HOW TO FIND FAITH AT THE MOVIES: Your Real Agenda

In the series HOW TO FIND FAITH AT THE MOVIES, John has invited us to take a hero’s journey in search of faith through watching movies. As seen in our ordinary world, we first encountered The Fool’s Quest to Understand. Then we considered how each of us is called to adventure through well-drawn questions that present a true issue: Issuing the Call to Adventure. The issue that John posed for himself was re-worded after addressing The Role of Reluctance, Encountering Your Wise Ones ( Part One & Part Two), Crossing Your First Threshold, and The Power of Love and the Love of Power. As redrawn his issue changed:

From: “Whether, since I will someday die,
I want to take only those courses of action that satisfy
my love of life?”

To: “Whether, since I will someday die,
I want to take only those courses of action that satisfy
a life of love?”

In this post, John asks you, acting as the hero of your own journey in search of faith, to please answer the following questions about your real agenda as you arrive at the hero’s inner sanctum:

(7.35.) What is limiting your worldview?

(7.36.) Who is sharing your inner retreat?

(7.37.) Losing what relationship is hurting you the most?

(7.38.) Where are you locating your issue\’s \”battleground?

(7.39.) WHO IS YOUR WORST ENEMY?

(7.40.) HOW IS YOUR REAL AGENDA BEING REVEALED?

Your Real Agenda

7.35. Obstacle: What is limiting your worldview?

Like a tornado hiding in a rain cloud, there is a sense in which your real agenda is wrapped up in your world view.

Here’s a link to the Wikipedia article on what is mean by the phrase “world view.” And here’s a brief description of the phrase’s elements.

“While Apostel and his followers clearly hold that individuals can construct worldviews, other writers regard worldviews as operating at a community level, and/or in an unconscious way. For instance, if one\’s worldview is fixed by one\’s language, as according to a strong version of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, one would have to learn or invent a new language in order to construct a new worldview.

“According to Apostel, a worldview is an ontology, or a descriptive model of the world. It should comprise these six elements:

1. An explanation of the world
2. A futurology, answering the question \”Where are we heading?\”
3. Values, answers to ethical questions: \”What should we do?\”
4. A praxeology, or methodology, or theory of action: \”How should we attain our goals?\”
5. An epistemology, or theory of knowledge: \”What is true and false?\”
6. An etiology. A constructed world-view should contain an account of its own \”building blocks,\” its origins and construction.”

You may have noticed a missing piece in this descriptive model. What is missing? You. How to describe you? To discover your real agenda, you must know yourself.

As I noted in The Fool’s Quest to Understand, you may identify yourself as one or more of the following types of characters:  father,  youngest daughter, oldest daughter, middle daughter, middle son, oldest son, youngest son, mother.

When you go on retreat, you take yourself out of your ordinary world and out of your ordinary time. Listen for a moment to the song Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? and recall how pleasant it is to get beyond the constraints and demands of your ordinary world.

A short way to retreat is to move through the labyrinth found embedded in the floor of the Cathedral at Chartres.

Today, you can also move through a virtual labyrinth as a form of retreat at sites like Online Labyrinth.

Given the many character types noted above, you can approach such a retreat from many angles: from the present (choice-making), from the past (judgment-making), from the future (decision-making), from the horizontal (material or physical) plane, or from the vertical (spiritual or mental) plane. I suggest pairing the characters with these different approaches in the following ways:

• Father may approach the movement as if facing his issue entering from the vertical plane, so to speak, trying to stay above it all and in the present. (See for example the hero in The Human Factor.)

• Youngest daughter  may move as if facing her issue from above it, entering from the vertical plane, and aimed at the future from the present. (See for example the hero in V for Vendetta.) 

• Oldest daughter may move as if facing her issue from above it, entering from the vertical plane, and aimed at the past from the present. (See for example the hero in The Silence of the Lambs.) 

• Middle daughter may move as if facing her issue entering from the horizontal plane ahead of the entrance and aimed at the past from the present. (See for example the hero in Aliens.) 

• Middle son may move as if facing his issue entering from the horizontal plane from behind the entrance and aimed at the future from the present. (See for example the hero in Kiss of the Spider Woman.) 

