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Experiencing "The Passion of the Christ": a Freeper experiment in prayer
self

Posted on 04/11/2004 9:26:57 AM PDT by proud American in Canada

After September 11, I wrote. The intensity of my emotions compelled me to write. I wrote a short story based on the heroes on Flight 93, who may have saved the White House by forcing the plane down into a Pennsylvania field. I wrote articles, one of which, had it been shorter, or I a faster editor, would have made the editorial pages of the Ottawa Citizen. Writing helped me to express and to understand the grief and rage, the anguish and love for my fellow human beings, that I felt at the sight of dozens of people taking the hand of a stranger and jumping to their deaths.

I am compelled to write again, having just experienced Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. And yes, it is a film that is not watched, but experienced. It is a film with the power to change lives. After seeing it, several people have confessed to crimes, including one Florida man who told police that he had killed his girlfriend several years before. This man was not a suspect and never would have been found out had he not decided to confess.

People who see this film are not typical movie-goers. This is not a popcorn-and-candy snacking kind of film. Instead, this film attracts many people who haven't seen the inside of a movie theater in years. I saw people in wheelchairs, with canes and walkers. I spoke to one lady who, like I, still had tears in her eyes after the last credit had disappeared from the screen. She has seen it four times.

Sadly, many people who might have chosen otherwise have been frightened away by critic's warnings of graphic violence. Many people don't want, as CFRA talk radio host Lowell Green said, to "watch two hours of a man being tortured."

But the film is not two hours of torture. Yes, there are scenes that are difficult to watch, and yes, there is a scene where Jesus is flogged mercilessly. But unlike the gratuitous violence in so many movies today, there is a reason for the violence in this film. The pain that He endured--and endured voluntarily--has meaning. Had Jesus Christ died of natural causes at the age of 93, there would have been no redemption. Instead, He chose to die a painful death to atone for the sins of humanity. And that is the message of this film.

It is a simple message, one we have all heard since childhood. Many of us listen to that message without really hearing it. But this movie allows us to truly understand and appreciate the meaning of that message. We watch as a very human Jesus Christ is tempted in the Garden, as Satan tries to shake his faith-it is too big, Satan whispers, one man cannot do it alone. We watch as Jesus prays, "Thy will be done, not mine." And we watch as the consequences of that decision unfold-as the acts and omissions of everyone, the Pharisees, the Romans, the decision-makers and the bystanders, lead to Jesus' overwhelming pain and suffering. He could have stopped everything if He wanted to; He could have come down from that cross at any time. But He did not. He chose to die for our sins.

Why? That is the question we cannot help but ask ourselves. Given the stupidity, the cruelty, the heartlessness that we human beings continually exhibit toward our fellows-qualities that are demonstrated graphically in this film-why in the world are we worth such a supreme sacrifice? I believe the answer can be found in Jesus' own words: "You are the light of the world." In other words, the Divine Light is inside each of us, and it shines forth when we love. When we indulge our negative emotions, when we judge ourselves and others, when we act out of fear or hatred, we condemn ourselves to Hell on Earth.

In an odd sense, the feelings evoked by this film are the same as those evoked on September 11. We grieve with Mary; we rage at the brutality of the Roman torturers, and we understand Pilate's anguish. And we are suddenly able to appreciate the tremendous depth of the love that Jesus Christ had for us. It is a love that is breathtaking in its power to heal. And the next time I feel irritated with my children, or angry with my husband, or infuriated by the sight of dead Americans' bodies being desecrated by the very people they came to liberate, I will remember that love.


TOPICS: Current Events; General Discusssion; Prayer; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
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I have submitted this article to the local paper. I certainly hope it will be published, but after thinking about it, I decided to "publish" it here on FR, because I wanted us to try an experiment.

We know that prayer works, and the prayers of people working together is especially strong. When Hurricane Isabel was still a category 5 and people were panicked, late night talk radio host George Noory asked his listeners to pray, to focus on reducing Isabel's strength. Several hundred thousand people did so... and Isabel just petered out.

Now, we are facing a war with terrorists who, in their rage, fear and desire to destroy us, are allowing evil to flourish in their hearts. Jesus Christ's message is that the way to fight evil is through love; hatred never ceases with hatred.

Most of us cannot actively serve in this war in a physical sense. So what if we focused, as an online community, on filling these terrorists' hearts with love? "Love thine enemy," Jesus said. What if we gave it try? We could pray, visualize, meditate, use any form that appeals to you, but wouldn't it be a miracle if the strength of that resistance in Iraq melted away, just as Isabel did?

1 posted on 04/11/2004 9:26:57 AM PDT by proud American in Canada
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It is Easter Sunday and I'll have to leave shortly for family activities. I will check back here, however, later on.

If any of you have a prayer ping list, I would very much appreciate it if you could pass this along. :)
2 posted on 04/11/2004 9:28:20 AM PDT by proud American in Canada
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To: Howlin; EggsAckley; EternalVigilance; summer; Peach; PhiKapMom; ohioWfan; AnnaZ; ...
Hi,
I'm pinging you to an article I wrote that I thought you might find interesting--it's on The Passion of the Christ and an idea for focused prayer for the situation in Iraq.

