I wonder how the new comedy Evan Almighty works around or addresses the fact that God made a promise to Noah that he will never again send a flood to destroy the earth. Steve Carrell and Morgan Freeman reprise their roles (as the newscaster and God, respectively) in this sequel to Bruce Almighty.
I actually liked Bruce Almighty. At first I thought it was one of those Hollywood movies that mock religion. Its trailer showed Bruce (played by Jim Carrey) in various scenes using his newfound Godly powers to his own ends. How blasphemous, I thought. But boy, am I glad I gave the movie a chance. When I saw the film, I discovered it’s about how we as mere mortals would seriously bungle handling the task of being the Supreme Being if given the chance. In one scene I recall, Bruce grants everyone’s prayer requests to get things over with. As a result, it wreaks havoc in many people’s lives. The old adage, “Be careful what you wish for, it just may come true,” comes to mind. Bruce lacked God’s infinite wisdom and sovereign knowledge in granting everyone’s wishes.
Another scene that stood out for me, but which I vaguely recall its details, is the part at the end where Bruce, overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being “God,” cries out to the heavens. He realizes he can not do things on his own, and with outstretched arms surrenders everything to the God of the universe.
This scene hits home for me, and many other believers, I suspect, for it mirrors a point in every believer’s life, where one realizes he or she is not the master of one’s own destiny, that someone bigger is out there, one who is really in control. And this “someone” actually reached out to us in our state of unbelief and rebellion and revealed himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the only one who perfectly handled the role of God here on earth, as he gave himself up willingly as a sacrifice on the cross, to pay the penalty for our iniquities. On the cross, he bore the brunt of the Father’s wrath, the wrath that we so deserve – we, the so-called masters of our own destiny. By trusting and believing in Christ’s death and resurrection, we pass from death unto life, as the perfect righteousness of Christ is laid on our account. God sees us as he sees Christ, unblemished and holy, as if we never sinned. Thus, we can enter into God’s holy presence, for eternity.
300 comes out on DVD today. There was controversy around the time of its theatrical release, especially among Iranians, about how Persians, and in particular, King Xerxes, were depicted in the film. Frank Miller’s Xerxes was a giant who looked like Dhalsim with makeup on.
