I love movies. They are the bane of my existence when I need to get actual things done, but I love them! My brother and I both suffer from Watchoverandoveritis. It's when you watch a movie over and over and over and over and over and over (almost unending) until you finally decide "I suppose I should consider broadening my horizons" and you find the next movie (or show, or video, etc.) to watch over and over and over and over and over and over (almost unending).
Every year I've been in college, around this time (the home stretch for the end of the school year! Woo!) I do that with this one movie. It's been the same since Freshmen year. Walk the Line. I can't help it! First, Johnny Cash totally redefined what country music is and kind of blurred the lines between country and popular music. They became one with him. Which was crazy at the time! Not to mention the story is incredible, Reese Witherspoon (need I say more? Well, just in case you don't understand I'll say) is fabulous and fierce and with her as June, really sets the standards for strong women in modern movies now. But mainly, it's the story. The story of a guy (Johnny Cash) who, despite his unique and extraordinary gifts, doesn't love himself enough to give him credit. Until June Carter and her family help him discover the strength he has and defines what friendship and love truly means.
I love the movie. I especially love the end when he recovers and finds a way to give back in unheard of, totally unique ways. But my all-time favorite part in the entire movie? When, right after he has rehabilitated, John and June go to church. Johnny's afraid because (as far as the movie shares) he's not stepped foot in a church since his brother's funeral when he was young. They find a seat and are asked to stand and sing a hymn (that happens to be the hymn they sing at his brother's funeral). In the extended version, they start to sing and June takes Johnny's hand to show that she is with him and understand how hard this is for him. Then (here it comes, here it comes, here it comes) a man standing on the other side of Johnny takes his hand. A total stranger to Johnny! How awesome, right!? No? Well, let me explain how amazing this is (or you can skip a paragraph if you want to find your own meaning in it).
Johnny Cash was a huge (but then, still a rising) star. This man, even if he didn't listen to his music, knows at least part of this man's destructive journey. He is willing to risk Johnny denying it, or walking out, or whatever to show that he is there for him. How beautiful, right? That this stranger shows a man he's only ever read about/heard deep compassion and companionship with one simple gesture: taking his hand. Showing that, under this roof, there is no status game. There is just people seeking a better life. I tell ya, that part gets me every time.
That's what Jesus tells us, right? To reach out to your fellow man. To step out of our comfort zone to help in any way we can. Even if that is as simple as letting a person know that he or she is not alone. To not judge the person's past, but help them through the present so that they might have a stronger future. And not for any reason other than that person deserves to love him or herself and deserves that chance. It's beautiful, what Jesus calls us to do. Not easy, by any stretch of the imagination, but beautiful.
Every year I've been in college, around this time (the home stretch for the end of the school year! Woo!) I do that with this one movie. It's been the same since Freshmen year. Walk the Line. I can't help it! First, Johnny Cash totally redefined what country music is and kind of blurred the lines between country and popular music. They became one with him. Which was crazy at the time! Not to mention the story is incredible, Reese Witherspoon (need I say more? Well, just in case you don't understand I'll say) is fabulous and fierce and with her as June, really sets the standards for strong women in modern movies now. But mainly, it's the story. The story of a guy (Johnny Cash) who, despite his unique and extraordinary gifts, doesn't love himself enough to give him credit. Until June Carter and her family help him discover the strength he has and defines what friendship and love truly means.
I love the movie. I especially love the end when he recovers and finds a way to give back in unheard of, totally unique ways. But my all-time favorite part in the entire movie? When, right after he has rehabilitated, John and June go to church. Johnny's afraid because (as far as the movie shares) he's not stepped foot in a church since his brother's funeral when he was young. They find a seat and are asked to stand and sing a hymn (that happens to be the hymn they sing at his brother's funeral). In the extended version, they start to sing and June takes Johnny's hand to show that she is with him and understand how hard this is for him. Then (here it comes, here it comes, here it comes) a man standing on the other side of Johnny takes his hand. A total stranger to Johnny! How awesome, right!? No? Well, let me explain how amazing this is (or you can skip a paragraph if you want to find your own meaning in it).
Johnny Cash was a huge (but then, still a rising) star. This man, even if he didn't listen to his music, knows at least part of this man's destructive journey. He is willing to risk Johnny denying it, or walking out, or whatever to show that he is there for him. How beautiful, right? That this stranger shows a man he's only ever read about/heard deep compassion and companionship with one simple gesture: taking his hand. Showing that, under this roof, there is no status game. There is just people seeking a better life. I tell ya, that part gets me every time.
That's what Jesus tells us, right? To reach out to your fellow man. To step out of our comfort zone to help in any way we can. Even if that is as simple as letting a person know that he or she is not alone. To not judge the person's past, but help them through the present so that they might have a stronger future. And not for any reason other than that person deserves to love him or herself and deserves that chance. It's beautiful, what Jesus calls us to do. Not easy, by any stretch of the imagination, but beautiful.
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