• Oldest son may move as if facing his issue from below it, entering from the vertical plane, and aimed at the past from the present. (See for example the hero in Citizen Kane.) 

• Youngest son may move as if facing his issue from below it, entering from the vertical plane, and aimed at the future from the present. (See for example the hero in The Matrix.) 

• Mother may approach the movement as if facing her issue entering from the vertical plane below it all and in the present. (See for example the hero in The Unbearable Lightness of Being.) 

Regardless of which way you see yourself moving into such a labyrinthine retreat, the goal is to reach the center, the inner sanctum of your issue where your real agenda is discovered. All of the 34 questions you have been asked prior to this one have been offered in an effort to take you through the turning points that lead up to the entrance to the center.

But knowing what type of character, even on such fundamental levels, though necessary, is not sufficient in today’s modern world.  Not knowing “who” you are, even when you know “what” you are, is a fundamental limit to your world view.

Identifying “who” you are becomes critical as part of your search for faith. Placing your faith in what you are  may be fine for those who do not ask the further question of just who you are. But for those who take the probe this much further, placing faith in the unknown you becomes quickly problematic. In this context, please look at the movie The Bourne Identity.

The character played by Matt Damon is called “Jason Bourne.”  This “Jason,” newly born from the sea, surely was meant to remind you of the Greek hero named Jason. That Greek hero  was the one who went looking for the Golden Fleece. And though the Golden Fleece is said to represent many things, in this movie for us moderns, the thing being searched for is your true identity.

Not knowing who you are, your true identity, limits your world view by:

1. making your explanation of the world incomplete;
2. making it difficult to know where you are heading, since you don’t know where you are coming from;
3. rendering questions of ethics virtually unanswerable;
4. questioning the purpose of pursuing goals in the first place;
5. making true and false questions a matter of relative preference; and
6. placing the re-construction of your de-constructed world on your shoulders alone.

Even  Jesus recognizes the importance of people knowing who they are when he asks a seemingly straight forward question of Peter [Matthew 16:13-20]:

“When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They replied,  ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter said in reply, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.”

Though there are numerous things to learn from this exchange, what strikes me now is the fact that Jesus seeks out part of his identification via the recognition of his followers. Had Peter not given his answer or answered something else, where would Jesus be? Where would you be?

But this question and answer was not the end of the identifying process in the case of Jesus and his chief responder, Peter.  Remember The Transfiguration and the identifying process described in the Gospel  of Matthew:

“After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, ‘Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’ And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, ‘Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’ ”

Thus, while it is important that others help you know your identity so that you may seek your real agenda, it is especially significant that God tell you and others your identity so that you may find your real agenda.

How do you get there from here?

There are doubtless many ways, but retreating from the world is a long-standing approach.

7.36. Retreat: Who is sharing your inner retreat?

The song Who Are You?by The Who repeatedly asks the question for modern men and women. But in asking it, something else is disclosed.

There is you, the person being asked the question, and there is another, the person asking the question. So in addition to discovering who you are, you are also faced with having to learn who it is that is asking you the questions.

The movie Dances with Wolves always strikes me as one of the most recognizable plots of a person going out in search of himself after suffering from the hell of an internal  civil war.

The movie shows a man who is trying to live by himself to get away from it all. He becomes a lone wolf, only to meet a lone wolf and learn to “dance” with him. “Dances with Wolves” is the name of the character Kevin Costner plays. It is a name given to him by the American Indians he meets up with on his journey.  His retreat is clearly a transforming one, but he is ultimately unable to escape the suffering of the world, since the push into the American frontier is relentless.

Compare this form of retreat after a war to the form of retreat Jesus takes before going up to Jerusalem and the war he is in for there. Whereas “Dances with Wolves” learns to deal with the ways the American Indian men and women live, with Jesus at the House of Martha and Mary, you may learn more about the ways (called the active and contemplative lives) of Martha and Mary.

There is a sense, though, in which “Dances with Wolves” and Jesus are contemplatives in action.  Both go on retreat, but not do not do so alone.

What happens, though, when the issue you are trying to face is loneliness itself?

