Plainly Spoken, Pefectly Understood

I was clicking through the channels on my television the other night and came across the film, “Evan Almighty.” Now, granted, most people probably had enough from the first installment with Jim Carrie; a bitter man who blames God for abandoning him and causing his bubble to be burst because someone else got the promotion he should have gotten and the ensuing chain of unfortunate events that followed. Then, as if God had had enough of the tantrum, comes to the man personally as a lowly janitor and proceeds to give him the “keys to the kingdom” as it were. The whole idea of God having a tough job to do and putting the lowly egotistical human in his place by putting him in his shoes washes with some but really irks countless others. While I see the entertainment value of the story, I can also see how humans flock to the things they know like bodily functions and sex as a way to try and distract themselves or their attempts to relate to a higher consciousness. This brings me back to the latter.

Evan is a man who has seemingly come full circle in life and has found no satisfaction in trying to make a difference in the world. No matter how hard he tries, the human condition always seems to supersede his efforts and nothing gets accomplished; the “status quo” prevails. It is then that God arrives and provides the opportunity for Evan to really get the attention of people by doing something as outlandish as building an ark. The ensuing events evoke a few laughs, but there is one scene in the movie that really struck me. As Evan is busy putting together the ark, his family sits at a table at a restaurant or bar eating fried food and being quite bewildered. His wife orders a refill on her meal and in walks God posing as a waiter and offers advice on the situation.

What strikes me is the truth in what he says. “When someone prays to God for courage, does he give them courage or does he provide an opportunity to show courage?” When a person prays for patience and understanding, does he give them or does he provide opportunities for a person to show them?” I guess you could say God is more plainly spoken than we think some times and we could be more understanding if we see life in terms of problems as opportunities rather than afflictions. He gave us all we need to survive and he gives us the wisdom to overcome if we simply choose to. I’ll have to get back with you when this starts working for me as I am still struggling with a few of my own issues. That is what I mean by my life as “A work in progress.”