Been wondering what the purpose of this blog is really supposed to be. Reviewing the stuff I see or read? I have some strong feelings about being a critic. I guess what is of more importance is taking the road from the world back to my faith.
Here's the thing. There is a disconnect between the Christian faith and the world it is supposed to be changing, at least as far as I can see. I know my bible (not as well as I should) and I know what I am supposed to believe, but that seems very abstract, very 'out there', not something livable. And I am just trying to live my life like everybody else, maybe make a difference, Lord willing.
So, "Rear Window", 1954, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Made 60 years ago, caught it on cable, recorded it, watched it all the way through. Last time I watched it, I was younger and more foolish. Took too much advantage of the FF button. Messed it up for myself.
What on earth can a movie made sixty years ago have to say to us today? Aside from presenting one of the ten most beautiful women in the world so far as I am concerned?
Anybody remember the name Arne Svenson from the news recently? Had an art show for his photographs in NYC in May, pictures he took of his neighbors. One he was seeking to sell for $7500 according to the website I found to refresh my recollections. Jimmy Stewart was a photographer in the movie, home from overseas assignments with a broken leg. He had nothing to do but look out the rear window of his apartment, and discovered a murder taking place.
Putting two diverse facts next to one another like that doesn't prove more than a coincidence, but it makes me reflective.
In "Rear Window", Hitchcock weaves together various stories from various apartments facing into the courtyard around the central story of the murder. Those details enhance the 'peeping tom' quality of the movie. How far do you do to meddle into the affairs of other people? Strangers in particular? When is it your business and when is it not your business?
I have a rule, meddling in the troubles of other people when it is not your concern is like pulling the ears on a Doberman.
Svenson is making money off of photographing his neighbors. "Why don't they just draw the curtains?" I have curtains open in my own home right now. What if I was the subject of the next art show? I would be royally ticked off.
So I need to work toward some profound Christian truth to wrap this up. Because there has to be a wrap up, right? I am not so sure. There may just be a coincidence of vocabulary.
Or there may be more. The central concept of our church work is 'neighborhood'. Our Anchor statements, as a church, are all written around what it is we will do in service to our neighbors. But is it busting into the lives of strangers for our own purposes, for good or for ill? Is there something morally questionable about doing something like that? Not illegal necessarily, but morally questionable?
Sharing our faith, if we can even begin to define what that really looks like, runs up against the rule of sharing it with neighbor. And there are a lot of neighbors who have been turned off by neighbors forcing a gospel message at them that they did not ask for, did not want, did not fit, and may actually have caused damage. And the people of faith hide behind the power of the Holy Spirit as an excuse.
"Jesus said go forth and make disciples of all nations" is the battle cry of the Great Commission. And there is case after case after case of people whose lives were made better by the introduction of the truth and power of the gospel into their lives.
Is it just about flipping the coin, rolling the dice, getting into the affairs of others with the good news of the gospel? Or is there something more profound that we need to be looking at. The characters in "Rear Window" did not need to involve themselves in the murder they thought they witnessed. But they pushed because they thought they were doing the right thing.
In the case of murder, right and wrong are quite clear. Not always in the rest of life.
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