drawn to the way Immaculee was able to forgive those people who, in the most violent way, had slaughtered her own family. The film will have as its focus the subjects of forgiveness and spiritual warfare. 

Like Left to Tell, "The Stoning of Soraya M" is also a true story, based on a book by the same name. It tells of an innocent woman accused of adultery who was stoned to death in a village in Iran while no one supported her but her aunt. The next day, the aunt, knowing that her only hope for justice lay in exposing the inhumanity of what had happened, approached a French-Iranian journalist with her harrowing story. McEveety read the 1994 book and knew he had to act on it. It was a story that needed to be told. 

You have probably heard the famous quote, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."  Well it is true that it only takes one person to do what is right. Though she was unable to prevent the stoning of her niece, the aunt succeeds in telling the world this moving story - first through the journalist's book and then through the Hollywood film. 

Working as a Catholic in Hollywood can't be an easy thing, but McEveety has done a brilliant job. Early in his career, he concentrated on entertaining and learning his craft. Now that he has some experience, he is able to draw attention to the films that have an important message. One of those movies was "The Passion of the Christ."  

McEveety says that making "The Passion" changed the lives of his family. It "opened our eyes to a spiritual world that we didn't realize was so prominent in this world. I now see clearly that here is a spiritual war going on... we're expected to be part of that battle." After making "The Passion" he also understood his faith in a totally different way. Strange phenomena took place during filming. More than one person, including Jim Caviezel, were struck by lightening and family members of people working on the film were experiencing physical cures. The significance of this film crossed the boundaries of our natural world.

We should be hoping that producers like Steve McEveety continue to work with other Catholics in Hollywood, like Mel Gibson and Jim Caviezel, to make films whose messages have real value and will bring others to Christ. Each person CAN make a difference!