7.37. The Well: Losing what relationship is hurting you the most?

Listen a moment to The Righteous Brothers sing the plaintiff song about how it feels to lose the love of someone:  You\’ve Lost that Loving Feeling.

Is there a deeper sort of loss?

Within you is “The Well” and when you lose your loved one, “The Well” seems bottomless. But it also signals that you are getting closer the center of your labyrinthine journey.

The movie Sleepless in Seattle is helpful in exploring dimensions of “The Well” and how to get out of it.

Tom Hanks character is a recent widower with a young son who is determined to help his father get out of “The Well” and is quite creative in his approach. A radio talk show becomes like a prayer-vehicle that reaches across the country to Meg Ryan’s character who is caught up in a conventional relationship that lacks a touch of magic.

Since I expect most readers have seen the movie, I will not elaborate now on the various plot points available. However, I will note that, as depicted in the movie poster, it is possible to be lonely during light and dark times.

According to John A. Sanford, the late Episcopal priest and prolific Christian writer, the hurt, that may well induce depression or worse, comes from a dis-connection from the source of the love relationships: God. When we are connected to God the Creator, we are happy and creative. When we are disconnected, we become unhappy and fall away from our creative responses to the problems and issues of life. In Sleepless in Seattle the children lead the main characters back to life.

The Raising of Lazarus shows us how Jesus experienced the loss of a love when his friend Lazarus was entombed. Jesus proclaimed the way to get out of “The Well” for you and me and anyone who follows him when he says to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

With Mary, Jesus wept and prayed: “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” Then Jesus he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus came out.

The restoration of life to a lost love is breathtaking to those who believe, but understandably threatening to those who believe otherwise or claim it is just magic at work.

When Jesus raised Lazarus, the battle lines were quickly drawn. But where was the battleground to be?

7.38. Biting Through: Where are you locating your issue\’s \”battleground?

In Bonnie Raitt’s song  I Can\’t Make You Love Me, you can hear the sounds of the sadness a lover feels when rejection is eminent.

This may be especially difficult when the issue is some form of the one I have presented: “Whether, since I will someday die, I want to take only those courses of action that satisfy a life of love?”

The battleground seems to be between the lover and the beloved. What or who stands between them?

According to Dr. Fritz Kunkel, as described by John A. Sanford in the book What Men Are Like, there are four egocentric personality types that can mask your true self and thus set up a barrier between would-be lovers.

Kunkel calls them: “The Turtle”; “The Tyrant”; “The Clinging Vine”; and “The Star.”

“The Turtle” is the kind of egocentric personality who readily withdraws into his or her tough outer shell when security is threatened. “The Turtle” types do not stick their necks out for anybody but themselves. They are vulnerable only when turned over, because they have no way of righting themselves.

“The Tyrant” is the kind of egocentric personality who readily tries to dominate any and all who pose a threat. They want to win at all costs. They are vulnerable to stronger tyrants that inevitably come along.

“The Clinging Vine” is the kind of egocentric personality who readily latches onto another’s strengths because they have no back bone of their own. When the wall to which they have attached themselves crumble under the weight, these types simply move on to another wall.

“The Star” is the kind of egocentric personality who readily shines in the light of adoring fans and thrives being the center of attention. They are most vulnerable when the shine wears off and the limelight moves elsewhere.

The movie Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? gives an excellent depiction of these four egocentric types and the results of their potential for interacting. As you might expect, it is not pretty.

Richard Burton plays “George,” a college professor. He is married to Elizabeth Taylor’s “Martha,” who is the daughter of the college president. “Martha” has invited “Nick” (George Segal), a new younger, good-looking professor, and his wife “Honey” (Sandy Dennis) to dinner. The guests do not know that they themselves are to be the “feast.”

What transpires among these four egocentric characters in a single night of conversation is gut-wrenching. Not a movie for children, it is drama worth watching for some of the best acting ever presented. It is one of only two films to be nominated in every category of the Academy awards.

Without revealing too much of the plot, let me just say that “George” is “The Turtle”; “Martha” is “The Tyrant”; “Honey” is “The Clinging Vine”; and “Nick” is “The Star.” When “George” finally understands what he must do to deal with the ego-centricity all around him, including his own, he must decide whether to “sacrifice” their “son” in order to save “Martha” and their home.

