Far From Heaven

My pastor had me write a mission statement for my life. I thought it to be really useful, and think that everyone should do one.

Mission Statement: I have a passion for being honest with people in everything that I do because honesty is at the heart of being genuine and “love must be sincere” (Romans 12:9). I want to tell those who Christians don’t think can be reached the good news that is actually good news through prayer and patient love that does not seek results.

One of the greatest events in my life occurs when either my music is on random shuffle and plays exactly the song I need or when I watch a movie that is able to articulate my thoughts clearly. Doesn’t that sound trivial? I think more than half of everything that I’ve written has been a result of either listening to a song or watching a movie. So this is of course written off the movie “far from heaven,” which is an extremely depressing look at a couple in the 1950s.
I am one of the last people left in my dormitory at Emory. I have been on-call this weekend so I was forced to stay for spring break for the weekend. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write something but I guess I had to watch a movie to force me to do it. Not going to lie, it is kind of scary being all alone in this big dorm but I’m not sure if that’s because it is actually scary or because I am feeling alone recently. I had to think twice about whether I should write that because it is always difficult to be honest with others because it means you have to be vulnerable. The verse on Wheaton College’s wall pushes me to be more open, “therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16). The movie for me portrayed pretty clearly what a big struggle is for many people. None of the characters in the movie were able to reconcile what they loved and what they wanted. That is not very clear so I’ll give an example. A black male in the 1950s wants the best life for his daughter but also has an inherent love to stand for equality among blacks and whites. White people stone his daughter and black peole throw rocks at his house. Because of his love for his daughter he leaves his dream and goes to another place so that his daughter can have a better life. All my life Christians have told me that the choices that I make are black and white. There is a right choice and a wrong choice, one that will glorify God and one that will satisfy my own desires. I’ve found that a lot of times we come to a decision and we don’t know what the right decision is and I wanted to pat myself on the back and let everyone else know that it’s ok when we aren’t sure.
I also thought it would be important for me to remind myself that though it looks as if we are far from heaven and that this world looks even more broken every single day the kingdom of God is in us. “you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17) This is good news.