Here's 👆 a short clip from the movie "Evan Almighty"
God(Morgan Freeman) speaks volumes about how things in life should be lööked at as opportunities when life doesn't go as one may have planned. Everyone should stand together side by side because we're ALL at an opportunity to be courageous.
caught the second half of evan almighty on the tv. i hadn't seen it in like ten years and it really tickled my brain. i was very surprised by the tension between the quite biblical notion of faith - a no holds barred surrender, a complete abandon of control over to God's design that you don't understand, can't see and don't want to be a part of but decide to trust anyway - and the very wishy washy, american brand of christianity where it's all in service of your own personal growth and it all fits neatly into the american dream and you're the main character of your salvation.
it's especially weird because i think that the scales are tipped towards radical faith in the movie, while maintaining that aesthetic of the comfortable american faith—almost like it's trying to reassure its audience it's not actually challenging the status quo. except it is, because it keeps deconstructing that comfortable habitual religion even as it wraps itself in it. i should write something about it because there's a lot to be said but it struck a chord. which, huh, it shouldn't have. because it's evan almighty lol
"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?
If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous?
If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"