I've just found out about the film Snakes on a Plane. Apparently, it's an action/suspense film about...well...snakes on a plane. Starring Samuel L. Jackson. Seriously.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Samuel L. only signed on to the movie because of the ridiculous title. The filmmakers wanted to change it to "Flight 121" but Jackson insisted on the original title.

And he's not the only one who likes the title as it is. It seems there is a growing cult fan base for the movie, as evidenced by the numerous items on this fan site. So an as-yet-unreleased B action movie nabbed an A-list actor and a strong fan base, all because it has an unintentionally funny title.

Arrested Development - Season Two

Arrested Development - Season One

So this morning I decided to see what all this Evangelical fuss is about the Quiet Time. I opened up a copy of the Bible we don't happen to use very much, and one that includes short devotions on many of the pages. I happened to be in John 10, the Parable of the Good Shepherd, and saw a devotion by Tim LaHaye on 10.10: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." His piece was titled "God's Special Remedy," so I decided to read it since I am always looking for remedies, especially if I am not sure what ailments may be lurking inside of me. This is how that experience went:

Tim LaHaye: Most miserable or depressed people...

Peter: Are these two synonymous? This 'or' is grammatically ambiguous. Is being miserable the same as being depressed, or are they two different things? Or perhaps by 'miserable people' he means "people who are miserable to be around." Whatever way it was intended, I get the feeling that depression will be treated with great sensitivity in this devotion.

Tim: ...are not conscious of the fact that their misery emanates from the God-vacuum within them.

Peter: You would think that any vacuum worthy of being called a God-vacuum would be able to suck with such power that nothing would emanate from it, misery included. I hate to say it, but we might have to give the edge once again to Dyson in the vacuum market. Perhaps we have been given a dysfunctional metaphor to distract us from the implication that depression has the power to separate us from God, to drive his Spirit right out of us.

Tim: This spiritual deficiency or God-void makes them vulnerable to a variety of mental, emotional and physical maladies or disorders.

Peter: And leading "scientists" tend to say that if depression is caused by any deficiency, it is more likely a deficiency of certain chemicals in the brain. Idiots.

Tim: Whether they are antagonistic to God or just neglect his presence in their lives seems to make no difference. They experience an empty hunger within them for God, but they lack the spiritual resources to help them cope with the problems caused by their ego-dominated decisions.

Peter: If there's one thing I've found that helps a depressed person recover, it's calling them an ego-maniac.

Tim: This God-void is universally as old as man. The Bible calls it "death."

Peter: First of all, what purpose does 'universally' serve in the first sentence? I can't even come up with a humorous guess. Please post one if you can. Second, I thought what the Bible called death was, well, literal death. It's not like once they got out of the Garden of Eden and people started turning up dead that they went to God and said, "Hey, wait--you didn't say anything about actually dying. We thought you meant we'd just end up feeling blue."

Tim: [Skipping the short explanation of what happened to Adam and Eve, along with the transferance of original sin to all humanity, the terrible position it leaves everyone in, and the introduction of Jesus as the "special remedy."] The abundant life he offers not only fills the God-void in a person's spirit, but also provides him with the power to eliminate depression and other emotional problems.

Peter: Ahhh. Thanks, Tim.

***

Okay, so I ought to let you know I have many close friends and family members who have struggled or are struggling through depression. What's more, my wife and I spent something like two years walking, sometimes crawling, and sometimes just sitting exhausted through her depression. I tell you this because I know it biases my opinion. But it also informs it.

Something about growing up as a white Evangelical in America makes you look at Jesus's suffering and death as the curious precursor to what really matters: his resurrection. And the power of his resurrection becomes something akin to a "Get Out of Death Free" card. Flash your membership card and say goodbye to depression, sickness, poverty, and finance charges. We contemplate his Passion and say only, "He suffered so I wouldn't suffer." While I recognize the beautiful injustice in a God who freely chose death so that I might have life, I cannot let myself forget that there has always been a great many who look at his Passion and say, "He suffered because I suffer." Why, after all, would Jesus have to face death if we were not dying? Why would he have to endure brutality if we were not oppressed? And why would he have to become the "man of many sorrows" if we were not already grieving?

The gospel accounts tell of a man who was sorrowful to the point of death. When he was crucified he wondered whether or not a God-void had settled in, and crowds pointed at him as he hung overhead, telling him that what he feared was true--God had obviously abandoned him. What other reason could be given to explain what he was experiencing?

Jesus had already given the reason long before, as recorded in John 10: A wolf was attacking the sheep, and someone needed to lay down their life. The hired hands didn't care, and took the Darwinist attitude that everyone who could escape was probably meant to, while the sheep who were left behind only proved by their inability to escape that they did not have the Lord as their shepherd. But the mark signifying that we are the Lord's sheep is not some supernatural ability to run away from wolves. We know that we are the Lord's sheep because he jumped into our grave and fearful situation and fought to his own death for us. It is our inabilities, our weakness, and our need that most qualify us to be his sheep, and it is our depression that most qualifies us to inherit his joy.

He is not the kind of shepherd who stands in the green pastures and waits to see which sheep make it out of the valley. He goes to his sheep, gathers them together, and leads them along. Their dangers become his dangers, just as surely as his inheritance will become their inheritance. Otherwise, it would be a lie to call him Emmanuel. A shepherd called God-With-Us never forsakes the sheep, but teaches them the full refrain:

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.

and then from the same song:

He has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
He has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him--
those who cannot keep themselves alive.

Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn--
for he has done it.

He has wielded the power, he has saved the sheep, he has done it.