The movie is an emotional and visual roller coaster. From start to finish it takes the form of a home movie shot under the breath of Godzilla's cousins. The "video tape" is supposedly recovered from "what is formally known as Central Park." After an hour of hollaring (silently of course) "no you idiot, don't go in there!!!" the "secret video tape" ends rather abruptly when the those doing the filming are bombed, while hiding under a bridge. They don't escape ... at least you don't think they do. You don't know what exactly happened to New York City afterwards. You don't know where Godzilla's kinfolk came from. There's so much mystery that is breathing fire over you.Needless to say, I left the movie feeling like I had hungrily bought a gallon of Blue Bell ice cream only to arrive home and find that it had melted and poured all over the back seat. What a waste.
But as I thought about the movie, I came to realize how brilliant the creators were; for all I could think about was the movie. Even now I still have the feel of running helplessly through the streets trying to keep the main characters from entering stupid alleys. Even now I still feel the weight of sadness at the "loss" of their lives. Even now I am wondering what exactly happened in Manhattan. Did the US military finally kill that thing?
Mystery is so wonderous. It's painful ... not knowing all the details. Yet mystery is what holds all the known and unknown details together. Mystery is frequently known by its alias: "Beauty."
In this series of posts that is considering the relationship between faith and politics, I believe we can lose an appropriate appreciation for how messy real life can be. Yet it is in this every-day-ness of life that God became man and redeemed his people. This every-day-ness is full of depravity ... is messy ... is where the dots are not all connected. Yet it is in this every-day-ness which he builds his people together as his temple. How?????
I don't know. How do I live as a believer in the midst of a depraved society? How do I live with other believers in the midst of a depraved society? How do we make disciples out of reprobates? How do we fight for good and against evil with good and evil people? I don't know.
Appreciating mystery is certainly alien to many in our culture. Yes, I know that it is not right to use mystery as an incubator for spiritual and intellectual laziness. But it need not be feared like an alien on the loose in Manhatten. Nuking mystery actually incinerates our ability to worship our mysterious Triune God--Father, Son, Spirit.
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