Weightlessness

A few nights ago, I rented a movie from Redbox. What actually drew me to this particular movie was that it was directed by Clint Eastwood (whose movies I usually enjoy and often have a good meaning to them) and starred Matt Damon (whose talent I have grown to appreciate after seeing him in movies like The Good Shepherd, Ocean's Eleven, Invictus and one of my favorite Damon performances, The Informant! ).


When I read the synopsis of Hereafter, I knew this was "A drama centered on three people -- a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy -- who are touched by death in different ways." I didn't hold out much hope of the storyline having a Christian worldview and the reviews I saw weren't that favorable. Plus, I'd never even heard of this when it was released, so it must not have been one of Eastwood's best. Nevertheless, I was still drawn to it and was intrigued by the premise...these types of movies have always fascinated me.

And just as I expected, it really wasn't that good. Sure, it had a nice warm-fuzzy feeling about how peaceful dying is, but some of the acting (especially from one pre-teen actor) just wasn't that good. There were a couple of scenes when Matt Damon even seemed to be overacting but I think it's more likely that the actors he was sharing the screen with, just didn't have the ability to keep up with him.

All that being said, I AM thankful that I spent the two hours watching it. As God is so faithful to do, His Holy Spirit used this movie to glean from it two lessons that He is still in the process of teaching me...more accurately, I'm still in the process of learning them!

The first lesson? That when we are blessed enough to have witnessed or participated in the Divine (in this case someone experiences death and comes back to tell about it), it's rare to find someone else that will understand or sometimes even believe you. People who have no room for the sacred in their lives will often challenge you, observe that you're just rationalizing your unusual (by the culture's standards) behavior and write you off as an oddity...someone that's gone off the deep end. Yes, I have experienced this to varying degrees and not just in our present circumstances.

The second lesson? This is the one I get excited about! Because it's such a simple...child-like lesson, yet I know I will never fully grasp it until I see Jesus face-to-face.

I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone that may want to see it, but there is a scene when a young boy asks a psychic (who throughout the movie has proven his gift is real) to contact a deceased loved one. The dead person communicates through the psychic how great it is where he's gone to and the feeling of "weightlessness" is amazing. Honestly, as I'm typing this, I don't remember if the psychic in the movie says, or if I just thought "They all say that". Haven't we all heard or read an interview with someone that has supposedly died and come back and they all refer to this feeling of weightlessness. Nothing new right? Isn't this were we all get the theory that in Heaven we're going to fly or be unfettered by the laws of gravity, physics, temporal bodies, etc.?

But as I sat there watching this movie, as clear as a voice to my heart, Holy Spirit assured me that 'It's not the weightlessness of body they're talking about...it's the weightlessness of the spirit.' Huh?? But within about two minutes, I knew what He meant.

From the beginning of time, in Eden no less, we were never created to bear the burdens that we bear. The shame and guilt of sin; the worry over provision (ouch!); the feeling of futility and doubt; fear of what others or even we are capable of; fear of or shame from failure; insecurity; a feeling of "lost-ness"; self-pity; self-degradation; sins of racism, materialism, and every other -ism that may have been handed down to us and beyond our control; and yes, control...or the desperate grasp of control...yet, knowing that our whole world is spinning out of control.

And then we die and "poof" it's all gone...and NONE of those things matter. You stand before the Creator of the Universe who loved you so much that He came to Earth and died for you so that you have the privilege of standing before Him...naked and unashamed (naked, spiritually speaking...I can find no evidence for or against clothing being worn in Heaven!) Okay...NOW I understand why they all describe this feeling of weightlessness!

Just imagine if we could take our every care, burden, fear, worry...on and on and on and dump it F-O-R-E-V-E-R...what would that feel like?? I'm guessing it would feel a lot like "weightlessness".

But Jesus taught us to pray to our Abba (Daddy)..."Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" (See Matthew 6:9-11) That means we can experience some of the sacred, some of the divine, some of the pleasure, delight, joy, freedom of Heaven in our here and now. As Christians we are commanded in Scripture to live out this Kingdom before a world that only knows hell. So why can't I experience and live out this Heavenly weightlessness as well? Didn't Jesus say in Matthew 11:29, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS"?

And is it just coincidence that I watch this movie two days before I hear Beth Moore talk about the fruit of the Spirit that is peace? If you've been reading my blog very long and you still believe in coincidence then you must not know the same God that I know. In Moore's discussion of peace, she points out that in Scripture over and over again, the supernatural peace that comes from the Holy Spirit can only be received by allowing Jesus to rule over that area of struggle. She repeats numerous times, "Peace Rules".

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." (Colossians 3:15)

Some of her comments include:

"The personal rule of Christ is always associated with peace."

"If I want increased peace, I have to increase my bowing to Him."

"When I am wigged out in an area of my life, it's because I haven't submitted to His authority in that area."

Makes sense now that when we die and God is the ONLY One that can rule our lives, we naturally have supernatural peace or...weightlessness. But I want to go further...I want to KNOW this weightlessness NOW. After all, "Your Kingdom come...on Earth as it is in Heaven."

One of the things Beth Moore teaches you at the very beginning of Living Beyond Yourself is to EVERY morning, meet with God in prayer and confess to Him any sin we need to confess, thank Him and believe He has forgiven it. Then admit and give to Him all of our concerns...one by one...from the smallest to the biggest. I'm even going so far as to shake my hands, make a gesture of wiping them off of me or blowing them away as I push my hands out to remind me that they are going away from me. Then when I've poured out my confessions and my concerns, I can ask the Holy Spirit to fill me up with Him...His rule, His love, His power, His mercy and ask Him to infiltrate every fiber of my being. I've made this sound easy, but some days it's downright difficult because I'm too distracted or too hurried or just carrying too many burdens.

But now, after watching this movie and having Holy Spirit work this word into my heart, I pray that I can go further in. And I don't want to do this just in the morning, but throughout my day, as fear, doubt, worry, risk, guilt, judgement, etc. assail me, my prayer is for Holy Spirit to make me aware of the unnecessary burden I am carrying and that I will yearn for a life of freedom from these burdens.

I pray that it becomes an active part of my life to transfer every care over to Him. Isn't that how He originally created man in Eden to live? Isn't that what He planned for me from the very beginning? Weightlessness!

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