The “holiday season” is here. We all engage in the preparation and celebration of Christmas in different ways. The important factor is to get in touch with these questions: For what purpose did Jesus come into our world? What’s all the hoopla about? What’s the good news? Recently I learned about the work of the English poet and performance artist Jude Simpson. Her work is sharp, wide ranging and engaging. One of her poems, “Broken Open” has really helped me focus on those questions and at least for me, answer them. It has become a regular part of my own preparation for Christmas, and maybe it will add to yours as well.
Blessings to you this Advent and may your Christmas preparations and celebrations be rich indeed!
"The Bishop’s Wife" (1947) One of my all time favorites. A warm, lighthearted, and -- OK-- sentimental movie that manages to include all the ingredients that you are looking for at Christmas: ice skaters, snowball fights, boy choirs, snowflakes falling on city shoppers - oh those 1940’s hats! Even Cary Grant as an angel. The plot revolves around an harried Episcopal Bishop’s obsession with building a cathedral what what happens after he prays for guidance! The message is how easy it is to get so wrapped up in “current projects” or for that matter “life itself” that we miss the “big picture.” Can you spot some Biblical revisionism? With David Niven as the Bishop, and Loretta Young, as Julia, his wife. A remake, A Preacher’s Wife, was made in 1996 with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston.
"The Children of Men" (2006) This is an adult, R-rated movie. Not what you think of as a Christmas story! But it really is! No child has been born on earth for 18 years. Science is at loss to explain the reason and humankind is facing likelihood of extinction. Set in and around a dystopian London in 2027, the movie follows the discovery of a lone pregnant woman and the desperate journey to deliver her to safety and restore faith in a future.
Echoes of the Gospel both subtle and obvious, occur throughout the movie, reminding us that God gave us hope for the future by providing a vulnerable miraculous child to a dying, violent world. Children of Men is based on a story penned by famous mystery writer and professing Christian P.D. James. Wonderful cast including: Clive Owen, Julienne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Michael Caine **Two “Christmas” movies not named “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas.”
