Point Proven.

I just watched Pete's Dragon for the first time in about 10 years, and by the end I was POSITIVE that it was a blatant morality play from the days when Disney was still wholesome. Unfortunately, I can't find anyone to agree with me. At best, the movie is listed as a film that is 'less evil' than the most recent films.

With the exception of the film's end, the ENTIRE movie feels like a gospel allegory.

Pete is You
The Dragon (Elliot) is God/Jesus/Spirit
The Gogans are Sin
Nora is the "Good Person"
Lampie is the "Perosn in Denial"
Hoagy and Terminus are "Religion"
The Townspeople are "Religious People"
Paul is "The 'Lost' or Unevangelized Man"

I found some really strong and relevant parallels, but I don't want to spoil the magic.
Holler at me on the dizzle if you want to talk about it. I think I'm going to buy the dvd and use it as a Bible study.
Why not?

You know how I am. At first, I was thrown off by the love song Pete sings to Elliot. Of course, my first thought (knowing Disney) was to look for hidden homoeroticism. When this didn't get me too far, I felt bad for even trying to. That's when I spotted Jesus. I thought I was so clever to spot this, but by the end, it seemd so obvious that I began to feel stupid for not seeing it earlier. Upon a little research, I guess I was wrong...Nobody else has written about it.

But as Jesus said...If you look for it, you'll find it.
And I was looking for Jesus, and once again, I found him in a movie.
Even if he didn't 'belong' there.

It's a Brazzle, Dazzle, Day!

I Sin With My Mind,

And not with my hands.
As if I truly believe that I'm safer this way.
Or Cleaner.
And all this from a man who believes that what's not seen matters the most.
More than what can be touched and videotaped.

Donnie McClurkin

Cinema is a language that I speak very well. Sometimes (as with english) I totally miss the point, but most times it's the most effective way for me to speak and hear.
I think God speaks to me through films too...I think I've told the story before about how I went to an early showing of "Rat Race" starring John Clease, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Rowan Atkinson et al...
Anyhow, at the time, I was really "going through it" as they say.
I was bawling like a baby by the end of the movie.
Yes it's the same Rat Race you're thinking about.
Will it make you cry? Probably not.
Did the makers intend for it to be so poignant?
Maybe not.
In any event, God flipped their script, and used the 90 mins to visit with me.
Thanks, God.
ANYWAY...I say that because I just saw the Donnie McClurkin Documentary (info linked in the title).
It totally changed my view of the man.
His story is very touching, and I actually LIKE the guy now.
It almost nearly made me like gospel music (THAT'LL be the day!)
LOL
Let's not get carried away. "Black Gospel" singers are still some very strange people.
It was like when I saw Kirk Franklin in concert.
He told the crowd that he had been addicted to porn for 18 years.
Believe it or not, that's the kind of stuff I like to hear. It means that they're real.
I like hearing spectacular people talk about how tacky they are, not how excellent they are.
I wanna hear a rapper talk about how he's chronically late.
I wanna hear what I hear behind closed doors.
Tell everyone that you're addicted to throwback jerseys.
I think that's what's appealing about Kanye and Lauryn Hill and Matt Kearney and Pigeon John. It's the honesty I'm after.
Do you think that the dynamic (everchanging and 'magical') ministry is found in the song that you sing over and over and over?
Broken people want to meet broken people. You're not pulled together. I promise.
Anyhow, much love to D. McClurkin for keepsin in reals.

The documentary was well constructed. It had just enough, and some intriguing and entertaining special features.
Congrats to director Stephanie Frederic.

S'all for now.
Wait...
YO! Donnie McClurkin has a sister who's freakin HOT!
But I think she's married...so..yeah.
That's all.
Had two great conversations with Mike and Mahlet last night. Three cheers for good friends.

How was my vacation??

Check out the title link to see our now defunct RV.
We were at Al's house when our RV, home for some of our group, was totally flooded out.
I got some really dramatic footage of the water, and the RV, and my parent's reaction, and then their discussion about God's will, and how sometimes you just have to roll with the "punches". We were totally bling bling insured, so it was just a setback. Why the setback? We'll see in time.

This photo and this article should also let you know how SMALL the town is...it's like 20 times bigger than the town I'm in now, but where I am now, we're so close to D.C. and Annapolis and B-more that nobody cares...but in Seguin, TX EVERYTHING'S a news story.

Same thing happened when we went to Lancaster. We got into a car accident, and it was mentioned on the news...
So it's the small town mentality and not really the small town SIZE that matters....
Where we live now, it literally takes 4 minutes to drive all around town...

And we still have neighbors who think my dad is the mayor of D.C.
Don't even ASK where that one came from.