Since we only have generator power right now and no internet, that means no TV – except for movies on DVD. We only have a few DVDs so we put a call out to a couple of friends who threw some of their favorite movies into a priority mail box and mailed them to us. So, in the evenings we’ve been having fun watching a movie. The best part for me is how the movies our friends sent us reflect them and their love for us.
Saturday night, we watched a movie called “The Kid” with Bruce Willis. The basic story is that the Bruce Willis character is a successful man who is visited by his eight-year-old self. It’s not a hallucination, others can see the boy, and the two Rustys eventually realize that they are together to somehow change their own life. It is a funny and touching and poignant. (I don’t think I’ve ever actually used that word before, hmmm, maybe a little ostentatious, but it works…). Anyway, one of my favorite recurring lines in the film is when the older, harder, colder Bruce Willis tells others who are complaining that he’ll call the “Whaa-ambulance” for them. (And I love that our friend, Liz, who sent us the movie says that’s her favorite part, too!)
So Saturday evening I went to sleep thinking about how often I whine and need someone to call me a “Whaa-ambulance”. Certainly often enough for the 911 operator to lose patience no doubt. I’ve blogged several times about whining. I talk with Karl and friends about my worries. It’s how it works. There’s nothing wrong with needing a “Whaa-ambulance” once in a while. On Sunday morning we went to church, and Pastor John’s sermon was the last of a series based on 2 Corinthians 1: 1-7. The point of the series was that God is the God of all Comfort. I’ve been listening carefully to this series, wondering why it is I don’t feel all that comforted a lot of the time. Thinking that this sermon was going to provide me with the key to accessing God’s comfort. How to call the Divine “Whaa-ambulance”, if you will. But. That didn’t happen. Instead, one of the points he made was that when we are complaining, we are shutting out God and not being open to the comfort He is providing. Ouch. He went on to say that the afflictions we face in our lives are not about us. Wait, what? Of course it is about me. I’m hurt, I’m sad, I’m worried, everyone should know that, God should know that, and God should fix it.
Right? right? oh dear…
Hmm, where was I? Oh yes, afflictions and trials and sadness are not about us, they are about glorifying God and showing others how His power enables us to walk on the water despite the stormy seas. The Corinthians passage tells us that Christ’s comfort overflows in us so that we can share it with others. Okay, then. Here’s my Thanksgiving week aha and challenge: When I whine, I am talking so loudly that I can’t hear the still small Voice that speaks to me. So, I’m going to work on rebuking that childish donna’s voice in favor of listening to God’s!
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