There's no pictures and this is a bit lengthy but I was moved by it and thought I'd share it. You know the saying "follow your promptings"
Bill and I rented a movie last night titled "Doubt" It was a good movie and at the beginning a Catholic Priest gave a sermon that really moved me. I found myself thinking about it again this morning. I love sermons. They seem to be things I can relate to and not always based on scripture. Below is the sermon from the movie. I made a personal note in parenthesis.
"What do you do when you're not sure?
Last year when President Kennedy was assassinated, who among us did not experience the most profound disorientation and despair? (We can more recently relate to Sept.11) Which way? What now? What do I say to my kids? What do I tell myself?
It was a time of people sitting together, bound together by a feeling of hopelessness. But think of that - - - your bond with your fellow being was your despair. It was a public experience. It was awful, but we were in it together.
How much worse is it then to the lone man, the lone woman stricken by a private calamity? No one knows I'm sick, no one knows I've lost my last real friend, no one knows I've done something wrong. (you can make your own list) Imagine the isolation. You see the world as through a window - - on one side of the glass happy and troubled people and on the other side you.
I want to tell you a story. A cargo ship sank one night. It caught fire and went down and only this one sailor survived. He found a life boat, rigged a sail and being of a nautical discipline turned his eyes to the heavens and read the stars. He set a course for his home and exhausted, fell asleep. Clouds rolled in and for the next 20 nights he could no longer see the stars. He thought he was on course but there was no way to be certain and as the days rolled on, the sailor waisted away. He began to have doubts. Had he set his course right? Was he still going on towards his home or was he horribly lost and doomed to a terrible death - - no way to know. The message of the constellations, had he imagined it because of his desperate circumstance or had he seen truth once and now had to hold on to it without further reassurance.
There are those of you in church today who know exactly the crisis of faith I describe and I want to say to you - - doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty.
When you are lost, you are not alone
5 comments:
Aunt Beth and I saw this movie about a year ago. I think we both liked it...I know I did. I never knew that you liked sermons but I too love hearing how other people think and interpret things. Thanks for sharing!
Wow. Goosebumps. I would almost say that doubt can be a bond more powerful than certainty depending on the circumstance and point one is in their life. I think I'll rent this movie next week. Thanks for sharing. The soup was yummy by the way. I emailed you about it.
That was cool. Thanks for taking the time to get that all down to share... I can relate to it, myself, sometimes. Very good sermon.
i loved this movie too Janet. I especially loved the visual of the wind blowing the seeds like that old story about the feathers (illustrating ruining someone's reputation).
I will have to add this to my netflix. Thanks for sharing.
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