Some of you remember what it was like to go to Blockbuster and spend more time in there picking a movie to watch than you would spend watching the movie. Well now with streaming, it's only a little better (because you don't have to get up off the couch). My family and I love to watch movies in the evenings, but sometimes... well... you settle.
So last night we watched Shazam: Fury of the Gods. I had actually liked the first Shazam movie, and we like Zachary Levi (we're big fans of the show Chuck and if you've never seen that show, do check it out). Also, I can remember that window of time in the late '70s when superheroes based on Greek and Egyptian deities were all the rage. I watched the Saturday morning live action show Shazam and right after it there was one where the hero was Isis! (I turned the channel at that point. Even then, I knew that was too much.)
So anyway, this latest Shazam movie proves my theory that the Marvel got all the good writers and DC got the dregs. It's all special effects with no story to speak of, and what story there is, is so ridiculous that even suspending reality for a fantasy superhero movie, I just couldn't get into it.
My point for this morning, though, is just to say that I find it really annoying, this fascination with pagan deities as superheroes (even in the Marvel universe, Thor and his crew hold no interest for me). Part of it - I admit - is that I really prefer science fiction to fantasy (a conversation we've had more than once here) and so the whole idea of a universe where magic is real but God is not - well, I just have no patience for that. And now I'm supposed to get into a story where there are multiple gods and demigods, and in fact humans can have divine powers, but no mention of the actual God. Not even a nod to God's existence, like we get with Captain America (thanks, Cap!).
At the end of the movie, when the "bad guy" gods are destroyed, and Shazam has sacrificed him self to make that happen, and it looks like he's dead, and (just because) someone says that if there were any gods left he could be saved, but there are no gods left... and then you hear a voice say, "Well, there is one god left." - dare I hope? Nah. It's Wonder Woman.
I know it's too much to ask to expect Hollywood to give proper acknowledgement to the real God. But they clearly don't mind offending God. And at the end of the day, that's what the "fear of the Lord" is, that's the beginning of wisdom - not that we are supposed to be afraid of God, but we are supposed to be afraid of offending God. Hollywood has no healthy fear of God.
I'm back, up and running, and ready to go - I should have a new JOURNEY episode within the next week or so - and because you are my loyal peeps, here is an exclusive, just-for-you, behind the scenes SNEAK PEEK into my new office:
This was for March 24th, recorded for the Ascension App
Thanks for your patience - here is our next installment of The Journey - it's session # 96, but I'm also calling it PART 1 of a "miniseries" on John chapter 6.
Whoever watches it first, please let me know if it looks good or if there are any problems with it - I get through the first two sections of the text on the feeding of the 5,000.
Enjoy!
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
So begins a song I wrote back in the day, to commemorate the martyrs of Rome - which was the point of the name of the band I had for about 20 years - the band was called Remember Rome. The song was called Midnight Light. At about midnight on the night between July 18th and 19th, in the year 64 AD, the emperor Nero's men started the great fire in Rome, which would be blamed on the Christians, starting the long trajectory of Roman persecution of the Church. Here's a video of Remember Rome playing the song - do I look younger? This was recorded right around the turn of Y2K, about 25 years ago.
I highly recommend this podcast in general, but this concept of "Transhumanism" is really important to understand, and in my opinion is not unrelated with the whole AI thing - check this out:
