See No Evil

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

See no evil...

Recently, I learned just how hypersensitive to gore and violence and the like I am.

I got the first notion to that conclusion when I watched Voyage of the Dawn Treader and had close my eyes during the trench bit. Dont get me wrong, I love that movie. But parts really got to me.
Violence and scary things really, deeply affect me.

I just left the room on the brink of tears while my family and I were watching True Grit (the new one that came out recently.) It was gory beyond reason. I can't and won't go into details, I'll let you look that up on your own if you want. It greatly disturbed me. I left the room terrified and nauseated. I do NOT recommend that movie for anyone. Please do go watch it because you heard about it in my blog. That's a bad idea. Don't do it.

See no evil

Why does our culture crave gory, violent, horrific movies? I don't know anyone who has walked away from a horror movie and thought "hey! That was a great movie! I'm a better person for watching that. It taught me something that will impact my life" Instead, more often people gain the habit of looking behind shower curtains and sleepless, nightmarish nights. What is the gain?

John Eldredge notes briefly on the subject in his book Wild At Heart. Though I don't remember the way he phrased it, he put it down as our human desire to be strong, to be invincible, because if we are invincible, we are independent and don't have to rely on God. I don't to John Eldredge justice, he sounded a lot better than that, but that's what it really comes down to, doesn't it? We, as broken, fallen humans don't want to have to rely on God.

While I was watching True Grit, I texted one of my closest friends seeking a distraction. Any distraction. I want to share some of the conversation here:

Me: I'm at the point of tears watching True Grit. I'm afraid.

Friend: Poor girl. Why do you choose to be afraid? You have forgotten your courage. You are stubborn and there is strength in that.

He was trying to encourage me, even though I read it as sarcastic before he clarified :P. that's exactly my point. He was trying to help me find within myself the strength to persist in watching a movie I admitted to finding frightening. He pointed to a source of known strength and tried to help me draw on that to endure.

While I've been writing I've been thinking. I believe God instilled that fear in us intentionally, to point back to how very much we need Him. Instead of seeking strength in frightening circumstances from ourselves, I should be reminded how much I need to rely on God for my protection and strength. That would be pretty cool. I'm going to try to do that.



SEE NO EVIL

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