redemption

i love movies, books, songs, etc. with themes of redemption. i think in the world of tracts and sinners' prayers, the depth and process of redemption is often overlooked. Christ never offers a get-rich-quick scam, but instead a total revolution of our being, and others' beings, and the whole world around us. every time i get discouraged by degradation in our world, human, evironmental, economic, i just can't help thinking about God's plan to make all things new. how cool is that?

redemption is why i love the vigilates of love, as the theme seems to saturate every song...no, every chord. it's why i love "the apostle," where raw honesty and authenticity with God brought about healing in a very broken character. it's why i love this random book called, "Buffalo for the Broken Heart," by Dan O'Brien about the redemption of an exhausted cattle ranch by returning the native bison to it. and after much arm-twisting, it's one of the reasons why i love "napoleon dynamite," even though i think they could have nailed it with a fantastic pedro speech at the end, the substitutionary atonement provided by napoleon's dance proved effective. oh, and don't forget every wes anderson movie ever made.

the funny thing is, this was intended to be a movie recommendation, but i still haven't mentioned the movie. "everything is illuminated," with elijah wood is one of my new favorite films. it provides one of the rare movie moments that literally took my breath away. talk about redemption. i obviously don't want to ruin the movie, so i'll let you find out for yourself. let me know what you think.