Storytellers are the most powerful people in the world.
Wow!
I believe this. And I believe that every one of us has a story to tell. It's just that, most times, all we want to talk about are mundane things like laundry, or other chores, or endless health updates, or endless bragging about children and grandchildren, or complaining about all of the above. So much so that our own stories get lost.
The Bible for me, is, primarily a big book of stories. And especially the Old Testament stories about flawed human beings (like me.)
My friend Trish and I have a unique relationship. We're both storytellers and we are able to go deep in our conversations. We're both aware that being fully authentic is a matter of trust and safety.
Several days ago Trish told about a movie she'd seen that affected her in a deeply powerful ways. She asked if I'd seen it but it took me a while because I had it confused with a movie with a similar name. However, I felt these films had nothing in common.
But both of them tell powerful stories which conjured up our own personal stories that we ultimately shared with each other. Again, we made ourselves vulnerable in ways that are almost impossible and not safe without mutual trust.
And somewhere in the midst of all this sharing, we discovered an interesting twist.
Trish's film was Far From Heaven. It came out in 2002, was critically acclaimed, and won all kinds of awards. It portrays a "perfect" wealthy, suburban family in the 1950s. It uncovers racism, homophobia, and other huge social taboos in the 50s. The woman experiences a glimpse of salvation through the relationship she has with the gardener. I saw this film in 2002. I did not care for it. It was entirely too painful for me. And the colors, which were chosen to depict the 1950s, disturbed me.
My film was All That Heaven Allows. It was made in 1955. It was about an affluent widow who falls in love with her much younger gardener. Her grown children, as well as all of her friends are aghast She's forced to give up the relationship but the children fill in the void by buying her at television set.
The twist we discovered was that, instead of having nothing in common, the film Far From Heaven was inspired, in part by the film, All That Heaven Allows. It was Trish who pointed out the connection between the significance of the gardeners.
So, again, if you want stories about "perfect people" don't go to the Bible stories or other important works in literature. They too, are all about messy, sometimes painful lives. Like ours.
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