Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The Zero Effect

Several years ago on an airplane I saw a movie that few I know of have seen (or even heard of). It's called Zero Effect. It's an off-base detective movie starring Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller. It draws you in with comedy and quirkiness, and then ends of moving you with emotion and serious overtones. It is brilliant and hilarious. It is clever and challenging.
One of the themes that comes through in the end is the question of how we deal with hurts in our past. Some of us "master the art of detachment" and others of us strike back because we do what we "have to do to feel right." And sometimes the most powerful moment we experience is when we fess up to another human how deeply we are hurt by the arrows of life. There is a very well-done scene in Zero Effect that exhibits this exact scenario in a surprising way.
I guess I am saying two things by talking out this:
1. I love movies. I think movies reflect what is inside us, and they can move us and bring up issues we need to deal with. I love this movie. The last time I watched it (before last Sunday) was when I was a senior in high school. It was just as good as a remembered it. Good movies are worth it.
2. When I think about the hurts I have experienced, I realize that I have a longing and a bent to bring my hurt to someone. I can bring it to the person who hurt me. Sometimes this is needed because of the relationship with that person. But that person, even if he apologizes profusely, can never solve the hurt. I can bring it to another person. This is usually necessary as we bear each other's burdens. I can bring it to Jesus. He gets it, and I can actually trust him to make things right. At least he can make things right in the age to come. He will make them right.
We all long to share our hurts. When it happens, powerful things take place. (Watch the movie if you want. Watch for the scene in the diner when Z forgets himself.) Let's bring our hurts first to Jesus, and also to one another. If they are there, we need to deal with them. And they are there.