I hope you enjoy it.

and Happy Easter, btw. :)
3 posted on 04/11/2004 9:31:55 AM PDT by proud American in Canada
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
ping--perhaps you might be interested in this article that I wrote after seeing The Passion of the Christ for the first time yesterday.
4 posted on 04/11/2004 9:38:11 AM PDT by proud American in Canada
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To: proud American in Canada
Beautiful!!!!!

I understand what you feel after seeing the "Passion of Christ". I've seen it 3 times (so far) and from the very beginning it 'attaches' you to the event in a manner that leaves you speechless.

Happy Easter.

redrock

5 posted on 04/11/2004 9:39:57 AM PDT by redrock ("One man with courage....makes a majority"---Andrew Jackson)
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To: redrock
"I understand what you feel after seeing the "Passion of Christ". I've seen it 3 times (so far) and from the very beginning it 'attaches' you to the event in a manner that leaves you speechless."

Thank you! I finally went by myself yesterday and will go tomorrow with my husband. This movie is a work of art and love that just may change the world. :)
6 posted on 04/11/2004 9:42:16 AM PDT by proud American in Canada
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To: Xfan
Hi, Xfan,
if you're around -- Happy Easter and *ping* to an article I wrote. :)
7 posted on 04/11/2004 9:43:26 AM PDT by proud American in Canada
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To: proud American in Canada; armyboy; Kathy in Alaska; MoJo2001; LindaSOG; LaDivaLoca; Fawnn; ...
Thank You for posting this.
armyboy saw this movie today in Baghdad
Easter Sunday PING
8 posted on 04/11/2004 10:26:33 AM PDT by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Thank You Troops, Past and Present)
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
thank you for this good info ping.
9 posted on 04/11/2004 10:35:39 AM PDT by bogdanPolska12
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To: proud American in Canada
An excellent post
10 posted on 04/11/2004 10:36:07 AM PDT by mylife
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To: proud American in Canada
Ping for a great idea for prayers! Please ping your lists, thanks.
11 posted on 04/11/2004 10:43:26 AM PDT by netmilsmom ("You can't fight AQ and hug Hamas" - C. Rice)
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To: proud American in Canada
Yes, please count me in - I will pray with you. I will pray that God will stretch forth his hand to save us. It would not be beyond reason; it would not be the first time God had intervened in battle -


The Destruction of Sennacherib

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd,
And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there roll'd not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron
12 posted on 04/11/2004 10:44:15 AM PDT by dandelion
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
Not to be picky but I saw it at Camp Anaconda. about 40 miles from Baghdad.
13 posted on 04/11/2004 11:01:12 AM PDT by armyboy (Posting from Sustainer Army Airfield Balad, Iraq. All Gave Some...Some Gave All.)
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To: armyboy
Go camp Anaconda!!! I didn't know they'd let you have "Passion" there...

I hope it lifted all of you up - we want you to have only the best. Everyone _I_ know here at home is praying for you all.
14 posted on 04/11/2004 11:05:03 AM PDT by dandelion
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To: armyboy
You're being picky ;-)!
Happy Easter and thank you for your service. God Bless!
15 posted on 04/11/2004 11:06:15 AM PDT by netmilsmom ("You can't fight AQ and hug Hamas" - C. Rice)
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To: proud American in Canada
"Passion" bump. I've seen it twice so far.
16 posted on 04/11/2004 11:45:42 AM PDT by Ciexyz
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To: proud American in Canada
I shall join you in the Mysterious Reality of Prayer.
17 posted on 04/11/2004 1:10:16 PM PDT by Socratic (Yes, there is method in the madness.)
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To: armyboy
My heartfelt thanks to you for your service to our country and our freedom. You have detractors here, but they are a small vocal minority - most of whom are in the media. Happy Easter and stay safe.
18 posted on 04/11/2004 1:17:16 PM PDT by Aeronaut (If we are not 'one nation under God,' what are we?)
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To: proud American in Canada
I definitely shall join with you in prayer.
 
Both events (9/11 and The Passion) moved me to write on them as well (probably to the chagrin of many, LOL) and I, too, was overwhelmed by The Passion's demand to love as a response. Divine.
 
I've seen it three times, and hope to see it again this Thursday. People around the world are walking in to theaters spiritually blind, and walking out wanting to see even more clearly. May the new view be eternal.
 
 
I post the following every Easter:
 
 
Seven Stanzas at Easter
~John Updike~

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the
molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers,
each soft Spring recurrent;
it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled
eyes of the eleven apostles;
it was as His flesh: ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes,
the same valved heart
that - pierced - died, withered, paused, and then
regathered out of enduring Might
new strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor,
analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the
faded credulity of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.

And if we will have an angel at the tomb,
make it a real angel,
weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair,
opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen
spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of
beauty, lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by remonstrance.

19 posted on 04/11/2004 1:28:21 PM PDT by AnnaZ (He is risen!)
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To: proud American in Canada
.

MEL's -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39081







A definate Don't Miss:


'Changed Lives: Miracles of the PASSION'

http://www.MiraclesofthePASSION.com


(TBN-TV Special/Last Easter Sunday airing tonight @ 11pm Pacific Time - 2:00am Eastern Time)



.
20 posted on 04/11/2004 1:37:36 PM PDT by ALOHA RONNIE (Vet-Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.LZXRAY.com)
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