Emotional Movies

 “But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”  Mark 5:33-34

     I absolutely love to watch old movies.  Are you emotional over movies?  I am; not so much over people, but especially over animals.  As a child I was crazy about horses to the point of making scrapbooks, reading every horse book, and watching every horse movie.  One old horse movie that I remember crying profusely over was Gallant Bess.  It based on a true WWII story of a soldier in the Solomon Islands who finds and nurses a wounded horse back to health.  Gallant Bess later saves the soldier’s life, and becomes the unit’s beloved mascot.  Eventually the unit must leave the island, and Gallant Bess.  At the climax, as the transport ship is setting sail, Gallant Bess decides not to be left behind and begins to swim out to the boat in rough waters.  She does make it, but the whole time I cried relentlessly.  First, I cried because they had to leave her behind, and then because she was in such peril trying to get to the ship and her master.  I cried so loud my Mom came to tell me if I didn’t stop, she wouldn’t allow me to watch!  I couldn’t bear the thought of not watching, and yet, I cried so hard I could hardly see the TV screen.

     My Mom worried I would make myself sick over the horse in the movie.  I think she wanted to make sure I could separate the movie from real life.  She kept saying it was just a movie!  Maybe they were just movies, but they certainly did their job making me feel totally enveloped in the story, and I always had the idea, that somewhere, real life was like that for some people.  I had great empathy for them.

     Over the years there have been many movies, like Gallant Bess, that I watched once and would not watch ever again.  I became so emotionally disturbed by them that once was enough.  Some of these movies were Old Yeller, The Yearling, Tonka, and The Red Pony.  As I matured, I became better able to handle the emotions such movies invoked, and better able to enjoy the overall story.

          Why am I telling you all of this?  Simply because the Bible is like these movies for me.  The Bible stories are so rich, and full of meaning for everyday life, that I become totally absorbed in the stories.  I am able to place myself there and feel strong empathy toward the people in them.  The closer I get to the climax of the Crucifixion and The Resurrection, the more emotionally involved I become.  And, as a mature adult, I can channel these emotions into real life actions.

     One of my favorite Bible stories is of the hemorrhaging woman in Mark 5:25-34.  After years of suffering she follows along in the crowd, until finally, she comes close enough to reach out and touch Jesus’ cloak.  Immediately, power drains from Him and she is healed.  Her faith, her belief in Him, made her well.  For some reason this story touches my heart in a profound way.  It is probably the reason I cannot sit in doctor’s offices, or emergency rooms, without praying for all those I see there.  It is probably the reason I cannot pass by a person who seems lonely, or physicallly suffering, without praying for them.  Even though I do not know what their sufferings are, I have great empathy for them.

     Read in your Bible daily.  Learn to know the people in the stories.  Let them stir emotions and empathy within you.  And then, channel these emotions into your real life.

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