So many good lines… all from the same movie…
Perhaps you remember. Perhaps you do not.
Bruce Nolan, a fed-up reporter, cries out to God, demonstrably sharing that God isn’t doing his job; in fact, if God is somehow doing it, he certainly isn’t doing a very good job.
Hence, the One and Only Divine decides to bestow all such powers onto this one man. He graciously lets Bruce take a turn. Hence, come the following poignant (and often witty) interactions — including Bruce, his girlfriend Grace, and the great big God of the universe…
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GOD: “You have the ability to make people laugh. I know. I created you.”
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GOD: “You can’t kneel in the middle of the highway and live to tell the tale.”
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BRUCE: “Where are you going?”
GOD: “Vacation.”
BRUCE: “God doesn’t go on vacation. Does He? …do Ye?”
GOD: “Ever hear of the Dark Ages?”
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GOD: “Parting soup is not a miracle, Bruce… Now a single mom who works two full-time jobs and still finds time to pick up her kid at soccer practice, that’s a miracle. A teenager that says ‘no’ to drugs and ‘yes’ to education, that’s a miracle. You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle.”
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BRUCE: “Feed the hungry, and give peace on all mankind. Is that good?”
GOD: “Yes, if you’re Miss America.”
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But perhaps my favorite quote — and one that speaks volumes to the rest of us — comes near the movie’s climax, after Bruce finds abundant success and is humbled and awed by both compassionate and ostentatious uses of power — but remains deeply torn up by the conflict within him; he is unable to change the heart of the one he loves. He can’t make Grace love him…
BRUCE: “How can you make someone love you without changing free will?”
GOD: “Welcome to my world.”
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I find myself sitting with that this week… a week known ‘round the world as Holy Week, the week before Easter, celebrated by a few billion across all continents, acknowledging the life of Jesus Christ and applying the meaning of his death and resurrection. God doesn’t make us love him; he doesn’t make us believe. He provides such timeless freedom. He lets us look around; look at how he’s at work — look at his marvelous creation. He lets us observe and marvel at all he has done — in us and through us and in the world and people around us. He then gives us free will, allowing us to actually choose to move nearer to him. And when we are nearer… wow… the peace, love… the hope and the confidence… available amidst this so often baffling, bitter, and challenging world…
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GOD: “Grace. You want her back?”
BRUCE: “No. I want her to be happy no matter what that means. I want her to find someone who will treat her with all the love she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who will see her always as I do now, through your eyes.”
GOD: “Now that’s a prayer.”
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Pondering my prayers for the week ahead… recognizing that faith has the potential to grow and change us all…
Respectfully…
AR