The Rev. Dr. Bryan Franzen
  • Home
  • About
  • Theology and Calling
  • Westminster Presbyterian Church
  • Sabbatical 2024

Happy Endings

11/7/2014

0 Comments

 
I go to a lot of movies; thankfully I have found fairly inexpensive ways to see them.  But I have noticed something in movies that I find frustrating, where is the happy ending?  Maybe aside from the Disney movies, which have taken their own interesting turns, I am amazed at how many are laden with hyper-realism, dystopian angst, or massive violence. Movies today seem to almost go out of the way of allowing the viewer that clear, unmistakable, happy ending.   I wonder why or even what really is wrong with the fairy-tale ending?
 
I am not meaning to sound as if everything had to end happy, but I wonder what is going on that we no longer demand the happy ending; why is it that our despair as society has devolved so much that we accept movies that seem hopeless.  Does it validate our own feelings or point to the viewpoint of the coming generations?  I can guarantee there are dissertations being written about this as I write this article.  Many will highlight the sociological state of a post 9/11 world where vulnerability, terror and economic instability have been rampant.  I might agree, but I think there is something worse, more sinister to blame.
 
I think that the evil that has always been part of this world has found its way into the heart of society, disguising itself as cynicism, contempt, vitriol, anger, and hate.  All of this leaves us without the one thing Christ came into this world to give us, Hope!
 
In Christ, we have a unique view of the world in that every life is not subject to an end, but is given hope for a new beginning.  In fact, one of the quintessential parts of the Christian life is to let go and leave.  Take a look at all the disciples; none stayed.  Either they found themselves martyred or made their ways in all directions. They followed the great commandment to bring the good news beyond what was known, trusting that God was there. 
 
Just as the disciples were not to stay, the churches they and Paul left behind were not to be stagnant either, but they were called to be bold in the threat of death and respond to the world without fear, because they knew the glory that was to come and the hope that was held within that.
 
A professor of mine in college used to say: “Fear is a fickle thing” as if this quote was a mantra. He said that when we fear, we will find ourselves doing stupid stuff (though he did not say “stuff”).  Moreover, he said that with time there is nothing to fear, because, good or bad, whatever we fear now won’t exist in the future.  Thus, fear is only a construct, which makes it fickle. 
 
I would go one step further to say that one of the great powers that fear has is that it makes us hopeless.  When we are hopeless we no longer seem to seek or strive for hope; rather, we seek and strive for survival because hope tends to be illusive.  As people of faith, one of our greatest battles is the battle to bring back hope, and show a better way.
 
In Christ,
 
Bryan
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Rev. Dr. Bryan James Franzen
    Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church
    San Jose, CA

    Archives

    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About
  • Theology and Calling
  • Westminster Presbyterian Church
  • Sabbatical 2024