Self-deception has been well addressed in Daniel Goleman\’s book Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self-Deception  from a psychological perspective. But I find John Mullen\’s book, written from a philosophical, even Christian perspective better. It\’s called  Kierkegaard\’s Philosophy: Self Deception and Cowardice in the Present Age much more profound and on target.

As difficult as the movie is to watch, a foursome movie that shows similar ego-centric characters transforming into heroes is Enchanted April where the battleground is in an Italian castle with a much happier result.

The battleground for Jesus is his spiritual home on Earth: Jerusalem. Coming up over the hill before entering Jerusalem, Jesus says:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned, desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

When Jesus Enters into Jerusalem, he knew he was about to face a variety of Jewish Groups at the Time of Jesus  (Ethnic/National/Religious Groups in Biblical Times), including Pharisees, Herodians, Scribes, the Elders, the Disciples of John, Sadducees, and Essenes, as well as Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate.

Using Kunkel’s egocentric personality types, I see Jesus at the center of the following array of potential egocentric barriers.

Biting through such barriers, what are you up against? Your worst enemy.

(7.39.) THE DEVIL: WHO IS YOUR WORST ENEMY?

In classic mythology, at the center of the labyrinth was situated the Minotaur.

Here’s a brief description from Wikipedia:

\”After he ascended the throne of Crete, Minos competed with his brothers to rule. Minos prayed to Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull, as a sign of support (the Cretan Bull). He was to kill the bull to show honor to Poseidon, but decided to keep it instead because of its beauty. He thought Poseidon would not care if he kept the white bull and sacrificed one of his own. To punish Minos, Aphrodite made Pasiphaë, Minos\’ wife, fall deeply in love with the bull. Pasiphaë had the archetypal craftsman Daedalus make a hollow wooden cow, and climbed inside it in order to mate with the white bull. The offspring was the monstrous Minotaur. Pasiphaë nursed him in his infancy, but he grew and became ferocious, being the unnatural offspring of man and beast, he had no natural source of nourishment and thus devoured man for sustenance. Minos, after getting advice from the oracle at Delphi, had Daedalus construct a gigantic labyrinth to hold the Minotaur. Its location was near Minos\’ palace in Knossos….\”

Encountering the half-human, half-beast Minotaur in the center of your quest for faith is dismissed by some as simply mythology. But in doing so, the short-sighted fail to grasp the underlying, non-literalist meaning that was intended.

\”…Literalist and prurient readings that emphasize the machinery of actual copulation may, perhaps intentionally, obscure the mystic marriage of the god in bull form, a Minoan mythos alien to the Greeks.   \”

Your sense of being split between body and mind may suggests you are still struggling with the Minotaur. In our Christian culture, the Minotaur is nothing compared to “The Devil,” though. Take a listen to the Rolling Stone’s Sympathy for the Devil. Sound familiar? Or do you no longer believe in “The Devil”? Rather than being half-human and half-beast, “The Devil” is a spirit, a fallen angel and much more real than the Minotaur when you consider accounts of exorcisms.

In the movie The Devil’s Advocate, Al Pacino plays a character meant to be the Devil’s Advocate. Keanu Reeves plays a lawyer whom the Devil is trying to seduce. While this morality play does have a somewhat happy ending, when seen along with the documentary Inside Job, the Devil’s role at the center of our faith journeys becomes more clear.

And, of course, for those among us who do not or who no longer believe in the actual existence in the Devil outside of our imagination, please consider re-viewing The Exorcist. I saw it when it first came out when I was living in Washington, D.C. during the time of Nixon\’s impeachment. The impact of the movie was phenomenal as it should be even today.

When Jesus Drives the Money-Changers out of the Temple, he is signaling a critical action in the journey of faith. The faith issue up for decision is best dealt with when the consideration of money, the Devil’s Mammon in any of its forms, is not permitted in our inner sanctum.

In our modern society, we our often told we cannot have mission without margin nor have margin without mission, thus giving rise to the question of what to provide in the place of money. But then we read of Pope Francis attacking the “cult of money.” What to do?

Curiously, this consideration opens the door to the discovery of your real agenda.

