Spiraling into Chaos

Tonight I watched the movie Changing Lanes. I had seen the movie originally in 2002 when it first released but being the 11 year old I was I missed the message amidst the constant one-up-man-ship of the the two lead actors Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck. I had seen it on netflix before and wanted to watch it so today when I saw it suddenly on Instant Queue, I immediately told Brittany we needed to watch it.

If you're not familiar with the film Ben Affleck's character is a newly made partner of a Wall St. law firm that his father-in-law runs. He is the attorney of a now deceased rich captain of industry and philanthropist whom before he died handed all control of his well-endowed charity to said law firm. Samuel's character is lower class New Yorker struggling with alcoholism, a looming divorce and the migration of his wife and kids to Oregon. When they collide (literally, on the interstate) early on in the film both are on the way to court. One to prove that his firm has the right of attorney over this dead man's wealthy charity and the other to divorce court to show the judge that he is buying a house for his family and has a plan to provide for them so his wife doesn't have to move for her new job and they can work things out. To make things short Jackson is 20 minutes late to court because of the accident and the judge rules in his wife's favor for sole custody of their kids and Affleck is only a few minutes late but realizes that he left the needed documents with Jackson after simply giving him a blank check and speeding off leaving Jackson in the pouring rain and without a ride.

Things quickly escalate with Affleck seeking to manipulate Jackson by bankrupting him and destroying his credit cutting off the loan for that house he wanted. Jackson seeks revenge and so on and so on and so on. The film does resolve nicely but I'll save that for later.

I was entirely struck by the deftness which the film portrayed the maddening cycle of violence and revenge and it's slope into ruin for both men and Jesus (and men who have taken his words seriously like Tolstoy, Gandhi, & MLK Jr.) appears more genius with his constant words of non-retaliation, forgiveness, love, and peaceful and righteous response to wrong.

Gandhi said, "an eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind." It is so easy to create hell on earth. One only needs to look on television at events around the world, down the street in our ghettoes or across the room within our interpersonal relationships. Hell can even be found inside where depression, hatred, prejudice, violence, self-righteousness reign.

In this film the two men spent most of the movie turning each other's lives into a living hell but at the end their stricken consciouses got the better of them and they chose to end the descending cycle of revenge and retaliation and instead embraced goodness. All the destruction they had wrought over each other over the course of a day was already being cleaned up by the next day by the newfound goodness and few right actions now being put into motion.

Human history is a history of violence in which the cycle of violence and revenge are ever perpetuated. Jesus recognizes this most destructive forces in human history and realizes that for this cycle to stop it must halted forcibly though not with more violence for that just perpetuates the cycle. No, it must be received but not passed on. The cycle must be consciously stopped because instinctually we are all too eager to take our place in this cycle when the violence, slander, or mistreatment reach us. Jesus however teaches us another way. A way in which the continual practice of ruin is received but not imitated and instead the balm of love, forgiveness and true righteousness is returned.

Through our union with God in Christ by the Holy Spirit we are enabled to transformation into the image of the truly Human One, we can put to death the old nature with it's animal instincts and it's base need for retribution.

I needed that reminder in such visual form. That the world can very easily turn into hell but it also can become a little slice of heaven. So let us pray the "Our Father" and emphatically seek Kingdom Come and God's will to be done but not just with our words but with our actions as we live cruciform lives in which we are willing to take wrongs but respond with righteousness and grace.

So for all the Christians out there who claim Christ's name but not his ways who instead of following the ethics of Jesus readily retaliate and 'get even.'

All I have to say is that you're doing it wrong and may you take this as a humble suggestion to dive into the Gospels and let your mind and your life be transformed by the words of God and the Spirit of divine fellowship.