When is it OK to disagree?

I recently saw the movie, “Whip It.”

I'm pretty particular about time invested in a movie.  It needs to have a constructive message and, for awhile, this one was iffy.  The teen, Bliss, was lying to her parents, and lying about her age to her new friends in the brutal contact sport of roller derby, and generally making decisions that were leading to unhappy results.

The redemption came when, after bitter words with her parents, Bliss left home.  The women on her racing team were older and tough; yet one of her new friends took her in, offering this kindly advice, “It sounds like you’re being selfish in your relationship with your mom.  If my son lied to me the way you lied to your parents, he wouldn't run away because I'd break his legs.

Turning to her little boy, she smiled warmly, "Just joking!"

Back to Bliss, "Just because you have a new family (with me and my son) doesn’t mean you should leave your old family.” 

Bliss’s indiscretions had also gotten her best friend arrested for underage drinking, followed by her new boyfriend cheating on her.  Bliss returned home sad and wiser.
 
Genuine love in the family allowed space for Bliss and her parents to talk and listen to one another, and move forward.  Everyone struggled to, and did, rise to the occasion. 

What I took away is the important message that unselfish love makes a solid basis for relationships.  It creates space for apology, repentance, and forgiveness.  When all the elements are there, love supports moving past mistakes into stronger relationships. 

A friend once told me, "It's all right to disagree, if we disagree in love."   I think "Whip it" reached that conclusion.

Among the worthwhile movies

The Blind Side.

True story of what it means to care about one another. If you admire strong women, if you are in the mood for a feel-good movie with funny moments, whose greatest villain is poverty, this may be for you.

The video below isn't the movie trailer (you can go to YouTube for that); this is a good news commentary with his real family, not just the actors in the movie.

Meeting God half way

One loved puppy

"Where the Red Fern Grows," is a great family movie. It's a love story between a boy and his dogs.

Billy Coleman, growing up in the Ozark mountains, at about age 10 wants a pair of redbone hunting dog pups more than anything in the world. Because his family is very poor, he asks God for these puppies.

Eventually he asks his Grampa why after all his prayers, he still has no dogs. His grampa says, “Maybe you need to meet God half way.”

Billy wants to know what this means, and Grampa wisely tells him to think about it.

Think Billy does. Then he puts his prayer into action. He begins doing chores for the neighboring farm families – cutting wood, painting fences, selling vegetables to seasonal hunters. Every nickel, dime, and quarter earned goes into a jar. At the end of two years he has saved enough to buy two fine puppies.

Another way to phrase Billy’s insight is “God helps those who help themselves.” Religious leader Mary Baker Eddy observes that if our prayers are sincere, we will live consistently with the spirit of those prayers.

Was it Ghandi who said, “Become the change you want to see”?

Billy realized he had to be a participant in achieving his prayer.

Christ Jesus taught his followers (throughout all time) to be doers. There’s a balance between prayer and doing. Taking time for prayer undergirds whatever action follows.

So I have to ask myself when I pray, how willing am I to meet God half way? How willing am I to change my thinking from that of an observer to that of a participant? These are two different attitudes.

How willing am I to drop old opinions, old habits, old ways of looking at things in exchange for fresh ideas, fresh approaches? Not change for the sake of change, but change in order to keep up with the times. How willing am I to leave old familiar routines that don’t necessarily promote progress or growth?

How willing am I to do my share to achieve my prayers?