(7.40.) THE FORCE: HOW IS YOUR REAL AGENDA BEING REVEALED?

Take a listen to Bob Dylan’s Gotta Serve Somebody, followed by John Lennon’s Serve Yourself and you will feel the terms of your real agenda emerging. It is a matter of service. Who or what are you going to serve. Dylan’s song presents myriads of options to the underlying question. Lennon’s song seems to suggest there is only one answer: yourself. But is serving others or serving yourself something you would do without compensation?

In the movie Romero you find a stark depiction of the difference between serving yourself and serving others and learn how service may be compensated.

Here’s how Wikipedia describes the plot:

\”In the late 1970s, El Salvador is ruled by a corrupt, totalitarian government and the wealthy few rule the poverty-ridden masses. To maintain their power, the government sends firing squads to gun down any people who speak out in a campaign of fear, including labor organizations and human rights activists. As a result of these, assassinations, executions, and disappearances become commonplace. When the Vatican elevates conservative Oscar Arnulfo Romero (Raul Julia) to Archbishop of the El Salvador Catholic church, the military rulers believe he will quiet the rioting masses through his speeches on nonviolence. At first, that is precisely what he does, as he is not focused on politics. In fact, few think that he is even right for such a powerful position. Romero wants to believe everything is fine, but when soldiers fix elections, torture dissidents, and kill a dedicated priest and friend of Romero, the archbishop decides to accept the facts and finally condemns the regime in radio messages, even leading a peasant march into a church occupied by soldiers. He also insults and defies the El Salvadoran president, an iron-fisted general. The country is nearing a tumultuous, ten year-long civil war. In 1980, when military death squads continue their violent killing sprees, Romero continues to speak out, gaining international attention. Romero is now torn. Help the rebels initiate a bloody civil war, agree with the government to secure his own life, or try and find common ground through nonviolence, like Gandhi and King? But can he successfully unite a war-torn country on the brink of civil war armed with only the power of his voice and the words of the Bible?\”

(The cause for possible sainthood for Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador has been unblocked.)

The faith issue that comes down to a matter of what or whom to serve is forcefully depicted when Jesus Washes Peter\’s Feet. At the very outset of the Lord’s Last Supper, Jesus shows us his way of serving. Moreover, this way of serving, this washing of another’s feet as a gift without expectation of compensation, may well have been something Jesus learned when his feet were washed by the tears of a sinful woman whose faith had saved her. (Luke 7:36—8:3.)

How do we account for gifts? Especially the gift of faith?

Perhaps the accounting you are looking for is not a matter of debits and credits but the kind of accounts that are stories.

In Carol Pearson’s book, The Hero Within, the author describes six hero types found throughout literature: “The Innocent”; “The Orphan”; “The Magician”; “The Martyr”; “The Wanderer”; and “The Warrior.” Though the first two are less prevalent, the other four match Kunkel’s ego-centric types as a kind of cure for them.

Thus, “The Turtle” finds the way out of ego-centricity via the hero’s journey of “The Wanderer.” Likewise, “The Tyrant” is made worthy via the role of “The Warrior.” “The Clinging Vine” finds purpose in becoming “The Martyr.” “The Star” finds inner light by becoming “The Magician.”

When you look at the stories of Jesus from the perspectives of the four Gospel writers, you may see how the stories of Jesus parallel these approaches, even if you take the stories of Jesus only as stories. But when you see the stories of Jesus as revelations of God expressing himself in, with, and through his Son, the real agenda of God and \”The Force\” He brings to the life of Jesus may now be seen as affecting your own real agenda. \”The Force\” of the true God  of the Trinity may become wrapped up in the story of your life. How does that work? We’ll see more next time.

*******

Next time we will experience the supreme ordeal of your hero’s journey. But for now, please concentrate on your issue and discovering your real agenda in examining your issue of faith. Thanks in advance for your participation.

HOW TO FIND FAITH AT THE MOVIES

Using

The Decision-Maker’s Path ™

By John Darrouzet

(Cumulative Ordered List of Themes, Questions,

Musical Warm-Ups, Movie Links, and Meditations)

© 2013 John Darrouzet. All Rights Reserved.