Watching Field of dreams again
- The Rev. Jamey Russell
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Hello Saints,
First a quick reminder that tomorrow is the bishop's annual visit to Trinity. We will be receiving two people into the Anglican Communion as well. We encourage everyone to make it to church this weekend if you can. As an added incentive, there will be a tasty feast for coffee hour afterwards!
So for movie night this week we watched an older movie, Field of Dreams (1989). This was one of my favorites as a young adult. I actually owned a Laser Disc copy (if you know what that format was, you're as much of a geek as me). It has been decades since the last time I watched it. As we are heading in the heart of baseball season, I figured why not? It was great watching it again. I don't even remember if I was a professing Christian the last time I watched it, so it was great to view it with my "younger self" memories as well as a different worldview than I used to have.
The movie is a great example of how someone can tell a story that is permeated with the gospel, even if they don't mean to. I have taught many times about how Paul kept finding ways that God was speaking to other cultures when he was evangelizing (read Acts 17 for an example). There is a plethora of topics in the movie that speak to the Christian story. There's the obvious theme of acting in faith. Other topics include healing, reconciliation, gratitude, family, serving other, and many others. I couldn't help but think about Revelation 21:4, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes," as the movie ended.
The thing is, the movie is based upon the book Shoeless Joe, written by W.P. Kinsella (who also co-wrote the screenplay). Kinsella is a self-proclaimed and outspoken atheist. He did love using supernatural or magical elements in his writing but was not himself a believer. And yet, despite that, the story overflows with grace, saturated in forgiveness, and brazenly says there's a perfect heaven. One can even see a vision from Isaiah 2:2 at the end of the movie. Heaven breaks into Earth (granted, in a baseball field in Iowa, but why not?), and all kinds of people are streaming to it. It's definitely worth giving this movie a (re)watch.
Jamey +
P.S. As a side note, you might want to ask Dave Fisher about the guy who plays the catcher in the movie.
P.P.S. Kinsella did an interview a few months before he died in 2016, specifically about his book The Gospel of Simon. He says a few interesting things if you are curious. Here's the link.
Prayer:
O heavenly Father, you have filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Song: The movie's soundtrack was done by James Horner. Horner has done some of the best work on film scores from that era. Another movie he worked on was Sneakers, directed by the same person who directed Field of Dreams. One of the tracks from Sneakers is called Cosmo….My Old Friend. It is a beautiful, haunting, and melancholic song featuring Branford Marsalis
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